Eighteen people to supper last Saturday night. Arranged it ages ago because I wanted to make some introductions.
It was great fun preparing the mostly home-grown feast on the day, with Alex (our marvellous au pair). The main dish was rabbit casserole with flageolet beans – the rabbits were shot by my neighbouring farmer. They were accompanied by potatoes dauphinois, roasted squash and large quantities of greens – all of which had been grown by me or my mother.
First course of fish pate, beetroot and orange salad and mixed leaves was bought from my local delivery service – Somerset Local Food Direct . For pudding I made a rhubarb and blackberry pie. And we finished off with local cheeses – Somerset Camembert, Cornish Yarg and Daisy Organic Soft Cheese from Daisy and Co, and dark chocolate Easter eggs.
David Gordon, Chair of the Ecos Trust, where I’m a Trustee, arrived on an old motorbike – I need to check which make. Having recently discovered that most modern motor bikes are extremely fuel hungry, I was impressed to learn that his does at least 50 mpg and some even older bikes will do as much as 75 mpg. Isn’t it ridiculous that moderns ones are so much worse? Surely it’s possible to design a super powerful bike that’s super efficient too….
