Some evenings can’t get much better. I’m such a sop for gatherings in the bar. This one tops the list however.

After a bit late stay at work, I stopped in at a wonderful source of draft Fullers London Porter, Bull McCabe’s. Laura called and I invited her to join the musings at a bar. Before she arrived, good friend Barry dropped in to catch the Twins game. The three of us chatted over a pint, while I awaited the arrival of dinner – veggie burger and salad. It’s true; I am trying to drop a few inches off the waist. When the cook, a good friend and consummate master burger maker delivered the plate to the bar, I took some abuse, much to my friends’ amusement.

Then the evening got very special. John, the cook, asked if I wanted to try some home made prosciutto. Are you kidding? After a veggie burger, hell yes. And it was very, good.  Amazingly soft for prosciutto. I hope you have enough imagination to sense what went on between the prosciutto and the Fuller’s Porter. A perfect match. I almost started whimpering. I excused myself from Laura and Barry, and headed to the kitchen in the most ingratiating fashion I could summon.

There was John with a grin on his face. “I knew you couldn’t hold out.” With all the grace I could muster, having been caught on the dark side, I asked for “more.” John laughed and said he’d fix up a plate with some slices of cheese and, bonus move, some corned beef he’d also made.

So here I am, after a fantastic, but long day at work, with a modern version of a Ploughman’s Plate and a classic English porter, and great company, sitting at a wooden bar. Now if that isn’t pure romance.