Humble pie

How many ladies does it take to cook a shepherd's pie? It’s a complicated one, says Tessa Waugh, on a quest to find appropriate ovens for the impending hunt auction dinner

- Tessa Waugh

THERE were several of us – ladies from the hunt – moving purposefully around the village hall, getting ready for a dinner to coincide with an online auction that was concluding that night. Like many hunts we are blessed with a number of supremely able and organised women: supper for numbers is something they can execute like falling off a log.

As the hall quickly morphed from characterless space into ambient party venue, lights dimmed, tables decorated and laid, Caroline came in from her car with an enormous slab of shepherd’s pie, which she had collected from the local butcher to feed everyone.

“I don’t think this is going to fit in here,” she said to no one in particular, glancing from the cooker to the huge tray she was carrying.