First roast

Following my (almost) successful Dundee cake yesterday, I decided to try a roast in the new oven. Mirinda decided on pork with green butter.

I wheeled my trusty wicker basket to Waitrose and filled it with the essential goodies. Then wheeled it back to manic dogs and the end of Mirinda’s Skype with her dad (Fi was out somewhere, gallivanting).

There was a sudden yell from across the fence. It was Dave asking if they could have tea earlier than the afternoon because they had to go to Wiltshire. Mirinda said as long as they didn’t mind the place being a mess. Dave said that would make them feel better. And so they came.

Rodney (their golden retriever puppy) had a fine old time with Emma (Day-z tried to ignore him) while Mirinda gave them a tour of the upstairs. Then we settled down for a cup of tea and slices of my Dundee cake. It was then I discovered that Gail makes wedding cakes. I can’t compete with that! Especially when my cake was a bit dry!

In fact, she made a wedding cake, mid-build, telling the building crew they’d have to stop working for a few days while she did it. Four tiers of different types! In a new oven! And it tasted brilliant. I was starting to feel pretty sad about my poor little cake and wished I’d served cookies instead.

Anyway, we sat and had a lovely chat, comparing construction notes and dodging the blazing sun coming in through the roof lantern. We also found out that the woman we thought was called Sally is definitely called Sally. Now we can invite her in for a cup of tea.

Eventually they left for Wiltshire, having told us that their daughter is an air traffic controller, which we thought was pretty cool.

After lunch and a bit of a laze around, I set to on the roast. And what a joy. Preparing a roast dinner in a kitchen where it actually fits has to be one of the best things. Well, it seriously worked for me.

And the roast was delicious. There were a few things that could be improved but I know how to fix them. But, I have to say that the pork was cooked to perfection. Possibly the best I’ve ever cooked.

While I slaved away, Mirinda took Day-z for a romp over Hankley, giving her a brief respite from the fury that is Emma. Day-z I mean, not Mirinda.

We finished the night by watching the new Upstairs Downstairs on Netflix because BT Vision has decided it doesn’t like us. Again.