Out of the strong...

Here's son Huw making salt caramels. Although he's testing the temperature of the mixture it didn't in the end set hard enough to make the intended sweetmeats: instead it's proved to be a heavenly caramel sauce for pancakes.

Out of the strong came forth sweetness Judges 14:14
Anyone who's studied the familiar Tate&Lyle golden syrup tin will know it shows a picture of a swarm of bees around the rotting carcass of a lion, along with these words. They refer to the Biblical story in which Samson was travelling to the land of the Philistines in search of a wife. During the journey he killed a lion, and when he passed the same spot on his return he noticed that a swarm of bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass. Samson later turned this into a riddle: "Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness."

The green and gold syrup tin has remained unchanged for over a century and is said to represent Britain's oldest brand, registered along with the trademark lion in 1904. Some went into Huw's mixture today while for me as a child it was a huge treat to be allowed to lick the syrup spoon. Sometimes a finger would be guiltily poked into the tin too.
The stuff's never the same in a bottle or a jar.





I couldn't keep away for long! I was enormously touched by all the sympathetic, encouraging and frankly flattering comments on my blip 'blip' and I hope to carry on posting although maybe not on a daily basis. What pains me most is the difficulty I have in keeping up with other people's journals and the sense that I am missing out on pictures and write-ups that I would love to see and read. Over the next couple of weeks I know I will have my hands fairly full and will be very short of time to give all the journals I subscribe to - apologies!