1. I don't only make it at Christmas.2. It's Jewish in origin (it is a Stuffed Monkey. I use the recipe in Jane Grigson's 'English Food'; a similar one can be found here).
But the combination of rich cinnamon-scented pastry and a filling of ground almonds and candied peel (preferably the sort you have to cut up yourself, which is no longer available in any supermarket. I found it in my local health food shop today, and danced for joy) fits very well with the season. And if you are in a pagan mood, the golden circle could well be the returning sun. At Christmas I make it for Chris, who is not a fan of the "wall-to-wall fruit" of the traditional British Christmas Cake.
Other than the baking, today has been all about The Sock. I knitted three inches of foot today on the second sock of Chris's Christmas pair, helped greatly by the Scissor Sisters concert on Channel 4 this afternoon. It sometimes strikes me as slightly incongruous that despite never having worn a sequin in my life, I should prefer my pop camper than a row of pink marquees. Maybe it's the falsettos. I go all woozy over that male voice variously termed counter-tenor, male alto or falsetto (I looked it up on Wikipedia to see which was the correct term, and emerged even more confused than before). I'm sure you know what I mean, and I shall go on saying falsetto for pop and male alto for Chris when he uses his. And try not to get too jealous of the fact that he has a better alto than I do.
Special greetings today to Sarah (I think that "quite a while" since we spoke may be in the order of a decade, which is deeply shaming. Glad to hear from you); and Gill, who has sent me my favourite card so far.
1 comment:
You and Sarah may not have been in touch for more than a decade, but I would point out that your respective mothers have kept you in touch with news and happenings! This is what happens when people grow up and scatter to all points of the compass.
Don't feel guilty.
Post a Comment