Limone

While I was browsing the fruit section of the supermarket the other day, I spotted these yellow beauties. It wasn't just the size of the lemons which drew my attention but the small label showing that they were from Sorrento. I was immediately transported back to May 2003 and the Bay of Naples...

These were pre-blogging and pre-digital camera days so this photo of a photo isn't great but you get the idea. It's one of the best holidays we've ever had - a perfect mixture of sun, sea, scenery, stunning architecture and rich, amazing history. I was in heaven exploring the streets of Sorrento, Pompeii and Herculaneum, and almost literally in heaven at the top of Mt Vesuvius. There are very few places I'd go back to - too many places, too little time - but this is definitely one of them.

The locals are very proud of their lemons and you find them decorating all kinds of souvenirs - I came back with a tile and fridge magnet. We also saw them decorating these children during a school parade.

The lemons are much larger and juicier than standard lemons. Just look at the width of the pith on this one!

Apparently 60% of the harvest is reserved to make limoncello, for which Sorrento is also famous. Mine was made using Sophie Grigson's recipe from Sunshine Foods: lemon peel, vodka, sugar and water.

Of course, I couldn't let those gorgeous lemons go to waste so I made a cake. It's based on the Orange & white chocolate cake by Lynn Hill in the Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook*. You can find the recipe here and where it says use orange juice/zest, substitute lemon. And, instead of Cointreau, I used my homemade limoncello.

Lemon is probably my all-time favourite flavour and the smell as I juiced and grated was just amazing. Summer and sunshine. The cake tasted pretty good too!

All those holiday memories and more still to make. When I arrived home with my Italian lemons, our tickets for Verona had arrived! Fluttery tummies all round. Only 21 sleeps to go. Me, excited? Whatever gave you that impression :)

*If you haven't got this cookbook, I highly recommend it. There are so many interesting sounding recipes, I want to make practically all of them!

February's fair maids

After making the Remembrance Day poppy and the Tudor rose for Lancashire Day, I thought it would be nice to make a different brooch to mark the changing of the seasons and traditions. It's taken me a while to get around to it but the snowdrops growing in my parents' garden gave me the inspiration.

At first, my plan was to make something 3D in felt which, in my fantasies, would have looked something like these gorgeous examples by CozyFelt (left) and Olga Voloshchenko (right). Sadly though the reality of my skills meant I had to aim for something simpler. I played around with felt and fabric for a while but nothing looked quite right. Back to the drawing board and to cross stitch.

I found a pattern in my magazine stash and settled down last Sunday with a cup of tea and a couple of pieces of Scottish tablet to stitch.

And this was the result! I tried lots of different settings but this simple border of green and white felt worked the best. There's a couched silver thread around the linen to give a touch of sparkle. Not what I envisaged at the start but I'm pretty happy with it.

That wasn't the end of the snowdrops though.

While looking for ideas and patterns, I came across lots of information about snowdrops, including this lovely, little poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Many many welcomes,

February fair-maid,

Ever as of old-time,

Solitary firstling,

Coming in the cold time,

Prophet of the gay time,

Prophet of the May time,

Prophet of the roses,

Many many welcomes,

February fair-maid!

I thought it summed up beautifully the hope and anticipation that these first flowers of the year bring.

The snowdrop, in purest white arraie,

First rears her hedde on Candlemas daie

I also discovered that today is Candlemas Day when a blessing of the church candles for the coming year would have been held. Snowdrops are also known as both Candlemas bells and Mary's tapers. You can see in this photo how they might have come by the latter name as they push their flame-like white tips into the light.

Candlemas marks the midway point between the Winter Solstice (shortest day) and the Spring Equinox (20 March) and coincides with the pagan Celtic feast of Imbolc. As you know, I love a good tradition and don't want to miss an excuse for feasting, so I thought it would be fitting to mark the occasion with something to eat.

It wasn't hard to find inspiration in that humble staple, milk. Imbolc translates as 'ewe's milk' and the scientific name for snowdrops, Galanthus, comes from the Greek for milk (gala) and flower (anthos). As I've had a bit of a poorly tummy this week, a warm milky pudding sounded just the thing. I did consider making galatopita (being Greek and milky) but instead settled on that English classic, rice pudding, laced with a splash of amaretto.

Who would have thought that the simple little snowdrop could provide so much inspiration?

Before I go , I have one last traditional saying.

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will take another flight.
If Candlemas Day be cloud and rain
Winter is gone and will not come again.

