Lemons and a Random act of Kindness

There is something magical about food, and whenever I mention to someone that I have started writing a recipe book there is always a reaction. People always, without exception, talk to you about food, their favourite, their fantasy meal, or a recipe they tried out. Forget talking about the weather to get a conversation going – talk food.

This week something amazing happened. I have been grinning like a lunatic since I was called by a small successful publisher and they want to see me next week. I owe a huge thank you to a lady called Heather, who is a seriously amazing agent in the literary world. Although sadly she wasn’t able to represent me she put herself out of her way yesterday morning to give me some great leads. Her words were like rocket fuel, and I wasn’t going to let them go to waste. So the advice I followed resulted in the meeting next week. Really .. it was a good job that the interested publisher got my answer machine, and not me, because the whoop of delight as I listened to her message was as though I had got the winning numbers of the lottery ..no louder!

Now I have butterflies.

This random act of kindness reminded me of an incident that happened to me aged 19. Returning to the Dordogne from Paris I had my bag stolen. I was so upset I managed to board the wrong train and ended up in Toulouse instead of Brive. Hungry, with no money, no passport and no idea what to do, I went to the station loo. In came an impeccably dressed French lady, to use the loo, and found me red eyed and slightly hysterical. She gave me 50 Francs. More than enough to get a meal and catch a train back to Brive. I asked for her address to return the money, but she refused to give it to me. She asked, instead, that whenever I had the opportunity to do a good deed that I pass it in the same way, and the good deed would return to her when she needed it most. Almost two decades later and I am still passing on good deeds. That 50 Francs has gone a long way, and I hope each time that it will reach her. Perhaps this advice was part of a bigger loop?

There was a marvellous recipe in a magazine I read called Delicious for Lemon Curd Ice Cream. I can’t recommend the recipe or the magazine enough. Squeezing the juicy lemons made got me all citrusy. With the asparagus season coming to an end this week’s recipes are based around Lemon & Asparagus. I think the Quiche recipe is outstanding, it will be in Saturday’s Chronicle and Echo.

Speaking of good deeds, I always try and buy my Fruit and vegetables from Stephen Troop, from K F Troop and Son green Grocers, Brixworth. I’ve even started cycling in to pick up my bits. Yesterday though, I had to take the car, as he lent me a large box of his prize lemons for an hour for the photos. Food makes a wonderful thank you. I made it back up the village as fast I could with a large cone topped with a large dollop of Lemon Curd Ice Cream, luckily I passed him in his van as he was off to do deliveries, before the ice-cream had the chance to melt.