Fiona hated school and couldn’t wait to leave but as her birthday was in December she was informed she would not be allowed to leave school with her classmates at the start of the summer break. Instead she would have to return to school after the summer and stay until the Christmas holidays…unless she was going to college.
On hearing this she went straight to the local college to apply for a course, any course. Unfortunately she hadn’t discovered this loophole until relatively late and every college course was filled with the exception of one, catering.
And that’s how Fiona became a chef.
Though she had stumbled into the profession over the following decades she gained a wealth of experience in every area of the catering industry, an industry not noted for the work/life balance it offers. Chefs work long unsocial hours which can play havoc with their social lives.
So when Fiona was invited by the Executive Chef to join the kitchen at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrew’s, working straight days Monday to Friday with every weekend off she was understandably delighted. She loved her job and would often regale me with tales from the kitchen that had me crying with laughter. A hugely valued member of the team she won the accolade of ‘most popular’ shortly before she became ill.
It would seem fitting therefore to offer within this anthology a recipe for angel cake. However Fiona wasn’t a pastry chef and rarely baked cakes. That’s not to say she couldn’t she simply didn’t. Though Fiona wasn’t known for her cake mix she loved to mix a cocktail or two! Her favourite was the cosmopolitan though she often got the measures mixed up which caused more than the odd hiccup! Despite repeated attempts she never seemed to get it quite right.
One sunny Sunday {shortly before we discovered her cancer had returned with a vengeance} we whiled the afternoon away at the best cocktail bar in town where the marvellous mixologist custom-made cocktails for us. I asked him the recipe for cosmopolitans and it turned out she had been mixing double the alcohol and half the mixer…oops well that explains a few headaches! So instead of an angel cake recipe here is the recipe for cosmopolitans…
Cosmopolitan
2 measures of citron vodka
1 measure of Cointreau
1 measure of Fresh lime juice
1.5 measures of cranberry juice
Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Strain into a large cocktail glass
Garnish with twist of orange peel flamed over the glass and serve.
This post is dedicated to the team at The Old Course Hotel, St Andrew’s who took such fabulous care of Fiona. Your support was greatly appreciated by the entire family, thank you all so much x
I’m keeping this one thank you luv it. Xxxx