What would Christmas be without dried dates? My personal Christmas favourite is to remove the date seeds and fill the void with a piece of marzipan (almond paste). However there…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 20 – Christmas Box (Sarcococca confusa)
Day 20 – Christmas Box – No, not getting ahead of ourselves here with Christmas boxes of the cash kind, traditionally given to tradesmen on Boxing Day (as a thank you…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 19 – Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
The parsnip is a classic Christmas lunch vegetable, usually eaten roasted but sometimes boiled or steamed. The edible part is the taproot, and this contains high quantities of dietary fibre…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 18 – Amaryllis (Hippeastrum spp.)
By Dawn Bazely Amaryllis (Hippeastrum spp.). Today’s entry owes thanks to Professor Dawn Bazely (York University, Toronto, Canada) who suggested the idea (Dawn was last seen on #AdventBotany Day 9…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 17 – Raisins, Currants & Sultanas
Clearly the most key link between preserved dried grapes and Christmas is their use in Christmas cake, Christmas Pudding and sweet mincemeat for mince pies. These are all based heavily…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 16 – Chocolate (Theobroma cacao)
Surely, no series of Advent Botany would, could or should be complete without the divine chocolate! Linnaeus named the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao which literally means “Food of the Gods”…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 15 – the Christmas tree
There is much debate and disagreement about the origin of Christmas trees and they have variously been linked to oak branches used in mystery plays and even the Yule log,…Read More >
2014 AdventBotany – day 14 – String
By @DrMGoesWild #AdventBotany Day 14 – Yesterday we wrapped our Advent Botany Christmas parcels in botanical paper, today we tie them up with string! Modern Christmas string is most likely…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 13 – Paper
Produced by the simple process of pressing together moist plant fibres, typically cellulose pulp, derived from the plant-based materials wood, rags or grasses and drying them into flexible sheets. Paper…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 12 – Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger is used in many Christmas recipes due to its warming properties. Records of cultivation in China date back to 5000BC. During the 13th and 14th centuries, it was second…Read More >
