This is a neat card for two reasons: 1) it has that linen fibre thing happening, and 2) COOL BRIDGE!
It was sent 24 June 1994 to Mr and Mrs J. Goodhead in Devon. You know who else was from Devon? Agatha Christie. And, now that I look it up, Coleridge and dog breeder John "Jack" Russell. (Thus finally answering a question I always meant to ask.)
"Dear Jim and Joyce -
"John and I are on holiday in France again!! The weather here is hot and sunny. We are swimming most days. Have made our way down to La Rochelle, now making our way back. At present near Roche Bernard. Have booked into the Barnwood Hotel for Simon's wedding,? have you. [sic] Hope to see you before then.
"Sincerely Barbara XX."
I don't know if it's the same property, but the Barnwood Hotel in Crawley that nabbed barnwood.co.uk closed for demolition a year ago. It's being redone into apartments and houses.
On their menu they offer deep-fried brie with Cumberland sauce. At first I thought, "What's Cumberland sauce?" Then the rest of my brain caught up: "Wait, deep-fried brie?!"
And then I just let my head fall against the sofa cushions and loll from side to side. Brie. Creamy, creamy brie. All fried up sexy-like. Loll.
Did you know there's a thing called Brie Noir.
Me: "Mike, how would describe the difference between Camembert and Brie?"
Mike: "I feel... I feel... I don't know... Camembert, in my opinion, has a richer sort of taste, whereas brie... I don't know. A lot of people I know feel the exact opposite."
(Google says its main difference is in the bacteria used, and brie should be more flavourful, but often isn't because manufacturers don't bother to breed up the extra microscopic critters. Also, different areas and different sizes play a part, but I don't think the cheese down at the grocery store makes it easy to distinguish what kind of pasture the cows used.)
As for Cumberland sauce: Port, orange juice, lemon juice, red-currant jelly, ginger. Maybe onions. Maybe mustard. Google is overstimulating me again.
Anyway, it sounds like something to try once. But deep-frying brie... see, I don't deep-fry anything. Not because I'm health conscious or wasn't raised right by my Southern parents, but because it's messy. Also, I don't own a deep fryer. I've tried deep-frying pakora in a pot and... we're not doing that again.
Memory Alert! In the late 70s, Dad and I did some rare gift collaborating and got Mom this thing here. (Except it was the 1970s, so I can't vouch for it being quite so stylish.) This was probably after the year we each bought her a crock pot. I may be a vegetarian of 21 years, but some good fried chicken came out of that thing. I always liked the wings. Lots of bits to pull apart and eat methodically. Four-point-five stars on my inner OCD ratings site. (You don't want to see how I eat pizza.)
Hmm. $22.55 isn't a bad price. I do like that pakora.
But until then, reckon that Cumberland sauce will work for mozz sticks from the freezer section?
(The obligatory post-postcard video is going to deviate from the usual Mitchell & Webb fare for some other British comedy geniuses, The Goodies. Also, it's relevant! But only if you skip ahead to 1:36, which I would do because, you know, 1976 comedy. Then stop at 2:13. Or keep going, and let me know how it is. Mike loves The Goodies, but this the only skit that's been able to reach across the decades to me.)
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