Bluebells

I am lucky enough to live in a beautiful semi rural village surounded by woods. Over the last couple of weeks, the bluebells have appeared in great purple and blue profusion, over the forest floor.

It has been a treat to walk our dog, Max, through the beautiful carpets of flowers.

I read that bluebells are an indication of possible ancient woodlands. They are used as a plant marker. I think the oak woodland, native to West Berkshire, is almost certainly ancient. Great oak trees tower above as you walk the paths, easily several hundred years old.

The common or English bluebell, is part of the group related to Hyacinths. They are supposed to have flowered when the Greek God, Hyacinthus was accidentally killed by his lover Apollo. Hyacinthus was a beautiful, young man who had been courted by both Apollo and Zephyrus, the god of the West Wind. Hyacinthus was killed when a discus, thrown by Apollo, was blown off course by a jealous Zephyrus and struck him. The tears wept by Apollo, were the site of the blooming of a new flower.

Seville Marmalade

I bought some Seville oranges from Tadley Market a few weeks ago. I have had previous, unsucessful attempts at making marmalade. I made a batch that tasted great, following a Delia Smith recipe, but it didn't set at all so I was keen to try and do a better job this time. 

I bought a preserving pan from Newbury Car Boot sale for £1. It did have a dent in the side and my husband wasn't convinced of it's usefulness but after a trip in the dishwasher, it looked the business. As an aside, I read somewhere that preserving pans have had a renaissance at Lakeland, with credit crunched housewives, making their own jams and pickles. I'm not all that sure it's cheaper to make your own preserves but it is fun and they do taste better.

Anyway, I digress. I made the marmalade using said preserving pan and I also used preserving sugar. I followed the amounts of ingredients suggested in Delia's How to Cook 3 (traditional Seville marmalade). I pretty much followed the recipe as stated and I did go to the bother of squeezing the pectin from orange skins and pith tied in a muslin bag but I confess, I also added some pectin too.

The result was pretty good. The marmalde was softly set, and as I didn't have to boil it for so long, so it tasted lovely and fresh. I'm pleased with the result and I do think the preserving pan made a difference but I'm not sure that I'd want to stump up £20 odd pounds to buy one new, since I don't make that much in the way of preserves. I think it you were really keen on making jams etc. it would be worth it.

Chinese crispy duck

Yesterday, I found a couple of chinese duck breasts (already cooked) lurking in the bottom of the freezer. I also found some spring roll pastry. Today, I am pondering what to do with the pairing. I am concious that the obvious thing to do, is to put some shreaded duck with spring onions and maybe a little ginger and carrot, into the pastry wrapper, fold it up and deep fry it. Then serve it with some hot chinese dipping sauce.

I don't want to go whole heartedly (although I probably should) down the salady route. Perhaps there is a middle way?