My dear friends Jean and Gino truly have hearts of gold so it was with great pleasure that I attended their golden wedding anniversary party at the Marina di Ragusa on Friday night. Jean and Gino have been living happily in Sicily for 17 years and Gino, as you may imagine, is of Italian descent.
The party, appropriately for around 50 of Jean and Gino's friends, was held in the elegant, covered courtyard of a restaurant which has the original name of Stasera pago io! ["Tonight I'm Paying!"]
The generous antipasti came plated and were very prettily presented. [There was melon under the Parma ham.]
Then there was wild asparagus risotto
and pasta with speck and mushrooms:
The main course was fillet of beef in a mushroom sauce
served with a side salad:
There was a refreshing macedonia for dessert
before Jean and Gino cut this beautiful cake, which had been made in a tiny, nearby pasticceria:
I wonder if they remember the first time they did this?
Unlike Will and Kate, Jean and Gino repeated the kiss several times for their friends - and for themselves!
The cake tasted every bit as delicious as it looked:
Every guest received one of these beautiful bomboniere [wedding favours]
decorated with a crystal bunch of grapes and containing golden sugared almonds:
Here is your intrepid blogger with Jean, Gino and our friend Linda of whom I've written many times on this blog:
Yes, that's a chignon I've got for the occasion, courtesy, of course, of Raffaele the hairdresser and I know he won't forgive me if I don't show you the back!
And now I'd like you all to join me in a toast: To Jean and Gino, our golden couple. May you enjoy many more happy years together.
12 comments:
That food looks lovely. Did Simi eat a doggie bag? You look like a screen goddess of the Golden Era with that golden hair... my hair is golden too. Rather platinum. It doesn't photograph anything like as well as yours.
Now Welshcakes I have posted a highly intellectually incisive exposee on the issues facing the modern day English speaker which I KNOW nobody will blooy comment on unless I ask you to so please come by pretty please!
Also do you think Italian is really hard? I found it the most perfect language on earth when I delved into Teach Yourself Italian. I only fizzled out y'know because of a certain chemical inside me and because I have no specific plans to visit Italy. But I've always found European languages very deceptive. Full of false friends and very confusing. Is that right???
Auguri to Jean and Gino...50 years! What an accomplishment. Looks like a lovely evening. And...your chignon is wonderful. Complementi to Raffaele.
How happy the anniversary couple look and I join in the toast to Jean and Gino. The feast you all enjoyed looked incredibly delicious and you, especially, looked so beautiful with your chignon which Rafaelle did up in so elegant a fashion.
Hearts of Gold: you just reminded me of one of the Highpoints of 1990s television as presented by Esther Ranzen... HEARTS OF GOLD!... HEARTS OF GOLD!
UKH the vulgarity was too much for my poor Amstrad £89 from the cash and carry and it gave up on me shortly afterwards. I think the poor telly needed lithium after THAT much Esther Ranzen... wouldn't you? I know I do. I'm just avoiding the issue of lithium. It's meant for putting on fish and chips, I heard (tastes of common table salt) ~ least that's one use for it. I hate the thought of taking something meant for powering longlife batteries into my system. Nasty business!!
Hi, GLeds. Of course she did! A screen goddess? - Well, thank you! I will be over to your blog asap. Italian is about as difficult as French grammatically, I'd say, though the pronunciation is easier in theory because it is phonetic. Hi, Patricia. Jean and Gino read this blog so will be delighted to receive your good wishes. I'll tell Raffa! Hi, Carmen, Jean and Gino will be pleased to receive your good wishes too. Thank you for the compliments! I don't remember that programme, Gleds but your account of it is very entertaining!
Great hairstyle and earrings WL!
Congratulations to Jean and Gino! What a good cause for celebration.
Your hair looks lovely, by the way.
Younger Son just got engaged to a lovely Italian girl and we were just informed by him that the reception will have about 12 courses and go on from noon till 6 pm!
Thanks, Liz. Are they getting married in Italy?
A wonderful story :-) The meal looks fantastic , I am sure it tasted as good as it looks. Definitely dishes I would eat.
I think your hair looks fab ,,of course you had to show the back .. as you say Raffaele would never forgive you!! xx
Thanks, Anne, I'll tell Raff you like it. xx
Wow, I love your hair, and your dress is beautiful. What an amazing feast. I enjoy hearing about your friends and their invitations.
You are very kind, Ellee. Thank you. x
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