Cornflower

Friday flowers - in a Hampshire meadow

    A thatched fishing hut with hollyhocks, lupins and delphiniums at its door, set in a meadow of rough hawkbit, wild orchids, forget-me-not, bounded by hedgerows of hawthorn, dog rose and elder and a quietly flowing chalk stream. A beautiful, peaceful spot - click to enlarge the picture for a better view or see more here.

Book of the day - The Diary of a Nose

 

    A year ago, many of us watched and enjoyed the BBC Four series Perfume, the second episode of which looked at three perfumers to find out how they go about their highly specialised work which is as much alchemy as chemistry. One of those featured was Jean-Claude Ellena, 'nose' at Hermès, and we saw him in his studio in the woods and creating a fragrance inspired by a secret garden.

    Now M. Ellena has written a book, The Diary of a Nose: A Year in the Life of a Parfumeur (translated by Adriana Hunter) to be published next week, and I'm delighted to have a copy from which to learn more about this fascinating subject, the end products of which are so powerfully evocative.

    " 'Smell is a word, perfume is literature.'

 ... Believing that creating a scent is like creating a work of art, and describing himself as a writer using 'olfactory colours', Jean-Claude Ellena explains how all of the five senses come into play when creating a perfume... He also reveals how inspiration can come from a market stall, a landscape, or even the movement of calligraphy, and concludes this charming, perceptive diary with recipes for natural fragrances, each made up of three synthetic ingredients, to create the illusion of smells like freesia, orange blossom, grapefruit, pear...

    This is the story behind the creation of scent, the quest to capture what is most elusive."

    I can't wait to read it.

The Cornflower Guide to Good Places to Stay, chapter 2

    We've had Lancashire and the lovely Inn at Whitewell, now it's the turn of Hampshire and the excellent Peat Spade Inn at Longstock in the Test Valley.

    Very good food, welcoming staff, a pleasant and comfortable room - I'd go back any day.

Oxford

    I was in Oxford on Sunday, ostensibly to support Mr. C. who was playing cricket for his college's old boys' team - it must be said, his innings was a short one - but actually to have a wander round the town and meet a friend for tea.

    My visit was, as usual, all too brief and I'd love to go back for a longer and more leisurely one, or try to get to Doors Open Day in September, perhaps. Still, a busy afternoon is better than nothing, and it was lovely to be in that beautiful city again.

Books and cakes - 52

    Not 'books and cakes', as such today, but 'books and bread'. As far as I could see there was no mention of cake in Eudora Welty's The Optimist's Daughter, which the CBG has been reading this month. Virginia ham on Ritz crackers is served at the McKelva house, and strawberries figure elsewhere, as a recollected pleasure of the Judge's from his days of travelling in some style on the New Orleans-Chicago train, and for Laurel's late mother from her mountain upbringing:

"Nothing you ever ate in your life was anything like as delicate, as fragrant, as those wild white strawberries."

    But it's bread that is the subject of a crucial scene towards the end of the book where Laurel remonstrates with the dreadful Fay over her mother's bread board, made for her by Laurel's late husband Phil:

"Phil loved bread. He loved good bread. To break a loaf and eat it warm, just out of the oven."

    Making bread allowed me to kill two birds with one stone - bake for this book and try out Paul Hollywood's How to Bake for the first time. I chose the recipe for Spelt Bread, and the resulting loaf has turned out very well indeed, much like the picture in the book (see top left) both in terms of crust and crumb, though I have a feeling my tin was smaller than Paul Hollywood's so mine puffed out over the edge a bit rather than achieving the very straight sides of his version, but no matter.

    Yes, we did start in on it warm from the oven.

Making a big and beautiful noise

   

    In case you didn't see it broadcast live on BBC Four (and there are now clips on the BBC website), do try to watch on iPlayer the marvellous, uplifting open air concert which took place last night in the Raploch area of Stirling featuring the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and the youngsters of the area's Big Noise project under the auspices of Sistema Scotland, an organisation which changes lives through music.

    With children as young as six playing their part - and practising for many hours a week in order to do so - this is not only fun music-making but an ethos and an event which demonstrate the difference that the commitment, dedication and discipline involved in playing an instrument and being part of an ensemble can make to confidence, teamwork and aspirations, and how that in turn can benefit a whole community.

