Samhain

The clock has just turned past four p.m. on this Sunday afternoon and the light is already fading. It has been such a gloomy old day, with cold winds and enough cloud to block out the sun, but not enough to keep a heating blanket around us.

What a perfect day for a big apple crumble!

The people around these parts always put their windfall apples in boxes outside their homes, if they have more than they need. It is such a generous practice, and saves waste. Sadly, these days I don't have my own apple trees (I miss them) so I benefit greatly from the generosity of my neighbours. J has put out a huge heap of windfall apples, many in perfect condition, and I am about to head into the warm kitchen and make the crumble topping to cover the apples. We shall have free apples and cook them in the rayburn, so the cooing will be free too!

As well as making crumble, my friend M and I carved some apple heads to hang outside the house for the village children who came around Trick or Treating. The idea was given to us by the delightful Klara in Sweden, and it's apparently something she does regularly. Armed with full instructions, M and I sat at the kitchen table, steaming mugs of tea to hand and got peeling and carving. You might be able to see the results from this picture, though we should have dried the apples for much longer:



As well as the apples, M single-handedly carved the pumpkin, and I was hugely impressed! Friday afternoon was a flurry of activity as Kim and M decorated the porch with ghosts, cobwebs and spiders and the apple heads were hung from the porch roof. The villagers here are very civilised - if you put a pumpkin out, they will come Trick or Treating, but if you don't then you are left in peace. For the past couple of years, we have put out a pumpkin and our neighbours on the next corner, who really push the boat out, have given the local kids all sorts of frights and tooth decay!

This year, Kim found a mask in Tescos that had been reduced to a silly price and came home grinning from ear to ear. He has discovered his inner were-donkey and spent the evening with mask and talons opening the door to pint sized witches and skeletons, often having to remove the mask when the shrieks became too distressed.



It was a bit worrying that the mask fur exactly matched his hair colour...

Meanwhile, the neighbours covered the front of their house with all sorts of scary things and dressed up with coloured make-up and all sorts. Is this Samhain? Of course not, but it is nice to have a bit of fun and mark a festival that's terribly unChristian that the church can't get sniffy at!

For my part, I shall spend some time this evening doing the things I want to honour those who have passed, the ancestors and mark the turning of the year. After the doorbell had quietened on Friday night, friends came over and we all had a cheery evening which didn't leave time to do anything else. I love this time of year, and though I will often be heard grumbling about being cold, I always feel a sense of anticipation and excitement as the days shorten and Yule approaches.

Meanwhile, my work life is starting to get a bit busy. My calendar has been filling up over the past week and much of the work has been the sort of thing it can take years to break into, so I have been sitting at my desk with a rather bemused, but delighted, feeling. I got a call on Friday evening to book me to lecture in Geneva, which was the icing on the cake, as it is before Yule and I can tack a day or two on to the end of the booking to have a look around and do some shopping!

All this has made me reflect on the past year. I have worked hard to get the business to the point where I have a decent stream of work and it seems to be rewarding me for the efforts. Over the last year, there have also been a number of things that have happened with friends and acquaintances that have been what the Chinese call "interesting". As the year closes, some hangers-on and leeches have fallen away from my sphere and others, blinded by the bright lights shining from their own bottoms, have gone too. What is left is amazing; I find myself surrounded by wonderfully loving and supportive friends, people in whose company I delight and whose deep compassion fills me with admiration. I am blessed with thoughtful and caring friends and so much joy that sometimes I am astounded by how good life is.

Apple Crumble Recipe

Rub 5 oz butter, chopped into small cubes, into 10 oz plain flour, using just your finger tips (actually, if you have any sense, you'll use a food processor!). When the consistency is like breadcrumbs sprinkle in 3 oz soft brown sugar and 3 oz (or as much as you like) finely chopped hazelnuts and mix together to blend the ingredients.

Peel and remove the cores of your apples, then dice into 1" squares (you can slice them if you like, just make sure they're not huge hunks of apple as they will take longer to cook), putting the peeled apple into acidulated water (a bowl of water with half a lemon squeezed into it) to stop the apple browning. When the apple is all peeled, drain and place in a lightly greased oven-proof dish. If you are using cooking apples, such as Bramleys, sprinkle some sugar between the layers of apples to sweeten them. I have made crumbles with desert apples and though the apple bit goes much squishier, they don't need sugar at all, so be sparing. Next, sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the apples. You can, if you're not on a low-fat diet, add a few small knobs of butter to the top of the crumble mixture, though it's perfectly nice without. Bake in a medium oven (about 180 degrees) for an hour - after this, check to make sure the top has become golden - you may need to leave it in for up to 30 minutes longer, depending on how deep the dish is. The hazelnuts give the crumble topping a nice, crunchy consistency and a jug of custard or helping of cream goes very nicely!