Questions Game

Roses bloom better if cut, and perfume a room beautifully. It's very different from imprisoning a bird or a dog, and you know that really.

How much garden do you have?

I have a big garden, but I'm not allowed to work in it because the cottage I rent is part of a larger estate that has a gardener, so they don't want any nonprofessionals digging in it and messing anything up. That's one thing I'm really looking forward to- having my own dirt to dig around in.

What are your favorite color of roses?

Blue; and yours?

Red.

Are you a flower person?

Yes.

If a man answers this, what would be your honest response, should a woman send or give you a bouquet of flowers or a plant as a gift? If you're a woman, have you ever met a man for whom you thought a bouquet of flowers would be appreciated as a gift?

My wife presented me with a beautiful flowering plant once for fathers day, I was quite taken aback by this unusual gesture, until I discovered she secretly loved one.

Have you ever been given unusual presents?

Oh, the old "give the person you live with what you'd like to have yourself" trick. I have to admit, I'm sometimes tempted to do that- but not usually with presents-I usually try to really fit the present to the person. More often, I do that in restaurants, if I can't decide what I want to eat on a menu, I'll casually suggest whatever entree I'm interested in to the other person, as in "You know, I think I'm having the pasta, but that salmon really looks good doesn't it?" hoping they'll order it and give me a taste.

The only man I've ever met that I'd feel would really like flowers or a plant is my father- for his garden- and it's usually something like a flowering tree- and he is always happy to get something like that, because his garden is pretty much his favorite place, but I've never met another man that I've felt would care enough about them.

Unusual gifts- not that I can think of offhand. I've gotten some gifts that I just look at and think, "Does this person even know me?" like one time someone who should have known better gave me this really drab looking top in a color, style, print, and even size- that I'd never wear or worn before-and I couldn't imagine how the person could have thought I'd ever wear it.

In situations like that- if the gift giver is someone close to you with whom you have an honest relationship- do you say something or just say thank you and let it disappear into the recesses of your closet/drawer?

Yes I would say something, be very polite and indicate that it really didn't suit me and if she or he wouldn't mind if I exchanged it for something more to my liking. If done tactfully I don't think there should be any problems.

Seeing that you seem to visit restaurants, are you a connoisseur of food?

What a polite way to put it, Dutchy- you're always the soul of discretion

Connoisseur? I wouldn't say that - because I'm not at all picky. I'll try just about anything, and I actually like almost everything. But yeah, food is one of the pleasures of my life- I love to cook it, watch other people eat what I cook, read books about it - even talk about it. It's fun to talk about food with someone else who likes it as much as you do.

Are you more of a go to a movie and sit quietly with someone or go to a restaurant and spend hours eating and talking kind of person?

I am basically a quiet individual but love fun, I absolutely adore food and go out dining at least once but often twice a week and have a general conversation, but not for hours! Our restaurants are superb but the Hotels have made enormous inroads in providing first class meals all day long at very, very reasonable prices. So it is often a lunch between 12 and 2pm, or dinner between 6 and 8.30pm.

Do you have a taste for a partuicular cuisine, eg, Thai, Chinese or French?

I can't think of any particular one I like head and shoulders over all the rest.

How about you? (aside from barbecue )


*I gotta get my daughter up and ready for school Dutchy- catch you later

I love this intimate little Chinese restaurant where they serve the most delicious garlic prawns, with rice and onions on a sizzling hot plate. For an entree they usually have beef satay's done in peanut sauce. That's about all you can eat as their servings are massive. However they also serve an array of tasty soups and desserts if you really want to make a feast of it.

If I were your dinner guest, what type of meal would you surprise me with?

(Catch you another day Aidan, have a nice day)

Okay, she's eating breakfast so I can answer this- see- I can't resist talking about food.

That chinese sounds really good to me- love prawns, garlic, rice-now I won't be happy unless I have something like that for dinner Dutchy.
I have a friend who is Chinese, was living here when I got here, but has since gone back to Australia where his family owns a restaurant in Sydney. I'll find out the name of the restaurant and when you're in Sydney next you can check it out. He made this incredible satay sauce and gave me a container-that very subtle peanut taste is hard to resist.

If I were going to cook for you, knowing what I know about you, I'd play it safe the first time and grill you a really nice steak. I'd marinate it with a mixture of worcestshire sauce, garlic, and just a hint of honey. I'd ask you if you would rather have something like angel hair pasta or a baked potato as a side- dress that up a little with butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh grated parmesan and then make a nice salad, and these awesome but extremely easy rolls I have the recipe for. I'd have red wine or ale available for the meal and then for dessert I'd bake either a sour cream poundcake to serve with whipped cream and strawberries or my primo carrot cake with cream cheese icing- depending on what you told me you liked better.
Fnish off with coffee and/or tea- again- whichever you told me you preferred.

