December...the month of cold winds and warm
blankets. And sneakers and socks. And boots and baking. And winter-blues and warm baths!
I've been busy with my final exams and
even wrote a poem about it(which I’ll post soon),hence the lack of
posts...but I'm back with(out) a bang!
Ooh and something
I didn't mention in the previous list: Christmas and cooking!
Speaking of which, here’s a story I dug out
from an old children’s storybook. It’s a story I've always loved and
is perfect to go with all the cooking going on everywhere
(which I'm sorely missing but anyway!)
The story is about Petal, an
Elf who has newly moved to Elftown and is from ‘The Elegant Elf’ of the Little
Library series by Parragon.
The Secret Recipe
Everyone
in Elftown agreed that Petal’s restaurant was a great success, and one of the reasons
was her extra special blueberry cake. Any elf who was feeling a little tired in
the middle of the morning or around teatime simply hurried into the restaurant
for a slice of cake. In two minutes he felt better...and ready for another
slice!
Many
elves asked Petal for the recipe of her special cake, but she would just smile
mysteriously and shake her head.
“I was
given this recipe by a very wise woman,” she said. “I promised her that I would
not tell it to anyone else, unless they knew the secret already!”
That didn't seem to make sense at all. Why would anyone need to ask if they already knew
the recipe?
Of all
the elves who longed to know what Petal put in her blueberry cake, Old Mother
Sedge was the most curious.
“I can
taste honey,” she would say, munching a large slice.
“Yes,”
said Petal. “It is honey from your own bees, Mother Sedge. Isn't it delicious?”
“And
there are blueberries in here”“cried Mother Sedge triumphantly, taking another
bite.
“Well,
there would be, wouldn't there, in a blueberry cake?” smiled Petal. “Another slice?”
By the
end of the week, and several more slices of blueberry cake, Old Mother Sedge
had guessed all the ingredients except one. Yes, there was flour and butter and
eggs. There were lots of blueberries and at least five dripping spoonfuls of honey.
But what was the last ingredient?
“Nuts?”
asked the old lady.
“What
kind of nuts?” asked Petal in return.
“Hazelnuts?
Brazil nuts? Peanuts? Pecans? Walnuts? Almonds? Cashews?” Mother Sedge was
thinking so hard her face was as wrinkled as a walnut herself.
“No,”
said Petal. There are no nuts in the cake at all.”
“Fruit?”
asked Mother Sedge. “Apart from the blueberries?”
“What
kind of fruit?”Asked Petal with a mysterious smile.
“Er...apples?
Plums? Peaches? Blackberries? Raspberries? Pears? Strawberries? Apricots? Mangoes?
Bananas? Nectarines? Pineapples? Prunes? Grapefruit? Oranges? Lemons? Blackcurrants?
Redcurrants? White currants? Gooseberries?” Old Mother Sedge stopped to catch
her breath.
“No,” laughed
Petal. “I can tell you that blueberries are the only kind of fruit in my
special cake.”
Poor Mother
Sedge! The more she asked the less she knew.
 |
| Not exactly the picture I had in mind but it'll do...the boy can be Mother Sedge who's pissed off because Petal(the girl!) won't tell her the recipe! |
Then, one morning, the old lady happened to visit Acorn when he was making an apple pudding for his supper.
“At
least I know what goes into one of those,” she sighed, and she repeated all the
ingredients one by one.
“That’s
right,” said Acorn, “but for a really fine apple pudding, you've missed one
out, or at least, that’s what my dear old mother used to say, bless her soul.”
“Not
you too!” cried Old Mother Sedge. “There are more secret ingredients in Elftown
than I've had hot dinners!”
“Not
at all, my dear,” said Acorn. “The secret ingredient is the same in all my cooking
and I must say it makes a difference. I'm quite sure that you know it as well
as I do, but if you like, I’ll whisper it in your ear.”
So Acorn
bent down and whispered the secret ingredient, and Old Mother Sedge went quite
pink for a moment, before she smiled at her old friend.
“You’re
quite right, of course” she said. “My mother used to say the same, and I've never tasted anything to beat her raspberry tarts...except perhaps Petal’s
blueberry cake.”
Next
time Old Mother Sedge sat down to a slice of Petal’s special creation, she
smiled at the younger elf but asked no questions.
“I can
see that you have guessed the secret,” laughed Petal. “The wise woman who told
it to me was my mother. She said, ‘everything you make will taste better if you
put in a little spoonful of love.’ That’s the secret ingredient in all my
cooking.”
She
was quite right, you know. You should try it sometime.
And to top this off,
Here’s a video that’s keeping me from slipping into cold gloom!
P. S. The tune is really hummable and might turn into an earworm if you're not careful. Don’t say I didn't tell you!
