Having rashly invited a crowd for dinner tonight, I needed to do something about it!

Alan kindly drove me to the spermarket in the Square at Chasseneuil and I found myself in the happy position of being able to justify buying a lettuce!

Then the day was spent prelaring the meal. Without a mixer, I beat the egg whites for the meringue with a fork. When I tried the same with the double cream it nearly became butter, as it was UHT double cream, which does not whip.

Laid tbe table and lit the fire. Then everyone decided to eat outside! Alan arrived with 2 bottles of beer. These actually contained his red and white “Pinot “. Antoin bought his white Pinot made from “raisin de Cognac” as he had a friend there who supplied the grapes. André and Christienne brought an organic sparkling wine. Sadly, I will not be able to take these with me due to the weight and the next person to visit the cottage will be pleasantly surprised!

Anyway, everything seemed to go well. I couldn’t face the dishes, so that was a tomorrow job! It was just nice to return very generous hospitality.