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Hampers, flowers and blowjobs

December 4, 2009 10 Comments Filed Under: Christmas, Uncategorized

Hamper: Contracted from Anglo-French hanaper, itself from Old French hanepier “case for holding a large goblet or cup”
There’s something particularly exciting about being given a collection of food in a wicker container. Traditionally hampers are used for picnics or given at Christmas.

One Christmas, I must have been about 14 years old, I made up a hamper for my parents…I saved my pocket and paper round money for weeks. I wanted the most luxurious foods, taking the tube down to the red-carpeted Fortnum & Mason in the centre of town, to do research. I was in heaven. Lacking the funds to do it by myself, I got my brother and sister to put in their pocket money too…
My hamper consisted of:
  • a tiny pot of Russian caviar,
  • a pot of truffles (which we all agreed were woody and boring),
  • smoked salmon,
  • lemon marmalade,
  • candied fruit,
  • brandy butter,
  • Xmas pudding,
  • foie gras pate (I ate meat then),
  • a ceramic pot of Stilton,
  • brandy snap biscuits,
  • iced gems!(the height of luxury for a 14 year old in the 70s),
  • liquorice comforts divided into different colours,
  • pontefract cakes (liquorice seemed to form a major part of this hamper),
  • posh tea in tins,
  • liqueur chocolates (probably Mon Cheri, absolutely loved them). I would always get ‘Famous Names’ liqueur choccies in my stocking.
  • and I made some chocolate-dipped fruit, segments of mandarin and grapes.
My parents, needless to say, were thrilled.
But if you don’t have time to make your own hamper…two of the nicest gifts you can give are food and flowers…both reminders of nature and Earth’s bounty. Flowers at Christmas are a luxury, there is little left in the garden…other than a few sprigs of holly and mistletoe. I love David Austin roses, I have a few growing in my garden. They are without a doubt the hardiest, easiest to care for, most fragrant and beautiful roses. You can’t lose with them….Interflora sent me a bouquet of these pink blossoms…just breathing in the scent transported me to sunnier seasons.
Having a conversation about this post with another food blogger, a male divorcee, he said:
“I’d never think of getting a woman flowers. My ex-wife used to have to nudge me to get them”
“What would she say?” I asked
“Oh you know, she’d drop big hints about Valentines day, how her friends had received beautiful bouquets..” he said dismissively.
“In my opinion flowers and blowjobs save marriages” I opined “If men gave more of the former and women the latter, the divorce rate would fall dramatically”.
I’ve removed the mention of Interfloras hampers on this post, as they promised me one and never sent it. So perhaps they are as crap as people said on Twitter. Never again.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Petulia

    December 9, 2009 at 2:19 pm

    I love hampers. If I have something special to celebrate or good friends to give gifts to, I head to F&M. They have fab hampers! Happy holidays!

    Reply
  2. Hugh

    December 9, 2009 at 2:23 pm

    How much pocket money did you get for goodness' sake? And where were you delivering papers to? The moon? I'd have had to have saved my pocket money for about 800 years to afford half of that! Lucky, lucky parents.

    Reply
  3. Rosy

    December 9, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    I totally agree! I'm such a fan of hampers. Made a load last christmas for relatives (the notoriously hard to buy for Aunties!) and inexpensive if you make some or all of it. The only prob I find is the cost of the actual hamper – any ideas??

    Reply
  4. bakelady59

    December 9, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    I think I love flowers more than I do Hampers, especially Roses. I have some in my front garden. I will often buy flowers for myself and others, just for the pure joy they bring. They never fail to lift your spirits.

    Reply
  5. theundergroundrestaurant

    December 9, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    baskets can be quite cheap can't they? Pound shops…
    Some markets/ethnic veg shops use baskets for certain veg then chuck them…could use them?

    Bakelady: so agree, flowers like fires, always lift the spirits…

    Reply
  6. Krista

    December 9, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    Now you know why I bid for that Harvey Nicks hamper! I LOVE HAMPERS. (Or gift baskets, as we say in my country.) It's like a surprise every time, all those little packages hidden in there.

    I ignored the Interflora email…sounds like I maybe shoulda responded!

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    December 10, 2009 at 11:39 am

    Like your snippet of wisdom re the divorce rate. I am a very happily married woman…Need I say more?.x.

    Reply
  8. Andrea

    December 10, 2009 at 11:41 am

    Love your observational wisdom re the divorce rate..I am a very happily married woman..need I say more?!.x.

