I love the duality of what it represents.
I grew up with an Appletree in my back garden. In the Spring I would look forward to waking up to seeing the blossom bloom, the beautiful pink flowers on the tree would remind me that my birthday was not far away. In the Summer I would play on the swing my Grandfather built for us, hanging from the tree. Leaning back on the swing, kicking my legs in the air, gazing at the sun filtering through the leaves, that tree would be where I would go to when I wanted to lose myself in my imagination. In the Autumn I admired the leaves changing colour and looked forward to the jars that would be filled with my Granny's homemade Apple Pickle and Apple Jam. My Grandfather would beam with pride at the ripest, reddest fruit falling off the tree. In the Winter, my least favourite season, the branches stripped bare looked cold and lonely, but I would comfort myself in the knowledge that it was just sleeping. I wished I could sleep through the Winter. My Appletree gazed over our family dreamily as I grew up. I loved that tree.
But that tree came to a predictable fate. After all, it grew in a Punjabi garden in west london. It was eventually replaced by concrete and an extension. The perils of having a builder for a dad. No more apple jam, apple pickle or apple blossom. No more dappled sunlight filtering through my bedroom window, no more chirping birds to wake me in the summer. Now I just hear the pigeons that crawl through the cracks in the roof and get lodged in the loft. The romance of my childhood has made way for the realities of adulthood.
However, I'm a shameless romantic and the love is still there. My love for that fruit has its legacy. My love for everything about food started with the apple. The apple is to me what the egg is to Delia. Where it all begins. I have even cemented a solid reputation as favourite aunty to my nieces and nephews by feeding them with my apple crumble at every opportunity. Buying their love through homebaked goods. Works every time.
From the humble apple, my passion for food grew. So after much procrastination I have given in to the temptation to take time out to create this food blog. (Yawn...who needs another blog?!...I hear you cry!) Well no one needs another blog, just like no one needs to eat calorific, stodgy desserts. Its not about need, its about pleasure and indulgence. This little venture into cyber writing is my little indulgence.
As Dusty once sang, we are all But an Apple Whirling Silently in Space. With the haunting melody of the Windmills of Your Mind playing in the background, I invite you on this journey with me. A journey into my world through the food in my life.
