Dinner and a talk
Tonight I did a library talk with a long time writing friend of mine, and since it was at my local library, I invited her and her husband over for an early dinner before the talk.
My friend is gluten intolerant, and I’d planned a chicken pie and had expected to buy ready made gluten-free puff pastry — BUT none of the nearby supermarkets had any — why???— so I decided to make the puff pastry myself from scratch. It was quite a process, and though it wasn’t quite the light puff pastry I’d hoped for, it worked well enough and was tasty and my guests enjoyed it. But I don’t think I’ll ever make it again! <g>.
For dessert I made this Lemon Ricotta Almond cake, which turned out really well, though if I made it again I’d use more lemon zest and maybe some lemon juice, as it wasn’t quite lemony enough for my taste. (The recipe is here.) I’ll definitely make it again as it was delicious. I served it with a blueberry and raspberry coulis and fresh cream and my guests were very happy to take a good-sized piece home.
The talk went very well. I was impressed that anyone bothered to come out as it was a very cold winter night and had been raining off and on all day, so we were really pleased to see quite a good crowd.
My friend and I know each other pretty well and were writing buddies before we were both published. So we were fairly relaxed and the talk was quite wide ranging.
I always enjoy talking to people about writing, and there were several aspiring writers in the audience, and a number of readers as well, so it was a lovely mix. Thank you to all the people who turned out on a chilly night to listen to us, and thank you to Shea, the organizer from the Preston Library.
