Tuesday, March 23rd

On rereading Alice in Wonderland, I realised that the idea of Alice was a lot more frabjous than the actuality. Tim Burton's movie is absolutely the best of Alice. I was rather taken aback by Richard Corliss' article in Time where he questions the value of the book and applauds the movie, but after reading the book again, I agree absolutely.

I originally read Alice as a girl of 9 or 10 and if I had not constantly been reminded of the book by quotes and references in other books, may have long forgotten its charms.

Now reading The End of Alice by A.M. Homes. She writes beautifully, but the subject matter is so disquieting that I find the menace implicit in every innocent description oppressive. No doubt exactly how the author intended readers to feel.

The recipe is for a traditional South African dessert. Do not use too soon, the charm of these fruits is the almond taste that needs a few months to develop.


Boerenooiens (apricots preserved with stones)

2kg Fresh whole apricots, pricked all over (use a fork)
1.5kg Sugar
750ml Water

Dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil. Pour boiling mixture over apricots. Cover and leave for 12 hours.

Remove apricots from syrup, boil syrup again, pour boiling mixture over apricots again. Cover and leave for 12 hours.

Remove apricots from syrup again, check to see how many fruit will fit into a bottle while bringing syrup to boil again. Add one bottle's fruit to boiling mixture, allow fruit time to warm through, remove from syrup, pack into bottle, fill with syrup and seal. Continue until all fruit are bottled. Store in pantry for 3 months before use.

Serve cold with heavy cream.

Leftover syrup is delicious with sparkling water or sparkling wine with a sprig of mint.