Page 30 of A Merry Little Christmas
There were some general murmurs of approval at this. Our friend Annalise had offered to make the fruit pies for Sylvia and Mick’s wedding dessert, much to Sylvia’s delight, and it was fair to say they’d been enjoyed thoroughly.
‘I still had loads of apples left over, so that’s when I came up with the idea of making chutney,’ explained Ellie. ‘I was thinking of donating the jars to the WI Christmas sale in the village hall.But then Maddy was talking about the Christmas markets and I just thought, why not have a chutney stall at my own Christmas market?’
‘So this chutney was the inspiration for it?’ grinned Jaz.
‘I suppose it was. I thought you might like a taste of it before it goes on sale. It should go nicely with the cheese and biscuits, although I’ve never made anything like this before, so I hope it’s okay. You all know what a rubbish baker I am!’
‘Baking is a quite different process to cooking,’ I reminded her. ‘Cakes need precise measurements but with cooking, you’re allowed to be creative. It looks delicious.’
‘I hope you think so. Zak doesn’t like chutney so he’s no use as a tester.’ Ellie looked more than a little nervous as she unscrewed the jar and popped in a teaspoon. Then she handed out plates and we passed the jar around.
‘Ooh, lovely.’ Fen smiled appreciatively as she helped herself to a large dollop of chutney. ‘Actually, I’m going to try it on its own.’ She scooped some up on a spoon, frowning as she concentrated on tasting it. ‘Mm, gorgeous.’
‘Really?’ Ellie looked pleased.
Fen gave an enthusiastic nod. ‘Absolutely delicious.’
‘I’m so glad you like it.’ A smile of relief spread over Ellie’s face. ‘You’re all so good in the kitchen and I’m still rubbish at cooking and baking, which is really ironic considering I actually run a café!’
We all tucked in eagerly, buttering crackers, taking some cheese and dabbing on some of the chutney.
Then the rest of us did the taste test together, munching away in thoughtful silence.
‘Lovely,’ said Jaz at last.
‘Very zingy,’ agreed Kenzie.
I nodded. ‘Just the way a good chutney should be.’
‘Oh, thank goodness for that!’ gasped Ellie. ‘Honestly, I wasdreadingyou telling me it was awful.’ A mobile began ringing. ‘That’s mine. I must have left it in the kitchen.’ She got up and hurried away to answer it. ‘Back in a mo.’
My eyes swivelled to Maddy and she made a face at me. Then she turned towards the kitchen, from where we could hear Ellie chatting away to someone, safely out of earshot.
‘Oh, my God,’ she hissed. ‘Is that chutney notthemost vile thing you’ve ever tasted in your entire existence?’
There was a tense silence as we looked at each other.
Then we all collapsed into muffled giggles . . .
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘She must have overdone the vinegar because that’s all I could taste,’ murmured Jaz, looking almost apologetic as she gave her verdict.
We had headed out into the freezing night, leaving Ellie putting out lights and locking up. Lingering together in the café cark park, we talked in hushed voices.
‘Vinegar is all I canstilltaste.’ Maddy stuck her tongue out in a ‘blah!’ kind of way. ‘I think my poor tastebuds have gone into shock.’
I chuckled softly. ‘Stop exaggerating. It really wasn’t that bad.’
‘No, of course it wasn’t,’ said Fen. ‘In fact... I quite liked it.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ said Maddy matter-of-factly. ‘You’re just trying to be nice.’
‘No, I’m not!’ Fen looked indignant. Then she saw our faces and a reluctant smile broke through. ‘Okay, so it wasn’t thebestchutney I’ve ever tasted.’
Maddy snorted. ‘Understatement of the year.’
‘The thing is, though,’ said Kenzie worriedly, ‘what are we going to do about it?’
