In case you have run out of good books to read during the ‘big freeze’ here is a little peach….oooppps  apple!

Lovely, charming and easy reading plus you get an amazing recipe for fish pie….

I have (with the authors permission) taken an extract… so you get the flavour of the writing and the fish pie….

A darn good read….enjoy x

She took the food out of the bag.

The smoked haddock was dyed bright yellow but you probably couldn’t get the natural sort in Europa. A good big fillet of cod. Milk. Quail’s eggs. Button mushrooms. Capers. Prawns. Evangeline had done well, but she was standing looking uncertain.

‘You get dressed and made-up, and I’ll get on with this. I’ve had my bath, and it won’t take me a moment to get ready.’

‘Right.’ She still stood there. ‘You don’t need any help?’

‘No. I’m fine. The food you bought looks great.’

Evangeline smiled her little girl’s smile and went back into her room.

Dora put the fish in milk in the oven and began to make a white sauce with the rest of the Frascati. She mashed the potatoes, used the milk from the cooked fish to complete the sauce, and put the dish together. Then she laid the table, arranged the fruit and cheese and put the Smarties in a glass bowl. Evangeline came back just as she finished.

‘God, Dora, you are so quick.’ She genuinely admired Dora’s abilities.

‘The fish pie’s in the oven heating gently. I’ll go and transform myself now.’

********************************

‘What are we doing now?’

‘Oh, just fish pie, Richard.’

‘I bet it’s got a twist if I know anything about you.’

‘Well, yes, it’s got smoked fish, prawns, mushrooms and capers.’

‘Ah, capers. Brilliant touch. Original?’

‘No, I got it from the mother of a friend.’

They discussed food for a bit. The air was filling with smoke. Everyone had brought bottles of wine. Johnnie, a Lloyds broker, had brought three bottles of champagne. He loved straying out of his own milieu into what he always thought of as the arty crowd. 

 Available from Amazon