The Queen of Hearts

Food is so wrapped up with culture and friendship and memory. We have house guests for a couple of nights. Really, they are here for a wedding that does not involve us. As recognition of our offering a bed, they took us to the pub for a meal. But MrsM only feels we have made people truly welcome if we have fed them, so we compromised on beginning in the pub and having pudding at home
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When visitors arrive, they are greeted with tea; ideally, tea is accompanied by cake; ideally, the cake is home made. When there is spare pastry, it must be put to good use. All this is MrsM's magic; MrsM's affection is a key ingredient, along with 4 varieties of apple, nuts, apricots, damsons and lemons. Our friends' wedding feast is not until 3pm; they will need a hearty breakfast. I have made a fresh loaf and there will be home made preserves and a selection of honeys

We spent the evening in nostalgic reminiscences but, again, they centred around food, especially in our childhood. Cheese truckles, saveloys, salting beans for winter, Italian ice-cream parlours, home made butter (or butter barrels in London shops), beef dripping, pork butchers, bacon cut in the shop on a lethal machine - to the customer's specified thickness, cafes serving milky coffee in thick glass cups and saucers

I don't know what has happened to the jam tarts