31st October
With it being Halloween last week Sussex was alive with glowing pumpkins, rustling sweet bags and interesting attire. There was a multitude of toffee apples going around which got me thinking about the apple sauce I’d made earlier in the day, and after quietly musing over the details of tonight’s roast I took to assembling the rotisserie.
We catered for a group of around 50 people; a decent size meaning there will be plenty who’re welcome to seconds. It’s understandable that people like variety, and that’s why this particular group went for the spring lambs along with the homemade burgers. Overall it was a massive feast in proportion to the mouths that needed to be fed, but it’s definitely better to have plenty left over than not enough!
There were quite a few children running around and in between rest periods the burgers proved perfect for their kamikaze eating habits. Some of the kids were amused by the apron I was wearing (albeit not a very creative costume) but their faces turned to a state of spaced-out indulgence when they got their mouths around some of the crackling.
There were rakes of sweets of course, but everybody wanted to make sure they had had their fill of meat before hitting dessert. The spectacle of the hog dominated naturally, but it is always good to see the lamb enjoyed just the same. A good deal of care goes into it which seemed to register in the guise of hushed munching.
A few of the more inquisitive parents asked a couple of questions about preparation techniques which was welcome, but ultimately I was free to watch the festivities as the pig, slowly but surely, diminished in size. It became easier for everybody to chip away at the pork via buns, and I was pleased to see my apple sauce get a good workout.
Once everybody was fed and wine glasses were sufficiently filled the cold seemed to disappear. The rain went easy on us thankfully so a gazebo wasn’t necessary, proof once again that one of the best ways to combat the cold weather is to roast a pig!
Some of the younger kids bit the dust quite early, and soon to follow were most people who wore a mask. As things winded down it was good to have left an imprint on this spooky date. Everybody seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the roast…It was a thought which replayed in my head before clearing up and moving on.