An Awesome Meal

 Friday began with a dog walk with our canine and human friends under clear and bright sky. It was a beauty of a morning, part of my joy coming from the knowledge that soon some rain will fall. Stacy is on the island, so she came with us and she’s willing to help me reach medical residents in the province. We decided to have dinner together at the Surf.

I came home and immediately went into the village to get so me baking and cooking supplies, and then I came home to water gardens while the butter softened. I made a Peach tart for our dessert tonight. It must be the 20th one I’ve made. I have no idea how many I’ve made, but I’m certainly seeing the results of all that experience in this latest start. I’ve really gotten good at every aspect of putting this delicious dessert together.

And once I was done with the tart, I made the curry sauce that I need for tonight’s main dish. I like doing as much as I can in advance of the day of entertaining, so that when my guests are here I am in good form. All I have to do today, is make the salad— another favourite dish of mine. As things cooled or cooked, I was outside watering more plants. I’m sure glad the rains are coming. I’m rather tired of watering my garden. It takes more than an hour.

As things cooled or cooked, I was outside watering more plants. I’m sure glad the rains are coming. I’m rather tired of watering my garden. It takes more than an hour. The final cooking rush was between 3:00 and 5:00. It was lovely in the kitchen because the sun is so much lower in the sky. Light streamed well into the kitchen as I was baking.

I went over to Dave and Ursula’s place for some blueberries to dot the surface of my tart, and we had a wee chat. Much to my delight, I found that Mallard extends much farther into the forest than I realized. My back fence is about 10 metres in from the true boundary. I think I may take a couple of the big trees on my own land down to increase the light in my backyard, and to yield more firewood. I don’t like killing trees, so I’ll think about this for a while.

Just before 5:00, I took Sheba for a walk. We drove through the forest, the sun casting long low shadows across the road, and me delighting in the Gregorian chants that I had turned up loud on my CD. The light was cliché gold, falling on the light brown-to-white stocks of the dried scrub covering the landscape. The music, the light, the colours of late summer. I don’t remember ever feeling so passionate for all I see around me right now.

At six, Stacy arrived to pick me up and take me to the Surf for dinner. I love going to the surf. It’s got so much atmosphere, and like my house, it’s built of logs. Perhaps it’s the fact that I remember the place from when I was five years old, when the Tyrells brought me here. Perhaps it’s simply the beauty of the view of the ocean. Regardless, I love going there. And last night was my best dinner there ever! There must be a new chef, because there were specials. I don’t remember there ever being specials before. It’s always been just pub food. But I had crab encrusted Halibut with some amazing sauces last night, and I, and other guests, were dumbstruck by the specials. Everyone was sending compliments to the chef. It was a spectacular night of great, great food and a glorious sunset.