Simple details
December 18, 2008
It’s a week before the big day and there’s masses to do. I’m metaphorically chasing my tail. What a production it is: travel plans, the lemon and sage stuffing my dad likes, last minute shopping, and so on. But I treasure my Blue Peter moments, making a festive herb wreath , and painting simple designs for cards. Even though it requires time and effort, it’s a kind of Crafty stand off with all that is crass and commercial about christmas.
These are some of my favourite elements for a simple christmas: a blazing log fire; an aromatic Norwegian spruce tree, homemade heart or star shaped biscuits; white tissue, brown paper, and garden twine for wrapping presents; homemade cards with potato cuts or watercolours; as many flickering candles as I have holders for, plus jam jars for tea lights; bowls of hyacinths, amaryllis or white narcissi, natural scent and colour which lasts for ages; mounds of clementines,orbs of orange that taste as good as they look; and ice cold Spanish cava (Sainsbury’s vintage is on special offer) to kick start christmas morning.
The sweet taste of oranges
December 10, 2008
Typing in six layers, including a substantial wool coat, isn’t a peach as sudden movements are restricted (leaping to stop the dog swiping my chocolate biscuit, for example ) but it’s good to feel so wrapped up and cossetted. I suppose I’m being frightfully eco and saving on heating bills by being my own living radiator. But we have to go a lot further in this hot-bath-and-shower-addicted household to make a decent dent in costs. I swoon with motherly pride at the 17 seventeen year old’s top notes, soaring upwards from the shower, but accompanied by fifteen minutes of steaming and pelting water sounds makes it a pricey performance. I’m wondering where to find an automatic shower time-out like the ones in the gym, where just as you start to feel properly soaked, it cuts out. Curmudgeonly? I hope it’s not some sort of lingering vibe from the grumpy old man persona that comedian Jack Dee plays in Lead Balloon, the series filmed in our house last summer.
Meanwhile, I’m making up the beds with all the blankets I can lay my hands on including the special no-dog-and-cat-allowed velvet ribbon- edged one. This reminds me that adding a trim to something like a plain tea towel or cushion cover is a simple way to customise a Christmas present. And on this subject, my head is spinning. You’d think that being a stylist and professional shopper, I would be resistant to the frisson of panic induced by the beguiling and glossy gift lists in the magazines. Well, I’m not.
I am pleased though with my more humble DIY Christmas hamper idea: small wooden crates, which clementines come in, lined with tissue and filled with goodies like homemade membrillo; a bar of Green and Black’s chocolate; a packet of frilly white parrot tulip bulbs; or a good read, perhaps Francois Sagan’s classic coming of age Bonjour,Tristesse, for one of the teenagers, or Zoe Heller’s, The Believers. I shan’t forget some gorgeous Christmas delicious scents too, like the intoxicating sweetness of a pot of paperwhite narcissi, or for complete indulgence, a tuberose candle from Diptyque.
AROMATIC ORANGES
Oranges remind me of Christmas in Andalucia: the bulging nets of ‘navelinas’ (they’re the ones without pips) sold at the roadside on the way out of Seville, and the sweet heady blossomed air floating in the half-opened car window as we swept by neat sunlit orange groves. I learned that a tree can fruit and flower at the same time, and that an unwaxed orange is so much more appealing than the artificially shined and waxed ones in Tesco. I also learned how to carefully slice the peel off with a perfectly sharp little knife, cut the orange into wafer thin discs, and chill in the fridge with a little lemon juice, a tablespoon or two of cointreau and a few fresh mint leaves.
At Christmas lunch and the meals to come we continue to enjoy the clean fresh taste of sliced oranges, against the stodge factor of the pudding and mince pies.
Frost and hot pies
December 1, 2008
An icing sugar layer of frost on the last roses looks fairy-like but, bother, the plunge in temperatures has sent the boiler into decline. A great unbeliever in the general obsession with insuring everything, I have to say that boiler insurance is probably the most worthwhile considering the machine has conked out at least 10 times, just as a shoot with mothers and babies or a frail relative arrives.
It’s a relief then to sign the paper detailing the extremely expensive new part, knowing that because it’s covered we’re not going to be on soup rations. I can’t see the point though, of insuring every small appliance like an iron, or a kettle: sometimes you have to take the risk of things failing. It’s a question of working out what you can live without. I know I’d rather go around in creased attire than live without hot water.
WINTER GREENS
It’s time for some festive greenery, and I’ve been stocking up on white hyacinth bulbs, bedded down with moss from a friend’s lawn- she’s delighted I’m digging it up as she’s one of those picky gardeners who fret if the grass doesn’t look like the Centre Court at Wimbledon.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
What’s even more weird about the weird economic situation is that suddenly we’re being encouraged to spend, and knockdown offers for cameras, bicycles, and computers are plastered across the newspapers and the net. With three acquisitive teenagers breathing down my neck, I’m not sure I approve, but we’ve all got to do our bit to keep the economy moving. I’m aiming to find presents from young designers and craftsmen, like Katrin Moye’s Fifties-style jugs inspired by her dad’s blue and white striped shirt.
THE HOME FIRE IS BURNING
The logs were dumped in two vast cubic metre sacks in the middle of the garden path. It was urgent to clear the way for the day’s booking, but the only strong arms around to wheelbarrow 40 loads were my rather puny ones. It was quite fun, actually, like being a Tulse hill version of Laura from The Little House on the Prairie, as I stacked a vast pile outside the back door. No need to go off to the gym now.
MINCE PIES
l’ve made a batch of mince pies. They’re extremely useful to feed up visiting children and adults. I make sweet pastry and use my friend Emma’s mincemeat but when it’s all used up, make do with ready made pastry and mincemeat in jars from Waitrose, which is rather good.