    The programme includes works by Purcell, Beethoven and Bernstein (particularly exuberant - watch from the 1.19.45 mark) and a spectacular finale with fireworks on and off the stage. It's very exciting and very moving, too.

Edited to add: re. Mary's comment about tickets for the orchestra's London rehearsal on Tuesday, click here.

Baker boy

    William, son-of-Cornflower, knows his way around a kitchen and is very used to cooking for himself in his student flat. Home now for the holidays, he decided to turn his hand to baking, and he picked up Miranda Gore Browne's super book Biscuit to see what he might make. He chose the Chocolate Bourbons (always his favourite bought biscuit when he was small), and the results are excellent - so good that the batch he made disappeared very fast and a repeat performance is in the offing.

    Speaking of boys big and small - do pop over to Miranda's blog and admire her lovely 'jubilee baby', Henry!

Early morning flowers

    I was up with the lark this morning, and out with the dogs while the world still looked new-minted. Coming home from our walk, the scent of the honeysuckle at the gate and this philadelphus near the front door made it a sweet return.

More found objects

 

    "Digging exposes a world below the surface of the earth [...] Rubble and bits of broken crockery speak to us of men who knew this field before our day. But it is a world that flings us back in time and makes of the clods we turn pages of history, for one day among the marigolds we dug up a local money token of the 18th. century. Relics of Roman Britain are scattered among our earth as broken pieces of brick; they are many, for we are on the edge of the Icknield Way, which was used as a Roman road. Our imagination one day was especially excited by the finding of the tooth of a wild boar. Instantly our garden seemed full of perils, and civilisation shrank to a thin veneer of three inches of chalky soil. We have kept the tooth, and when life grows too respectable and secure, a glance at it reassures us with a thrill of fear."

From Four Hedges by Clare Leighton - her finds were a little more exciting than ours.

Scones - more ways than one

    

    "When making scones, Granny always went to the open outer door with the bowl of flour and, lifting the meal high in her hand, let it trickle through her fingers so that it was thoroughly aerated, giving a delightfully light scone which kept fresh for days."

    Iby Fraser in Crappit Heids for Tea: Recollections of Highland Childhood - read all about the book here.

    It seems every baker has their own method of making scones for Paul Hollywood in How to Bake (from where that picture comes) says he uses bread flour to give "strength and structure. As long as you don't overwork the dough, the scones will be fluffy and light. To achieve this, I use a technique called 'chaffing' [putting the wet and sticky mixture on a floured board, sprinkling the rest of the flour on top, then folding the dough in half, turning it 90 degrees and repeating, gradually incorporating the last of the flour and adding air] which gently brings the dough together without developing the gluten in the flour too much."

    In The Scots Kitchen, F. Marian McNeill devotes a chapter to bannocks, scones and teabreads, and among many recipes gives that for Mrs. Macnab's Scones. "Mrs. Macnab was the wife of a farmer who lived near Ballater. Such was her reputation as a baker that King Frederick of Prussia and other distinguished guests at Balmoral used frequently to go over and have tea with her. It is not possible to impart Mrs. Macnab's lightness of touch, or the wine-like air of these regions, which doubtless contributed to her visitors' enjoyment; but here, at least, is the recipe for her celebrated scones:

Mix thoroughly a pound of flour, a teaspoonful of salt, a small teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda and two small teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Rub in two ounces of butter. Stir in gradually a beaten egg and half a pint of buttermilk. Turn out the dough on a floured board, flour the top, and knead with the hand as little as possible. Cut off pieces of dough and flatten them with the knuckles, but do not roll out at all. Prick with a fork and cut into quarters. Bake in a pretty quick oven for from ten to fifteen minutes. The secret of success lies in not working the dough with the hands except just once kneading it."

    One final word on the subject, and this on the word itself, though Miss McNeill says its etymology is uncertain; but interestingly she mentions that it first appears in the sixteenth century in Gavin Douglas's translation of the seventh book of the Aeneid where, at a feast at the mouth of the Tiber,

"The flour sconnis weir set in by and by With other messis."

Feast your eyes

     A few months ago I was at a very special party at which a fellow guest was The Great British Bake-Off's Paul Hollywood. Keen bakers and fans of the programme as we all are, Simon, Elaine and I were a bit starstruck to see him there, but we didn't get a chance to quiz him on his technique or pick his brains over the finer points of baking. However, as all that knowledge is now accessible in book form, there'll be no stopping us!

