Blossom: Days Twenty-six to Twenty Eight, Hallowe'eny!

Spoooooky.

Friday 26 to Sunday 28 Frocktober

Outfit/s

• The Scruffy Cardigan of Illness then Gothic Wonderlandyness.

 Menu

• Dinner Friday: corned beef with onion parsley sauce.
• Aside from that, er, leftovers and pretty much salad. Salad, fish and Using Stuff Up.

Mood

• Spook'd

Well it has been a busy time and I am therefore cramming several days into the one blog yet again. However this one will have a delightfully Hallowe'eny flavour!

Friday was spent partly recovering from my lurgy - whatever that was, and partly at Darling Central with the Misses Rubi and Tea, preparing for a weekend of Hallowe'eny Goodness at the little pink shop. The Misses Rubi and Tea got stuck into some rather serious arts and crafts and visitors to the shop over the weekend will have greatly enjoyed their efforts.

Now we know Hallowe'en is not generally celebrated here - but to that we say HUH! What could possibly be more fun than dressing up and enjoying some harmless spooky storytelling? Apart from anything else, the Gold Creek Ghost, who we fondly refer to as 'Amelia', seems to love the extra attention she gets around Hallowe'en: we like to give her flowers and decorate a bit in her honour.

All weekend we dressed up. Miss Jasmine was a cheeky little leopard one day (complete with ears and tail), and a 'Mod who died dancing' the next, in a sixties shift and a beehive hairdo. Rubi gothed it up, with outfits that featured, among other things, a magnificent leather corset by Electric Sugar, an adorable black and purple miniature bowler hat, and a full face of skeletal makeup - wow! Darla was a wee ghostie in "Amelia's" honour, and I pulled out my velvet by Gallery Serpentine, and a great floor-length Morticia skirt, also from the Shoppie. We had such fun.

So rather than bore you with details of blouses worn and red lipstick, here is a montage of Hallowe'en photos from Darling Central.

Meet the Darling Central Jack O'Lanterns! Courtesy of the creative efforts of Rubi and Miss Jasmine.

Rubi found the best way to gut a pumpkin. Don't fret: the pumpkin clearly enjoyed it, judging by its finished facial expression.

See? This fellow looks rather relaxed about things.

Aw. This cutie looks rather sad here - but it's just the angle of the photo. In fact, it looked cute, cheerful and rather sleepy ...

... And this one just thinks everything is hilarious.

Our lovely friendly Shoppie neighbour, Troy from Red Bamboo, popped in to have a cuppa and enjoy the pumpkin carving. He then thoughtfully donated to the Jack O'Lantern cause several of his wonderful handmade soy candles. We have discovered that his Spiced Apple and Cocoa Therapy scented candles combine AMAZINGLY with fresh pumpkin, and all weekend Darling Central had the most delicious fragrance, like cake, spices and pumpkin pie. Thank you, Troy!

Here are some of our Hallowe'en decorations.

Cake pops and witches' finger biscuits by Rubi and Miss Jasmine - completely delicious. What? They didn't come out of my sugar ration!

Juan and Juanita, our Hallowe'en Flamingos, came out of hibernation especially for the occasion. They love a bit of spring weather!

Cheery pumpkins enjoying the weekend weather and greeting visitors.

Annabelle, one of the shop models, was wearing her gothic finery for the occasion. Blouse by Queen of Heartz, corset by Electric Sugar and Ophelia skirt by Gallery Serpentine.

Lurking in the shop window.

Even the shop bunting got into the Hallowe'en mood!

Jack O'Lanterns grow on trees, you know.

 "Amelia" the shop ghostie, as mentioned, always enjoys Hallowe'en. Little objects were vanishing all weekend, only to turn up again in the oddest places. In the past we have set her up a little corner of the Boudoir to enjoy during the season, and this year was no different.

A treat for the Gold Creek Ghostie: flowers, candles and cookies for her to enjoy in the dead of night.

We popped a little sign on the wall so she knew it was intended for her.

Had enough for the time being?

I thought I would mention dinner on Friday night.

I fancied some corned beef - and NOT the tinned stuff! So I decided to cook a traditional English dish, which would have been very popular in the forties whenever the pickled beef was available.

The pieces of salted, pickled beef were gently boiled, which sounds horrible to many people but in fact is the best way to get rid of excess salt and also to end up with wonderfully tender meat that was traditionally served with boiled vegetables (yes, carrots were involved) and a white sauce flavoured with herbs and onions.

Blossom's corned beef with onion parsley sauce

Corned beef can simply be boiled in plain water, but for maximum flavour, I usually add a few delicious ingredients to the pot first.

Onion, bay, cloves. Plus a dash of cider vinegar and brown sugar to the water.

Rinse the beef, then put it in a large pot with flavourings, and top with cold water. Bring slowly to the boil.

It really doesn't look so great at this stage.

Then turn it down to a simmer, put on the lid and boil for around an hour per kilo of beef. I find I need to top it off with hot water several times.

When the beef is cooked, drain and discard the water and flavourings, then keep it warm while you prepare the vegetables (carrots, beans, potatoes) and make the sauce.

The sauce is too easy! You know how to make a white sauce, yes? You need flour, milk, butter or oil, plus flavourings.

Plain flour, parsley (still attempting to keep the patch under control) and onion.

Cook the flour in the fat to form a roux. When the roux is smooth and starting to foam, take off the heat and carefully stir in milk. With an onion flavoured sauce, I like to add the onion at this stage.

I also like to add a sprinkle of white pepper. White pepper, flavouring of the gods.

Put the pan back over heat and stir constantly until the mixture boils and thickens.

Then add fresh parsley, check for seasoning and place into your sauce boat.

Yum yum yum.

To serve, heap boiled vegetables on your plate (they really have to be boiled, or it just isn't the same), add finely-sliced tender slices of steaming hot corned beef, and pour a generous helping of fragrant onion and parsley sauce.

Who says English food is horrible? This was such a satisfying fragrant treat.

And better yet, the leftover corned beef, finely sliced, is lovely cold in sandwiches or with salads.

That's enough for now - I have a large collection of old Hammer horror movies that require my immediate and sustained attention.

Frock you later (spookily),
Blossom