WE arrived back in Bermuda on Monday afternoon for what will be a whirlwind ten days or so of organisational activities for our wedding. Even though it isn't until June and is going to be very small there is still a lot to do. Most of the guests are going to be from "out of town". Lots of my old friends from London, old school friends and Billy's mates and family from the States. We will then do a separate celebration when we get back to Denver after the big event.

Of course there has to be a rehearsal dinner and after much humming and hawing as to where this would be I finally decided on Waterloo House. If it is a gorgeous evening then we can all be outside right on the waterfront and if the weather happens to be inclement then we can still be outside under the covered veranda. As Billy had never been there we decided to go last night and have dinner so that he could check out the venue. I haven't had dinner there for ages so was really looking forward to sampling their winter menu. Billy instantly fell in love with the place and who wouldn't? It was rather nippy last night but as we entered through the front door, a roaring, real log fire instantly greeted us, which in my mind is the most welcoming of all sights. Needless to say we headed straight for the bar for a little aperitif before dinner and were served by the most amiable Andrew. We then fell into conversation with a lawyer from St. Vincent who was spouting lines from Shakespeare, which was very interesting albeit slightly difficult to comprehend.

Filled with mirth and merriment we decided to say adieu to Shakespeare and wend our way to the dining room.

I had forgotten how absolutely stunning and romantic this room is. Bathed in nothing but candlelight, the light from another roaring log fire and the almost full moonlight peeping through the French doors nothing could have been more perfect for us old nuptials! It has to be said that the menu excelled itself.

I can honestly say (although prone to hyperbole as you probably know) that this was one of the best dinners that I have ever had the privilege to consume. Billy agreed and said that it was certainly the best he'd ever had in Bermuda (he has tagged along with me to quite a few restaurants in Bermuda and has been in the restaurant business for 25 years, so is definitely in the know).

I started with the Saut?ed Scallops. These were perfectly "just" cooked and nestled on a green pea pur?e, a wafer thin, extremely crispy slice of potato, a baby herb salad with a Wasabi vinaigrette. This was an incredible marriage of taste sensations and was exactly how I anticipated that it would be. Billy is a Fish Chowder addict and so this is what he ordered. It was a good one, very thick and almost like a fish stew or a Bouillabaisse. It came with all the accoutrements and was absolutely sensational as to me it tasted as though they had added a smattering of Asian spices to it, which made it slightly different from the norm.

My main course was certainly something to rave about. This was called simply Steambasket. When it arrived it was a wicker steam basket and when you lifted the lid the lovely aroma of steamed ginger wafted immediately to your taste buds. The basket was lined with Chinese cabbage leaves, carrots and ginger. Snuggled into this was a Maritime lobster tail, several enormous tiger prawns and two vegetable sushi rolls. This was accompanied by a jug of Oriental Ginger dipping sauce. This dipping sauce was so out of this world that I could have just picked up the little jug and drunk the entire lot. We used this sauce also for Billy's lamb although with what it came with wasn't at all necessary. What an amalgamation of taste delights this was. Loin of lamb with a Dijon mustard-herb crust, potato pancake, mint aioli and drizzled with a tarragon garlic sauce. We virtually licked our plates/baskets clean and felt very pleasantly satiated by this most gastronomic, delightful feast.

We both love to "people watch" and, when not proclaiming the merits of our dinner. were intent on listening to the table next door and wondering what they were all about. It was ostensibly a business dinner with overseas clients. We were very amused by the fact that the after much imbibing the business dinner was rapidly turning into what could potentially become a session of "getting to know you" on slightly more than business terms. I am most disappointed that I will never know the end result of that one!

It was now time for dessert and as it was such an amazing moonlit night we put on our jackets and decided to enjoy it on the outside terrace. This dessert was called Warm Chocolate Fondant Cake but should have I think been more aptly named "Almost better than sex Chocoholic extravaganza" It was warm and moist and absolute heaven on a plate. I can promise you that this is the best dessert ever, ever, ever. By this time we were starting to feel a little chilly and so ended our evening sitting in front of the fire in the entrance hall enjoying a couple of little after dinner drinks and declaring that this was the most special evening that we had enjoyed in a very long time. Many, many congratulations to Harald Gwiasda the executive chef and Angelo Buglione the maitre d' for creating the most delicious food, atmosphere and service to be found just about anywhere.

I wonder whether any of you will stay up for the Academy Awards on Sunday night? I am going to do my best to stay the pace no matter what. I know that it's all decadent, frivolous and over the top but I love all that. Just in case you are thinking about having a few people over for some nibbles, courtesy of AOL I have found some delightful little numbers to suit the occasion. Even if this is not on your agenda they are good to hang onto for some other time when you need some substantial finger food to just pick at when the gang comes over.

3 pounds chicken wings, 2 (0.7-ounce) envelopes Italian salad dressing mix, divided, 1/2 cup butter, melted, 1/2-3/4 cup hot sauce, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 bottle Ranch salad dressing

Cut off wing tips and discard; cut wings in half at joint. Place 1 package salad dressing mix in a large Ziploc plastic bag; add wings and shake to coat. Place wings in a single layer in a lightly greased aluminium foil lined 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 25 minutes or until browned. Remove pan from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Stir together remaining package of salad dressing mix, butter, and next three ingredients. Pour over the wings and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with the Ranch Dressing as a dipping sauce.

Vinaigrette - 3 tablespoons Dijon-Lemon Vinaigrette (bottled) 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme

Quesadillas - 1/2 pound flank steak, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, cooking spray, 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, 4 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Remaining ingredients - 10 cups torn red leaf lettuce, 1 cup vertically sliced red onion, 2 large tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges.

Prepare grill.

For the vinaigrette, combine first 5 ingredients and set aside. For the Quesadillas, sprinkle steak with salt and the black pepper. Place the steak on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until done. Allow meat to sit for 5 minutes and then cut on the diagonal across the grain into thin slices.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese evenly over each of 2 tortillas. Divide steak evenly over the cheese and top with the remaining tortillas. Heat a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray over a medium heat. Cook quesadillas 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove the quesadillas from pan and cut each into 8 wedges. Combine the vinaigrette, lettuce, onion and tomato in a large bowl; toss well. Divide salad evenly among 4 plates; top each serving with 4 quesadillas.

1/2 cup beer (you need to have the beer flat so measure this amount out and then stir with a fork and you'll be left with about 1/3 cup of flat beer which is the amount needed) 2 large onions, peeled (about 1 1/2 pounds) 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon paprika. Freshly ground black pepper to taste, 1 large egg white, lightly beaten, 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided, cooking spray, 1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the onion crosswise into 3/4-inch slices and separate into rings. Use 16 of the largest rings and reserve the remaining onion for another use. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine flour, salt, paprika and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in beer and egg white (batter will be thick). Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil in a large non-stick skillet over a medium high heat. Dip 5 onion rings in the batter, letting excess drip off. Add onion rings to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Place the onion rings on a jellyroll pan. Repeat procedure with remaining onion rings adding remaining oil as needed, ending with 6 rings. Coat the onion rings with cooking spray and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until crisp. Serve the rings with ketchup as a dipping sauce.