I don't know what it's been like in your corner of the world today, but here it's been a beautiful sunny day. Looks like we're in for a long winter :(

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Do you ever find that some posts come together really easily and others you have to labour over? This is definitely the latter. I had such a mix of ideas and inspiration it was hard to bring that muddled mass together. I hope I got there in the end. x

Foodies Festival

After a brief journey into the present, today we're stepping into the time machine and heading back to August. For the second week of our holidays, Chickpea and I headed south to stay with my friend Gill and her family. When we arrived, she surprised me with a belated birthday/early Christmas present of tickets to the Foodie Festival. And not just standard tickets but VIP tickets! I was so thrilled and excited I couldn't wait to go!

On arrival we went to the VIP area where we were greeted with a glass of champagne while we chose which of the demonstrations we wanted to see.

It was also a great place to sit and soak up the atmosphere before heading out to work our way around the stalls trying as many samples as we could. Our VIP tickets also came with a voucher for a free meal from three of the stalls so we chose a plate from each to try out the different styles: Turkish, Indian and British. The Turkish turned out to be our favourite and particularly a marinated chicken kebab - so much flavour!

There were lots of stalls selling meals and I liked this brightly coloured bike? at the Thai street food stand.

Soon it was time for the first demonstration which was by Bonne Maman who were promoting their individually wrapped madeleines. The lady showed how they could be used and decorated in different ways. We enjoyed the free sample at the end but it was a bit too much of a sales pitch for me.

Much better was Sophie Grigson who showed us three meals from one poached chicken. She's just as lovely as she seems on TV and was wearing an enormous pair of earrings like she does on TV too. Although I have her book Sunshine Food, I think I've only used it for the recipe for limoncello! Really must dig it out as the food looked and smelled amazing. Annoyingly we weren't allowed to taste it though - those pesky health and safety police.

We also, unsurprisingly, enjoyed the chocolate tasting session! We were all given a sample of Divine dark chocolate and David (from Coeur de Xocolat) talked us through touch, smell and taste. Melt slowly in the mouth to release all the flavours. Mmmmmm - I love dark chocolate. We did the same with some milk chocolate and then again with a dark piece containing orange and ginger.

The lady in the photo is Fiona of Sciolti Botanical Chocolates who had a gorgeous stand of chocolates made with fruits, flowers, teas and herbs. She demonstrated how to make a truffle using some pink gin that another stall holder was selling - no problems with the health and safety police here so we were allowed a taste and, oooo, it was good!

To end our visit, it was back to the VIP area for a cocktail - I can't remember what it was called but it included mashed up strawberries and vodka (daiquiri?).

Even better there was a rock group playing at the time so Chickpea and I swayed around and tossed our hair with cocktail in hand until it was time to leave.

Of course we couldn't come away without buying something - a small bottle of toffee vodka for our homemade cocktails, toffee apple popcorn and some apple vinegar drizzle.

Later that evening we toasted marshmallows to make smores and sat by the fire until the only thing visible was the glow of the flames and the stars and, in the distance, the hoot of tawny owls. A lovely end to a lovely day. x

Sausage, pea and feta salad

One of our all-time favourite meals is Sausage, Pea and Feta salad. In fact, I'd go as far as saying this might even be what I'd choose for my last supper! The recipe came from the April 2007 issue of Delicious magazine. I've made it countless times and it really couldn't be easier.

Ingredients

Small new or salad potatoes, cooked then sliced
Frozen or fresh peas, cooked
Pork sausages, cooked then sliced
Red onion, finely sliced
Feta, cubed
Fresh mint leaves, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Simply cook, chop or prepare all the ingredients, in quantities to suit your family, and then toss together.

I like to use sausages with added ingredients to give an extra layer of flavour. Pork and apple is our favourite combination, with the sweetness of the apple combining beautifully with the saltiness of the feta. However, this time I used sausages which included ginger, chilli and garlic and it was just as delicious.

Yum! There really is nothing else to say. x

First harvest

One of the first things I do when I get back off holiday is check the garden to see what has changed and what is in flower. At this time of year it's amazing what a difference a few days can make.

How exciting then to arrive back from our jollies and find that several of my vegetables were ready to harvest! The courgettes are always reliable and very prolific. You'll notice I grow them in a pot: this is partly due to lack of space but mostly because I've found it the best way to keep off the snails.

I cut two fruits at the time but have already harvested several more. I always grow the yellow ones because the colour is just so happy and sunny (and we are usually in dire need of the latter in a typical English summer!).

These ones were destined for a pasta dish with sausage, onion and tomatoes, topped with freshly grated parmesan and basil. I've got another sausage recipe for you which I'm just writing up.