    Reply
  9. Helen T

    December 13, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    Love your hamper, I bet your parents were so thrilled by the thought, let alone the actual contents. My father in law is incredibly difficult to buy for, but a Dickinson & Morris hamper, complete with pork pie, seems to do the trick.

    Reply
  10. MsMarmitelover

    December 20, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    Something weird going on with my comments,I don't seem to get them delivered to my email anymore so apologies for late publication and thanks for your comments…
    My parents were quite mean with the pocket money actually (their excuse was 'well you get foreign holidays')but I was always quite thrifty…
    Krista: haven't actually received the hamper yet! So we'll see…
    Anon: LOL

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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#travel #baking #msmarmitelover #santiagodecompostela #caminoway #walking #hiking #dessert #spanishrecipes #spanishdessert #galicianrecipes #glutenfree @caminoways
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Instagram post 2169866030516446893_28574231 Persimon Pani puri recipe up on the blog Msmarmitelover.com a street food which includes a flavour spectrum- sour, sweet, salty, hot, spicy, refreshing, crunchy, wet and dry, fruity and carby. Making the Puri from scratch took a couple of goes to get right but actually isn’t hard. #supperclub #msmarmitelover #msmarmite #spanishpersimon #vegetarian #vegan #recipe #chaat #streetfood #indiansnacks #canape #diwali
Instagram post 2169277948175951209_28574231 Overlooking the river at #vallaro in piedmont. Nearby was #sacroMonte, a hilltop religious monument with 45 chapels, each containing strange plaster statues of animals and saints, 800 of them.
Instagram post 2167511482116167199_28574231 Persimon fruit leather (the easiest EVER as it has so much pectin- just purée it, add sweetness spread on a silpat and in cool oven for a few hours), rolled into a pinwheel with bergamot zest and mint and goats cheese, a delicious canapé. This was served at last nights #persimon #supperclub for #Halloween on behalf of @spanishpersimon . Next week I’m going to Valencia to visit the farm.  #msmarmitelover #msmarmite #singleingredientmenus #fruit #vegetarian #canapé #christmascanapes #canapeideas
Instagram post 2166825702523830758_28574231 I’ve been working with persimon fruit for the last 3 weeks, pushing the envelope with what we can do with persimons other than just eat them like apples. And guess what? I still like them, I’m not bored. They are a wonderful autumn winter seasonal fruit. They are also really good for you. #VitC #fibre #5aday, #potassium #iron #calcium #betacarotene #vitA #7aday #manganese #B6 #supperclub #halloween #fruit
Instagram post 2166106717029345626_28574231 The creamy interior of a baked Camembert offset by persimons from Spain. This is the cheese course from my Halloween supperclub for @spanishpersimon this Thursday. #supperclub #persimmon #persimon #sharonfruit #kaki #cheese #camembert #bakedcheese #halloween #spanishfruit #igfood #autumnvibes🍁
Instagram post 2165411211139548124_28574231 Persimon bread, adapted from a recipe by @davidlebovitz. I used fresh persimon pulp and dried persimons with walnuts and @southafricanraisins now I have to decide whether to serve it as canapés, topped with goats cheese and fresh persimon or with the cheese course. 🤔#supperclub #halloween #spanishpersimon #fallfood #autumnvibes🍁 #food #travelandfood #spanishingredients #recipes #vegetarian #desserts #bread #fruitbread
Instagram post 2164809413936743946_28574231 Hazelnut risotto using carnaroli rice from @magicolucedio from piedmont. I used Piedmontese white wine as well as hot vegetable stock, use a moscato or arneis. Keep stirring for 18 minutes until creamy with a kernel of al dente rice. When I visited piedmont, I ate 4 risottos in 3 days! It’s grown in this region, being similar to a sushi type rice- round- rather than long. It’s beautiful stuff- ivory and pure- and I didn’t want to add any colour other than a few local hazelnuts, pecorino and nut oil such as walnut or hazelnut. Warming food for cold rainy autumn days. #supperclub #rice #risotto #hazelnuts #northernitaly🇮🇹 #visitpiemonte #foodandtravel #vegetarianrecipes #igfood #vegetarianfoodporn #regionsofitaly #femalechef
Instagram post 2163915113036239687_28574231 Cinnamon, pistachio and persimon pudding. Persimmon pudding is a southern dish but I added a touch of the Middle East. It’s so easy to make: remove stalks of fruit then blend. Add a cup of flour, a cup of sugar, 50g butter, spices, pinch of baking soda and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 180c. #persimon #persimmon #kaki #sharon #recipetesting #supperclub #halloween #spanishfruit #winterfruit #seasonalcooking #baking #dessert #foodblogger #chef
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