Does your granny make fantastic soup? Do you remember sitting down to the table with a steaming bowl and some buttered bread, and having one of the best soups you've ever had? My granny makes fantastic soup, and the strange thing is she uses so few ingredients. Is it some magical gift, that of creating brilliance from little, that comes only from generations past? Our meeting on the evening of the 10th October would suggest otherwise.
At the strike of seven-thirty we had an attendance akin to a potato and half an onion. But a little chop, a slice, a dice, and little sprinkle later we had broth that even your granny would be proud of. The first chef to impart a soupçon of something something was Anthony Nixon, acting as the Toastmaster for the evening and promising an autumn fair of limpid loquacity. With his sou chef Sanjit Joseph at hand his promise was never in doubt. I'm sure all sou chefs say they do all the work, and in our kitchen that was definitely true. Are you ready for it? Sanjit acted as the stand-in President, the Table Topic Master, the General Evaluator, and he even evaluated two speeches. Did I mention that attendance was a little low?
With the broth bubbling away and filling the room with rumble-inducing aromas Colin Donald stepped up and took the Table Topic prize with an emotive response to Sanjit's movie-line theme: "The past can hurt: you can learn from it or run from it".
The body of our soup was given a sense of age - of maturity - by the advanced work of Stuart Beattie as he completed his 4th speech in search of his Advanced Communicator Bronze. From the words of Einstein to knitting socks from jumpers, Stewart weaved a gentle tale that sparked in his audience a keenness to the facets of Contract Preparation. Or at least to the alternative thinking he had on offer.
Something with the appearance of juniper berries or whole pepper corns was thrown into the mix by Adam Shaw; the sort of thing that sits there in waiting until you crush it - usually mid conversation - and where thereafter you embark upon a head to head battle with your sense of dignity and decorum. Having eventually reclaimed your sense of calm, and with the rescindment of your dinner invitation surely looming, still you can't stop yourself from scouring the depths of the bowl looking for another nugget of exhilaration. With a personal objective to captivate one hundred percent of the time, Adam delivered his 5th speech entitled "Another Day at the Office", and armed with nuggets of exhilaration he hit his target with aplomb.
The body of our soup was given a sense of age - of maturity - by the advanced work of Stuart Beattie as he completed his 4th speech in search of his Advanced Communicator Bronze. From the words of Einstein to knitting socks from jumpers, Stewart weaved a gentle tale that sparked in his audience a keenness to the facets of Contract Preparation. Or at least to the alternative thinking he had on offer.
Something with the appearance of juniper berries or whole pepper corns was thrown into the mix by Adam Shaw; the sort of thing that sits there in waiting until you crush it - usually mid conversation - and where thereafter you embark upon a head to head battle with your sense of dignity and decorum. Having eventually reclaimed your sense of calm, and with the rescindment of your dinner invitation surely looming, still you can't stop yourself from scouring the depths of the bowl looking for another nugget of exhilaration. With a personal objective to captivate one hundred percent of the time, Adam delivered his 5th speech entitled "Another Day at the Office", and armed with nuggets of exhilaration he hit his target with aplomb.
No dish is complete without giving it ample time and when Alistair Kight donned his whites he certainly did that. With his second speech entitled "Mud to Magic - Transform Your Garden" he wouldn't be rushed with the seasoning and no pesky red light was going to stop him imparting his wisdom. Whether you live in an estate or on an estate, the mud that you look out upon can make your world a better world. The importance of a framework and its content is never lost on speech writers, and nor should it be lost when transforming your land of retreat and tranquillity from dandelion patch to micro-Sissinghurst.
The prize for the best speech was awarded to Adam and the prize for the best evaluation was awarded to the visiting Rob Cox from Watford Speakers. Rob joined us to promote the screening of Speak at The Pump House Theatre in Watford on Sunday 21st October. It may be the last screening in the UK for a long time so I urge you - urge you - to join us in favour of pre-Monday-Blues television. Be warned though, the evening promises another head to head battle with one's sense of dignity and decorum as we all attempt to simultaneously laugh and cry. But at least this time the room should be dark so an air of uncertainty should still remain as to the exact whereabouts of that questionable nasal squeak.
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Ah, good soup, just like granny's. Still, the world of gastronomy is almost boundless and at the pinnacle of what is considered fine dining one would find a whole army of chefs dedicated to their task: a sauté chef; a fish chef; a grill chef; a pantry chef; a pastry chef... The list is quite long. Whilst I would always profess that granny's soup is the best in the world I think we can all agree that a Toastmasters meeting is one where too many cooks will never spoil the broth. Don your whites, join us on the 24th October, and add your own soupçon of something something.
