Bah Humbug. It's December again - 9 more days to Christmas

Bah Humbug, it's 16th December,.

And so the countdown continues. 9 more days to Christmas. 

Better fatten a turkey or a goose or something. 

I forgot to buy a Christmas pudding, but no one eats that here as the weather is too hot. Another tradition that I shall have to forego.

Talking of which, sprouts. Yes, sprouts. Those nasty little bundles of green cabbage-like stuff that smell like farts and give you gas. As if it wasn't enough that they smell like what comes out of the other end after eating.

I really detest them, not enough to stand on a soap box and demand that they be banned, but enough that I am rather thankful not to have Christmas with any of my immediate family who always insist on serving them.

Countless dinner times ended up with me being locked in the dining room, a plate of sprouts, or asparagus (that I rather like now), or the kidney bits in steak and kidney pie lying on a plate congealing into cold. All because I refused to eat what essentially created an allergic reaction in my mouth. Even the appearance of the spider's-web encrusted coal shovel could not entice me.

What is it about sprouts that makes us eat them at Christmas? They are reported to be the most hated vegetable in the UK and the US and the UK seems to grow more of them than anywhere else. I know there are many recipes out there from chefs famous and not so famous, all claiming to make the sprout tasty - but I simply cannot do it. Steam them, fry them, bake them, roast them, pour copious amounts of butter and honey over them - which sort of defeats the purpose of a healthy vegetable and annoys the bees - but I still simply cannot do it.

What is it about Brussels sprouts?

Sprouts, or correctly, Brussels sprouts are a member of the cabbage family, they are the sprout at the end of the stalk. Believed to date back to Roman times - gosh, then they should be called Roman sprouts, they began to be grown widely in Belgium and around Brussels in the 16th Century and that's how they got their name. I can't help thinking that the Romans may have used their powers for ammunition when they ran out of everything else ...

That leads very conveniently into the fact that they stink, not just smell, they pong! The excuse is that they stink when they are overcooked - you should only steam them for 5 minutes, but pick up a bag of uncooked Brussels and take a whiff! They smell.

The stench comes from something called,  glucosinolate sinigrin, a sulfurous compound that is supposed to fight cancer. OK so they are good for you. And the Chinese doctors prescribe them for digestive upsets. OK so they keep you going.

Brussels sprouts are packed with Vitamin C (more than an orange, but then again, most fruits have more vitamin C than an orange, we've just been media-hoodwinked into believing oranges = vitamin C). They also have a few other letters as well, Vitamin A (good for eyesight, so are carrots and they don't stink), and Vitamin K, but per 100g fresh parsley, basil and watercress all have more vitamin K than sprouts. I know which I prefer.

Ah ha! but wait, that vitamin K thing is not too good if you eat too much of it and you have high blood pressure, it can act as a clotting agent.

So there is a downside.

Which makes me wonder why a Swedish man, Linus Urbanec would even consider eating 31 Brussels sprouts in a minute just to get into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008.

Gosh I am glad I wasn't in the same room as him.

As a parting shot - no pun intended, I leave your with a Spike Milligan Poem:

Norrington Blit,
Ate aught but grit,
Aught but grit and mussels,
Save for a bag of sprouts from Brussels,
Or was it Oldham?

BAH STINKY HUMBUG! 

There'll be no Brussels sprouts on my table this Christmas.

Foods high in Vitamin K

11 Things about Brussels sprouts

The benefits of Brussels sprouts

Photo of Brussels sprouts by Zsuzsanna Kilian of Budapest, (http://www.freeimages.com/profile/nkzs)

Photoshopped by me.

The Thirteenth Day Before Christmas - Bah Humbug

Bah Humbug, it's 12th December. Only 13 more days to go and I am not feeling very Christmasy at all. I want to postpone it. Why can't we put it off for a couple of weeks? I have the flu and a rather runny nose. I've already quoted Spike Milligan on noses, and written about tissues and posies.

Grumpy day today. I work up too early this morning with a runny nose (thank you Spike) and a fever. So, I padded downstairs. There was a strange eerie silence as the lights twinkled on the Christmas tree. I was half expecting to find a cat at the bottom of the stairs moaning for food, but they were both fast asleep, curled up like misshapen balls of fluff. I had to turn the light on though as I don't like going downstairs at night incase one of them has decided to bring in a Fukushima'd cockroach. I found one under the kitchen mat the other evening - screech ensued. Reminds me of long legged spiders that used to come in from the trees where I lived in England.

Fever is the body's response to an infection, it can be bacterial or viral. It is thought that an elevated temperature has something to do with boosting the body's immune response. Although this is debatable depending upon the type and degree of fever.

There is a maxim:

Feed a cold, Starve a fever.

According to an article in the New Scientist, and a recent BBC World feature, this might have some substance.

Dutch scientists have found that eating a meal boosts the type of immune response that destroys the viruses responsible for colds, while fasting stimulates the response that tackles the bacterial infections responsible for most fevers.

Kissing passes on disease, no wonder Peggy has a fever!

BAH HUMBUG

I wonder if Peggy had 12 drummers drumming for her on that song?

The Fourteenth Day Before Christmas - Bah Humbug

Bah Humbug, it's 11th December. Wednesday. Woeful Wednesday and I have a cold. My nose is dripping. I don't feel very Christmasy with a leaky nose.

Reminds me of the Spike Milligan Poem:

My Nose:

My nose, my nose lived dangerously,
It's courage was no stunt,
And in the war in Germany,
It was always out in front,

But when the battle was o'er,
And we had defeated the Hun,
Suddenly, for no reason at all
My nose started to run.

Well, I can't run away from Christmas, unless I sit in the bomb shelter or hike up a mountain.

Handkerchiefs were normally made of cotton or a cotton blend. A square piece of tissue that was hemmed around the four edges. Used for wiping the face, the nose and even blowing the nose. They are not always that hygienic!


The paper tissue was used in 1920s and over the years refined. Today it is a common household item and one that has helped stem the spread of disease.


Probably the worst plague of all was the Black Death, 1348–50 CE. The estimates are that between 75 and 200 million people died from the pandemic. A rather large proportion of the population at the time!

Now you don't need to carry a posy of roses around with you, just sneeze into a tissue instead.

BAH HUMBUG

I wonder if the eleven pipers piping are using tissues to blow their nose and wipe their mouths? Piping can be a bit of a spitty past-time.