Sun poured into the room where Richmond, John and I sat drinking an early evening libation. Having missed the Kentucky Derby and our yearly mint julep on the traditional Saturday, we had felt the need to make up for the loss on Sunday.
Richmond’s juleps are a perfect blend of sweetened mint, ice and Maker’s Mark; even a sometime drinker such as I finds they go down very easily. Several hours slipped by as we sipped and enjoyed ham-wrapped asparagus and a duo of cheeses John brought back the day before from the upper reaches of New England. One of them, a Fiddlehead Tomme from Boggy Meadow Farm in Walpole, NH, is an all time favorite with the three of us.
Twilight began to fall, and I found my thoughts turning towards dessert. “I need a cupcake,” I announced. “No you don’t,” replied John, but his efforts to distract me were ineffective, to say the least. After a few more minutes of my sighing, John remembered he had at home a Maine specialty known as a Needham.