...is of course not really a cheese at all, but a delicious blend of apple-and-blackberry, carefully cooked and pureed with sugar, and sealed into jars for enjoyment and relish. It is delicious on buttered toast, or with cold ham or cheese as an alternative to pickles.
Apples are beginning to ripen now in suburban gardens, and our next-door neighbour allows me to gather some of hers, in return for some of the resulting jams and jellies. In fact I give some to all the neighbours (we have people on all sides, and upstairs, and everyone helps by collecting jam-jars all year). As I write this, a great cooked panful of blackberries is also slowly dripping through a jelly-bag in our kitchen, to be turned into glowing bramble-jelly by the end of the day.
I'm really saddened by the fact of people not gathering all the (free, for goodness' sake!) fruit at this time of year and enjoying it. It's scary to lose useful skills, to leave children in ignorance of how and where food is obtained, to forget God's goodness as a provider, to wander through supermarkets complaining about "too much choice" in a world where others go hungry...
I'm told it might ber illegal to sell home-made jam (oh, healthnsafetyreggerlations and all that) so I'm not announcing when and where I'm selling mine - anyway, it's the jars that are for sale, the jam inside comes free! - but I will note that the excellent work of the Association of Catholic Women, and especially its Education Project for children at primary schools, prospers partly on the proceeds....
...So why not go out blackberrying yourself? Especially if you are a blogger-addict. It's summer, get out of doors! Then, while the jelly drips, or the blackberry-and-apple pie is baking, you can write to the Bishop (see previous blog entry, below).
BTW, please DON'T send me a Comment about the matter below unless you have already written to the Bishop concerned, or to your own Bishop, about it. There's no point. I feel every bit as indignant as you do. The question is: what are you going to do about it?
6 comments:
Thank you for the reminder ... my daughters consider going blackberrying an annual treat. Visiting our local pick-your-own farm is another popular expedition. I'm afraid I don't have the courage to try making jams or jellies with a very small toddler underfoot, but apple and blackberry crumble is a favourite here.
Bramble Chesse...that sounds tasty where can I find a recipe?
Aunty Joanna, any likelihood that you will one day start a Catholic Publishing house for bloggers and we will see more orthodox writings flooding England? I find the British Catholic bloggers very effective and entertaining writers. With such a wealth of information and comments on their blogs, it would be a shame if it all stays there and goes to waste when the technology crashes in the future. Perhaps you can encourage them to take things to the next level by using their areas of blogging interest or professional expertise as talents to invest and reap even more profits for God. All the children of the world are reading Harry Porter. Well-written story it may be, but it does not point impressionable kids unambiguously to Christ. If the bloggers produce books out of all the good information on their posts or things in their head, then perhaps the education of the children of countries like South Africa will not be left to grants and art from gay promoters like Oprah Winfrey and Elton John. You have written about young African Catholics before. If genuine Catholics don't write their own stories the children of the so-called poor countries will only get corrupted by the CARITAS and CARFOD tripe that comes with the handouts. Youth who have ears to hear and are listening will not know any different message if no one speaks the truth to them. A book is a more tangible and lasting gift than a blog post to put in the hands of a child or young person. Keep up your good work for the youth.
Well I have contacted my Bishop Peter Doyle, have requested a statement from bishop Brain via his secretary...but then went straight to the horse's mouth and the author/compiler herself - Philomena Cullen - and wrote a vituperative condemnation of her actions - I can't believe this four-foot nothing of ostensible sweetness could produce such vitriol and cause such ignorant,insensitive, puerile, uninformed bilge. It overwhelms me in sadness. I'm preparing an e-mail for his Eminence at the moment but we have a history; I told him to 'Go in peace; but Go!!' in a national newspaper [after the clerical abuse fiasco] and we had a blazing row while he was still a bishop and I was an outraged seminarian disgusted with his sacrilegious oecumenical activities. Don't get me wrong, I really like the man, but you can't run the country by acting like a jovial headmaster turning a blind eye to underling's 'high spirits' [i.e. havoc wrought by those he is responsible for]. The conference of Bishops are merely biding their time thinking this is a storm in a teacup and within a few weeks it will all subside and they can resort to 'business as usual' This can't be allowed to happen. You cannot kick His Holiness in the teeth, denounce Catholic pastoral praxis and moral authenticity; and desecrate the memories of those victims of terror [with ostensible clerical and episcopal backing] and not expect reprisals - if the conference gets away with this; what next ?
Are we going to lie down and take this or are the words of dear-departed Monsignor Gilbey going to come to fruition ?
"with this crowd in charge there will soon not be enough christians left in this country to feed a small lion"
With reference to the messenger who asked for some books on economic matters to counter the writings of Cafod and Caritas, can I suggest a book recently published by the IEA called "Catholic Social Teaching and the Market Economy" (it is available from the IEA or from booksellers such as Family Publications). The full text can also be downloaded and printed from http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?type=book&ID=410 . There is a specific chapter on development aid. It is written by theologians and economists from around the world. Every Bishop in Britain and Ireland and every British seminary has received a copy.
Sweet site, I hadn't come across joannabogle.blogspot.com previously in my searches!
Carry on the superb work!
Post a Comment