Farewell dinner no.1

She asked, kindly. One night, she said that is all she wanted before we went away. How could I not oblige? When I knew it would be so much pleasure for us all, and most of all…for me.

Unlike the Lasagne evening we first shared, on my birthday in February, I only cooked one this time. Call me lazy, but I was knee deep in home improvements until late on Friday afternoon; deciding that if we were to invite another to move into our home, at least we could do was leave it in some decent state, and perhaps remove all the shit in the house… So when 5pm came around, and my lovely friend, ROS, popped over to give some moral support, I was still in my cutoffs and hungover, and fluffing about with a broken vacuum cleaner..

ROS whipped me into shape. She gave me a beer, and told me to sweep. I had a shower and by then S was back from work, with T&D following not long after him. Being good friends, they humoured the delay and before too long the prep was in full force, ROS had thrown together a small delicious snack of vinegared zucchini on a bedded ricotta bruschetta, and thrown down her infamous warmed caprese salad. Everyone was pacified. A few hours later the lasagne was done. Well, almost. It went out and into the oven a few times over – while we, the eager and hungry, waited impatiently for the finished product.

‘Is it ready yet?’

‘it looks ready’

‘yes, it surely is ready, it’s been in there forever…’

‘no, it needs more time’…

‘how much time?’

’5 minutes’

‘lets give it 10′

………’is it ready yet?’

‘i’m starving’…..

..’you can’t rush the great’

etc. etc. etc…

When it finally was done, it was good. Despite being a vegetarian (not me, of course, but the lasagne) it was impressively hearty. I don’t know why I always feel that a dish without meat somehow will be of salad weight – this dish was rich and nurturing, like a mumma’s hug. A mumma with a great big breast of love. The last lasagne we made (for ATP in May) was even given a name it had so much soul…

Zucchini snacks: ricotta, chilli, zucchini, vinegar, olive oil

Delia’s summer Mediterranean vegetarian mix

Soft buffalo mozzarella topping

Before dinner, and aftermath

And, for the musically inclined amongst you, this was the soundtrack to our evening:

\”The Gaudy Side of Town\” by Gayngs