It’s that time of the year again, The Great British Bake Off is on the telly and The Great Amwaj Bake Off is happening today.
Four years ago when Mrs Beedie was having a significant birthday we decided to make her party into our own version of the GBBO.
We created The Great Amwaj Bake Off, we invited our friends and acquaintances to come to our house with a pie, cake, etc.
The only rule was that it needed to be something that had been in an oven at some point. The categories were sweet and savoury.
The response was fabulous with a full house of competitors and both the table and the sideboard crammed full of bakes.
The judging was intense and eventually the winner was announced, a fabulous Gala pie.
The standard was set and so every year our friends try to trump what was offered the previous year.
This year will hopefully be no exception, last week comments and curses about fallen tarts and soggy bottoms criss-crossed the ether as contestants get into their stride.
I had about three attempts to make simple short crust pastry before chucking it against the wall and going to the supermarket to buy readymade.
I am sure that I will get a fine for that but hopefully not the wooden spoon.
We are holding the event a little bit early this year to accommodate some old friends who are visiting.
They left Bahrain about five years ago and having recently retired are passing through Bahrain on the start of their world tour.
While it is lovely seeing them and having them stay with us for a week it does not half play havoc with your schedule.
Almost every night we have stayed up late talking over old times and discussing future plans.
This has made getting up in the morning a bit difficult, if you know what I mean, and doing the normal weekly chores has gone right out the window.
We did not even have time to watch the GBBO this week and have recorded it, so if anyone knows who left the tent this week please do not tell us.
When you are organising events or parties at your home one of the most difficult things to get right is the catering.
If you invite 100 then probably about 50-60 will come so how much food do you organise.
If you do enough for 60 then 40 will attend and you will have a lot of waste. If you do enough for 50 then 70 will come and some will go hungry.
The great thing about the Great Amwaj Bake Off is that it is a bring-your-own-food party.
As most attendees will bring a pie there will be just enough food for everyone with perhaps a few bits of pie left for me during the week.
So once the judging is finished and the prizes awarded it’s a pie free for all.
Get your plate and spoon and get wired in.