we had seen an item on the menu the last time we were there and wanted to come back and try it…
today there was no aquasize so we decided to go for lunch instead…
we had a Duke of Yorkie – shaved baron of beef, fried carmelized onion, mozzarella, horseradish mayo, on a giant Yorkshire pudding, served with au jus… with a shared side of onion rings…
Friday was a delightful day… the sun shone and the temperature rose to 25°C…
throughout the day, I prepped for a dinner party… between organizing and setting the table on the deck, there were plenty of opportunities to sit, read, and relax…
preparing a space or food for special people is always enjoyable for me as I think about those who I am doing this work for and how important they are to me…
for this gathering, it was mainly about making the space comfortable and considering what dishes we would need as the food was being picked up from a Charleswood Rotary fundraiser…
they provided a whole lobster, baked potato, fresh bun, coleslaw, brownie, small bottle of wine, with a bib and a lobster fork;-)… each person received a shopping bag with all of the goodies in it… I added a few fixings for the potatoes, warm facecloths with lemon for our fingers, and garlic butter in warmers…
once the food was warmed up, we had a lesson in how to eat the whole crustacean… I was a bit slow, lol, so had to keep having information repeated…
the weather was perfect, well, except that the wind kept blowing out some of the butter warmers… lots of conversation and story telling kept us busy throughout the meal…
my housemate took the requisite group photo which he was happy to do (and not be in) before we spent time around the pond…
happily, the fish came out for a short visit before returning to their favourite spot under the bridge…
and before you knew it, everyone headed off into the sunset;-)…
we had prime rib… for many years we would have steak and lobster with twice-stuffed potatoes…
so this was fun to try… cooking the prime rib was interesting… first, it had to sit on the counter for six hours to reach room temperature, then it went into the oven at 500°F for half an hour, and finally the oven was turned off and it sat inside it for two hours…
quite the process, but it came out perfect for those of us who enjoy rare meat;-)…
there were mashed potatoes, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts with carrots, little Yorkshire puddings, and gravy…
the strawberry plant, from last year, is doing very well…
we found a hamper at the store on July 5th, after either the birds or squirrels had eaten the ripe strawberries before we got to them, lol…
I kept the cover on them until a few ripe ones were ready to eat and then after we had those ones, I took the cover off so that the flowers could be pollinated…
as a number of yellow/green berries started to appear, the cover went back on the plant…
on Thursday I could see the ripe berries, through the screen…
removed the cover and picked three beautiful strawberries…
herbiggirlpants 