Sophie and Tom drove down from Bath today. They have the honour of being our first guests at home since last October when we had the Peach family over for lunch. That’s a long time between meals.
Given I made the entrée and dessert yesterday, all I had to do this morning was marinate the main meal. Given I’d chosen to make Locatelli’s Lamb Messina, this didn’t take long and I was then free to tidy up.
The lamb takes around two hours so, as the clock ticked around to 11, I started it off.
Sophie and Tom turned up with an incredibly boisterous Boris who the girls were very surprised to see. To be fair, Emma just kept out of his way. Freya, on the other hand, is in season and was far too interested in him. He’s had the chop but, after a few hours, she’d worn him down to the point that he was trying to have his giant way with her.
I had to lock her in the laundry for a bit, hoping to return to the relative calm of a few hours before.
Mirinda had walked into town with Sophie and Tom, leaving me to potter around the kitchen while keeping an eye on the dogs. This also meant playing music really loudly and singing to my hearts content. It was glorious. Well, I think so, anyway.
They lost Tom as he trawled the charity shops, but, eventually, all three returned home. Apparently, he’s at the age where he doesn’t want to be seen in the company of his mother when out and about.
Lunch was very well received.
For the benefit of anyone who can’t speak Romanian and/or Sicilian, the courses were: Breaded pancakes with mushroom and ham filling followed by lamb, Messina style with little honey bee cake for dessert. I also made a Caprese salad to go with the lamb.
I’ve made the lamb many times in the past – it’s a bit of a favourite – but the pancakes and honey cake were new. Mirinda told Sophie she should be honoured that I trial new dishes on her. I’m not sure that’s much of an honour really. It might not have worked.
Still, all courses were thoroughly enjoyed. Tom even had some of the honey cake. I proclaimed that it was the first time he had indulged in a dessert at Chez Gaz. Ever.
Over lunch, there was much discussion about Tom’s dream of being a shepherd in Mongolia. How he wanted to escape from humanity and live a peaceful life with just a yak for company and a yurt for shelter. It all sounded completely unappealing but, then, it’s not my dream. I think he should definitely try it. I also think it would be handy if he learned some skills in order to survive off the land.
He also has a dream of owning a Harley-Davidson motorbike, the one with the sissy bars. It would be interesting to see someone try and manoeuvre one of those across the Mongolian steppe. That would take some skill.
Eventually, and in order to miss any nighttime driving, Sophie announced they were leaving with a short stop at Winchester. We joined them. Well, I went with Mirinda and walked as far as the Bridge Tavern where they left me like the old decrepit grandad I appear to be.
In the tavern I was entertained by a stag night group which included one guy in a dress. I assume he is the groom to be. He was extremely drunk, and I can only hope he wasn’t getting married tomorrow.
Two pints later and Mirinda, Sophie and Tom returned to pick me up. We parted in the multi-storey car park where they headed off for Bath and we drove back home.
