Sugar Snap Peas with White Beans

Sugarsnap peas picked at Garson's Farm PYO briefly stir fried in olive oil with white beans and chives both from the garden, crisp sweet and delicious.

Cowslips

I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear. 

William Shakespeare

When I was a child I lived in a village and my mother took us for walks into the countryside. We discovered a field on a hill, dense with cowslips. I loved the smell of them and we picked bunches to bring home. Local people filled bags with the flowers for making cowslip wine. In the Winter we would return there to slide down the snowy slope.

Cowslip flowers or leaves are used in cooking to flavour vinegars or syrups, as tisanes, in salads or crystallised to decorate cakes. I have never tasted them, that will have to wait till next year, meantime I will scour the internet for recipes.
Have you ever tasted them or know of any recipes?

I have cowslips growing in a small area of long grass. Primula veris is the species name, veris meaning 'of spring'. I had one plant in the grass that has seeded. This area is not cut until the seed pods have turned brown. Some of the seeds will self sow and I remove some and scatter the seed further a field into the grass. So the meadow patch is growing. Some have hybridised with the primroses in the garden and have larger flowers, some even pink.

Growing cowslips

Plant late Summer/Autumn. If planted when ripe and soon after gathering they take 4-6 weeks to germinate. If left unplanted the seeds become dormant and need a cold period to break their dormancy so wouldn't germinate till Spring.

Either sprinkle them directly on the ground or into grass or plant in a container. Don't cover the seed as they also need some light to germinate. You could use either John Innes seed and potting compost  or a multi purpose soil free one.Water from the bottom and don't let it dry out. Use a container at least 4in deep helps against drying out. Some people put a layer of damp sphagnum moss on the top of the compost and sow the seed onto that. when the seeds sprout put a thin layer of compost over them to grow through.

Sohan

Sohan is a delicious and very rich flat biscuit from Iran. It is made from honey, butter, flour, sugar, pistachios, almonds and flavoured with saffron and cardamom. I haven't found a recipe yet so I don't know the proportions to use.
Koosha is the name of the company that makes this particular sohan and this tin was brought from Iran as a gift.
Sohan can be bought in London.

I found a recipe for sohan asali Persian honey candy, It has similar ingredients and is a sweet rather than a biscuit.  From the ingredients it probably has the texture of butterscotch. Sohan Koosha is also like butterscotch but with a touch of the crumbly textures of a biscuit.

A Taste of Spain in Bermondsey

Jose's Tapas Bar, 104, Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UB

details here

Jose's is opposite and a few doors along from the Fashion and Textile Museum. It made an excellent watering hole after our visit to the Kaffe Fassett exhibition. It's very small, cosy and atmospheric and the food was fantastic. I am hoping to go again soon. They don't take bookings so its turn and and hope there's a space to perch at the bar or at one of the tables. There is also a pop up version at the nearby Maltby street food market if you can't get in. more info here

Jose also has a restaurant at Pizarro's 194 Bermondsey Street where you can book.

 Patatas Brava and tomato bread

 Sea beam a la Sevillana

 Chorizo al vina

J

Chocolate Goodies

 In January the Porto Bay hotels in Funchal, Madeira had a chocolate event. Chocolate found its way into food, cocktails, treatments at the spa, demonstrations and workshops and several imaginative displays made from chocolate.
The photo below shows a display near the entrance to the Cliff Bay Hotel.

the entire table is also made of chocolate. This was my favourite.

and at the Porto Mare hotel, a chocolate boat 

Christmas in London

The Christmas tree in the lobby at the Ampersand Hotel S Kensington is decorated with white feather garlands, birds and little bird houses.

cheers!

The Natural History Museum  is lit like a fairytale castle with a brightly lit carousel and a skating rink with a very large Christmas tree. I like the lights showing the shapes of the surrounding trees.

Inside Harrods

Some Traditional Christmas Sweet Treats

on the left a traditional British mince pie             on the right a Finnish ‘Joulutorttu’ a Christmas star pastry

 Marja a Finnish friend made star pastries and I made mince pies. Both are traditional Christmas treats though when I was a child my mother made them at other times of the year too.
The Finnish stars are made with puff pastry and a spiced prune compote filling, close cousins of the mince pie and delicious. I'd like to have a go at making some.

For the mince pies I made short crust pastry using butter and flour with orange zest and juice. The use of orange was a tip I picked up from the Hairy Bikers on TV.  And like them I put the pastry in the fridge to rest before rolling it out. Usually I don't want to wait for it but it paid off as the pastry was really light and melt in the mouth. The mincemeat I used was made using Delia Smith's recipe and very good, I bought some jars of it at a Macmillan coffee morning. I added a little finely chopped Bramley apple from the garden.

Mince pies are thought to have originated in the 13th C when Crusaders brought recipes back with them from the Middle East. They contained a mixture of minced meat, fruit and spices and became known as mutton pies. Other meats used were goose, beaf veal etc. Modern mince meat contains a hint of this as it includes suet. Some use vegetarian suet.

Did you know?

Your 'mince pies' is cockney rhyming slang for your 'eyes'

Said to be a favourite of Father Christmas. Leave them by the fireplace with a glass of something warming and a carrot for Rudolph.

They were eaten in the Pepys household in the 17th century and either home made by Mrs Pepys and her maids or sent for from 'abroad'