Active Sunday

Rather annoyingly, I agree with Giles Coren about something. He has noticed the modern expressions being used in period productions - we both noticed a couple of incidents in the TV adaptation of Toast, but also in the well known costume pieces. He makes the point about the amount of trouble taken with costumes, sets etc. contrasted with the sloppiness of the language in many of these. Hear, hear. I thought it was just oldies like me.

I have been inspired by Nibby to make a few jam jars of preserved lemons. All you have to do is wash them, quarter or eighth them and stuff in jars with masses of salt, pushing down and adding more salt or lemon pieces as the juice is released, maybe with a bay leaf in each jar. They will be ready to use in about four weeks, and last up to a year. I shall turn them and replenish the salt a bit every now and then, probably daily. Nibby says that though you can use the flesh, when useing the best thing is to rinse them and chop the skin finely, adding to any kind of stew or casserole, and many other things, providing a terrific 'lift' to the flavour. She is also preserving limes. Nibby tells me that sour cherries make an excellent gin drink. Same weight of sugar to cherries, either freeze the cherries before popping into the gin, or prick them all over like sloes. She thinks that any cherries would work, but the sour cherries are best, producing a kind of marzipan flavour addition from the stones. Must purchase some gin and cherries.

The Norman Rockwell exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery has had rave reviews. I would like to go and see this, but will need to get a move on, I suspect.