Gardener's Lunch

First, apologies for the absolutely appalling image. For what was probably the first time in six months, real life took priority over blip. After last night's panic I surfaced at 9.00 am and set to finishing off house tidying and food preparation for the lunch arrangement. We'd planned the menu during the week, and Carl had convinced me to go for Gardener's Supper as the main course (re-named as Gardener's Lunch for the interim). We'd also agreed that starter would be Mini Ham & Egg Pies and dessert Limoncello-flavoured panna cotta with fresh strawberry sauce. Things were complicated by the fact that one of the guests is a strict vegetarian (which meant his Ham & Egg Pie turned into Pepper & Egg instead) and another guest was allergic to peppers and had to have a variation of the main course done for him. Still, despite being well behind with advance preparations and despite the catering complications, we were totally on top of things when the door bell rang at 1.35.

It turned into a totally wonderful day. The meal was an unmitigated success from start to finish, we were perfect hosts (even if we say so ourselves), the atmosphere was spot on, the conversation was mighty -- all in all a brilliant day. I somehow managed to squeeze in a couple of spur-of-the-moment blips. This is the Gardener's Lunch before it went in to the oven (two standard casseroles in the foreground and the pepper-free alternative behind).