May Day

I know this blog isn't about food but May Day is a pretty special memory to me. May 1st in England is a holiday and has a few traditions surrounding it. Growing up, it had another special meaning because it was the day we got to change over to our gingham short sleeve blouses and lose the tie from our uniform at school! 

May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. Floralia was held annually from April 28th to May 3rd. There are also links to Beltane, a Celtic fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.

May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. It is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Traditional English May Day rites include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a Maypole.


I have to admit that I did the maypole dancing in our village as a kid.

                             
                                                                 Morris dancing

This is a form of dancing that is commonly practiced throughout May, although it is often seen on May Day itself. It almost always involved men, who are highly trained, and dance in sixes or eights to accordion and fiddle music. Dressed in colourful costumes, the dance moves involve much leg movement to release the sound of the bells attached to their legs, and the banging together of poles that each dancer holds. Waving handkerchiefs is also a common practice. Many areas have their own dances. 

My own memory of May Day in Oxford.


First we got up and washed our faces in the morning dew, thought to make you beautiful! Then we walked to the bridge to hear these lovely voices sing.

In Oxford, it is traditional for people to gather below the Great Tower of Magdalen College at 6.00am to listen to the college choir sing traditional madrigals as a conclusion to the previous night's celebrations. It was then thought to be traditional for some people to jump off Magdalen Bridge into the River. I think they went to great lengths to stop people doing this. 


After this we usually went to the pub, had breakfast and went home to bed! I never jumped off the bridge by the way. maybe that is because we went to the pub after the singing - we will never know!

Time for Strawberries

The smell  of Strawberries brings so many memories to the front of my mind. As all my childhood memories are mostly of food, this isn't such a surprise!


Growing up, we had two old ladies next two us, the Morris sisters, they never got married, just married to their garden! Every time I looked out my bedroom window upstairs all you could see was their bottoms - they stood to garden and bent over in their long dresses. They grew everything, from beans to sweet pea flowers and it was a full time activity for them. My parents were avid gardeners but paled in comparison. I really didn't appreciate any of this at the time.


My Dad took really good care of these two ladies and he was always sending me over with food or meals. To this day I cannot cook strawberries or make Jam without thinking about the delicious waft of Strawberry jam cooking that came out their front door! Making jams and jellies takes patience.


My other strong memory, which I just bored my kids to tears with today, is picking Strawberries in England  to make money. I actually biked 2 villages over to Costessy, Norfolk, on my own, and picked  strawberries all day to make pocket money ( I also ate a lot!). Often, it would rain and I would have to go home with no money. I am sure I had a fully tummy though!

After all the picking, you can still choose to buy some and bring them home. Lots of people just go picking fruits for themselves. The quintessential dish after this is Strawberries with Cream!



Strawberries and cream is really the perfectly complementary combination. An English summer is unimaginable without them. It is the popular choice at Wimbledon!  Legend has it that Cardinal Wolsey was the first person to serve the two together, at his palace, Hampton Court. 

The strawberries in the USA just don't taste as good, I don't know if it is the soil or all the rain England gets. I like to buy mine at the local fruit stand and then leave them out overnight to ripen. They smell really good when I walk down the next day.


If anyone wants to create my memory here is a link to find a job!


http://www.findextrawork.co.uk/strawberrypicking.php




I may have to blog about Scones and Afternoon Tea now!

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

My daughter has a new swim coach and last week she came home with a new label obsession - High-Fructose Corn Syrup. This immediately removed 2 snacks from her list of 8 that she can eat, it actually takes a long time to read all the ingredients but it is essential for good health. 


When I started this blog I got a few suggestions on writing about Food/Nutrition labels and diet restrictions. Of course my daughter and I are already very well trained in reading labels to look for Tree Nuts. If you have ever looked, it is difficult to find cereal, cookies or energy bars that don't have nuts. I would have to say, she is much better than I am at reading labels because she can actually see!


Swimmers are already on top of their nutrition and a large part of my daily life is making sure my athlete gets enough calories and in the correct form. She does cheat on rare occasions and has a soda or fast food. Even Gatorade contains High Fructose Corn Syrup, so it is really only safe to drink water, well more safe than the soda and gatorade. What is in your water will come in another blog!

Above is a food label from a loaf of Bread. You should be able to click on it.

When I first moved to the USA I was shocked at the breakfast foods that people eat here. Doughnuts, pancakes with syrup, huge over-sweetened muffins! Of course, all some of my favorites now! When I lived in England I was definitely much healthier, especially before I had kids. Some of this had to do with the amount of walking people do there, compared to driving everywhere.  Obesity has become a huge problem in children in the UK also now, because people have adopted the "fast food" life.


High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is derived from corn, and used primarily to sweeten beverages. It is linked to childhood obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

HFCS is not to be confused with Fructose, which is a natural sugar found in fruits and vegetables.

HFCS is found in:-

• Soft drinks
• Fruit-flavored beverages
• Fruit canned in syrup
• Ketchup and BBQ sauces
• Jam and syrups
• Frozen foods
• Popsicles/ice pops
• Salad dressing
• pasta sauce purchased in a jar
• Canned soup
• Highly sweetened breakfast cereals
• Bread
• Fruit flavoured yogurt
• Frozen yogurt
• Many processed foods

Trying to lead a healthy lifestyle is not easy, working full time or care taking full time and trying to provide a home cooked meal without processed foods can be a challenge. Using Organic foods, fresh vegetables and fruits and whole grains can make this process a little less complicated. Plus, it saves time reading all those tiny labels - which personally gives me a headache!

Next time you are at the store see if you can find anything without High Fructose Corn Syrup, I bet when you do you are standing in the produce section or the pharmacy. 

here is an interesting link on it too:-

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100322121115.htm

thanks for reading!