My brother Ant is marrying the beautiful Felicite in March. They’re childhood sweethearts who have stayed together despite distance, tragedy and my brother’s insistence on eating things he hunts. Flic is a better bird than me; had And and I not been related, I would have bolted after the venison lasagna incident of 2011.
Ant and Flic have invited my girls to be their flower girls on the big day. I cannot impress upon them what a bad idea I think this is. I think their rose-coloured glasses are distorting their view of the Little Sister’s temperament. Regardless, on Sunday I took the girls into Currimundi to meet Felicite’s sister and her kids who will make up the rest of the four child component of the wedding party.
On the drive in, I read my girls the riot act. I spoke to them about making a good impression. I reminded them about how much we love Felicite and that their behaviour would show Flic’s family how much we love her. The term “right thing, first time” was bandied around a bit. It wasn’t until we made it to the last set of lights that something in the footwell caught my eye.
The catch up went well. The kids were fast friends. We shared fish and chips for lunch, which gave me an opportunity to redeem myself with some homemade tomato sauce that I’d brought for them.
homemade tomato sauce
Ingredients:
1.5kg ripe tomatoes
2 large brown onions
1 green apple
3 cloves garlic
½ cup sugar
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
6 cloves
1 ½ cups white vinegar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tbs salt
Method:
Roughly chop the tomatoes, onion, apple and garlic. Combine all ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for two hours. After two hours, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Use a handheld stick mixer to blend to smooth. Return to heat and cook fro a further hour. Pour into sterilised bottles. Serve with meat pies, chips, corned beef fritters and just about anything else if you’re Bearhands.
The tomato sauce was well received and I think it almost managed to distract from my odd footwear. Seriously though, Ant’s new in-laws should be under no illusion about how crazy our family are – they’ve known him since high school!
any tips for getting the best out of flower girls?
are you a tomato sauce smotherer?
Great, I have been meaning to give tomato sauce a go as my younger two smother it on everything and I imagine your version is a lot healthier than the store bought!
And we have all been guilty of the “be on best behaviour, good impression” chat but I’m sure your girls would be naturally charming and gorgeous. 😉