Do you think people who don't like to cook, enjoy talking about food, or simply eating it?

*Okay, got that out of my system- now I'm really gonna go.

You are the perfect host Aidan! I was drooling at the mouth whilst reading your appetizing creation, you know what, I could swim the oceans to be your guest. LOL The combination sounds just great, absolutely perfect for my appetite. Thank you for the honour.

My view is one doesn't talk in any detail about food when you're not involved in cooking, you just enjoy what is put in front of you. On the other hand if you like preparing food on a BBQ, like I do, I often find myself opening a cook book, talk with my wife or friends about an exotic dish I like to prepare and subsequently do it.

Do you like catering for a lot of people or prefer small gatherings?

Thanks for the compliment Dutchy. I took my daughter to school, the dog for a walk, and I'm still thinking about food...I like to cook for smaller gatherings, although I have done enough large gatherings to know that I can handle them if I have to. But so much depends on the oven and cooktop situation you have in your house. The house I rented before this one had three ovens, a grill and a warmer (for bread, rolls, etc.) The cooktop had six burners, including one area that could be turned into a griddle and a warming plate- so you could really cook for a lot of people and coordinate it all perfectly- and it was all gas- which is so much easier for me to regulate and cook with.

This house is electric and has one not even full-size oven and the cooktop has four burners- two of which are small- that's why I grill a lot outside here.

I am thinking of looking for a place that I could do a bed and breakfast kind of set up when we move. We're moving to a beautiful area of the country where people go to vacation a lot- and I've been told by friends who have visited me that they think I'd be good at that. And I think I'd enjoy the company- meeting people from all over the world, etc. I could open it when I wanted it and close it when I wanted to- it would just be a side business. Maybe you could come stay at my B&B!
For breakfast I'd make french toast- here in England they call it eggy bread- but I'd make mine with good french bread soaked in a batter of egg, milk, dash of vanilla and cinnamon- fry it in butter till golden brown- dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon and serve it with fresh blueberries, maple syrup, bacon and/or sausage and orange juice...

Is there anything you love to do that you could picture turning into a business?

No I haven't the inspiration for that anymore. I'm content letting my son doing that from which I get a great deal of satisfaction. He left school early, worked enormously hard in the fishing industry here, and now runs a flourishing export business.

You seem to be a very enterprising lady, what made you leave the US and go to the UK to work?

My husband had a professional opportunity, but he didn't want to be so far away from our children, and I was not the sort of mother who would send my children to another country without me, so since we were still legally married- I was able to be added to his visa as a spousal dependent and come too.

It was kind of a big gamble. I sold my house, quit my full-time teaching job and left a community of friends I was very comfortable in to come to a country I'd never set foot in before- but it turned out to be the most wonderful thing I've ever done. As a matter of fact, I think this experience more than any other in my life, is what has convinced me that I am capable of more than I ever believed I was and that life is more fulfilling when you stretch yourself and take chances and go ahead and try to do whatever it is that you really want to do.


Have you ever had an experience like that in your life-one that reinforces your belief in yourself?

I am living it right now, Aidan! I have split from my partner and moved from all my longstanding friends to a part of the country I had never even visited to take a degree at a very mature age. It's worked out so well! I have found lovely cottagey accommodation, the course is going well, have made many new friends, found part time work that is fulfilling for the summer and am generally having a great time. You are right - it is important to seek out challenges and live life to the full as long as possible. Plenty more new things planned, too, once the course is successfully completed.

Shouldn't you always have belief in yourself, and not wait for opportunity or circumstaqnces to give you the option?

Whiteviolet- Your studies sound really interesting, and I think it's even more rewarding to learn new things after you'd thought you'd done or experienced all that you thought you were going to-I know I always feel more excited about what I learn now, than when I was young and learning new things was an everyday occurence and just something I took for granted.

Mathos- I saw on the other what have you put in your mouth thread that you said you'd last put a breast in your mouth.

And then I was thinking- "I knew he had a big mouth, but a whole breast? At one time?
Breast of what- chicken, pheasant-what?

PS- I think we're both saying that we did believe in ourselves, and that enabled us to take opportunities for ourselves, so that now we believe even more in ourselves, and maybe we'll take even bigger chances for even better opportunities.