This morning our friend Barrie visited with two books to donate to the library. These were ‘The Road to Little Dribbling’ by Bill Bryson, and Neil Grant’s ‘Village London’, both of which reminded him of my blog posts. We had our usual entertaining conversation.
I spent much of the day continuing with Gwen Wilson’s autobiographical gem, ‘I Belong To No One’.
This evening Becky treated us all to an Italian meal. Olives, feta, and bruschetta preceded the antipasti, which were followed by macaroni cheese containing halves of boiled egg topped by ham and melted cheese. The secret ingredient giving the dish a certain piquancy was horseradish sauce. Choice of lemon meringue pie, chocolate eclairs, or custard tarts were offered for dessert. Becky drank Cimarosa Pedro Jimenez, Jackie drank Peroni, and I drank more El Sotillo. Ian was happy with water.
We were all forced to have second helpings of the main course to do justice to the succulent, tender, asparagus shoots that had been inadvertently left in a saucepan over the electric hob. Jackie’s cry of ‘where’s the asparagus?’ alerted us to this fact.
What a feast! You’re one lucky guy to be surrounded by such good cooks.
I am. Laurie. Thanks
What torture it is to read of this feast before breakfast!
Enjoy, Mary. Thanks
I had a ripe fig for breakfast this morning – nanananana!
🙂
Oh, that macaroni cheese sound scrumptious! Do you think that Becky would be kind enough to share her recipe? You seem to lead a very nice life, with lots of time to read and then being wined and dined to your heart’s content every evening. ?
Ah, asparagus…and books and convivial conversation–all the best things!
Thank you, Cynthia
Thank heavens for Jackie!
Absolutely, Pauline. Thanks
You folks really know how to eat!
Thanks, Lisa
To forget the asparagus
Is a sin of great multitudinousness.
It ruins the meal 🙂
Now I am hungry, Derrick. And here is midnight. What to do? I’ll go rummaging through the fridge :)) You torture us as Mary Tang says 🙂
Thank you, Monica. Flo raids the fridge at midnight and beyond
Your writing was compared to Bill Bryson? Wow. That’s a wonderful compliment and goes nicely with asparagus.
Thank you, Susanne
With the yummy macaroni and cheese on the table, I would have forgotten all about the asparagus too!
Thanks, Jill
A whole day of reading….how wonderfully decadent!
Yep. Thanks, Cynthia
The meal was a treat. Becky follows Jackie with superb cuisine; the macaroni cheese is a joy to behold. Derrick, you are a lucky man to have such company!
Thanks, Ian
Never mind the asparagus, what about all those desserts! I hope you still had space for them!
I just had the lemon meringue. Thanks, Jerry
Love asparagus
Thanks, Sol
The meal was definitely a drool worthy one… you are so lucky…..
Thank you Chitra – good word, drool
Personally I think Bryson is going off a bit where you are going from strength to strength. Probably because of a lack of good cooks in the Bryson family. 😉
Many thanks. Nice one Quercus