We've not seen one another since the disasterous summer xmas dinner. To be fair it was only the food that was awful, the day was quite fun. Message...when are you free next? I said Friday, she said what about Saturday? I said I'm working on Saturday, however I'm free in the evening. Great evening it is then, see you around 7.30? Yes, fine I said. She didn't mention dinner, this is unlike her, so maybe it's just drinks and perhaps a few nibbles. Felt a bit rude to ask "will you be feeding us?" because if she wasn't intending to it'd possibly make her feel obliged to do so. Plan was to eat a fairly big lunch at work, and perhaps a tiny little snack before we went, so that I wouldn't be ravenously hungry, but should it turn out there's a meal I won't be too full to eat it.
Arrived, hung coats up, and immediately ushered to the dinner table. Starter was soup and a roll homemade of course. Soup was a decidedly odd colour, white with a very slight hint of green...."Oooh what is it?" I asked...try it and see, she said. It tasted of nothing, and I mean nothing - I said potato (because of the colour and texture), yes she said it's got potato in it, but what else? Leek I said because it's a classic combination, though I couldn't taste any leek..Yes, it's got leeks in it so what else? Turned out after about 10 wrong guesses it was asparagus! "Whaddya think? tasty isn't it?" Yes, delicious I said.
Main meal....stew - Now I know it's a popular meal for those winter months - but I HATE stew, I love dumplings and I can just about eat the potatoes in it. Without admitting I hate stew, I said this is a bit embarrassing but I didn't realise we were having a meal tonight, so I ate quite a large lunch, so may I have just a really small portion? All hell broke loose...."When, just tell me when, have I not fed you?", "You'd not turn up at a restaurant and expect not to eat would you?" Said in a jokey manner, but I could tell that she was genuinely taken aback...I tried to get the conversation back on a more even keel and said I can always make room for dumplings! With that she added two huge dumplings to my thankfully small portion of stew...These aren't any old dumplings..they're suet free! Jeez, they were indescribably awful and if the texture wasn't bad enough, they tasted like she'd bunged an entire pot of mixed herbs to the mix!
Apart from the food, she wasn't being her usual egotistical self and after dinner drinks and chat was really quite pleasant. I think being a last minute arrangement for an evening, I'd have preferred for her to perhaps put on a few nibbles buffet style because the lion's share of the evening was spent sat around the dinner table and then of course there was the matter of offering to help clear up (like you do) - and we did!
This is the first time she's invited us and not mentioned dinner beforehand or asked us what we'd like to eat. I think she's got to the stage where she believes that it goes without saying that she's gonna be cooking and whatever she's cooking will be blooming amazing!
Arrived, hung coats up, and immediately ushered to the dinner table. Starter was soup and a roll homemade of course. Soup was a decidedly odd colour, white with a very slight hint of green...."Oooh what is it?" I asked...try it and see, she said. It tasted of nothing, and I mean nothing - I said potato (because of the colour and texture), yes she said it's got potato in it, but what else? Leek I said because it's a classic combination, though I couldn't taste any leek..Yes, it's got leeks in it so what else? Turned out after about 10 wrong guesses it was asparagus! "Whaddya think? tasty isn't it?" Yes, delicious I said.
Main meal....stew - Now I know it's a popular meal for those winter months - but I HATE stew, I love dumplings and I can just about eat the potatoes in it. Without admitting I hate stew, I said this is a bit embarrassing but I didn't realise we were having a meal tonight, so I ate quite a large lunch, so may I have just a really small portion? All hell broke loose...."When, just tell me when, have I not fed you?", "You'd not turn up at a restaurant and expect not to eat would you?" Said in a jokey manner, but I could tell that she was genuinely taken aback...I tried to get the conversation back on a more even keel and said I can always make room for dumplings! With that she added two huge dumplings to my thankfully small portion of stew...These aren't any old dumplings..they're suet free! Jeez, they were indescribably awful and if the texture wasn't bad enough, they tasted like she'd bunged an entire pot of mixed herbs to the mix!
Apart from the food, she wasn't being her usual egotistical self and after dinner drinks and chat was really quite pleasant. I think being a last minute arrangement for an evening, I'd have preferred for her to perhaps put on a few nibbles buffet style because the lion's share of the evening was spent sat around the dinner table and then of course there was the matter of offering to help clear up (like you do) - and we did!
This is the first time she's invited us and not mentioned dinner beforehand or asked us what we'd like to eat. I think she's got to the stage where she believes that it goes without saying that she's gonna be cooking and whatever she's cooking will be blooming amazing!