Also ready were some radish. The seeds were part of my Secret Santa present a couple of years ago.

I used to hate radish as a child but now I really like the peppery taste. It just shows how your tastes change as you get older - mind you, I'd still eat sweet over savoury any day.

These rosy beauties ended up in a sandwich: beef, blue cheese, tomato, rocket and caramelised onion chutney on ciabatta. Yum! Washed down with Lavender Honey Beer from Yorkshire Lavender. I'd so like to say 'yum' to this too but it just reminded me how much I really really don't like beer - this is one change in my taste buds which I don't think will ever happen. I'm sure Dad will enjoy the rest of the bottle.

Last but not least, a handful of sugar snap peas were squeakily plump and waiting to be added to our meal.

As there were only a few, I sliced them up raw to use in this salad of prawns, mango, watercress and spinach with a Thai-style dressing. Perfect on a hot day.

Elsewhere in the garden, this summer is the first time my two clematis have flowered. This one is 'Comtesse de Bouchard' and has lots more buds waiting to open - can't wait!

And this one is 'Madame Julia Correvon'. She's dainty and more delicate than the Comtesse. Both were cheap supermarket purchases so I'm really pleased with how well they've grown.

Lastly, do you remember me buying some petunias about Easter time?

Well, look at them now! I planted them in troughs which I placed all along a small wall which divides the path from the lawn, right outside my kitchen window. The gorgeous weather over the past week has made them go crazy. I took this photo just a few moments ago and, actually, it reminds me that I must go out and water them.

Hope you enjoy the wonderful weather this weekend. I'm meeting two friends tomorrow in Stockport of all places but you'll have to wait to find out why. In the meantime, I'll be back soon, probably with that sausage recipe. x

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Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my first anniversary. Your support and appreciation really does make a difference. Bloggers truly are the loveliest bunch of people. xxx

Jacob's Join

On Wednesday my quilt group had its Christmas meeting at which we always have a Jacob's Join. You probably know this better as a 'pot luck' where each member brings along a plate of food to share. I'd never heard of the term Jacob's Join before I became a member of our group. And it wasn't until I did an internet search to find the origin of the name that I discovered it's a term used mainly in and around Lancashire (though strangely there were lots of mentions in North Carolina too!). No-one seems to know why it's called a Jacob's Join but the most common suggestion is that it has biblical origins and is related to Jacob and the 7 year famine during which he sent his sons out to bring back food.

Whatever the explanation, every year I agonise over what to take. I usually aim for something savoury as there are always plenty of desserts. It needs to be either something I can make in advance or something very quick as I don't have much time between getting home from work and rushing out to the meeting. And it has to be cold as I never fancy trying to transport hot food in the car.

Last year I made these canapes which were in one of the free food guides you get from supermarkets at this time of year and they couldn't be simpler. Take one slice of salami and place in the middle a sunblush tomato, a piece of mozzarella and a couple of rocket leaves. Roll up and secure with a cocktail stick.

They were such a success that I decided to do something similar this year but with a slight change of ingredients. A Google image search for salami canapes found a picture showing a canape which used a slice of salami, a slice of cheese and an olive. For the olive haters, I decided to substitute a ribbon of cucumber. Look pretty good, don't they? Appearances can be deceptive. The cocktail stick didn't do a good job of holding the sides together and they soon fell apart. They also didn't stack well on a tray as the cocktail sticks got in the way. I fiddled and twiddled and couldn't figure out how to get them to work. Time for a rethink.

The simplest solution was to stack the ingredients onto crackers so I did an eleventh hour dash to our local shop and picked up some oatcakes and wheat crackers. Next predicament: the salami slices were just too big to sit neatly on top. Out with the pastry cutters. Un-fluted side for the salami, fluted side for the cheese, and a smaller one for the cucumber.

And these were the finished canapes. After a couple of false starts, I was really pleased with the results. But do you know what? Out of 15 that went to the Jacob's Join, 10 came back home with me. Sigh.

I obviously didn't hit the spot with these. Maybe they looked too bland? Or there were a lot of salami and/or cheese haters? In any case, I need to up my game next year. So, dear readers, please help a fellow blogger, what's your favourite and sure-fire winner of a dish to take to a Jacob's Join?

Lancashire Day

Did you know that today is Lancashire Day? Did you even know there was such a thing as Lancashire Day? No, me neither, but I stumbled across a reference to it on the internet and was intrigued. 27 November marks the day in 1295 when Lancashire sent its first representatives to Parliament and is championed by the Friends of Real Lancashire. There are events being held throughout the County before, during and after the big day.

