Rings and tastings

Friday July 6: to Chester, to pick up the rings, and look at possible footwear and a tie for Jules, and various other bits and pieces for me. Contrary to my expectations, both rings fitted perfectly (and we made sure to go in with cool, un-sticky fingers this time!) Jules found a tie (yellow) that we both liked, and I found some gold sandals that we both liked, so that's a couple more things ticked off the list.

Went down to Brookhouse Mill this evening for the tasting: we'd picked a selection of courses from the menus Karen sent, and the chef prepared mini-versions for us to try. We'd hoped to do this last weekend while Frank and Celia were with us, but it turned out not to be possible for Brookhouse; pity. Still, we had loads of fun with just the two of us: tried four starters, three mains, and four desserts (all in miniscule portions, thank goodness!) as well as about a dozen different wines - again, mini-helpings of each, but a different glass for each one, so that at one stage there were about a dozen wine glasses on the table! The decisions in most cases were fairly straightforward: starters and main were clear-cut, as were the wines, though dessert took a bit more deliberation. We have finally ended up with:

• STARTERS
  mushroom & tarragon soup
  cocktail of melon and exotic fruits with sorbet (the sorbet is passion fruit - amazing!)

• MAIN
  chicken in parma ham on asparagus & lemon sauce (no contest on this one!)

• DESSERT
  cinnamon poached pear with white chocolate sauce (had to get cinnamon in there somewhere!)
  lemon tart with raspberry coulis

The food is going to be wonderful!!!