Simple food – but so good I split my trousers
A pilot, he was not averse to carrying out some rather unscheduled manoeuvres from time to time. In fact, his entire life surrounded his desire to work hard and play even harder.
It had not been the first time he would be expected to follow a strict series of orders only for his return trip to the base to be accompanied by an unscheduled diversion to a nearby viaduct, where he would fly his aeroplane at a potentially dangerous low level.
In fact, he carried out precisely that sort of personal aeronautical display at an Air Tattoo held at RAF Leuchars on the Fife coast in Scotland.
Much to the bemusement of the many thousands of spectators at the summer event he carried out his own personal display high in the skies above the base. The visitors loved it.
However, he received yet another reprimand but he always managed to get off with little more than a warning, which he always took as a signal to carry out further derring-do.
Anyway, from having been the life and soul of the party and a confirmed batchelor, we were gobsmacked when he turned up to some social event with a very attractive young lady on his arm.
In a whirlwind romance, he turned from all-round fun guy into an introverted, nervous wreck.
On one of the rare occasions I met him after his Gretna Green marriage, I asked him why he had changed and he told me that his wife was a psychiatrist and had been monitoring his every activity. He was never the same after that. We fell out of contact not long afterwards.
For some reason I feel that the Memsahib might be having a similar effect on me. She returned from a shopping trip with a jar of face cream which she gave to me and requested I apply to remove some 'laughter lines' that had appeared.
In addition, she has become exceedingly girly-like in the past few days and while I have not worn a suit in years she asked me to don a white shirt, tie and even hauled out a deep blue suit from the wardrobe in readiness for our most recent dinner engagement.
We arrived at the Hillcrest Hotel in Lindum Terrace, just above the Arboretum, in town.
We were met by the lady of the house who invited us into a most attractive lounge for pre-dinner drinks.
Armed with a simple dinner menu consisting of three starters and three mains, we made our easy selections of home-made mushroom potage and rib-eye steak for Mrs FM, leaving me with duck pate and toast and a main course of roasted cod.
A few moments later we were guided through to the smart dining room. Sitting at a circular table in the centre of the restaurant clad in an immaculate white linen tablecloth with shiny crystal glasses, cloth napkins and smart cutlery we were offered a selection of warmed rolls and butter.
The view through the closed patio doors above a street-lit Lincoln was actually quite spectacular and I could imagine it being most pleasant at Hillcrest on a quiet summer's evening.
Our starters arrived. Mrs FM's bowl of piping hot broth was most definitely home-made. I simply adore a good bowl of mushroom soup and the muddy grey 'lava' looked and smelled wonderful.
My triangle of fine, smooth pate, topped by a small amount of redcurrant jelly, sat on a serving of fresh mixed salad leaves and was accompanied by eight little triangles of decrusted toast.
The soup was wonderful. Looking slightly gritty in texture but deliciously smooth and very flavoursome, Mrs FM enjoyed it immensely and my pate could not have been smoother, the creamy consistency spreading very readily and tastily onto the little toastlets. It was a good start to a straightforward and unpretentious meal.
Soon, our main courses arrived. Mrs FM's steak looked splendid, lying on an immaculate white plate, upon which was a serving of wonderfully crispy, golden-fried chips and more mixed salad.
My dish consisted of a dark-skinned cod steak sitting on a bed of oven- roasted red and green sweet peppers and sliced courgettes with a separate serving of the golden chips.
Another oven dish containing steamed cauliflower florets, broccoli and sliced carrots.
Mrs FM's steak was stunning and cooked perfectly to her medium-rare request.
Lightly herbed and pan-cooked, it was a good cut of fine locally supplied beef that tasted deliciously wholesome and free of gristle, apart from the obvious rib-eye.
Removing the skin from the top of my cod revealed the pure white and succulent flesh beneath of a steak that had been cooked to perfection and possessed a stunning taste of the sea.
The accompanying vegetables were all perfect and piping hot. In fact, hats-off to the chef (whom I gather is the husband in this family-run establishment), whose abilities in the kitchen are clearly most competent.
His eye for fresh produce is also well-honed. For something so 'ordinary' to taste so good proved to be hugely satisfying.
We polished off our mains and then ordered dessert from the verbal list presented to us by the lady of the house.
Mrs FM went for the carrot cake with fresh cream while I selected the ginger sponge with caramel and custard. Both were home-made and a fitting end to a delicious meal.
I settled the bill for a good value £43.90 and we headed back upstairs to Mrs FM's car.
As I slid into the driver's seat, I do not know what it was, perhaps the age of the fabric or the pleasant meal that we had just consumed, but my trousers split, accompanied by a minor expletive from me and Mrs FM tossing her head back in girlish delight, as she said, "We'll have to sort you out with some architecturally stronger trousers, dear!"
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