The Reunion Lunch, 5th June 2005
|
Sunday the 5th was the grand Reunion Lunch day. A group of St Mary's T & C pupils of the 1950s were meeting up for a second time. For weeks, nay months, we had all been communicating by email so it seemed rather unreal when the day actually arrived. John and I got up at 8.30 that morning to begin to prepare for our guests. We cleaned, we polished, we swept, but there wasn’t much complicated cooking to be done - it was summer, after all. I arranged smoked mackerel and lemon slices on a platter and made a caper sauce, plus roasted chicken pieces and rustled up two salads. There was cheese and cream in the fridge, wine and juice to be set out. In the event, my green salad never saw the light of day as there was so much else to be eaten! John and I were well-paced and all was ready without too much angst by 1pm, when people started to arrive. Contrary to the forecast, it was a bright, sunny day and no-one cancelled, though two of our number were still debating whether they would come at the last minute - Sandra Pepys and Naomi Stadlen (née Jacoby). In the end they made it. First to arrive were Michael Bieber and Stefany Tomalin, the latter bearing wonderful salads enough for fifty people, never mind fifteen! After Mike and Stefany, others were quick to follow. Craig strode in looking markedly tanned, along with Ben and Juliette Jacoby, and soon the kitchen and conservatory were buzzing with enthusiastic conversation. The long table was fast piled high with wonderful dishes: Vicki Berger brought delicious individual leak tarts and oven roasted baby tomatoes as starters. Juliette and Ben Jacoby brought two huge generous couscous dishes, one vegetarian, the other chicken based, plus rich Pots Au Chocolat and Tiramisu for dessert. Craig Sams came with huge hunks of scrumptious sourdough bread and facaccia from his own new organic bakery in Hastings. Bridget and Peter Freidmann brought elegant asparagus spears with rolls of smoked salmon. Alexis (née Findon) arrived with a home-baked raspberry almond cake and fruit coulis as accompaniment. And huge bowls brimmed over with Stefany’s salads which seemed to contain all good things crunchy-munchy in the world from raw petit pois to pine kernels. Michael Bieber brought a feast for the carnivores with his boiled gammon joint and Jenny (née Risner) and husband Chris, came with summer fruits - strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, plus Greek yoghurt. There was hardly room on the six foot table to put it all. In addition, later Sandra Pepys came bearing a vast bowl of organic cabbage salad with a very special dressing, and after 2.30pm, unfortunately when some were already eating dessert, we welcomed Naomi Stadlen (née Jacoby) as the last to arrive, carrying an enormous container of ricotta dip! Most of us are not excessive drinkers, so the wine consumption was modest, some preferring coffee and many water. I wove in and out, managing some sustained conversation here and there, my only regret being that I didn’t get to talk to people more. But our Reunion Lunch was a great success, helped along by wonderful weather. People spilled out into the garden and sat about chatting in the sun. I ate enough to keep me going for a fortnight, as I’m sure quite a few others did too! The table was an orgy of food. Everyone was so generous with their contributions. After we’d eaten, in the heat of the ripe afternoon I made gallons of Earl Grey tea in a bevy of pots. The window overlooking the terrace was open, and, despite all the activity, a bold blackbird came down and bathed in the bird bath, fluttering his wings with noisy showers of water, his beady eyes watching us all the time. Despite his fear, he couldn’t resist a dip! The unfailing sun was now in the West and the day was drawing to an end all too soon. We had talked and laughed all afternoon and now it was time to leave. Alexis emailed me a few days later and suggested that she should host the next event to give John and I a chance to relax and talk, and we look forward to that. Later, there was a flurry of emails to say how much everyone had enjoyed the day! |