I am beyond jealous. Like, green jealous.
When I was a kid, my green thumbed Nana had a HUGE apricot tree. She'd hang plastic bags on it to frighten the birds. I swear I'd never, ever had such amazing apricots since. I remember her stewing them (compote) and putting them in margarine containers in the freezer. I can still remember her defrosting them in the microwave to have on her pancakes. I can recall the crust of ice on top, the colour, the smell. I was only young - maybe six, seven? - but that tactile experience really implanted deep in my memory - I can't think of Nana without apricots, parsley and calendula, wisteria and monstera. Oh, and kickass apfel strudel. She'd roll the pastry real thin and spread it with sour cream before rolling up the stewed apples and sultanas and cinnamon into a roll. I think they call it viennese strudel?
But I digress.
Happy new year, gorgeous girl.
Nana?! So we have something else in common ... mind you most South African's don't call their grandmothers Nana. Hmmmm, is it British origin? We called our one granny Nana, and my children call my mother Nana. You Nana sounds like mine - a pastry chef and a lover of her garden. My Nana was always baking cakes. I am convinced my sweet tooth was thanks to all her yummy cakes. So now that I'm of the healthier understanding I still love cakes but have to come up with non sugar alternatives - hence the jam. It is so special the childhood memories we have, isn't it? And smells associated with people from way back.
No, she was German! Yeah, totally - I was close to her, though she wasn't very demonstrative in a hard ass farm woman kinda way. But she was super inspriing - I do channel her a lot because she was pretty strong and helped me find my strength when I went through a relationship break up. 'You don't need a man', she'd say, pulling no punches. My other gran was Grandma, she was English!I think sugar was cheap and par for the course in those days!!