Food as Therapy #3

Firstly, apologies all for the delay in this week's post. Yesterday saw the funeral of my Great Aunty Joy. It was a sad day for us all, but particularly for my Grandmother, her sister, who was very close to her & had cared for her until the end. In the latter years of her life she had sadly suffered from severe dementure & so was not herself as we all knew her, but in tales I have heard lately of her life it's even clearer to me that she was an inspiring woman.

Stories ranged from those that included wild motorbike rides to London with her sister to working with the elderly & teaching disabled children to ride horses.

Now, I know you may be thinking what has this to do with food or therapy but let me get to it.

My memories of Aunty Joy are skipping in through the porch of her bungalow, shoes trip-trapping on the cold concrete floor & through into the kitchen - pale blue cupboards, small gas hob, folding leaf table - & inevitably the request to be given a task, more often than not, making small terracotta plant pots into fully furnished houses for tiny clay mice, but whatever the task before it was undertaken she would stoop into one particular blue cupboard & pluck from it a jar of jelly babies. We would each take one & then on with the matter in hand.

Sometimes, the task would be baking rather than making. One particular occassion, I remember coating macaroons in chocolate & coconut. To this day, every time I partake in the odd macaroon, that'll be my first thought. Another foodstuff that never fails to evoke childhood memories of both Aunty Joy & my Granny is the wonderful thing that is jelly, but not any ordinary jelly - jelly with appropriate fruit suspended in animation. As a child this was the pinnacle of desserts, not only delicious but I remain mystified as to how the fruit found it's way into it's place! I now make this for my daughter too!

So food does not only serve the one purpose - to nourish us. Because it is something we partake in so often, food relates to so much more, including associations with people, places & memories.

These are some of my foody memories, & this week I ask, what are yours? What dishes, recipes or anything else do you assosciate with good times, beautiful places or loved ones? What food brings not just nourishment or fulfillment to your body, but warmth & happiness to your soul?

I look forward to hearing from you all. Please link up below, comment or drop me a line on Twitter (@PeaGreenPantry).

 

 

Picnic on a Plate

How difficult do you find it to coerce the wee ones into eating vegetabley goodness? Whatever happened to the days of pureeing everything up & cunningly disguising the good stuff in a mush of rice or porridge?

Sometimes I find it incredibly taxing - "Eurrgghh, I don't liiiiiike iiiit!" YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TRIED IT! - but I've found an incredibly simple trick that works for us.

We call it our Picnic on a Plate & sometimes we even eat it with our legs crossed on the floor! It consists of whatever veg is to hand, some fruit too, maybe a sandwich or some breadsticks with dips, a yoghurt or jelly on the side if we are really lucky & a hard boiled egg always goes down a treat too!

The trick works better if we are sharing (she tries to eat more up before I scoff the lot) & we try different combinations, build carrot stick castles (okay so playing with your food only works if supervised!) & take our time, but inevitably it all goes down the right way!I can't wait 'til baby girl is old enough to join in with us too, the beauty being that as soon as they're on proper solids it can be a part of their diet!

Yum yum! Happy Monday all!

Foody Memories

As you may have guessed, food is something that I LOVE! For me, some dishes aren't just about tasting good here & now, but they hold lovely memories too.

One thing that I used to love as a child was coming home to my Grandfather's house from school on a chilly winter evening, skipping through the front door into the kitchen & being swathed in the rich aroma of lamb or beef & an array of vegetables which had been gently stewing all day long. After my half-hour piano practice in the study I would race up the hallway (ignoring the square patterns on the carpet which I would usually delight in hop-scotching on) & tear into the kitchen, knowing that he would have the ancient Pyrex bowl, an old battered tablespoon & some flour, suet & salt waiting so that we could prepare the dumplings. Simple food, for simple times. Perfect.

Stew is so simple & versatile, but so wholly satisfying & comforting to devour of an evening (complete with dumplings, naturally!) that I don't think I could ever tire of it, even if I didn't associate it with such warm childhood memories.

What are your foody memories? I would be delighted to hear, or even see a picture & would love for you to comment or even link up below!