Samuel PepysI home to dinner. Whither by and by comes Roger Pepys, Mrs. Turner her daughter, Joyce Norton, and a young lady, a daughter of Coll. Cockes, my uncle Wight, his wife and Mrs. Anne Wight.
This being my feast, in lieu of what I should have had a few days ago for my cutting of the stone, for which the Lord make me truly thankful.
We had a fricasee of rabbits and chickens, a leg of mutton boiled, three carps in a dish, a great dish of a side of lamb, a dish of roasted pigeons, a dish of four lobsters, three tarts, a lamprey pie (a most rare pie), a dish of anchovies, good wine of several sorts.
To Hide Park; my aunt, Mrs. Wight and I in one coach, and all the rest of the women in Mrs. Turner’s; Roger being gone in haste to the Parliament about the carrying this business of the Papists, in which it seems there is great contest on both sides.
At the Park was the King, and in another coach my Lady Castlemaine, they greeting one another at every tour.
We home and found the house as clean as if nothing had been done there today from top to bottom, which made us give the cook 12d. a piece, each of us.
Katykayay@samuelpepys Makes me wonder about the leftovers.
tend2wobble@samuelpepys Charles II and mistress, mother of his 5 legitimized and ennobled children.
Axomamma, Antifa from birth@samuelpepys Geez, Sam, you might eat a vegetable occasionally. Your bladder would be grateful.
https://urologyspecialist.com.au/red-meat-and-urologic-health/
The Drop Bear 2.0 
@samuelpepys jeebus Sam. You gotta watch that cholesterol mate 😬
the roamerA generous offering of fine dishes, Sam, truly glorious. Quite an achievement to get it all done in your house! Your friends will have enjoyed the event.
You invite your friends to celebrate the success of the dangerous operation that removed your bladder stone, five years earlier, and I celebrate with you. Looking mortality in the eye changes our outlook on things, doesn't it. Most people forget the lesson once the danger is over. But you keep reminding yourself of the fact that every day alive is a gift, and for that I love you, Sam.
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I don't want to spoil it for Pepys, so I won't ask him about "a leg of mutton boiled". If boiled here means cooked in boiling water, the mutton clearly is being ruined. But perhaps he means slow-cooked or baked? I do appreciate that preparing all those varied meats and pies in his own family kitchen all at the same time may have simply left his cook with no space in the oven or over the fire.
Bytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱WTF Sammy, mate? That's a huge amount of food for any gathering, and also your doctor would probably thank you for getting some vitamins along with all that protein.
Also, boiling lamb is a no-no mate; much nicer when slow-roasted with a bit of garlic and rosemary. And have you discovered mint sauce yet? If so, how's that going? 🤔
Not that it matters, and I hope Sam won't mind if I talk about my own kitchen, but as it happens, here at the Roamers' we have a whole leg of mutton marinating in the fridge as I write this, waiting for tomorrow's Easter slow roast.
I discovered mutton (as opposed to lamb) only last year, and it's become a regular feature on our family menu. Tomorrow's leg of mutton is quite a chunky piece, around 4kg, I had to cut off the end piece to fit it into my largest roasting dish! One roast for three family meals.
Good, richer flavours, I think.
Mutton is lovely, but perhaps not for everyone, but a good meal.
But 'Don't boil Lamb' still stands!
Indeed. Boiling lamb or mutton is a crime.
Kirsty@samuelpepys @bytebro @the_roamer
You can boil/stew the tougher cuts. Maybe he has a lamb neck?
I'll bet that you're right on the stew. That would make much more sense than boiling a joint of meat.
(((JaneinNJ)))@samuelpepys And a large bottle of Ye Olde Pepto Bismol.
Ross of Ottawa@samuelpepys a salad? Could you manage a salad in there somewhere?
Javier@ottaross @samuelpepys salad is for peasants
Helge Wilker@ottaross @samuelpepys Anchovies. Anchovies are vegetables, right?
@samuelpepys we just don't hold a good kidney-stone-removal-anniversary feast/celebration anymore.