Alice Ross - The Cotswolds Cookery Club - a deliciously uplifting feel-good read

‘Don’t you dare,’ protested Melody. ‘Yours is one of the few friendly faces I’ve seen in almost a year of living here. In fact, when Malcolm’s away on business, yours is sometimes the only friendly face I see all day.’

‘Don’t tell me that. How can I go and collapse on a sunlounger and sip pina coladas all day now, knowing no one is talking to you here?’

‘You can’t,’ giggled Melody. ‘Which is why you have to stay.’

‘Ah. Not necessarily. Connie’s here now. And she has a very friendly face.’

‘But she’s not staying. The lucky thing is only here temporarily.’

Connie laughed as, having located a vase and filled it from the tap, she began arranging the flowers. ‘Surely it’s not that bad here.’

Melody gave a contemptuous snort. ‘Obviously you haven’t encountered the Residents’ Committee yet.’

‘No. I haven’t.’ Pleased with the arrangement of blooms, Connie placed the vase on the windowsill before moving back to the island and cracking open the bottle of merlot Melody had brought.

‘You’d know if you had,’ said Eleanor. ‘They’re like Rottweilers, ready to pounce on anyone who disobeys the screeds of rules they conjure up from nowhere. Wait until you read next month’s newsletter, then you’ll see what we mean.’

‘After that build-up, I can’t wait to read it,’ chuckled Connie, filling two wine glasses and sliding them across the island to her guests. She’d just filled another for herself when the doorbell struck again – heralding the arrival of Kate.

‘I might have known I’d be the last to arrive,’ the vet chuntered, bustling into the room. ‘Milo threw a tantrum, then threw up. Which made Mia cry and Jemima wail. Thank God for the au pair. If she hadn’t been there to help calm things down, I’d never have made it.’

‘I don’t know how you do it,’ remarked Eleanor. ‘Especially as Andrew never seems to be around.’

Kate furrowed her brow as she slipped onto the stool next to Melody. ‘Andrew? Who’s he again? The name is ringing a very distant bell.’ She slapped a hand to her forehead. ‘Oh! You mean the man I occasionally wake up to find in my bed. Actually, he arrived home just as I was leaving, so I saw him for thirty seconds. Which is thirty seconds longer than most days. In fact, he was away all last week on a course and the ever so slightly terrifying thing was, we hardly even noticed.’

‘I know what you mean,’ said Melody. ‘My husband, Malcolm, works really long hours too. But he never works weekends. In fact, I’ve banned all work talk between five o’clock on a Friday and eight o’clock Monday morning.’

‘Impressive,’ said Kate, accepting the glass of wine Connie handed her. ‘You obviously know what you’re doing. But to ban all work talk would imply that you two do actually engage in conversation. Something Andrew and I do very little of these days.’

‘It can only get better,’ chipped in Eleanor. ‘At least he’s there occasionally. My Frank was nowhere near perfect but I still miss him every day. Even though it’s four years now since he passed.’

‘I know.’ Kate reached across and briefly touched Eleanor’s hand. ‘I shouldn’t grumble. Especially when I see how lonely Dad is since Mum died.’

She broke off as Eleanor sputtered on her wine.

‘Sorry. Went down the wrong way.’

Kate flashed her a sympathetic smile before going on. ‘We lost Mum two years ago,’ she explained to Connie. ‘Dad used to be a GP in the village. They’d had such plans for their retirement, but then she died. Completely unexpectedly. And since then he just rattles around without purpose. I’m trying to persuade him to take up a new hobby, but I’m not hopeful. He’s lost all interest in life. But anyway, that’s enough of my woes. What about you, Connie? Anyone special in your life?’

Connie shook her head. ‘No. I was with someone for five years, but a few months ago I came home to find him in bed with one of his work colleagues.’

‘Bloody hell,’ gasped Eleanor, blue-rimmed eyes wide as she gazed at their host over the top of her wine glass. ‘I hope you gave them what for.’

‘I suppose I did. I had one of those “seeing red” moments, where I completely lost it and threw lots of things around – including the chicken biryani I’d taken home as a surprise.’

‘Ha! Good for you,’ sniggered Melody. ‘I bet that added a bit of spice to the proceedings. And ruined the sheets.’

‘I don’t know about the sheets, but it certainly mucked up his partner in crime’s hair. As mad as it was, I couldn’t believe it still looked immaculate after what they’d obviously been doing.’

‘In that case, whatever they’d been doing can’t have been up to much,’ tittered Eleanor.

Connie giggled. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

‘There you go then,’ piped up Melody. ‘You’re not missing much.’

‘Definitely not,’ agreed Kate. ‘I had a similar thing once at university. I’d paid a surprise visit to my boyfriend at the time, only to discover him in bed with one of the lecturers. A male one.’

‘No!’ gasped Melody.

Kate nodded. ‘And I won’t tell you what the lecturer was wearing. Suffice to say it was red and frilly.’

‘Well, I never,’ chuckled Eleanor. ‘And I thought stuff like that only happened on the telly.’

‘Real life is so much more interesting,’ confirmed Kate. ‘In fact, I could go on. But I won’t. It might put us off our food. And talking of food, I’m starving. And so looking forward to eating something that doesn’t come in the shape of an alphabet letter. Before we start, though, I think we should raise a toast to Connie’s wonderful idea. And to the inaugural meeting of the cookery club.’ She lifted her glass. ‘To Connie and the Cotswolds Cookery Club.’

‘Connie and the Cotswolds Cookery Club,’ echoed the others, clinking their glasses to hers.

Along with her nerves about potentially setting alight the entire county of Gloucestershire, together with some parts of Wiltshire, and possibly even the odd suburb of Oxfordshire, Connie had also been slightly wary about asking her guests to help prepare the dishes. A complete waste of wariness, as she soon discovered the women couldn’t wait to help.

Connie having marinated the lamb steaks with rosemary for thirty minutes before her guests arrived, Eleanor took over the cooking of the main dish. Under Connie’s direction, she wiped off the marinade, seasoned the meat with salt and pepper, then laid the steaks – along with plum tomatoes – in a pan, searing them for two minutes. Removing the pan from the heat, she then added redcurrant jelly and vinegar, whisked it to a dressing and threw in a handful of capers. The steaks were then sliced and placed on the plate of watercress and tomatoes Melody had prepared.

‘This looks delicious,’ said Melody, crumbling feta cheese over the meat, before spooning on the dressing. ‘I’m dying to try it. Although I really shouldn’t have pigged out on those crostinis.’

‘Far too moreish,’ agreed Kate. ‘But I think I may just have a weeny bit of space left for that. And might even be able to squeeze in a little of the panna cotta too.’

‘Rude not to,’ said Eleanor. ‘And I vote we make a start on that lamb before it goes cold.’

Connie plonked a basket of crusty bread down on the island. ‘Tuck in,’ she instructed.

The group required no further encouragement…

‘God, don’t tell my husband,’ puffed Melody a short while later. ‘He paid a fortune for my birthday meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant in London last month. Tonight’s meal, though, was far better. In fact, I’d go as far to say it was one of the best I’ve ever had.’