My family are obsessed with cabbage soup at the moment! Two of the apprentices are studying the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings at school and seem convinced that this formed the bulk of the diet for your average Dark Ages dweller. The third is struggling with a chesty cold. We cook with cabbage and kale [...]
Archive for January, 2012
Cabbage soup is the new Rock and Roll!
Posted in medicine chest and cleaning cupboard, soups and salads, tagged immune system booster, jetlag cures, kale and cannelini bean soup on January 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Twelfth Night – Tudor Style
Posted in feasts and festivals, Special events, tagged King cake, Mummers play, Tudor celebrations, Twelfth Night on January 17, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Twelfth Night has come late for us this year as we’ve decided to celebrate it Tudor style as an aid to one of the apprentice’s homework. How convenient then that the National Trust should be holding just such an event at nearby Lacock Abbey last Sunday. Unsurprisingly the celebrations were not that far removed from [...]
Teatime treats…..where I take on Mary Berry and win!
Posted in pudding club, tuckbox, tagged January cooking, Mary Berry, orange and cranberry buns, teatime cakes and sandwiches on January 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
My love of buns is legendary but in January, like many a would-be ‘domestic goddess’ I have a pantry full of oranges and cranberries leftover from Christmas. What’s a girl to do? Cranberry and orange buns for tea – of course. There is a recipe for sticky buns in the latest Great British Bake Off [...]
Blazing into 2012 – part 2
Posted in activities with children, Things to make, tagged scented firelighters, using up Christmas leftovers on January 4, 2012 | 3 Comments »
As a postscript to my fire post yesterday and to help you make use of some of the festive debris, here’s a great way to while away a January afternoon. If you are like us, your house is full of oranges, cinnamon sticks, apples, candle butts and pine cones at present. Here’s how to use hem [...]
Blazing into 2012 – part 1
Posted in family time, food for the soul, tagged candles, fireside activities, lights, wood fires on January 3, 2012 | 2 Comments »
I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions. If something needs to get done I like to get on with it rather than waiting for a special day. However the downtime between Christmas and New Year, the dark nights and the extravagant weather is a good opportunity for a bit of reflection by the fire about one’s [...]
Three cheers for fennel!
Posted in herb garden, medicine chest and cleaning cupboard, school gardens, tagged fennel, fennel tea, home remedies, Roamn herb garden on January 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
It’s that time of year when a bit of over-indulgence may tip you over the edge. Listen up people! Forget New Year’s resolutions of abstemious diets. What fun is that? Think of me as your post-Christmas fairy godmother and let me introduce you to the wonders of fennel tea.Not uber-exciting at first glance, I grant you but [...]
