Friday 21 March 2014

Seasonal Foods 2014, Part 1


So far this year we have had oranges.

The Seville oranges are usually in the shops in January,

Seville Orange
Seville orange

but this year we also found the first blood oranges from Sicily in January, somewhat earlier than usual.

Sicilian blood orange
Sicilian blood orange

This year we also discovered something new, green oranges from Jamaica. They were lovely and sweet when you eat them as recommended on this website.

http://www.mysilversands.com/content/oranges.aspx


Jamaican green orange
Jamaican green orange

D made a lovely Seville orange meringue pie, using the recipe from Rachel Allen's Bake.

This is a link to a Mary Berry recipe for Seville Orange Meringue Pie:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sevilleoprangemering_71465


Spring Is Breaking Out All Over


Today was sunny for the most part, but there was a strong breeze at times, and after an unseasonal 19 degrees last Sunday, it felt rather cold.

Back from yet another job interview early in the afternoon, I changed into warmer clothes and decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood and catch up with the advance of spring, afraid that I might have missed the magnolias.

It was a lovely afternoon for a de-stressing walk,  with the sun shining, and lots of spring flowers everywhere, it just lifted your mood.

Our daffodils came out around the 22nd of February, this year, not at all early, in spite of the mild winter, and are just about finished, but there are still plenty in the neighboring gardens. Tulips are not out yet, but there were lots of hellebores in full flower, some snowdrops and primulas,  small purple hyacinths, and lots of bergenias. The forsythias are in full bloom, a glorious splash of yellow. Most camellias are just starting, and I saw two of the ones with bubble-gum pink flowers that I really like. The mimosa tree is in bloom, and so is the deeply coral japonica quince (Japonica glistens like coral, in all of the neighboring gardens,...). One lovely dark pink magnolia was in full bloom. The large one at the top of the road was mostly over, and starting to show leaves, and some of the early flowering cherries are in bloom. A lovely time of year.