Friends of ours invited us to a celebration of the publication of Tristram Shandy – yes indeed not the usual party invitation.

At the time of the invitation, the diary looked blank as far as the eye could see but as seems to always happen, the it filled up and time to think about this event was at a premium.

(Mind you that was nothing  compared to what the the lovely people who were organising it had to do and with just a few other commitments…)

Anyway, my best beloved was asked if he would read a little bit of am-dram stuff that that been written and would he be Tristram Shandy’s father.

Of course he would, darling, he would put it all out there…

Late in the day, I, who am no-am dram type, was asked to play his wife at the start of the event with an off stage ad lib sex scene – channeling my inner When Harry Met Sally – really? 

I said yes, but refused to rehearse.

Meanwhile I had heard from A who was busy organising Georgian food for more than 50 whilst S was revising his plans for the script.

I said I would cook something and found a recipe for a Georgian pie on the ever-useful Google. 

It came from The Art of Cookery Made Plain And Easy by Hannah Glasse  published in 1747 when they didn’t bother with quantities, or much in the way of timings, or temperatures – certainly not for 50 people.

Here it is:

To make an Onion Pye.

Wash, and pare some Potatoes, and cut them in Slices, peel some Onions, cut them in Slices, pare some Apples and slice them, make a good Crust, cover your Dish, lay a Quarter of a Pound of Butter all over, take a Quarter of an Ounce of Mace beat fine, a Nutmeg grated, a Tea Spoonful of beaten Pepper, three Tea spoonfuls of Salt, mix all together, strew some over the Butter, lay a Layer of Potatoes, a Layer of Onion, a Layer of Apple, and a Layer of Eggs, and so on, till you have filled your Pye, strewing a little of the Seasoning between each Layer, and a Quarter of a Pound of Butter in Bits, and six Spoonfuls of Water. Close your Pye, and bake it an Hour and a Half: A Pound of Potatoes, a Pound of Onion, and a Pound of Apples, and twelve Eggs will do.

That was what I started with and at the end of this, should you get that far, there is my version..

Suffice it to say, I made a pie.

And we were going to Frome which is a lovely town full of people for whom a vegetarian option would be a necessity so the pie was a good option.

Meanwhile, we realised that as we were to play parts, we needed costumes.

The BB went onto his local am-dram costume mistress to hunt out something and I asked him to get me a dress.

I would have gone with him to try things on but I was busy with getting the Oxfam shop ready for Christmas, going up to London, upholstery and other stuff that takes up the time of a Sussex housewife.

So, though I am touched by his mental image of me, the dress didn’t quite fit.

Given that it was an am-dram costume it had poppers rather than any more substantial fastenings – and they were in the front, from the cleavage down.

I ask you to use your imagination to realise what happened if I stretched my arms out…

Now the Georgian were no prudes, but if not to shock the good people of Frome I would have had to spend an afternoon holding my breath and keeping my arms firmly by my sides to get away with it.

Instead, I raced to Chichester to buy an old lady’s nightie from M&S and a haberdashers to get some ribbon to make an outfit which made me look like a slightly bawdy version of Jane Austen’s mother.

I would have gone for the full wig and flounced skirts etc but have you any idea how hard it is to find suitable costume hire in Deepest Sussex with 24 hours notice?

(I was put to shame by the marvellous costumes on who at the event but at least I made a good pie.)

So, to the event itself.

It was marvellous.

Apparently it was a Georgian convention for the women to eat at one end of the table and men at the other – how nice was that!

Three courses and each interspersed with a series of vignettes from the book acted out by ‘members of the party’ and at the end of each one, there was an expert (found among their friends) to tell us some background stuff which ranged from the use of forceps in the time, to the only portrait of Lawrence Stern to psychological aspects of what the book says about people, and a very quirky tracing of a copy of the book through a very quirky family story…..

Yes indeed, when did you ever go to such a lunch?

The room was old, had a log fire burning, candles all over the place, pineapples as decorations, wonderful food and good company.

The hostess was (amazingly) fielding calls about a plumbing disaster, the dog went walkabout and was brought back by people down the street, the host called in all his actors and a seriously impressive singer and choir, wine flowed, young people brought us sweetmeats and syllabub – yes of course, all made or done by their friends.

I curtsey in a very Georgian way to A and S for one of the most memorable ways I have spent a day.

( On the way back to our hotel, my BB was analysing the successes and failures of his performance but hey ho….)

So, to the pie.

Now this is a recipe I intend to replicate for the lunch I am doing for 35 in the next couple of weeks and I realise that I am channelling my inner Hannah Glasse.

This is the 21st century version of a vague recipe….

Before you start, be prepared for a lot of butter and eggs. You have been suitably warned.

Get two of those large foil turkey roasting ‘tins’ you can get at this time of year.

You need two because the pie will be too heavy for one.

Check they fit your oven.

Peel lots of potatoes and slice them with the help of a food processor and put them in the doubled turkey roasters with quite a lot of butter, into a medium oven so they cook gently.

Meanwhile, slice a lot of onions in a food processor or buy ready diced onions and again, with butter sweat them for some time.

Once the onions and potatoes are pretty much cooked, add the onions in a layer above the potatoes, having put some salt, pepper and allspice ( and if you feeling particularly Georgian, a bit extra of grated nutmeg between the layers.)

Meanwhile slice the apples – please don’t bother to peel them and use all the leftover glut of apples your friends and neighbours give you – so a mix of cooking and eating.

Just cut out the bad bits and leave the cores for the compost.

Layer above the onions and again a sprinkling of allspice and quite a bit of butter.

Beat gently a lot of eggs – I used 18 – and put over the layers so that they cover (more or less) the other ingedients.

Cover with shortcrust pastry. Of course you can buy it but I am home-made afficiando.

Decorate the pie with left over scraps.

Bake at about 170 until golden.

Cool overnight.

Then cover with tinfoil, put in the boot of the car and make sure your BB does not throw his boots or bag on top of it.