time for tea

"come to tea" ... back home in the good old republic of sa, would mean...
pop in, around three in the afternoon. i'll organize a cake/cream scones or summat, i'll put out the good tea set on the good tray, i'll make tea in an actual teapot! then we can spend an hour or so chatting before you go home!

not so in the (not so) united kingdom.

here, for the most part, "come and have your tea with us" is an invitation to enjoy the evening meal with friends.

my good friend shona is most generous with her invitations to break bread with her clan. she is also a magnificent cook! myself, having spent the past six plus years feeding (for the most part) only myself...
well let's just say, when it comes to entertaining, i have grown somewhat idle!
result, i am most likely to invite my pal round for lunch and offer her a truly delicious (and easily prepared) ham, cheese and salad roll.

week before last, i was overcome with remorse and decided that it was high time shona and andy enjoyed a proper meal, prepared by yours truly. i decided on a lamb casserole and for pud ... my specialty ... bread and butter pudding. prepared for all eventualities, such as, myself suddenly losing interest in pudding making ...
i also purchased one of those delicious frozen chocolate gateau from the asda in girvan. unfortunately the small ones had sold out...
ah well, the huge, rich, creamy one, would just have to do.
safe! every eventuality covered, i popped said choccy cake in the freezer.
as it happened, i happily baked the bread and butter pudding (note to self ... british bread is not ideal for bread and butter pudding) and the gateau stayed in the freezer.

a terrible temptation, every time i opened the freezer to extract on of my "weighless", under 300 calorie meals...
there it was ...
"the cake", frozen but none the less tempting.

last night adam and michelle invited me around for supper, i defrosted "the cake" and took it north with me to the farm ... sharing being the only way i know of not eating the whole damn thing myself! i put it on a plate and parked it on the passenger seat next to me where i could 'keep an eye on it'. hah! forgot about how extra bumpy that farm road is just after a rain and in the dark ...
enough said, "the cake" arrived in more or less one piece but my passenger seat is now a kind of chocolate gateau disaster area.

what can i say, these things are sent to try us.