The Language of Flowers: Book Review

There are so many layers to the world around us, and as I grow older discovery seems to be ever more fascinating. This novel is based around the Romatic Victorian language of flowers; the symbolic meanings they placed on specific flowers to convey emotion to lovers and loved ones.

The story is a about a girl in care, whose Mother gave her up as an orphan, and the profound difference a foster mother made to her life. The story is told in alternating chapters of present life at the beginning of her Twenties and the parallel of ten years past. Her foster Mother teaches her the Victorian flower symbologies as a way of conveying the locked up emotion she holds inside; which she researches and begins to create her own dialect. Once emancipated at 18, this  becomes a way for her to communicate with the world and create a livelihood learning to cope in a complex world.

"Anyone can grow into something beautiful"
 

This book has haunted me for days, and I kind of cried my way through the last 20% of it. The lead character Victoria really feels real and is an incredibly character. You empathise with her, hurt with her, want to shake her in annoyance, want to shout at her and want to feed her. She is complex and surprising, and makes you appreciate your family and loved ones.

This was Vanessa Diffenbaugh's debut novel, and for me it was stunning. I physically couldn't put it down, and my hubby became a book widow.

The book is written in a very compelling 'voice' with no silly trickeries or embellishments. It's simply Victoria's world view, with the limited and horrible experiences she has faced first in care, in the real world and then as a result of her actions.

I came across some really interesting information about the author, such as;

Q (via Amazon.com): If you were to represent yourself with a bouquet, which flowers would you choose and why?A: Helioptrope (devoted affection), Black-Eyed Susan (justice), Hawthorn (hope), Liatris (I will try again), Lisianthus (appreciation), and Moss (maternal love). These flowers represent how I am--devoted, affectionate, maternal, and grateful--and also how I want to be--hopeful, determined, and constantly working for justice.

And her full flower dictionary.

After diving into the book, I also had to go and buy a nice cheery bouquet (especially with the horrendous weather we have been having), and thought it would be fun to see what my flowers meant once deciphered - (but bearing in mind this is a mass produced boquet)...

Orange Rose: Fascination and Desire
Gerbera: Warmth and Creativity
Liatris: Enthusiasm, "I will try again"
Chrysanthemum: Truth

(Thank you to the Twitter crew, I didn't have a clue about what the Liatris was!)

Isn't it lovely? Flowers are such a kind gesture anyway - they have no real use except to comfort, decorate or tell someone you are in their thoughts. I don't think I'll ever buy someone flowers again without thinking of and mentioning what they mean.

This is an absoloutely gorgeous read and reels you in, hook line and sinker - one to curl up in front of a fire with and let yourself become totally absorbed.

What do your favourite flowers mean?

(Please note any links to Amazon are through my Amazon Associates account, which means I make a little money (less than 5%) from any purchases made after clicking through these links and it adds nothing to the price of your book. This helps support my book addiction, so if you are interested in buying the book, please click through the top link)

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I want to run away to the Circus

My jaw is aching from grinning, my hands hurt from clapping and my back is aching from craning forward in my seat. Not because the seats are bad, far far from it. Our seats are amazing.

The problem is you want to see every single milli-second of the show. The feats the preformers are executing are insane. And its only the first half as I write this - the Wheel of Death is still to come.

I went to Cirque du Soleil intentionally not knowing what to expect, except that it would be "absoloutely amazing". I refuse point blank to go to circuses with animal acts, and this was the first human circus I've been to in a long time and it was incredible.

The sheer variety of the acts, the flamboyantly exotic costumes, the choreographed music and the feats of daring all created to show of the incredible muscular flexibility of the performers including;

Balancing on chairs

Charivari

Contortion

Hand to hand

High wire

Hoops manipulation

Solo trapeze

Teeterboard

Unicycle duo

Wheel of death

The Wheel of Death was simply gravity defying, the Teeterboard with acts flipping in the air on their 26ft stilts and the Clowns. I loved the Clowns. Slapdash, embarrassing, slick and very very loud.

