Of Dinner, Dinner & More Dinner

I went for a business dinner last night. Guests included the Minister for Employment and Learning. The poor critta was sat right next to me for a good part of the evening so he if he didn't know who Legal-Island was beforehand he certainly did by the time he escaped from the table. I liked the man a lot. He was witty, funny and very self-deprecating. I felt for him too. He's been in the post for just 5 five months but we were giving him a hard time for stuff he has little or no control over. He has to face elections in a few months too so I couldn't help but wonder whether he thought it at all worth his while getting on top of his new departmental brief.

Still on the subject of dinners I'm entertaining next Monday again. One of my goals this year was to organise 12 dinner parties. This is No.3 which means two sets of guests have already gone through the process and survived to tell the tale - though what tale they tell about their experience is a matter of great conjecture. I'm planning to do Celery and Onion soup followed by Vegetable Crumble finished off by Rhubarb and Apply Crumble. In fact, come to think of it that's too much Crumble - better get the recipe book out and try something else over the weekend.

The best Crumble I ever ate was at school. It was topped by pink custard which though ghastly to look at was actually very nice. In fact, I think that was the best thing about that school. A recent chance encounter has prompted me to think a lot about my school days and why they were so bloody awful. Maybe they weren't because memories play tricks on you - although the memory of being caned for forgetting my 10p to pay for the woodwork I was taking home is still strong and very real. I wonder where that teacher is now - in a retirement home or a prison?

Hey ho school days hey - nothing like em.