After finding out about Lancashire Day, my mind raced with all the possibilities for celebrating with the girls at work (as it's on a work day). First we would have to begin with the Proclamation:

"Know ye also, and rejoice, that by virtue of Her Majesty's County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens of the Hundreds of Lonsdale, North and South of the Sands, Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn, Salford and West Derby are forever entitled to style themselves Lancastrians. Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines, this day shall ever mark the peoples' pleasure in that excellent distinction - true Lancastrians, proud of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke."

Then, every good public celebration has to have a parade so, a parade around the desks, everyone holding aloft a red rose (the symbol of Lancashire) or a Lancashire peeler. A what? Yes, Lancashire has its very own style of peeler.

Now you might be thinking that this looks like any other kind of peeler but it's all in the detail. What makes this one a Lancashire peeler is the twine around the handle.

For a good celebration, you also need music, preferably traditional but with a modern twist as befits the occasion. Maybe something like this.

With the music in place, there could be maypole dancing around the coatstands or clog dancing, if anyone can find their clogs.

And of course, food. Savoury treats like Bury black pudding, Lancashire cheese, Lancashire hotpot and butter pies. And for dessert: Chorley cakes, Eccles cakes and Goosnargh cakes. Lancashire is clearly keen on cakes.

Animated with excitement and enthusiasm, I shared these thoughts with the girls at work. They laughed and gently suggested it might be time I had a day off. Ah well. In the end, we are going to have a mini celebration by having coffee and the Eccles and Chorley cakes and I'll be proudly wearing my handmade Lancashire rose brooch which I'll share with you next time. And I'll write about Goosnargh cakes and some of the other foods one day too.

In the meantime, to all proud Lancastrians, I wish you a very happy Lancashire Day!

Bonfire Night: Black peas

It's almost Bonfire Night when England remembers Guy Fawkes' failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. As well as memories of bonfires and fireworks, I mostly remember the food we used to eat. In this and the next post, I'd like to introduce you to some of these traditional dishes from my Lancashire childhood.

Today it's the turn of Black Peas. I only ever remember eating these on Bonfire Night and always out of a polystyrene cup with a plastic spoon. However, on some Northern fairs and markets, you can buy them all year round. In Preston, they are known as parched peas: parching apparently being an old English word for long, slow boiling. Amazing what you learn when blogging!

Intrigued to find out if parched peas are the same as black peas, I queued at a food van on the Flag Market and handed over my 75p for a small portion. I wasn't the only one buying that day as the older gentleman in front of me also bought a portion. In fact there were three food vans on the market selling parched peas which must be a sign of its popularity in Preston.

Sure enough, the portion was handed to me in a polystyrene cup with a white plastic spoon. The traditional acccompaniment is salt, vinegar and pepper. I'm happy with just malt vinegar so I added a good splash and went off to find a quiet corner to taste my first black peas in many years.

The peas were a lighter colour than I remember but the flavour was the same. The texture should be al dente and I'd say more closely remembers a cooked dried bean than a pea. Earthy and, in this case, quite peppery which must have been an addition by the vendors. Lovely, warming and tasty on a chilly day.



The peas don't seem to be widely available but in this area you can buy them from fruit and veg stalls in markets. Mum says they can also be found in pet shops where they're known as pigeon peas (ie. for feeding to pigeons!), but I'm not sure whether these would pass food safety standards for human consumption. According to Wikipedia, they are purple podded peas, also known as maple peas. All very confusing, so the best advice is to wander over to Lancashire to be sure of what you're buying!

My peas came ready-bagged and included the bicarbonate of soda tablet shown above for the pre-soaking process. On other stalls, tubs of bicarb were sold separately. So, how do you cook them? Well, the recipe is so simple it can hardly be called a recipe. However, this is the one handed down to my Mum from my Nanna and now to me.

1. Soak 200g peas overnight in a bowl of cold water with 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.
2. The next day, drain the peas and rinse well.
3. Put in a pan and cover with water. Bring up to the boil and then simmer until the peas are soft. They should not be too mushy but still have some bite to them (al dente).
4. Add salt and pepper to taste - the liquid will turn milkier as you do this.
5. Serve in a mug with plenty of malt vinegar.

Black peas are usually served on their own as described above. However, Mum remembers her Auntie Maggie mixing them in with minced beef and onion to flesh out a dish. I decided to serve them as a side dish with sausages and corn on the cob.

OK, so they're not going to win any beauty contests but they do taste good. Why not give them a go?