Virgin at Christ Church

This not at all how the contribution for 24 June was to have been titled! It was to have been something like College Gaudy 2010, and was intended to build on Wednesday's BlipFoto entry, to amplify and extend my explanations of Encaenia and Gaudies.

However, just as I had taken this photograph of the guests assembling before Dinner, the hot-air balloon of the present Blip passed over. My remark that virgins at Christ Church were not frequently seen was greeted with such enthusiasm by the people around me (and they had not even had that much to drink by this stage), that I decided to reorient my entire perspective.

But seemly behaviour was restored as we waited for the angelic voices of the Choir to sing the Grace and a subseqeunt anthem by Parry.

In this picture, the guests are sitting after the Anthem has concluded, and the Dinner gets under way.

Readers may wish to see the Menu at this stage.

Some of the dishes were pretty complex, both in terms of food and presentation. For example, the Roast Rack of Lamb ans its many accompaniments required a production line approach for its assembly. Then, those waiting on the tables had a highly organised collection roster so that the food was served hot to the diners.

Even the 'summer pudding' required a complex assembly approach, as will be evident from the appearance of the dish.

Cooking and serving food of this high quality to about 250 diners, more-or-less simultaneously, requires skills that I certainly do not possess, so that I was glad to benefit from the abilities of others, ... especially when the exercise ends with good port and single malts!