Japanese visitors

The beginning of May saw the arrival of Michie's parents in England.  This was the first meeting of all Marisa's grandparents although we had already received several expensive and beautifully wrapped gifts from the Furuhatas.  True to form they arrived for lunch with more expensive gifts and were looking remarkably fresh after the previous day's long journey.  It was the English asparagus season so I served grilled asparagus with lemon mayonnaise for a starter and then I served a traditional Sunday lunch of Aberdeen Angus beef and Yorkshire puddings.  I took it easy after that with Tarte Citron from M&S....sneakily transferred to my own dish!  

I had made a special effort to impress, polished the dining room table and got down the bone china and fine crystal from the top shelf.  What did catch Mr Furuhata's attention was the horseradish sauce so I gave him a jar of Sainsbury's finest to take back to Japan.  Not quite a match for the lovely gifts they brought from Japan but there you go. 

After lunch I took them to visit Gawsworth Hall which is a few minutes down the road.  They were able to help Sir Timothy who owns the Hall with the name of a Japanese city for his crossword so smiles all round.