What a beautiful, beautiful day here in London, and even more beautiful on the golf course. We went and played today, some good, some bad, but just lovely to be out and somewhere not having to avoid people. Naturally we avoided people, but there were none to be avoided, Millionaires Golf.

The plants in bloom were gorgeous, the Egyptian Geese, had been busy and their babies looked almost full grown. The Swans on the other hand, had apparently 8 or maybe 9 little ones, but I could only see three today. Did you know that Swans mate for life? And did you know that Swans on the Thames belong equally to the Crown, ( ie at the moment the Queen) and two livery companies, namely the Vintners and the Dyers. Each year in July, there is a ceremony, called Swan Upping in which the swans are ringed and divided up. We had a friend who was once the president of the Dyers and at their annual dinner, ate swan and I believe it is only these three groups that are allowed to eat swan!( though I could be wrong on that one, but do know that they are protected).

Needless to say, we didn’t eat swan for dinner, in fact had a very simple, dinner, basically as my brain was not functioning. However, after a visit to Marks and Spencer’s Food Hall, where there seemed to be an abundance of wonderful English asparagus, my refrigerator seems to have rather a surplus. Therefore, asparagus was certainly going to be on the menu.

Very simply, we had poached eggs with Asparagus and bacon. The first time I had eggs cooked in this way( not just poached) was several years ago and although it turns out to be a bit tricky the end result is worth it.

Lightly poach some eggs, two or three per person as a main, or just one as a starter ( it is a good starter). Everyone one must have their own way of poaching eggs, but for this dish to be most interesting, the whites have to be on the soft side and the yolks most definitely runny . I poach eggs by dropping them into boiling water, to which I have added a few drops of lemon juice, bring the water back to the boil and switch off and leave for about 5 minutes.

Carefully remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put on a plate.

Then comes the messy bit.

Heat some oil, deep enough to fry the eggs and while it is heating coat the eggs with beaten eggs and breadcrumbs, slide them very carefully into the hot oil and deep fry just for a couple of minutes for them to be golden brown , remove, drain and serve at once on grilled asparagus, with some crunchy bacon bits on top.

One point worth noting, asparagus can make your pee smell. Why? Well, Asparagusic acid is a sulfur-containing compound that seems to be found exclusively in asparagus.some people say it is like rotten cabbage , rotten eggs, natural gas or even Skunk Spray, but anyway it is non toxic. And depending on your genetic makeup your body might treat it differently and not have this smell!