Monday, December 3, 2007

The colours of food

I like to use vegetables and food of the different seasons when possible, and another thing I love to do is to focus on the colours of the season. In the year of the church, the colour of advent is purple. Yesterday we lit the first purple candle in our advent wreath, I have a purple table runner on our table, and purple paper napkins. The lent period is best known for its fasting, but traditionally advent was also a period of simple food, to prepare for the coming festival.

Advent is a period of reflections and a slower life, a side of advent which is almost lost today in the pre Christmas rush. Traditions are important to me, and I try to "take back" the true meaning of advent. We don't fast these weeks, but focusing on advents true meaning can be done in so many different ways.

Our oldest son, Torgeir, came home on Saturday from three years of studies in Australia. Yesterday we had an active day with church, handball matches for the girls and an invitation in the afternoon. Torgeir has decided to learn more cooking now these weeks he is living at home before buying a place of his own, and his first "lesson" was to make Sunday dinner - fried chicken breasts with bernaise, and rice. Not to be totally left out from the kitchen, I said that I wanted to make the salad, and decided to do it the purple way.

advent salad
purple lettuce
red onion
cucumber
balsamic vinegar

a blue plate was covered with purple lettuce, cucumber and red onion were cut into small dices and mixed, then put on top of the lettuce bed, everything was sprinkeled in balsamic vinegar

Another purple food story can be read here.
And more about my advent here.

2 comments:

Ann said...

So nice to hear that you keep Advent, too! I'll admit to having my tree up and Christmas music on the CD player (I used to be much stricter!), but I like this time of preparation -- Saturday I will be leading an Advent quiet day for some women from East Tennessee. Not enough purple at my house.

Britt-Arnhild said...

Thanks GUDL.

Ann - have a nice advent. Here in Norway we never put up our trees untill December 23rd :-)