We are eating salad. Lots of salad ["I am half sick of shadows salads" said the Lady of Shallot Bob] I have tomatoes, potatoes, radishes and herbs and leaves from the garden [we finished the two cucumbers] supplemented by red and white cabbage, celery, carrots etc from the shops. All so very healthy, and whirled in my OXO Good Grips spinner.
I bought this gadget with some tokens - not cheap, but I am using it so often that it is earning its place in the kitchen.
We are currently enjoying 'mixed leaves' in red and green, along with some baby spinach - and I have chard, rocket and pak choi just coming along nicely.
Two of my nieces are expecting babies, and I was wondering what names they will choose. You don't hear the name "Lettice" any more, do you? It is another form of Lætetia, meaning joy and happiness [like Letetia Dean aka Sharon Watts in EastEnders]
The only famous Lettice I could discover was Lettice Knollys [pictured left] - mother of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, a favourite of Elizabeth I. And later she became the second wife of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. He was another of the Queen's favourites- so her majesty banned Lettice from court... permanently!Lettice is a popular girl's name in fiction - in "Murder At The Vicarage", Christie introduces us to Lettice Protheroe "a pretty girl, tall, fair and completely vague", and in The Importance of Being Earnest, Miss Prism, the hapless governess, has the name Lætitia.
Peter Shaffer wrote a play especially for Dame Maggie Smith, called Lettice and Lovage - how I should have loved to have seen her perform this on stage with the great Margaret Tyzack. Lettuce is a tour guide in a stately home owned by The Preservation Trust - but it is the most uninspiring, uninteresting property they own. So Lettuce takes it upon herself to...embellish... the historical details, adding much that adds colour, if not veracity. Inevitably she goes too far and loses her job. You can read a synopsis of the plot here. In 1990, Smith and Tyzack won Tony Awards for best actress and best supporting actress. This is the clip shown at the ceremony.
Fortunately my nieces are sensible girls, and there is no danger of the newest niblings being named after salads!
I have a similar salad spinner and have used it constantly in the last few years. I’m with Bob! Nibling is a word I heard for the first time on Young Sheldon as he refers to his unborn niece as this. Thanks as always for an interesting read. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThe word "nibling" has apparently been around since 1951, when it was coined by academics studying family relationships . I did not realise it was that old!!
DeleteOOh, I'm a 1951 lass. I must have been one of the first ever niblings born!
DeleteI, too, arrived in 1951!
Delete👍
DeleteMy mother had an aunt named Leticia (she was usually called Aunt Letty), and I have a family friend named Romaine. :)
ReplyDeleteAll the lettuce I grew bolted well before summer; I can only grow lettuce in the winter when I don't necessarily feel like eating salads!
Apparently Romaine was more common as a name before the 1960s, but fell out of favour in the UK when the lettuce became popular! Since Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket is getting more votes! I think you call that Arugula in the USA though
DeleteNormally I love salads, but when its cold and Autumnal I feel more like warm comfort foods. But I've got a cucumber waiting, grown by my daughter, so maybe sandwiches?
ReplyDeleteThis year I've tried adding chopped mint to cucumber sandwiches (apparently they do this at Buckingham Palace garden parties) A surprisingly tasty addition
DeleteI often toss small (peeled) cubes of cucumber into prepared bagged mixed vegetables (defrosted), toss with a dressing and use as a side dish instead of salad. JanF
DeleteThat's a good idea! I may copy that one!
DeleteYour veg patch has done well this year!
ReplyDeleteI'm ridiculously pleased!
DeleteHusband or I have a Lettuce in our family tree, along with a Mercy and Fanny, do not hear them often either. We have a glut of tomatoes from our allotment so I put 4 bags outside the house free to collect, they were gone in no time. Think we have eaten so many salads and there are numerous bags of frozen tomatoes for the winter.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting, new babies in the family soon.
My gran and her sisters were Gladys, Winnie, Elsie and Jessie. So I'm glad we have another Jessie now. I am afraid Mercy and Fanny would get teased at school these days. Tony at church always grows too many tomatoes 🍅 - he puts bags of them out each week, and has a pot for donations to the children's hospice. I don't seem to be at the glut stage. We have just enough ripening each week for us & family !
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased for you at your garden success!!!!
ReplyDeleteI do think the name Lettice is really charming and I think Letty is more popular as a stand alone name.
I've not had much luck with my tomatoes or Rocket this year but I expect there will be freebies at church! There's a lot of allotment sharing!
Never tried a salad spinner! X
It is enormous fun! Before I had it, I used to wrap leaves in a teatowel and whirl them round in the back garden to spin dry them. But I have to admit to a few disasters, with flying rockets
DeleteWe use our salad spinner often and am glad to have it!
ReplyDeleteYes, naming chilren has turned a bit odd in some familes! I'm always mindful of what a child';s initials will spell. I knew a M.A.D. and a B.A.T. and thy got treased.
Hugs!
In school I taught a Mike Milligan [aka Spike] , an Elizabeth Taylor and a few other 'famous' characters. One wonders why parents saddle their children with names like this
DeleteMy salad spinner was purchased at a yard sale and seemed to be new, so perhaps the seller didn't need it. I certainly get a lot of use out of it. Our next door neighbour sent over some zucchini, beans and cucumbers with my order of eggs the other day and we have really been enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteHow kind of your neighbour
DeleteI have one of those spinners - brilliant gadget.
ReplyDeleteLettice - not keen on that as a name!
Lovely to hear about new babies on the way x
Alison in Wales x
More knitting once the weather is cooler...
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