We spent a lot of time talking about what he could do for an encore performance to the wonderful stories of Lucky O'Leprechaun from his last trip. So, we decided that Kid 1.0's toy "Lucky" would make a return visit with Tom, to see his friends and family.
Below is the first of Tom's new adventures with Lucky.
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On our first night out in Belfast, Lucky and I went straight away to a local pub to have dinner. Lucky insisted on showing me a good time now that we were back in his homeland and proceeded to make arrangements for a royal feast. Before you know it, I was sitting at an enormous table with Lucky enjoying a dinner of truly spectacular proportions.
We started our with a first course with warmed Chiming Nuts from the rare and exotic Irish Boabab tree. The cool thing about the chiming nuts is that they ring like a bell when you shake them. Apparently, when the wind blows through a forest of Boabab trees the noise is incredible! They taste like a roasted almond. Crunchy.
I thought the Chiming Nuts were pretty cool, but that was just the beginning. Next we had cheese made from sacred cows layered with wedges of floating pear. You need the cheese to hold the pear down on the platter. If you get it wrong, the whole affair just rises up off the platter and floats about the restaurant until somebody manages to retrieve it. Very embarrassing for the waiter. I didn't know this, but the floating pear is a fruit that is unique to Ireland. Apparently the fruit produces a little helium like a balloon and tends to float quite naturally. When you look at a floating pear tree, you see that all of the fruit on the tree is hanging up instead of hanging down. In fact, occasionally, in a particularly bountiful year, the fruit will actually generate enough lift to actually pull the entire tree out of the ground, roots and all, and float away. Floating pear trees have drifted as far away as New Guinea where they are known as "Bo se'ah to" or roughly translated, "sky fruit". Of course birds are attracted to these flying trees and will eat the fruit. This has the side effect of causing the tree to fall, and the falling trees have been known to hit the ground like a giant lawn dart! This phenomenon was first observed by Darwin while he was in the Galapagos. Needless to say, I would describe their taste and texture as "light and airy." But enough about the floating pears.
For our next course we had a salad of four leaf clovers with a balsamic vinagrette. It was delightful. I'll never guess where they found enough four leaf clovers in one spot to actually make a salad out of them!
This was followed by our entree which consisted of an enormous leg of mutton. These sheep are raised by the local giants on faraway hills and valleys. Very tasty.
As if that were not enough, we had some flaming pepper sorbet to cleanse the palette...and the sinuses! The entire meal was capped off with the most magnificent desert I have ever seen called "Champagne Swans in the Chocolate Gardens of the Hebrides". Oh how can I describe this dish? Imagine an enormous chocolate cake surmounted by three swans, each intricately carved from a block of solid chocolate. The swans in turn support a large punch bowl (again made of chocolate) on their outstretched wings. The waiter pours the champagne into the bowl and it runs out of small holes into the beaks of the swans. The bubbles that pass through the swans create a gentle whistling noise - just like the noise that real swans make in flight. Lucky and I made a toast to each others good health to celebrate the magnificent desert.
In confidence, you should know that Lucky told me that he normally would have had a much larger meal prepared, but he's on a diet. I can't wait for dinner with Lucky tomorrow!
Love,
Daddy
We started our with a first course with warmed Chiming Nuts from the rare and exotic Irish Boabab tree. The cool thing about the chiming nuts is that they ring like a bell when you shake them. Apparently, when the wind blows through a forest of Boabab trees the noise is incredible! They taste like a roasted almond. Crunchy.
I thought the Chiming Nuts were pretty cool, but that was just the beginning. Next we had cheese made from sacred cows layered with wedges of floating pear. You need the cheese to hold the pear down on the platter. If you get it wrong, the whole affair just rises up off the platter and floats about the restaurant until somebody manages to retrieve it. Very embarrassing for the waiter. I didn't know this, but the floating pear is a fruit that is unique to Ireland. Apparently the fruit produces a little helium like a balloon and tends to float quite naturally. When you look at a floating pear tree, you see that all of the fruit on the tree is hanging up instead of hanging down. In fact, occasionally, in a particularly bountiful year, the fruit will actually generate enough lift to actually pull the entire tree out of the ground, roots and all, and float away. Floating pear trees have drifted as far away as New Guinea where they are known as "Bo se'ah to" or roughly translated, "sky fruit". Of course birds are attracted to these flying trees and will eat the fruit. This has the side effect of causing the tree to fall, and the falling trees have been known to hit the ground like a giant lawn dart! This phenomenon was first observed by Darwin while he was in the Galapagos. Needless to say, I would describe their taste and texture as "light and airy." But enough about the floating pears.
For our next course we had a salad of four leaf clovers with a balsamic vinagrette. It was delightful. I'll never guess where they found enough four leaf clovers in one spot to actually make a salad out of them!
This was followed by our entree which consisted of an enormous leg of mutton. These sheep are raised by the local giants on faraway hills and valleys. Very tasty.
As if that were not enough, we had some flaming pepper sorbet to cleanse the palette...and the sinuses! The entire meal was capped off with the most magnificent desert I have ever seen called "Champagne Swans in the Chocolate Gardens of the Hebrides". Oh how can I describe this dish? Imagine an enormous chocolate cake surmounted by three swans, each intricately carved from a block of solid chocolate. The swans in turn support a large punch bowl (again made of chocolate) on their outstretched wings. The waiter pours the champagne into the bowl and it runs out of small holes into the beaks of the swans. The bubbles that pass through the swans create a gentle whistling noise - just like the noise that real swans make in flight. Lucky and I made a toast to each others good health to celebrate the magnificent desert.
In confidence, you should know that Lucky told me that he normally would have had a much larger meal prepared, but he's on a diet. I can't wait for dinner with Lucky tomorrow!
Love,
Daddy
1 comment:
Oh, Tom, you're a joy.
What I would have given to have a story telling parent. This is so imaginative a hugely creative, I hope one day you try to get these and others published.
Love,
Liz
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