The basic idea is that The Innocent character, is pulled by the Trickster into the abstract world of Kooza with it's otherworldly performers and characters.

The story wasn't so much of a narrative, just a thematic link for the acts, and it adds to the whole dreaming world of Kooza. I understand that inspiration for the characters was drawn from graphic novels, comic books, Gustav Klimt paintings, as well as Indian and Eastern European art.

All performed in the beautiful Albert Hall.

I was never a child that knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, except maybe Peter Pan. Some kids know from the start, Fire Fighter, Truck Driver, Open Heart Surgeon, but I always treated it more like choosing lunch - a bit of this, a touch of that and something yummy but without any proper proper deep consideration.

Well, at the ripe of age of ... actually a lady never tells... I think I've finally worked it out. If only I could do handstands - I have a feeling they won't take me if I can't do the basics!

Right, I'm off to practice!

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Easy Squeezy Mojito's

On Saturday I was a bit pushed for time due to a complete lack of my own organisation, but we came out with a lovely tasting Mojito that I thought I'd share. It was like sitting on a beach in Summer sunshine (I did play some beach sounds on Youtube before I was made to turn them off...)

There is something that just says 'Summer' to me about a Mojito, the fragrant Mint, the sharp Lime and the Rich Rum.

Homemade cocktails can be really easy, and really fun to make - Mojitos don't even need a cocktail Shaker. Another bonus is you can personalised them to how you like drinking them; more Lime, less Mint, a touch more Sugar. Just go easy on the Rum when pouring at home m'kay?

After much experimentation I found this is my favoured ratios;

(Monopoly) Mojitos

Ingredients for 1 Mojito:

10 hand ripped Fresh Mint Leaves
2 tsps Lime Juice (or half a squeezed fresh one)
1.5 Tbsps Sugar Syrup
2 Tbsps Rum
1/2 glass of Crushed Ice

1. Stir & top to 3/4 of the glass with Soda Water, or unfizzy water (which I prefer).
2. Garnish with plain or sugar encrusted Mint.
3. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Ahhhh, lovely.

Mojito, Daquiri, Cosmopolitan or a Margarita?

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A Foodie Enigma - London Cheesecake

As a foreigner, there are a lot of things I've happily adapted to, living in the UK. At the end of the day; new country, new rules. But, this is one thing I can't quite understand.

It's a lovely, very naughty sweet bakery treat - buttery layers of pastry, jam, icing and coconut. But I couldn't find any 'Cheese' in the Cheesecake. And I ate a whole one to make doubly sure.

 

After some quizzing of the baker, and some intensive Internet research (fuelled by aforementioned taste testing of the slice), the answer is... no one seems really sure whyit's named as a Cheesecake. All they know is that you only really find these in London and go down well accompanied by a cup of Tea.

- Unique to London, the recipes are handed from Mother to Daughter and only a few larger companies mass-make these

- They seemed to hit the height of their popularity as a lunchtime pastry in the 1960's

- Traditionally they are circular, with a drop of Jam or Frangipane paste in the centre below the Icing

- The Cheese reference may have been a reference to a curd which may used to have been put into them

- They have their own Facebook Page

Well, whadda know.

Have you tried a London Cheesecake, or would you go for a traditional Cheesecake?



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Mojito, Monopoly and Mushkalica Night

Saturday was a day of good intentions, bad organisation, on the hoof cocktail ingredient making, much laughter and soft warm bread fresh from the bakery.

 

 

I am blessed to have some lovely friends. Ones whom will let me experiment on them, subject them to an evening of board games and then let them cook dinner. This evening came about due to a drunken conversation over homemade pizzas at our friends place, and a determination to enjoy more Rum.

I woke up on Saturday morning to realise that I had forgotten how to make Mojito's, hadn't looked up the ingredient list, didn't know where to buy Mint and if it was in season, no shopping list, chores to do and an urge to stay inside.

