Exactly Full

C is away from our home this weekend and I am too. I'm so looking forward to being surrounded by my family, eating with them all weekend long. And, I just love the thought of being "exactly full."

Wishing you all a very happy Bank Holiday and leaving you with an excerpt from a Craig Arnold poem from his collection Made Flesh, found, with lots of other beautiful words and feelings, here.

Here is a small cafe
opening for breakfast
a zinc counter catching the light
at every angle in bright rings of glitter
A cup of black coffee is placed before you
brimming with rainbow-colored foam
a packet of sugar a pat of butter
a split roll of bread
scored and toasted and still warm
The butter is just soft enough to spread
the coffee hot and sugared to perfect sweetness
the bread grilled to the palest brown
crisp but not quite dry
You tear it nearly into pieces
eat them slowly when you finish
you are exactly full

Spring Clean

We've treated our wee kitchen to a Spring clean, a new blind and a fresh lick of paint in Pavilion Blue "a cheerful, attractive, straightforward blue that shares the stylish Scandinavian quality of Pavilion Gray." We hope you agree.

Now we just have to figure out how we fit all of the things that were evacuated to our Dining Room, during the freshen up, back in. Oh, and, new for 2010, a lavender and rosemary window box, coming soon with it's sweet scents.

Nothing succeeds like excess

It really doesn't take much to convince me, at anytime, that my need for cake is great.

This website is excessive. Excessively brilliant. Despite the incongruous name.

Just when I thought I'd narrowed it down to this one


Up pops this delicious looking sweetness
The man behind these is a genius.

If you're keen to try and like me, easily confused by the whole "cup" thing, go here, your problem will be solved. (I already have my own, about to be put to excellent use, thanks Erin.)

Is it wrong to lick the screen?

Supper Four

Spring blossomed for our fourth Supper Club.

It started with this

And ended with this

With this

And this, in between

We didn’t get chance to snap the main course, but I assure you it looked delicious and resulted in clean plates (apart from bones) all round.

Menu Four

To start
Tuna Three Ways: Mousse; Carpaccio; Seared.

To follow
Rare Roast Rack of Lamb, Broad Beans, Lettuce, Peas, Potato Rosti.

To finish
Deconstructed Rhubarb, Rosewater Pavlovas.

New Season Lamb

As well as the blue skies and daffodils, there's something else to be excited about.

Easter, just days ago, marked the start of the new lamb season. There’s actually a real foodie debate around exactly when “new season” lamb arrives, some saying the meat is far more flavoursome in May. But, I'm going with Easter, on the basis that if it's good enough for Gordon Ramsay, it’s good enough for me and I can't wait to get cooking!

It is true however that from May onwards and throughout the summer, the lamb will have benefited from a more relaxed start to life and time to graze on grass and therefore the flavour will be more developed and intense, but for now I’m going to start dreaming up some recipes for the first lamb of the season which is now available from one of excellent suppliers, George Bower.

Lamb goes well with a variety of flavours, some of them surprisingly strong and powerful. Cheaper cuts of lamb such as neck are best used in casseroles and stews and I’m looking forward to cooking up a Morrocon dish with mint, garlic and rosemary for a tasty midweek meal. And, perhaps something a bit more special which I can never resist when I see it on a menu: rack of lamb. I’m thinking about cooking it with a herb crust and serving it with a mint and pea puree.

I have a feeling that lamb will be coming very soon to plates at Charlie and Evelyn’s Table too...

Waitrose Kitchen

I have often sneaked a copy of Waitrose Food Illustrated onto the conveyor belt at the end of a shop and happily thumbed its pages, so I was definitely intrigued and excited when I saw a billboard featuring Delia and Heston and the new Waitrose Kitchen launch edition shortly afterwards in stores. The magazine has a new look but the content is mainly a refreshed version of the Waitrose Food Illustrated formula; that works for me.

As for the Smith/Blumenthal partnership, I love the idea but feel it got off to a shaky start with Delia's admission that the two have "only just met" (at a recent photo shoot). Could they not have made the effort before? I get the feeling that they'd probably rather not work together but they were offered a deal which neither could refuse and valued at £10m, who wouldn't work with anyone and break their "policy against advertising commercial brands"? If only the egos and value didn't make it all too contrived...

Then again, who am I kidding? It has the makings of a great campaign, TV ads are taking over entire commercial breaks at a time and even if it's not a credible pairing, I won't resist the weekly recipe cards or ingredient pimping. Well done Waitrose.

Birthday Feast: Menu

To nibble

Haggis Bon Bons
Salmon Blinis
Mini Brushcetta
Petite Salmon and Crab Fishcakes with Lime Mayonnaise
Tandoori Stuffed Mushrooms
A Bite of Rare Roasted Beef, Yorkshire Pudding and Horseradish Cream

For main course

Chicken with Aubergine Ragout
Classic Beef Bourginon
Mushroom Coulibiac
Homemade Breads
Potato Salad
Green Salad
Watercress and Grapefruit Salad
Tomato and Red Onion Salad

For cheese lovers

Brie de Meaux
Stilton
Cheddar
Double Gloucester
Goat's Cheese

For pudding

Petite Orange and Passion Fruit Pavlovas
Celebration Brownies with Gin Soaked Sultanas
Iced Raspberries and Blueberries with Hot White Chocolate Sauce

It's a celebration

For those readers who have been wondering, we survived. As well as helping our clients to celebrate a special birthday with family and friends, we also celebrated (as much as tiredness would allow) our first "in your home" catering for significant numbers. It went well and we had lots of compliments on our menu and presentation. Of course, there are lessons learned ready for our next booking but we were very grateful for the opportunity and the chance to spread the words Charlie and Evelyn's Table to East Lothian.

Whether it's a small gathering for drinks and canapes, a dinner party or a full scale celebration, we're ready to provide some interesting and delicious food choices. All handmade with genuine passion and attention to detail, our menus will contribute to the enjoyment of your occasion.