Wedding Feast.

I was at the wedding location at 7 a.m. to get the fire started. Lynda was there to help me and we soon had a good blaze going. In addition to the large bag of charcoal I added a few logs of wood. When the fire was going nicely we put the pig on the grill, after its overnight marinade with a spice and wine mixture. We covered up the pig with heavy duty foil as we had been instructed. It seemed pretty hot under there.

Then disaster!!!I left Lynda and went over the hill to West LA to pick up my clothes from home and coordinate with Eloise.As soon as I walked in the door I got a frantic call from Lynda. " The pig caught fire. It's blackened and maybe useless.""Oh no."

Well, my addition of the wood had been a bad move. A few minutes after I left the wood exploded in flames and made the whole pit an inferno. Lynda had eventually got the hose and put the fire out.A little later I got the message from Rhiannon who had been awakened with the bad news and had left her motel at 8 a.m. to go and help Lynda.
" It doesn't look good,honey" she said. What a set-back this was after all our efforts in acquiring the pig.Plus several car-rides out to Mojave to bring special foods

The pig had come from Mojave where it had been raised by Donny Hewes, a farmer with a keen feel for livestock. It had been raised on a custom diet that I'd planned. It included eggs,mayonnaise and lots of apples.

I had been working for weeks on the wedding feast and a lot of prep had been done before the day. The sauce for the pasta had been made and stored. The wild mushrooms that I bought in February and March had been preserved in oil. The week before I had started making trips to the wholesale market for vegetables and I had picked up a large consignment of organic vegetables and beautiful strawberries on the Wednesday before.From David Barnes farm in Temecula

But still on the day there was a huge amount to do and it all fell on the shoulders of Lynda and Daniel Bentley,my friend and butler to the stars.Thank god they ere capable British shoulders and they didn't fail under pressure.

Of course as soon as I was able I hurtled back over the hill to the valley to inspect the pig. We were lucky,it wasn't a total write-off. Lynda had stopped the flames in time and after some scraping I could see the meat underneath was usable. We restarted the fire, this time very cautiously and put the pig back on.The animal, a four-month old, was pretty big but I could see that it wouldn't feed the hundred and twenty we were expecting.

So with Ted in tow I headed off to the 99 Ranch Market where I had planned to get the extra meats and veg. It was a good choice because they had a wide choice. I chose two more pork legs, two pork bellies that turned out super sweet,plus large amounts of chicken wings and duck legs. Now where else but an Asian market do you find duck legs for sale? We added lots of tinfoil to the cart, wooden skewers and a load of fruit. We were set and we headed back to the wedding site.

A few helpers had trailed in but it was 12 already and here was a lot to do. I gave instructions for cleaning salad and veg. Davonne headed off with a list of last minute items like salsa and sterno for the chafing dishes.

We all worked hard for the net two hours; marinading the rest of the meat, trimming vegetables and cuttiong cheese. Briton was a big help. So was Stella Bentley. Kirsten and Brandon took one some responsibility.

But then I was called away with a message: My bride was saying it was time to get ready!
So I left the preparation and focussed on the real business of the day: getting married.
Daniel Bentley helped me with the dress and provided lip balm and toothpaste. Daniel Sullivan helped my morale with a vodka and tonic. Finally, I was ready and moved out to the garden where the ceremony was taking place.The setting was dreamy with a flower-decked stage and helium balloons floating everywhere.

The ceremony was beautiful and touching: we were there in front of friends and family declaring our love. My bride was the most beautiful I have ever seen.The eperience was a complete union of our souls.

I was overwhelmed and took a short rest after the receivingline. Then I was roused by my wife who told me that Daniel was freaking out because he wasn't getting any cooperation. So I flew to the BBQ pitto find out what was up. For the next hour then I was directing and organising the meal.And finally I took over from Danile carving the meat. The pig had come up trumps. The meat was sweet but firm and totally unlike any shop-bought pork I'd had. The grilled vegetables looked great thanks, to Lynda and the buffet set-up was totally professional with a line of chafing dishes each bubbling out a little steam. The salad were ona separate table and included beet and cucumber. tabbouleh with lots of chjopped parsley ( thanks Brandon) and the specialty salad leaves wereset off by Eloise's tasty vinaigrette made with organic olive oil. It was a team event and I was proud.
The meal was enjoyed by everyone and capped a magical day.