A huge lolly, Paul McCartney, sparklers and an outstanding baba ganoush
A huge lolly, Paul McCartney, sparklers and an outstanding baba ganoush
Monday 5 August 2024
You can turn a tight wedding day ballon of an aubergine into a slack honeymoon homecoming one by laying it on a tray and roasting it in the oven, but do it on a gas hob and the house fills with the scent and memory of bonfires past.
I have never seen a lolly like it. It is bigger than my hand and almost bigger than Dad’s. It is purple and heart shaped: I’m guessing blackcurrant. Wrapped in cellophane. He takes it from the top shelf. It has sat there for a month since I first saw it, holding me to attention, guiding my behaviour in case I be denied it for being naughty. For a month I have been good, or at least good enough.
He hands it to me.
“Wait til we reach the fireworks, eh.”
It is cold but the wind is light. There is a pile of wood and who knows what that has been building these last months. Gary walks past it on the way to school and has been keeping our class updated about it.
The two miles between us and it mean the big hill both ways tonight. One day I’ll come down it on the way home from school without brakes.
People stream out of side roads, everyone headed the same way. It’s like I’m in the video for Mull of sodding Kintyre. I see Colin through the crowd and wave. He’s got a hotdog too.
Below, more words and a recipe for baba ganoush and hummus - summer essentials