Unbought Delicacies: 13/12/2009

Saturday, 19 December 2009

Cranberry sauce and winter hats

I like my Christmas food traditional in the main, but I do like cranberry sauce with turkey, and make it every year; apart from last year when I couldn;t get cranberries for love nor money for some reason. Anyhow, I got mine early this year to make sure I had some, and have just made the sauce. Nice and simple, letting the fruit's sharpness shine through - perfect with turkey, I think.

8 oz or so of fresh cranberries
juice of two oranges
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper
small knob of butter
sugar

Rinse cranberries and place in a pan with the orange juice; put pan over a lowish heat, cover, and leave until the cranberries pop and soften to a puree. Add seasoning to taste and the butter and enough sugar just to take the edge off the sharpness. Add more juice if you like a softer consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then leave to cool. Will keep in the fridge for up to a week or so, or you can freeze it until required.

Now - hats.
I finished the second of these this morning, and they are now on their way to Inverness as presents for my nieces. They are knitted from the Hat Trick kit available from Alice Starmore's Virtual Yarns (http://www.virtualyarns.com/). The yarn is pure wool, produced in the UK in the most enchanting set of colours, with evocative names such as Solan Goose, Bog Bean, Kittiwake, Driftwood.......... The quality of the wool and pattern are absolutely top notch, and I can recommend the company to everyone. I now need to order another set, as both Bean and I want one, and MrL has ordered one in a manly style. I certainly won't mind knitting these again, they were a pleasure to work up.

Friday, 18 December 2009

Making the cards

One of my favourite parts of the Christmas preparations is making the cards; I usually do a whole run of one design, but this year I had lots of very lovely bits and bpieces to use up, so made a varied selection. 102 I counted, I think! I spent a happy couple of hours at the kitchen table, taking my time, warmed by the Rayburn and a big mug of hot fruity cordial. I'll get them written this afternoon, ready for posting tomorrow; a bit later than usual, but that's only to be expected. I'm already planning next year's cards.............lol

This one is a bit of fun - not my idea, but I got it from the wonderful http://grayhood.com/, and I borrowed his idea, but made them pink! It makes me smile just to look at them!

Thursday, 17 December 2009

Slow Christmas..................

I'm not one for rushing around, but especially so at Christmas - I refuse to be caught up in the rush and hurry, the greediness, the fraught "shopping" binges, the perceived pressure, the competitiveness of it all...........So, here we are at the 16th December, and it's time to start the preparations for next week - ample time in my book, it's the way we like it. I have bought most of the presents, and made the cake and Christmas pudding and mincemeat, but that's it. This afternoon is devoted to making the cards and writing them, along with the annual letter for those we don't see/speak to often. I'll make the front door wreath too, and probably get the cranberry sauce made. Tomorrow I'll be sorting out the decorations for the house - MrL has got the box down from the loft so I can go through them at my leisure; we'll get a tree at the weekend. By the end of the weekend, the house will be decorated, and the wrapping and posting done, preparations for food and drink will be well in hand by then too.
I refuse to rush, to spoil what for me is a big part of it all- the making, the talking to friends, watching the sky for snow ( we had a bit yesterday!), sharing, taking time to enjoy it all, not just the three days holiday. I enjoy taking time to wrap up and wander around the garden for my own greenery - although I did buy a lovely big piece of mistletoe at the market - and use that; find ourselves a Yule log too, in the woods and bring it on home; take time with a hot drink or two to wrap presents and write cards, enjoying the process, not just the results, which is what life should be about really.
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Sunday, 13 December 2009

I'm back.................

Thankyou all so much for all your good wishes and kind thoughts, it's very much appreciated.
I've been in hospital for a few days, unfortunately having had to have surgery for a very badly infected and about-to-butst- gall bladder. Op was difficult and "challenging" but luckily the surgeon didn't tell me that until afterwards!
Anyhow, I'm back home with armfuls of painkillers and a few weeks of good rest ahead of me.
I'll be back later.

MrsL

xx

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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