Happy Birthday to my Man of Many Talents!
Hope it’s warm and sunny and work can be put aside for a couple of hours.
xxx
(That’s his birthday cake – Lemony Lemon Cake. You can find the recipe here!)
Tag Archives: Life
Happy Easter!
After such a long winter and a very chilly and rather snowy spring for many of you, I hope the sun comes out and spreads a little spring warmth at last.
I also hope you can enjoy a piece of cake or something tasty over the holidays!
Wishing you all a wonderful Easter!
The Tail End of Winter
Words from Chapter One of “The Little Grey Men” by B.B., a wonderful old children’s book set in the heart of the English countryside…
“It was one of those days at the tail end of the winter when spring, in some subtle way, announced its presence.”
“The hedges were still purple and bristly, the fields bleached and bitten, full of quarrelling starling flocks; but there was no doubt about it, the winter was virtually over and done with for another seven months.”
“The great tide was on the turn, to creep so slowly at first and then to rise ever higher to culminate in the glorious flood, the top of the tide, at midsummer.”
“Think of it! All that power, all those millions of leaves, those extra inches to be added to bushes, trees, and flowers. It was all there under the earth, though you would never have guessed it.”
Favourite Tools #2: Hand Blender
I highlighted my favourite garden tool recently, and now I thought I’d show you the kitchen gadget I love most: a multi-purpose blender, with various attachments. It does almost everything!
I use this more or less daily. For chopping and grating, grinding and mixing, and of course blending. I used it for my creamy carrot soup which I posted just the other day. It also has a whisk attachment, for whipping up cream or pancake batter, and an extra large bowl for larger quantities. In the summer I make our basil pesto in it, as well as zucchini pancakes and raw tomato sauce. (See Robin’s recipe here). There’s even an ice crusher, but I’ve never tried that out.
Do you have a favourite kitchen gadget that you would hate to do without?
Josefi (Seasonal Celebrations)
This coming Tuesday, March 19th, is St Joseph’s Day; for many in Bavaria this means spring has arrived! Therefore I’m tying this post in to Donna’s “Seasonal Celebrations” meme at Gardens Eye View.
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Unless you live in one of the larger cities in Bavaria, such as Munich or Nuremberg, or even Regensburg, life is still very closely linked to the land, and the passing of seasons. The Catholic Church also plays a large role in rural Bavaria and thus a date that many of the older generation here in Bavaria remember well is Josefi, St Joseph’s Day, on 19th March. This day, considered to be the end of winter, used to be a holiday in Bavaria (until 1968), and several country proverbs revolve around it….
(I’ve translated them roughly into English here)
Ist’s Joseph klar, gibt’s ein gutes Honigjahr
If St Joseph’s Day is clear, it will be a fruitful year
Wenns erst einmal Josefi ist, so endet auch der Winter gewiss.
Only when Josefi’s passed, is the winter gone at last
The temperature will also often have risen by this date – with rain instead of snow – and, as another saying goes, only the laziest farmers will not be out in the fields!
The first spring flowers wake up around now. First the Liverwort…
Hepatica nobilis (16th March), in the woods nearby
And then the Pasque flowers…
Pulsatilla vulgaris (16th March), on the chalky slopes overlooking our valley
Traditionally the Scillas (Alpine squill/Scilla bifolia) – a protected species – will be flowering in the woods; my German “Oma” used to call them Josefiblümerl (although this name is now often given to Hepaticas as well). They grow wild in Germany, as far north as the Danube and even near the Rhine, and are a pretty sight – although I haven’t seen any for a few years. But I do have the cultivated variety seen commonly in gardens here…
Scilla siberica (woodland squill), growing in my garden
A few markets or the first festivals of the year take place around St Joseph’s Day. Also, since Joseph is the patron saint of carpenters, in some regions in the south of Bavaria a special bread with raisins in it is baked in honour of those working with wood. A special beer may be brewed in some towns for this date, and beer gardens might open if the weather permits!
Well, it may not be beer garden weather yet, despite a few very warm days in early March, but I’m certain spring has finally arrived once again – and am grateful for every single bloom it brings!
