Advent

Saturday night, first day of advent, after playing the role of the innkeepers wife in the church Nativity, I tucked into dinner at Deasons with family and friends. I had hot roast William Pear, stuffed with stilton, serrano ham, port glaze and candied walnuts. Hot pear that, as you cut into it the stilton came flowing out and mixed over the hot fruit. For a main I had field mushroom and shallot comfit nut pudding and curry parsnip emulsion and picked cauliflower. The pickled cauliflower provided sharpness agains the the sweet taste of the field mushroom and shallot pudding. Afterwards I had chocolate brownie, which was cooked on the outside and like chocolate mousse on the inside.




I had a gin and tonic to start and then a glass of large red wine with my dad, whose appetite for alcohol has come back since his heart operation. Although he looked smaller than he use too, I think it is the combination of slouching and shrinking as you get older, his colour was so good, like his full bodied red wine. He wore a dark blazer, dark shirt, dark tie with light pattern on it which seemed to give him distinction.



The next day we had a roast dinner and drank a sweet dessert wine called, "Chateau Tillac 2003", although food can be used in my family to avoid difficult situations, feelings this weekend it felt like a return to normality enjoying food and wine, something my father hadn't really had the stomach for over the last few months. Outloud and in my head, I toasted the doctor whose young hands had carried out my dad's procedure and whose approachable nature had calmed the waters. We then talked about what kind of stuffing to make for Christmas...to be continued