A WITNEY food blogger turned her dream into reality on Saturday night when she launched a pop-up supper club.

Catherine Morgan, 40, invited 12 people to her home as she served up a five-course menu with an international feel.

Mrs Morgan endured a busy day of cooking before hosting the guests in the evening, with husband Ben on waiting duties.

Her home restaurant, Dinner Down the Lane, will start as a monthly event but a successful opening night has increased the enthusiastic cook’s desire to one day make a living from her food.

She said: “It all went pretty smoothly and I think the guests had a good time.

“I had a plan so I just worked through my list.

“It was more difficult cooking the main course in the evening because I had a very specific time slot but I managed to stick to our timings.

“They were all at individual tables or in groups and Ben did a very good job of making people comfortable.”

Despite her lifelong love of cooking, Mrs Morgan said it took two ‘inspirational experiences’ for her to take the plunge and start a supper club at her home in Oxford Hill.

An evening at another home restaurant, The Secret Supper Society in Somerton, near Bicester, showed the blogger she could do it for herself. Soon after, a day at celebrity chef Raymond Blanc’s cookery school at Le Manoir au Quat’Saisons, near Oxford, gave her the nudge she needed.

She said: “I have always loved cooking for family and friends.

“My passion is finding unusual ingredients, experimenting with new recipes and throwing our doors open to people.

“I have always dreamed of turning this interest into a more entrepreneurial endeavour.”

Mrs Morgan, who freelances in communications, started blogging about food after moving to Witney two years ago.

She previously lived in Germany, the USA and Italy with husband Ben, 42, and the menu incorporated a range of cuisine from her travels.

She said: “We picked up something from each of those experiences.

“It’s a balanced menu with little inspirations thrown in.”

Mrs Morgan starting cooking early on Saturday morning and was still going when people walked through the door at 8pm.

Guests were certainly not short on food, with five courses and a ‘bonus pudding course’ costing £20 for the first night only.

Mr Morgan, a Renault Formula One engineer, looked after the couple’s three children during the day and waited tables in the evening.

Mrs Morgan revealed the food and the hospitality both went down extremely well.

She said: “There was that element of uncertainty at the start but everyone felt very welcome and enjoyed the food.

“I had very good feedback on the main course and the two puddings.”

The food blogger is already taking reservations for her next two supper clubs on Saturday, July 21, and Saturday, August 25, at dinnerdownthelane.co.uk