May article

May  2009

Other months might have more obvious foody connections but I have a soft spot for May. For a start my mother gave it to me as a middle name (a privilege I passed on to my eldest daughter) so of course I feel a special kinship. But how could anyone living our part of the world look out at their garden or surrounding countryside right now and not be touched by something special? Bluebell woods, wild garlic, cherry blossom and allotments brimming with green promise of a bumper harvest. Lucky, lucky us!

As much as I would love to frolic full-time in all this gorgeousness I have to put down my pan pipes and get back in the kitchen. As well as the usual Bank Holiday get-togethers I notice my catering diary this month is full of hen parties. With happy memories of my own May wedding in Hope Bowdler, I am delighted to get involved in other people’s especially as, for reasons I can’t quite recall, I didn’t have a pre-wedding ladies’night. In fact, the last hen party I attended (as opposed to cooked for) was my friend Ellen’s. We celebrated in grand style and as mother to her two bridesmaids I felt very proud to be part of it all - right up to my arrival on the morning clutching two sumptuous London-designed dresses that is.

I rushed in to the bride’s hotel room and in a series of mental snapshots took in the fact that the bride’s mother was sitting on a hat box weeping, the father was drinking heavily and looking even more hangdog than usual and Ellen was wearing jeans.

As we sat on the hotel bathroom floor my old school friend explained how her future plans did not now include marrying Mike after all and she was very sorry not to have let me know sooner. Her brother (the best man) seized the moment to tell his stricken (and somewhat poorer) parents he was indeed gay. This news was rather lost in all those tears and invoices which made Ellen and me realise he wasn’t as daft as we had thought.

Unlike Ellen’s ‘un-wedding’ where food didn’t figure highly (although my girls did come home with carrier bags of sugared almonds in little favour boxes)I do note with interest what brudes-to-be tend to choose for their ‘hens’ to eat. On the whole they steer away from anything too trendy or lightweight preferring the more traditional, not to say stodgy.

This has got me wondering whether there is something to be learnt here in terms of their marriage or even their choice of husband.

With this theme in mind, for starters I would recommend that future brides opt for something (or someone) visually pleasing and downright tasty with enough intrigue about them to keep a girl keen for more. Enter Sweet Potato Gallettes

Which are so delicious and different, if they were ‘grooms’ everyone would be able to see why you chose them. Or how about locally grown asparagus spears on walnut toast with melted butter? Enjoy they while they are still young and slim!

If I could influence the choice of main course I would offer a reminder that traditional virtues shouldn’t be overlooked. For example, some might say reliability is boring. I say better that than the alternative. After messing around with odd dishes that looked the part or satisfied a craving or worse still dishes that you go back to even though they obviously only upset you, I often suggest that my hens look at chicken in a new light.Crowsmore are my preferred choice:local, well bred and you know they have had a good life without any risk of them passing on something nasty. As with marriage surely if the main ingredient is top quality you won’t go far wrong but you should always be willing to put in some effort to keep it interesting.

Now for Happy ever afters: when consulting girls about their dessert choices for their hen night I am interested to see how frequently they opt for real comfort food. It seems that although a little passion fruit sorbet sounds like a nice ideahot chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice-cream is what really hits the spot. I can’t say I blame them. After all, there will always be times when you could do with a hug from the one you love and I think this sort of pudding is a hug in a bowl.

As for the cheese board, by offering a carefully chosen selection from Shropshire and its borders I hoped to pass on a valuable truth: Namely that what you already have available to you close to home is as good if not better than more exotic sounding alternatives.

One final thought, my most recent booking asked me if I thought there was any chance of eating her hen party dinner outside.

“Well”I said. “It’s a lovely idea and those first warm rays can be very beguiling. But you must bear in mind that it is almost certain to get a bit chilly at some point later on”.

Hmm this marriage guidance business is running away with me....I’d better have a late hen party of my own. Or maybe a capon party would be more appropriate.

Millys Menus. 2010