November 6, 2007

ESD XXIV Cosy nights by the fire...



When the wind chills your cheeks, and the damp night seeps into your bones, the best thing to do is gather yourself up, and head for a warm hearth and the company of friends. I love the summer, and the coming winter always makes me a little melancholy, but last night's dinner with old and new ESD friends banished the gloom of winter, even if just for the night.

Fra Jacques gave us a brief history lesson on the Middle Eastern problem, and when talking of his life in Palestine, you could almost feel the sandy heat blasting from the desert (or maybe that was Luigi who had just thrown another log on the fire...).

And the menu itself also lessened the heavy weight of the coming winter, with a risotto made from the first radicchio di Treviso--reminding us that the cold winter also brings us some joys--red chicory, chestnuts, steaming bowls of soup, nights by the fire, and the cosy company of friends.

Penny Heysen

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