 

I threw these aside, and with an on-the-hoof Google search and a backpack, walked to the town centre. I'm never there on a Saturday morning, and the local fruit and vegetable stores blew me away. There were fresh fruit and vegetables as far as the eye could see, and a breadth & depth of varieties that means I will be back soon to check them out properly.

After enquiring after Sugar Syrup, a key cocktail ingredient, in quite a few stores I gave up and turned for home armed with a variety of nibbles, warm French sticks (oh so gorgeous - I'm not sure how they made it home), Rum and bags of Ice.

Thankfully hubby had worked his magic on the house chores whilst I was galavanting, so I set about making a sugar syrup. This is great for cocktails, desserts, adding to hot drinks, possibly using in place of hairspray(!?)... basically where ever you can use sugar, but removes the grainy sugar crystals.





Extreme Jenga. Anything goes.



Sugar Syrup
It's really easy; take white sugar & water, at a ratio of 2:1 (eg. 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water). Boil the water then add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Once dissolved, turn the mixture down to simmer until all the sugar is melted and you don't see any at the bottom of the pan & remove it from the heat.

• If the sugar crystals at the bottom are not going away, turn the heat back up to high and add a tad more water. A couple of tablespoons more water should suffice.

From the research I've been doing, if you store it (once cooled) in a sealed container/bottle in the fridge, it will keep from between 3 and 6 months. I let mine cool naturally for about 10 minutes, then placed the pan in a cold water bath (my sink half filled with cold water) in order to hasten the process, as our guests were due in 20 minutes.

Warning:

• Sugar mixture will burn and harden if it comes in contact with skin; take precautions to avoid being splashed.
• Don't let this sit on the heat for longer than absolutely necessary, or it will burn.

Scrooge McCat, rolling in her winnings...

We settled in for the night to an evening of laughter, board games, drinks, Mushkalica (a Hungarian dish of Paprika & spices infused Pork) and good fun.

I am determined to beat the idea that Januarys have to be grim.

What's your favourite cocktail?

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(Mostly) Wordless Fridays...

With our first full week back at work, and struggling with a flu-y bug, this week has mostly kind of sucked. Oh well, it's almost the weekend!!

On the plus side, I did get to go to my first bloggy meet-up and meet some lovely ladies!

 

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The Ginger Pig Meat Book: Book Review

One of my most beloved Christmas pressies this year, was the Ginger Pig Meat book. Intended to be a reference book explainining buying, preparing and cooking meat, it's also recipe book filled to the brim with tantalising recipes.

The first quarter is dedicated to cuts of meat and more information about them than you can shake a stick at. Each chapter thereafter is organised into monthly chunks, prefaced with a diary page of the happenings on the 3 Yorkshire farms that supply the shops.

Tim Wilson, the farm and shop owner started farming 'accidentally' 15 years ago due to some pigs he bought multiplying, and began selling the meat. Such a great idea combining both, and Tim Wilson's passion for what he does really shines through. Good meat, looked after well. He is passionate, which really comes through the book and the magnificent meat, about traditional breeds, food and the intensive flavours that result.

The specially commissioned photography shines through, and is just beautiful.

I can't wait to begin cooking with the recipes, and I will let you know how I get on (though just as a reference guide this book is brilliant). In the meantime, I have dinner to finish cooking (sorry this is half cooked hence the brown edges), just look at that beautiful meat.

People are really beginning to care where their meat comes from, it's a revolution and can only be a good thing. This sort of book showcases what can be done, and just how hard Farmers work to produce food for us. I come from a farming family and have seen it first hand, but to know where it has come from, and that the animals have a quality of life makes it worth paying that little bit extra.

There is something so inviting about making your passion into a job - a lot of hard work - but more rewarding than your usual 9-5 slog.

What's your favourite meat dish?

(Please note any links to Amazon are through my Amazon Associates account, which means I make a little money (less than 5%) from any purchases made after clicking through these links and it adds nothing to the price of your book. This helps support my book addiction, so if you are interested in buying the book, please click through the top link)

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