There was  no fatted calf to welcome home the only son but he he did get a pretty fine roast chicken.

The chicken had been picked up some months go from The Farmer’s Market since when it has languished near the bottom of the freezer waiting for an opportunity to do good. Its time came today.

It came out to defrost last night and was cooked late this afternoon.

As always the most important thing to remember was to take out the small plastic bag of giblets. It was replaced with half a lemon and and half a red onion, some garlic and a fistful of herbs.

The rest of the lemon was squeezed over the bird before it was given a good dusting of salt, pepper and paprika. It then went into the oven for about 90 minutes.

We had it with crusty rice and salad listening to Miles Davis.

It transpires you send the only son to university for 3 three months and he comes back a fan of Tom Waits and jazz. How do these things happen?