Loaded plates and surprised faces

A full house for book group meant that with Mr A I was catering for 9 people. I’m sure there was a time when I could rustle up dinner for 9 without too much hassle, but those days are long gone through lack of practice. Anyway, I managed to put together a lamb tagine and a fish tagine, by putting the veg bits together at the beginning and only later adding the meat and the fish. That and the crumble were all based on a recipe book produced by a friend of mine who is a restauranteur who has specialised in opening restaurants in churches….but who has displayed what one might call some problematic personal ethics in recent years. Mr A doesn’t think I should use his recipe book. I point out that I actually knew B before I knew his (ex)wife S, although admittedly I eventually I knew S a lot better than B….and generally speaking his recipes work really well. That's a conundrum with no easy solution.

Anyway….after a tricky day re-immersing myself in my job (and gaining some solutions to some awkward problems by talking to the boss), book group was about as raucous as it can ever be. I think it might be a while before we have a full house again, so it was good record it (albeit without me, of course, but I’m behind the camera). 

Everyone liked my choice, A Town Called Solace, which will be solace indeed to the friend who recommended it to me. But I pointed out to her that if they liked it, she could take the credit and if they didn’t then I would take responsibility.