A Last Supper

When Matt lived in Provo before we were married, he lived in an apartment which he and his roommates christened "The Bird and the Bullock." While this apartment didn't live up to the images of an English public house that its name might conjure, it did house a rather interesting group of young men and their various hangers-on. Besides Matt there lived Travis and the brothers Shannon, Avram and Samuel. Although it's been about two years, the roommates have kept in close contact depsite marriage, babies, etc.

Avram, however, is breaking up that old gang of ours, not with wedding bells, but with the bells of Christ Church Cathedral as he is attending Oxford in the fall. To prepare, he and his wife and child have left to go to his home in Virginia for the summer. To celebrate and say farewell, the Bird and Bullock and entourage reassembled last weekend here in Mapleton to enjoy an English meal of goose, meat pie, potatoes, veggies, rolls, and plum pudding. (All came expect Samuel, who had already left to prepare for his upcoming nutpials in Nauvoo).

Thora wanted to take pictures of the event, but forgot her camera, so here are some pics for her.



This is the meat pie Matt made using a recpie from his "Master and Commander" cookbook. Very tasty. And it wasn't dropped this time, so it looks beautiful too. It also doubled as a creative project for his King Arthur class. The little decorations on the top are suppose to represent aspects of the Sir Gawain story. I am shamed to admit that I'm not familiar with the tale and cannot explain the significance of these symbols.



Here are the remains of the goose and the meat pie. Avram and Thora made the goose, and it was also very good. Much hilarity ensued when we realized noone knew how to carve a bird. I was made fun of for rejecting the idea of googling it for looking in a cookbook. In the end Matt, Avram, and I all had a go at carving the bird, and it must have worked because it looks pretty carved.



After stuffing ourselves with food, most we're feeling rather lethargic, except for baby Lydia, who was feeling rather lethargic and very unhappy, and Travis, who believed he had food poisoning and was feeling lethargic and unwell. So Matt drove the Shannons to Provo in hopes Lydia would sleep and in search of baby painkillers and ice cream. Travis's wife Heather went off in search of fizzy drink and medicine to calm the g.i. Those remaining napped in the living room while I prepared for round two: plum pudding.



My first plum pudding - and I think it turned out great. We ordered a mold for six bucks from ebay and it worked great. My only bit of trouble was the caramel sauce, but it tasted fine. I was very pleased.

After we had stuffed ourselves again with plum pudding, mincemeat pie, ice cream and cadbury chocolate, it was determined that Lydia's and Travis's situation hadn't improved and the respective parties gathered to go home, but not before a few last pictures.



This is RoseE, who took this and the following pictures. A former member of "The Bird and Bullock" harem, she is an intelligent young English major who also featured prominantly in the French Corpus Christi play (stay tuned for a future post).



Here are Michelle and Heidi. Michelle was also a member of the harem, having been romantically linked to both Samuel and Travis (although not at the same time) and being Thora's best friend. She and Heidi were roommates for two years, so when they get together much poking and tickling ensues. Also, Heidi explains to Michelle her sewing ambitions, since Michelle is an accomplished seamstress and home ec teaching major.



Here is the happy couple of Travis and Heather. Their epic tale of love and the arduous journey to their eventual marriage is beyond the scope of the post, or even this blog. But everyone is very happy that they did get married last December and are expecting a little girl.



Poor teething Lydia looked like this often during the meal, which aroused our sympathies and her parents' endless patience. When she's not indisposed, Lydia enjoys being the object of baby watching, filling and emptying containers, asparagus and anything with sugar.



Here's a happier Lydia and Thora. Thora, Avram's wife, claims she didn't learn much in her Near Eastern Studies major, but speaks fluent Arabic so I have a hard time believing it. She's a voracious reader, a good cook and a doting mother.



This is Avram. Some might recognize him as the vaguely Semitic landlord from our German black and white film last year. Avram ventures off to Oxford this fall for a masters program. What in I've forgotten, but I believe it is Jewish studies. Depending on your personality, Avram could be the best or worst thing to happen to your Sunday school, as he reads ancient Greek and Biblical Hebrew and actually knows what exegesis and hermeneutics are.



My handsome husband in his Ampleman t-shirt, looking pleased that a long semester is finally over.



Here am I wearing what one might call a "strolling strings" smile. Perhaps I already knew what lay in store for me and the lasting impact of that meal. Sunday night I woke up with the stomach flu and spent Monday at home trying to rehydrate. Since Thora also got the stomach flu about the same time, I'm convinced that Travis didn't have food poisoning, but in fact was contagious with a flu. Oh well. Last week was one of surprises.


[A side note: Congrats to my parents who read the German questions. Certificates coming soon!]