The life of an impresario has its strange turns. The Russian choir, Voskresenije, is returning to Dunoon this evening, and despite the acquisition of an army of helpers, I still feel responsible for their arrival, the audience numbers, the cash generated by the event and so on. So far so normal. But I spent an unreasonably long time this morning making what we used to know as the Hesperians Wassail Bowl - a sticky, slightly alcoholic concoction which our first choir in Dunoon used to serve up at our carol concerts. Because though I never dreamed of doing refreshments when I had sole responsibility for the arrangements, it seemed a Good Idea when the group considering this year's event ... well, considered it, actually.It all looked quite jolly, with the lemons strewn over the worktop (right) - but for some reason the large pan, which you can see simmering away in the background, took over an hour to come to the boil. In the end I shoved the glass lid from my wok over it and reached boiling point, by which time I too was at boiling point having run out of runny honey and having to run down the road to procure some. I hope all these different runnings convey an adequate picture of my travails. You can add a visual image of a steaming kitchen and a steaming Mrs B...
Meanwhile, in the background, a phone is ringing.
it was lovely, though. more pineappley than I was expecting, and less sweet than your telling of it. (or perhaps I had overdosed on Sharon's fabulous carrot cake, and my taste buds were awry.)
ReplyDeleteA good night all around. And who'd have ever thought I'd say that about 'the Russian invasion'??
Poor Mrs. B....sweltering over the cookstove. Hmmm...ah, yes, I think my imagination is such that I can almost smell the lemons and "runny honey". hehehe
ReplyDeleteFrom the sounds of it, it must have been a rather glorious evening. Ah, to get out of the house for something other than running teen-agers about......
Well all that sweltering did the trick because the Wassail Bowl was a welcome innovation to the Russian Invasion. I thought the ambiance of the whole event was an improvement on previous years and recreated the excitement of the First Russian Invasion. A big crowd helped too.
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