30 Comments

Interesting re the Chrysanthemums, I remember my mother giving me a bunch of Arum Lilies to give to the lady who used to look after me when I was little, she was mortified as she thought of them as funeral flowers. No matter I would be happy for either of them to be gifted to me. Thank you for the recipe, a slight twist on what I cooked last night, so shall definitely add that to my repertoire, oh and by the way I cooked that pumpkin dish last week, very tasty, albeit rich with the crème fraiche.

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I have two jars of French walnuts in the larder. Will use in your recipe.

Chrysanthemum. My mother died in England 50 plus years ago when I was a teenager. These were the flowers on her grave. I have never bought.

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I do hope you enjoy the recipe. I understand why you have never bought chrysanthemums.

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Fellow sprout lover here. I think I'd reached my late twenties before it was revealed to me - possibly by Delia - that the cross in the bottom is hogwash. (In fact it had been my husband, then boyfriend, who had shown me the cross cutting at our first Christmas together as students - I'd thought he was winding me up because....really??). I often cook them with bacon but I shall try this extended version, though I hope that for mustard haters* a quantity of 0 tbsp will work.

* can we still be friends?

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They will be very good without the mustard too, I promise!

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But you will still speak to me, right?

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Gosh that market haul looks wonderful. I absolutely love Brussels sprouts but increasingly they do not love me. Last year after enjoying a hearty side serving of the things I spent the night awake and in agony. I actually thought I had appendicitis at one point but no apparently I've developed an intolerance😑 and I'm now scared to eat them! Jolly unfair but I will definitely make these for the family.

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I have heard of this happening to people as our digestive systems get older. I am so sorry you can no longer eat them - is it the same with all kinds of cabbages? You are very kind to make them for your family if you can't enjoy them yourself. I don't know if I could be so selfless!

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Weirdly other brassicas I seem to be able to tolerate okay. It's very odd and I'm still reading up on it so I haven't entirely given up hope of ever eating them again🤞. Damn this ageing process, always throwing another curve ball 😅.

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Well that is something, at least. And YES, godssake, if it's not one thing it's another.

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I have a sneaking fondness for the large flowered crusts. My parents rented a cottage on a market garden when I was a child and they grew the large copper coloured ones. I used to help with the disbudding to ensure larger flowers. However I hate the small potted ones with a passion! The sprout recipe has all my favourite things, honey, walnuts and sprouts so will give it a go.

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When I was a little girl, my Uncle Jos used to grow incredible chrysanthemums which would regularly win prizes at the local fête. I love the very 'green' smell of them. The coppery ones are beautiful.

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That should have been crysanths. But I do like the odd crust or even two!

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Thanks for another good recipe to feed my addiction to Brussels sprouts!

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I hope you enjoy it!

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I've said it before and I'll say it again...love the market shop photos 👌

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I am so glad, and I hope you enjoy the recipe.

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The sprouts recipe looks good 👍 thank you.

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I'd never thought about what happened to all of those chrysanthemums after All Saint's Day. It's kind of a pity that they are considered a death flower.

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Yes, it's a shame.

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Oh yes, the chrysanthemums . . . . . about 48 years ago when we ran a small business in Calais and had a lovely lady whom we always referred to as 'Madame' running it for us, we visited just before 1st Nov. Flower shops were full of enormous chrysants so we bought a glorious bunch to take when we were invited for dinner. Madame's face as she opened the door was enough to suggest to us we'd got it wrong! Oops!!

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Oh dear! I suppose it is similar to the way we think of lilies. My grandmother would not have lilies in the house, as for her generation they were flowers you only had at funerals. She hated the smell of them. Whereas I love lilies, the scent, the cultural beauty, and would have them in the house all of the time if I could.

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Thanks so much for the sprouts recipe. After many years of dislike I now adore them, particularly roasted with chestnuts and lardon. Chestnuts are really expensive here in Denmark so I’m delighted to try walnuts. X

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I need to be more experimental!

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I do them with chestnuts and lardons at Christmas - give the people what they want - but I love them with walnuts too. Toasted hazelnuts are great with them too.

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The local branch of the Country Women’s Institute gave my mother a bronze-toned chrysanthemum to mark my birth… now I’m wondering if they were sending her coded commiserations instead!

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Oh dear! The bronze-coppery ones are very beautiful though.

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I've told you about the porch light before D. Only you and Putin are happy about this situation.

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You will be pleased to know there's a dusk/daylight detection bulb installed now.

Sorry Vladimir!

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Haha! To this day, S and I still call it Putin's porch light.

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