We attended our 7th annual village fête yesterday (I sent myself a sick note and took the day off today!) and as I looked around I realised that nearly every couple we've known since we moved here have split up. On the plateau just above us, one neighbour is having an affair with his next-door neighbour's best friend and his wife is having an affair with a much younger work colleague. The husband of the aforementioned next-door neighbour has just run off with his wife's sister. Their next-door neighbours, who were both previously married to other people, were having an affair before her husband was killed in a hunting accident. And their next-door neighbour (female) ran off with the baker's wife. And that's just within 200 yards of us. The mayor in the next village recently left his wife of 20 years for the waitress in their restaurant. And who should the jilted wife turn up with at the fête yesterday - but her husband's mistress! Call me old fashioned, but that seems a bit bizarre to me.I hope all this wife swapping isn't contagious because I kind of like BB (whose take on affairs, incidentally, is: "why would you want more than one woman giving you grief"!).
I made one of my favourite veggie recipes today with hazelnuts (and last year's walnuts) from our tree - a classic nut roast.
Ingredients 40 g/1½ oz butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
225 g/8 oz mixed nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, brazils) coarsely chopped
225 g/8 oz tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
175 g/6 oz wholemeal breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1. Melt the butter in a large pan and fry the onions and celery for 5 minutes.
2. Add the nuts, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and eggs and mix together.
3. Spoon into a greased 450 g/1 lb loaf tin, cover with oiled baking foil and bake for 50-60 minutes in the oven at 220°C/425°F.
♫ Cook along to: O'Jays Back Stabbers
3 comments:
Uhhh, are you SURE it was only "a hunting accident"?
Another song to cook along with, "Harper Valley PTA," written by Tom T. Hall and sung by Jeannie C. Riley!
Hmmm, have you considered using your neighbors' antics as the basis for a roman à clef? Just switch up enough of the identifying details, add a disclaimer about no resemblance to persons living or dead blah-blah-blah (we all know that means there really IS!), then you can't get sued for defamation (of course, you're the lawyer, so you already know the drill).
Kathie, I agree - it reads like a script from that over-the-top British soap "Eastenders". But it's all true!!
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