London luncheon: prep

Oh dear, the world is against me!
The Neal's Yard cheese shop in Covent Garden is closed for refurbishment; and having instructed everyone to meet at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, this area is now closed for the day! To top it off I couldn't find a lamb's shoulder or any cooking chorizo in the supermarket yesterday.

However the weather is smiling and the sunshine is so heart-cheering that I have decided to utilise it to the max. The Gentleman's Walking Bus will now take a detour. After collecting my ragamuffin family, he will conduct them to the Phoenix Garden where I will be waiting, in one of the many secret corners, with our first course of Oysters and hot chorizo sausages. Appropriately, given the Alice in Wonderland-esque gardens, I have asked my parents' to entertain us with a rendition of the 'Walrus and the Carpenter': I am certain the oysters in my bag will find a similar fate to those in the poem

Cooking for 9 in our tiny kitchen is a challenge, so I took a half day off work yesterday to shop, and prepare every last thing that could be done in advance. Potato salad; rhubarb and ginger to go on the pavlova; the meringue base; cheese plates ready; table laid... and of course putting every last piece of cutlery out. As you can see, there are no spare work surfaces to prep with!

On Saturday I was early to Borough Market. I bought lamb from the Ginger Pig (a last-minute panic on size made me buy a leg, rather than shoulder: I would always rather have too much), mini chorizo from Brindisa, and Colchester oysters from the oyster chap (I forget the name, but I got a bargain for buying a dozen!). The Monmouth coffee queue was uncharacteristically reasonable, so I had a quick cappuccino and crispy little something for breakfast.

Back at the flat I hastily threw together salads, prepped the lamb and put it in to cook, before packing the cold Oysters, hot chorizo and heading out into the sunshine.