    I've been taking a close look at How to Bake on what is a very cold, wet, un-summery day here, one of those days when the thought of spending the weekend in the kitchen making bread or cakes or pastries is a very inviting one. The book's bread section alone is truly impressive with any amount of types, styles, flavours, old favourites and new ideas, and then there are all the sweet treats, too.

    To give you a taste, pictured here from the top left are: Portuguese egg custard tarts, Victoria sponge, mince pies, pecan and chocolate tart, pains aux raisins, blueberry breakfast pancakes, a selection of breads, shortbread, and mozzarella and bacon bites, but there are countless recipes which produce the 'I must make that' response and will have you tying on your apron and grabbing the flour from the cupboard.

Books of the day - no. 1: Archie

    You may have seen this post and this one featuring the artist Domenica More Gordon's wonderful felt dogs. Domenica and I have a close mutual friend from whom I recently heard the most touching, heart-warming story concerning these dogs. Discretion forbids me from repeating it here, but it showed how unique and special these little works of art are and just how much they mean to those who are lucky enough to own one.

    Those of us who don't have a Domenica original can still enjoy her talent through the pages of her new book. Archie (the first of a series) has just been published, and both Harrods and Selfridges have chosen it as their book of the Jubilee month of June - and with good reason!

    It begins with Archie receiving a surprise parcel from his Great Aunt Betty. Inside is a sewing machine, and with it Archie decides to make a coat for his dog. The results are magnificent and soon Archie's handiwork is bringing him commissions from other owners keen to outfit their dogs in style. Then one day, the phone rings with an order from a very special person ...

    This is a terrific picture book with real charm - something to leave on the coffee table where adults as well as children will pick it up and be delighted by it.

    You can see more of her work - including a trailer for the book - on Domenica's website.

(Books of the day no. 2 - in which I had a hand - is here).

Britannia - below decks

    Away from Britannia's grand cabins and rooms designed for entertaining distinguished guests there are all the 'working' parts of the yacht, and they are just as interesting to look round. Above is the laundry which must have been a place of frenetic activity when the ship had its full complement of passengers and crew, and a very hot environment in which to work, especially when sailing in the Tropics. Apparently, on occasion the Admiral would have to change his uniform up to twelve times a day, while other crew members and the bandsmen of the Royal Marines often wore whites which had to be spotless, of course. Seeing all these enormous washing machines, dryers and pieces of specialist ironing equipment makes doing the domestic laundry seem like child's play.

    Here is the sick bay, the operating theatre at top, and the doctor's office. My uncle was not surprised to see the blanket on the bed is the same pattern as that used when he served as a young man. Although Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in times of war, we were told that in normal course of events, the crew were expected not to need much in the way of medical attention but 'just to get on with things'.

Pea-picking

 

    "We have our first dish of peas. The aisles of pea plants grow tall and the green walls are full of bulging pods. Annie says she will pick the peas for dinner, but we rush to the garden to do it ourselves, excited at the start of yet another harvest. Compared with the gathering of strawberries, pea-picking is intricate, but undramatic. There is no sudden glow of crimson, no soft warmth of fruit. It is a world of shapes, pea being distinguishable from leaf only by reason of its bulk and form. We pick by feeling rather than by sight. The pea plant is a gentle green, deep and soft against the pale colour of the lettuces that shelter from the sun in the shade of the pea rows. Our baskets full of hard, ratttling pods, we pull lettuces for salad. It is good to feed oneself from one's own earth."

Extract and engraving from the June chapter of Four Hedges by Clare Leighton.

A grand day out

    H.M. Yacht Britannia is berthed not far away from us at Leith, and since it was decommissioned it has been open to the public. I'd never visited it before today when I went for a tour with my mother, my uncle - who served in the Royal Navy some years ago and had a very personal interest in the ship - and my aunt. We all had a marvellous time, lunched on board and saw the sights, and I'd thoroughly recommend going if you get the chance. I'll post some of my pictures here and leave the rest for later, but I hope they will give a flavour of a beautiful vessel which the Queen was very sad to lose.

The Queen's bedroom with an exquisite embroidered panel above the bed (click to enlarge).

Her sittingroom.

The State Drawing Room.

The State Dining Room with artefacts including an Easter Island head and a Galapagos turtle.

There is even a garage on board housing one of Her Majesty's Rolls Royces - the glass front prevented a clearer picture.

Later: for books spotted aboard Britannia, click here.