Food and friends

A couple of nights away from the boat found me unexpectedly back in a normal size kitchen and able to cook for friends. While I feel rather liberated by the chaos of the boat, meaning we won't be receiving callers anytime soon, I do love to cook for friends so an opportunity to turn out a supper during a Devon pit-stop was a complete treat.  Is there anything better than good friends around a kitchen table for a very informal supper on a Saturday night? 

Learning on the job, as I am doing with blogging, I now also understand that readers of blogs do particularly like food postings!  In the ten days since I re-took up the tale of a life in constant audit that's latest adventure sees us moved onto a tiny and ancient boat in an inner city marina, I know that blogs featuring food are box office!  My blog stats show that after the UK, the US and Russia are level pegging with regular readers and others check in daily from the Ukraine and all over Asia.  Everyone seems to favour the ones that feature food!   

But I am still learning the discipline of blogging, especially in chronicling life in pictures as well as words.  Best intentions were forgotten in the serving up and consuming on Saturday so I only have the 'before picture' of a gorgeous leg of lamb that was slow braised and served with its vegetables pureed into a wine and redcurrant gravy alongside boulangere potatoes and sprouting broccoli. 

It was a lovely interlude before back to the boat this afternoon and as I write, the weather forecast warns of severe gales coming in tonight.  The boat is already being buffeted against the pontoons with alarming crashes, the plastic sheeting on scaffolding around vessels in the boatyard is wildly flapping and the rigging on the visiting big yachts is sounding positively panicky in its jangling.  I think it's time to batten down the hatches!