Come dine with me.

Supper last night certainly lived up to York's latest accolade, being voted on Trip Advisor the best destination for food and wine in the UK  and the 5th in the whole world!  Yaaaaaay!

There's something very comforting and nurturing about eating food you haven't cooked yourself.   Thankfully, despite my cold,  the taste buds were still able to do justice to the succession of scrumptious dishes Janet and Mark put in front of us.  First up was a pearl barley salad with pomegranate seeds and herbs (sadly forgot to take picture, at this point - too busy catching up and quaffing copious quantities of wine), then a lentil galette, served with roasted squash and other root veggies.  Next came an apple tarte tatin with cream/creme fraiche, finishing with a beautifully ripe cheese brought from France and washed down with Port.  Absolutely yummy!

It was great to catch up with family news and I specially love hearing different music - last night Elbow, Noah and the Whale and Amy Winehouse (among many others) provided the backdrop to the evening.  One of the reasons Spotify appeals to me is that friends can send me music I wouldn't normally listen to,  constantly broadening musical horizons.

Anyway I'm so glad I didn't let the cold get the upper hand, there's nothing better than an evening chewing the fat with friends to banish the autumn blues.  They say that laughing is good for your health and we certainly did a lot of that. Janet mentioned that when the weather turns cold, she still gives Almanac an airing - the cover sweater of Knits for all Seasons designed nearly twenty years ago.  I love hearing stories of sweaters from my back catalogue still being worn, proving that all those years spent absorbing the Ralph Lauren ethos of enduring style over fleeting fashion weren't wasted.

Being the cat buff that I am,  I can't finish without mentioning Benny - a cat of mature years who's been a bit of an adventurer and definitely knows his own mind.  Mark and Janet used to live in our street and Benny also, but not with them.  He actually lived with another family and for reasons known only to himself,  decided to move over the road and took up residence with Mark and Janet before they moved.  Since then he's lived happily with Janet's parents in a different town altogether when the builders were in their new home, but has finally quit the wanderlust and settled down  in their new house.  A feline Gulliver who enjoys a bit of variety in life and knows his own mind - like all cats I suppose.  It was good to see him again.