A book I began reading last Christmas and have continued this Christmas is
Nigel Slater's, The Christmas Chronicles.
It is a recipe book with wonderful stories of this time of year.
I am thoroughly enjoying it with my morning tea.
This morning's quote comes from this book
and hope it gives a glimmer of what his stories are like.
"Winter gardens hold a spell all of their own. Roses frozen in bud, beads of glassy dew on the leaves of the hellebores, orange berries peeping from beneath a layer of sugar-snow. Today is the first morning cold enough to demand a sheepskin. There is plenty of work in the garden, medlar and chestnut leaves to sweep; a wayward rose bush to tame with the secateurs, bulbs to plant. It feels late to be planting tulips but I know others who leave it later. This year I plant Cairo, a soft orange-scarlet, like a tulip painted by Ambrosius Bosschaert, a tulip whose scent in early spring carries the sweetness of wallflowers. I plant them a good eight inches deep into the old green copper on the terrace. And idea borrowed from Sissinghurst. I dust the bulbs with chili powder and cover them with netting in an attempt to thwart the light-fingered squirrels."
"The time is right for a cheap, cold-weather potato supper."
A bit longer than usual, but hope you enjoyed it.
It does give one thought on the winter garden
where my roses are indeed frozen now.
And I might just need to have a baked potato sort of supper soon.
