Teething Trouble!

Today I ate my first Christmas treat; a Maltesers Merryteaser Mini Reindeer (suitable for vegetarians). Well, I'm now going to suggest renaming them Maltesers Notsomerryteethbreaker Mini Reindeer (suitable for vegetatians but unsuitable for anyone wishing to hang on to their precious gnashers). I am pounding away on this keyboard in a state of teary-eyed fury. 

As you know, I am a chocolate lover, 'though Mars products would not be top of my wish list; me being more of a Cadburys kind of girl. However, chocolate is chocolate and Christmas is coming so I succumbed to one of the little blighters, only to get a piece of honeycomb stuck between my two front teeth leaving me (feeling like Nanny McPhee) with a chipped tooth. A moment on the lips, a lifetime with a chip! Hopefully not, as I shall have my Dentist on speed-dial in the morning with a view to repairing it. The outcome will, no doubt, be more dear than deer!

My family have, with some sympathy, had their fun out of my plight. Yes, I may be able to whistle now. Yes, I should mind the gap. Yes, all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. 

On that note, please wish me good luck at the dentist and then I can wish you Merry Chrithmath!

Remember Remember!

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot.

And so we have had Bonfire Night with its warming soup, jacket potatoes and stuffed peppers followed by comforting parkin and sticky toffee apples eaten outside by the amber glow of the fire amongst the gunpowder aromas of the fireworks.

This has been followed by another kind of remembering; that of Remembrance Sunday when the whole nation remembers and honours those who have sacrificed themselves to secure and protect our freedom. This day is also known as Poppy Day.

Last year ceramic poppies were planted at the Tower of London to mark one hundred years since the start of Britain's involvement in World War I and each one marked the life of a soldier lost during that time. 

This year, here in Yorkshire, at the Sculpture Park, part of that installation, Wave, can be seen.

Although poppies are known for being toxic with their alkaloids used to manufacture opium and morphine, their seeds are in fact edible and a good substitute for nuts.

In the West we use them mainly scattered on baked items such as breads, bagels and pretzels but they can also be used in baking such as poppy cake, strudels and Danish pastries. In the East they are used in chappatis but can be added to mixed spice and used in some curries as a thickener and to add texture. The whole seeds are used in chutneys. Poppy syrup and poppy oil can also be made. 

Trick or Tr(eat)!

When I was younger pumpkins were associated with two things; Halloween and Cinderella. Now Cinderella based stories have been told in folklore for many years in many cultures but the version we know was written in 1697 and brought in the glass slipper, fairy godmother and the magical pumpkin to carriage scenario.

Pumpkins originate in North America and were the foodstuff pilgrims lived off during the 1600s to see them through the winter months.

Halloween has its origins in Celtic Ireland with the festival of Samhain (meaning end of summer) when autumn signified death and it was thought that spirits wandered the earth in search of a soul to inhabit. The Celts would dress as goulish creatures so the spirits would think they were one of them and leave them alone. Turnips would be hollowed out and candles placed inside to ward off evil spirits and warm good spirits to bring good luck into the household.  During the 19th century Irish immigrants brought their stories with them to America and celebrated Halloween (meaning All Hallows' Eve which was the day before All Saints Day on November 1st.) Pumpkins were then carved and lit rather than turnips. The Americans turned it into a holiday for communities with the emphasis on fun and games rather than pranks and witchcraft. During the 20th century it became more popular with trick or treating and pumpkin carving and has become the 2nd largest commercial holiday in the USA.

Whilst pumpkins are good for carving and illuminating, their flesh can make a tasty meal. They can be steamed, boiled and roasted, baked into muffins, fried in fritters and tempura and bashed into mash.

They make delicious soup, curries, bruschetta, galettes and, of course, Pumpkin Pie (best made using the green kabochahas variety with its vibrant orange flesh). The seeds can be scooped out, rinsed, dried, seasoned, drizzled with oil and roasted for 10 mins before cooling and storing for use in soups, salads and as a healthy snack.

This week I have embraced all things pumpkin (and squash and gourd). At Jamie's Italian I feasted on roast squash bruschetta and pumpkin ravioli, in Starbucks I enjoyed a comforting mug of pumpkin spice latte and at home I roasted squash with red onions, pine nuts and sage before adding tiny cubes of salty gorgonzola. All delicious and a warm welcome to winter.

Size Matters!

As we bid farewell to summer and enjoy the extra hour in bed it's time to ditch salads, picnics and Pimms in favour of warming hearty food and drinks. That said, we should not be tempted to hide our bulging waistlines under chunky jumpers but continue to eat sensibly so that the odd Hot Chocolate with extra whipped cream, marshmallows and sprinkles is a treat rather than a regular occurance.

Yesterday I ate at Jamie's Italian where the "sugar tax" has been running since June this year. This is Jamie's latest campaign in the fight against obesity (particularly aimed at children and teenagers) where a 10p surcharge is added to the price of sugary drinks. He has begun on home ground with his own restaurants but is wanting the Government to implement it on a nationwide scale. Bravo Jamie I say.

