FOR one night only, it's your chance to ditch the takeaway and impress your family and friend with your culinary skills.
Dust off the best china, polish the silver and dig out those serviettes... the dinner party is back and there's a handsome Italian chef eager to help you create delicious culinary treat.
Gino D'Acampo is encouraging amateur cooks to dish up a fabulous feast to family and friends to help raise funds to build a new Marie Curie hospice for Glasgow. And there needn't be a prawn cocktail or fan of melon in sight.
The recently crowned King of the Jungle hasreturned to the kitchen after his I'm A Celebrity stint to create "fantastico" dishes for Marie Curie's Starlight Supper event on February 27.
The findraising evening will see kitchens across the country reverberate to the sound of clanging ovens and whirring blades as wannabe chefs charge family and friends a small fee to sample their lovingly created scran.
All monies raised from the event will be donated to the Big Build Appeal, the Evening Times-backed campaign to raise pound(s)16.1million to help fund a new Marie Curie hospice, based at Stobhill Hospital, in Glasgow.
The new hospice is now complete and it welcomed the first patients last month. Already the hospice has seen the huge impact the new facilities have made on patients and their loved ones. However, the new facility still isn't fully operational and the fundraising focus is on furnishing and fitting out the new building fully before the official opening this summer.
The current total now stands at pound(s)14.6m, with an further pound(s)1.5m still to raise. Which is why event like this are still vital to the completion of the hospice.
rolex fakeSo whether your skills at the stove rank you as a borderline Albert Roux or a complete kitchen nightmare, organisers of the event, Smooth Radio, has collected recipes from a flurry of culinary celebrities to lend you an extra hand.
The event is backed by such kitchen luminaries as Anthony Worrall Thompson, Brian Turner and Gina D'Acampo. The Italian chef, who recently attracted headlines by killing, cooking and eating a rat on the reality show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, is hoping amateur cooks will dish up something more palatable.
"I'm very proud to support the Starlight Supper and I hope people join in by hosting their own fundraising dinner party," says the chef who reveals his ideal dinner part guests would include actress Sienna Miller, television presenters Ant and Dec, singer Rod Stewart and Jesus Christ.
"There's a good choice of recipes to follow on the website," he adds, "and there should be something for everyone, however much of a novice chef you are."
Fundraisers who register to take part in the event before February 23 will receive an information pack with tips on how to be the perfect dinner party host, as well as useful accoutrements like invites, place cards and top tips from chefs.
Smooth Radio breakfast host, John McCauley has already signed up.
He said: "I think the Smooth Radio Starlight Supper is a fantastic excuse to get all your friends round for a bit of good food, company and most importantly, raise money for Marie Curie at the same time.
"Even if you've not had a dinner party before or in while, or if you don't enjoy cooking, why not get your guests to bring a course each? However it's done, I hope everyone getting involved on the night has a great t
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