Happy New Year!

Twelfth night may fall on the 5th or 6th January, depending on your beliefs, but the weekend has seen most of us put away our Christmas decorations for another year. I just love to walk or drive around the streets admiring the twinkly lights and, tonight, they are few and far between. It seems a shame that all the light festivals are over when we still have two months of winter to plough through.

With that in mind I have been looking to see what other festivals are on the horizon and, hey presto, the celebration of wassailing is actually today, 5th January. This is a ceremony to bless the fruit trees, particularly apple. Drinking and loud singing to the health of the trees takes place with a Wassail King and Queen leading the procession through the orchards, offering a piece of wassail-soaked toast to the biggest and best tree. This is an offering for a bountiful harvest come the autumn. It is a noisy procession in order to wake the tree spirits and frighten away the evil demons.

This tradition goes back in history but is still carried out in the south of England where orchards are plentiful for Apple and cider production. In these days of trying to cut down on air miles and imports and becoming more environmentally sustainable we should all hope for a bountiful British harvest.

"Wassail" comes from the Old Norse "ves heill" which means "be healthy." That's a good toast for anyone at the start of 2020.

Causing a stir

Today is the last Sunday before Advent, aka Stir Up Sunday. It's time to make Christmas pudding and  so, let's kick off with a prayer;

 Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord,
The wills of thy faithful people,
That they plenteously bringing forth
The fruits of good works, may
be of thee plenteously rewarded

This is the prayer for the 25th Sunday after Trinity and was synonymous with the cry to rally the troops into getting on and stirring up the pudding in advance of Christmas. Very much a case of sowing now (and allowing the fruit to mature in the alcohol) to reap your reward.

Traditionally the pudding had 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his 12 disciples. One should gather the whole family into the kitchen and get each person to give the mixture a stir and make a wish, stirring from east to west to represent the journey of the 3 wise men. Trinkets might then be added to the mixture; a silver coin for wealth, a thimble for the spinster and a ring for a forthcoming wedding. These should be thoroughly cleaned before adding to the mixture and everyone should be given a warning so there are no poisoning nor choking incidents!

Gosh, there's a lot of traditions and superstitions to remember.

I have also taken the opportunity to get cracking with my Christmas cake today and the jewel-like fruit soaking in sherry and orange juice has certainly put me in a festive mood. If only photos of food could be scratched and sniffed! Maybe that should be my wish ...

Smooth Operator

A great way to get your five-a-day is to glug them down in the shape of a smoothie. First drunk in the USA in the 1930s with the invention of the blender, it gained further success in the 1960s with the hippy movement and more people turning vegetarian and vegan. The smoothie has seen a recent increase in popularity with healthy eating (and drinking) being in vogue once again.

The best way to make them is to start with your liquid base of milk (including dairy free alternatives), fruit juice or yogurt. Once inside the blender you can add your fruits/vegetables of choice and blend until you have the desired consistency. At this point have a taste and add any flavourings that may be required. You can stop there or include a bit of texture and some protein if you're on the go and this is a meal replacement.

                            Liquid (milk, inc dairy free alternatives, fruit juice or yogurt)

                                                                     +

                                          Fruit (from frozen works especially well)

                               And/Or vegetables (kale, spinach,avocado, beetroot)

                                                                     +

          Flavourings (cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, honey, maple syrup)

                                                                     +

                               Texture (oats, chia seeds, flaxseeds, chopped nuts)

                                                                     +

                                         Protein (nut butter, tofu, protein powder)

                 You are master of all you command so make like a chef and get creative.

I enjoyed a simple smoothie the other day based on fridge left-overs. An over-ripe banana, some wilting raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and a squeeze of honey were added to soya milk. Pink and tasty.

One of my favourites was on the White Island and named the Ibiza Delight. It consisted of strawberry, banana, almonds, granola, honey, goji berries and almond milk. It slid down a treat after my sunbathing and swimming session.

Showing off!

This weekend it has been our village show where people put their skills and wares on display for judging. There are many categories from best photograph to best wooden object and best nature display to best knitted item. There is usually an entry fee and items are entered by age and category and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes are a little bit of money and, of course, the coveted trophies.

Gardeners and growers, bakers and makers show off their best produce from fruit and vegetables to flowers, cakes and jams. When little, my daughter won for her display of pine cones in a basket which took her all of ten minutes to do! My sister has had prizes for her delicious mint jelly at her local show and has entered jams and chutneys whilst her husband entered fruit and vegetables.

To show fruit and veg you normally have to place three near perfect and of equal size and shape on a plate. That is unless you're going for the whopper or the most rudely shaped competition! 

These shows bring communities together and, whilst some may consider them serious, most people see them as a little bit of fun.

On a larger scale are the county shows which date back to the early 19th century. My nearest is the Great Yorkshire Show which started in 1837 in York and was held at different showgrounds around the county. In 1950 a permanent site in Harrogate was built. It is held every July and I remember, as a child, being allowed the day off school by my parents who said it was "educational!" In my twenties I worked for Calor Gas where we had a stand and demonstrated cooking on gas barbecues. Whenever the chance arose I would go and watch the showjumping or the show animals being led and judged around the arena. The white marquees held the craft competitions, food and drink judging and the produce displays. Whilst it isn't possible to eat or drink the entries, there is a myriad of stalls dotted around the show selling hot and cold food and beverages ranging from Pimms to Yorkshire Tea!

Unfortunately many people do not have the garden space to grow their own and in my local area the average time to wait for an allotment to become available is 8 years! I used to live opposite a lovely man called Bill who owned an allotment. I would arrive home from a busy day at work to find a bag of produce hanging on my kitchen door; everything from sweet apples to papery onions and soil covered potatoes! One time he delivered Jerusalem Artichokes and I had to find out what to do with them (roasting proved to be my favourite!) All the benefits of home grown without the work; it was bliss! 

With more people growing and making their own, living sustainable lives with a low carbon footprint and being environmentally aware, one can only assume the village and county shows are here to stay.

Hello Petal!

Now is the time when much of our food is grown; vegetables, fruit, salad, herbs and flowers. Yes that's right, flowers!

Amazingly many of the pretty flowers we grow in our gardens can be eaten; nasturtiums, violas, marigolds, roses, primroses, geraniums, cornflowers, fuschias, phlox, tulips, sunflowers ... an endless list.

From the vegetable garden the flowers of peas, pumpkin, squash, marrow, onion and courgette. From the herb garden the flowers of chives, borage, lemon balm, basil, fennel, oregano, bergamot, dill, mint and coriander. Also blossom from citrus and apple trees and strawberry flowers.

Whilst fancy restaurants and TV cookery programmes have made this fashionable, flowers have been used in cookery as far back as 3,000BC and was a particular favourite in Roman Times and by the Chinese.

Mandy, a girl I worked with in the 1980s, would eat the carnations off the table in any bar or restaurant! My own sister has sprinkled a handful of nasturtiums and pansies in her salads for the last ten years or so. I thought she was a bit of a crank but it turns out she was way ahead of the game with her edible flowers, homemade chutneys and jellies and herb infused oils and she was certainly the first person I knew who recycled on a regular basis 30 years ago!

Whilst flowers can be sugar frosted to go on cakes they can easily be used in salads and sauces, desserts and biscuits as well as being used as a garnish in a cocktail.

If you decide to eat flowers you should ensure that no chemicals or pesticides have been sprayed on them. If you haven't a garden to grow them in you can buy online, visit a farmers market or bob to your nearest Waitrose where they are sold in 5g bags to add to your salad leaves. 

Or, "if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair" - you never know when you're going to need a quick snack!