If I were in power I would change things back to the way they were when I was growing up. I believe it's all about portion size! Whilst generally I love all things American, it seems we have taken on some of their bad habits.

Since when did we ditch our buns for muffins? Our biscuits for cookies?

Not only is the food larger, but the glassware and crockery seems to have grown too. I have been married for just over 30 years and still have some of our original items. The photos below tell their own story. Thirty years ago my wine glass was (well,) tiny. I drank tea from a cup and saucer rather than a mug. My dinner plate seemed full with a decent size portion but now I eat from a larger plate with more room for more food! My dessert/soup/cereal bowl was about half the size it is now. All this space gets filled with more food and more drink so therefore I am consuming more. 

So come on Jamie, let's you and I bring out our own range of small, delicate crockery and make the world a better place! 

A Brush with Basil!

Writing this speedy blog whilst away in Palma! Yes again I hear you cry! Not a complete jolly this time - have just run (my first) 10K race with 2 friends so hey, three nights in Palma with 3 girlfriends and a run this morning seemed like a win-win to me!

The first night saw us in a gin palace called Ginbo where the bottle lined shelves are illuminated with soft atmospheric lighting and the place is jumping after 11pm. One friend chose an English Garden cocktail which contained gin, ginger beer, lime, rosemary, mint and basil. It was served in a jam jar glass with copious amounts of ice and the flavour and aroma of the basil running through it - delicious apparently!

The next day we lunched at Marc Fosh's restaurant Misa and sat in the cool and airy courtyard. Our dessert was a basil brownie served with curd ice cream and a little green jelly. Well, there was nothing brown about this brownie! Nor anything chocolate to savour at the end of National Chocolate Week which ran 12-18th October (in the UK). This basil brownie was green through and through. Palatable but definitely an acquired taste!

There are many kinds of basil as well as the regular; i.e. purple varieties, opal basil, lemon basil, cinammon basil and clove basil. I often have a pot of basil on the windowsill for culinary use and love the smell of it. I have found that Greek basil, with it's tiny leaves (which saves chopping and tearing) lasts much longer and is more decorative, looking almost like a box ball. Maybe the two uses of basil above will inspire you to use this favourite herb in a more unusual way!

This is now being published back home in Blighty. Sorry for the delay - internet issues!

Share and share alike!

By all accounts, this is the year of the apple. No, not in a Chinese New Year kind of way but by the fact that the apple harvest has been a bumper one of unblemished and plentiful apples. This is good news ... remember believing "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"? Not only are they one of our five-a-day but there are numerous ways of cooking apples as well as crunching them au naturale! Another bonus is that there will be lashings of amber liquid for a cider drinker like myself!

When I was growing up we had a James Greaves apple tree at the bottom of the garden and every year the family would go outside on a dry, sunny autumnal Sunday to ceremoniously pick the fruits which would then be individually wrapped in newspaper and placed in the loft to store through the winter months. A friend has recently revealed that during her school days she would refer to the 3 apple trees in their garden as the orchard. I can't say I blame her. When you're young everything seems bigger and the very word orchard conjures up heavily laden branches bowing down and trailing its fruits onto the wild flower meadow at its feet.

In our family everything was shared whether it was a packet of sweets, a bun or indeed an apple. My parents had learned of a fair method of doing this from friends. The rule was "you cut, I'll choose" and so my sister and I learnt to cut precise halves from a very early age. For my last birthday she sent me this card as a reminder (and possibly a way of showing one-up-manship to her little sister!)

Another friend's mum would hold pudding bowls aloft and tell her daughters to choose which hand without the advantage of seeing what and how much was in them. My own children were often told to share nicely whether it was food or toys. Funnily enough whilst googling apples and sharing whilst writing this blog I have come full circle. apple.com say "everything's better when shared, and sharing has never been easier" whilst persuading us to take up Family Sharing on our devices. It's a very clever way of marketing their products by honing in on our values and, they do have a point. Everything is better when shared!

Alligator pears and fertility fruit (aka avocados)!

- Earlier this year my daughter told me about a delicious avocado-on-toast meal she had eaten at local cafe, Toast House in Ilkley, Yorkshire.

- Recently I sat at my kitchen table looking at a solitary ripe avocado and wondering what to do with it. What was the combo I mused.

- A few minutes later - Aha! A moment of recollection; it was mixed with peanut butter! How nutritious!

- A few seconds later - Er, I don't think so; it's pretty vile!

- Fast forward a month and I'm sitting in a wonderful cafe called Mrs Atha's in Leeds eating the most delicious avocado-on-toast meal. Strangely there wasn't a smear of peanut butter to be found! Instead there was perfectly ripe avocado smeared across two slices of granary toast, dusted with a few chilli flakes and topped off with a poached egg bursting with yolkiness.

- Now - I wonder if I can recreate it for my lunch!