Visitors

Every now and then HHF receives visitors, either for a lunch/dinner or far flung friends passing through and who may or may not stay overnight.

This weekend the second group is listed on the schedule. A long time friend of Jeans from Benalla who attends Sydney once or twice each year for shopping and during the Autumn excursion drives that extra 150 kilometres to stay for the weekend with us. On this occasion she will bring her daughter which presents us with a slight additional accommodation adjustment. There is only one spare double bed in the guest room. Yes, they could share but being us, a clean up of the sewing/store/other room is performed and with the aid of some fold up camping mattresses the friend is bringing will make all comfortable.

Visitors bring all manner of wonders to HHF. That is to say the lawns have been mown and edges trimmed. The garden beds tidied and the house thoroughly cleaned (almost). Sometimes it seems that housekeeping is tied completely to the ebb and flow of visitors.

Then there is the menu planning. Not that there is going to be a major change in diet, it's just that the bar goes that little bit higher and an effort is made to showcase as much HHF output as possible.

Some of the extra efforts go into ensuring a good smattering of the following are on hand:

• Raw milk yogurt in sufficient quantity to satisfy four adults for three meals.
• At least three different types of bread, ciabatta, Sourdough Pumpkin and Sesame and a plain Sourdough
• Two different home made chocolates. Plain wafer thin (shards) and a chunky roasted peanut and Coconut shred.
• Several cheeses. Havarti aged in grape marc, Hispanico and a not quite perfectly ready camembert (a timing issue which could lead to the sacking of the chief cheese maker)
• Various forms of alcohol. Cider, Perry, Sparkling wine and red and white table wine which are all the products of HHF.
• Numerous dips, sauces and biscuits. Hummous, Sardine dip, Salsa Verde, Dukkah, Flax Crackers, Pesto, Socca.

Finally there is the menu plan. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Salmon Fillets with Salsa Verde for Friday dinner, Caesar Salad for Saturday and Tagine Moroccan spiced fish for Sunday. As add-ons there are Quinoa salad, Pea and Ham soup, mushrooms and various steamed vegetables.

Surprisingly this conglomeration of work is a pleasure. It adds body to the preceding week enabling the exploration of cookbooks tracing recipes that match the garden and pantry contents. Some forward planning in cheese production to ensure maturity coincides and an opportunity to clean-up around the place.

Should be more of it.