Remoska cooking

A great cooker for use all the year round but wonderful for use in the summer.

Cooking is one of the most important or frequent things we do and most of the time traditional cookers are fine. But as the weather in France got warmer cooking on our wood burning range became a very hot and uncomfortable job. The search was on for an alternative to allow us to turn our range off. We considered all sorts of options but needed something that was energy efficient and environmentally friendly, easy to use and didn't take up too much space.

After considering many options we placed our order for a Remoska. The Remoska was originally designed and produced in the Czech Republic sometime around the 1940/1950’s, so long ago, nobody can remember exactly! We selected this little oven because it met all our criteria but also because it looked and sounded very easy to use.

We needed something small, low energy, efficient and able to cook almost anything but especially pizza for the children.

I was diagnosed with Asthma when I was fourteen years old, I seemed to be having trouble breathing and I remember my father taking me to the beach to get some fresh air. Over the years that followed I was prescribed various drugs and remedies unfortunately none of them worked that well. I thought if you saw a doctor and he found out what was wrong with you then after some treatment or other you would recover. No so with Asthma, in fact the more treatment I received the less my condition improved.

Asthma is a very distressing condition its symptoms range from mild irritation to times when it is almost impossible to breathe. People with Asthma find it very difficult and frustrating when trying to explain to people what it is actually like. They cannot understand that no matter how hard you try that you cannot breathe.

The emotional impact of this illness is devastating, you feel isolated, alone and misunderstood. You worry about your breathing being noisy and disturbing others, you are unable to take part in physical activities which others take for granted. You isolate yourself and spend a great deal of time on your own.

The degree of symptoms vary from a mild irritation in the chest which prevents you from focusing on much else to not being able to walk up a flight of stairs without assistance. Eventually I was taking drugs four times a day and carrying around the compulsory Ventolin inhaler wherever I went, often having a puff or two or usually more before attempting any physical exercise.

Yule

Yule, Winter Solstice

December 21st - 22nd

This marks the lowest point of the sun on the northern horizon and it's subsequent gradual return. It's significance it undeniable, the end of the decline and the hope of returning warmth and light. How old the custom of celebrating it is is much in doubt. In Britain whilst some very remarkable megalithic structures mark the winter solstice, many don't. Evidence for it's celebration by the Celts is also notable for it's absence, unfortunately. The first definite references may be from the Romans who did have festivals either side of it, and to those long ignored contributors to our culture the Anglo-Saxons who in common with many northern Europeans seem to have marked the returning of that precious warmth more keenly.

One of the difficulties is pinpointing exactly when the solstice is, as the sun appears to follow the same course for a period of days. Even the Romans weren't sure of the date and so without complex measurement systems it seems the time the sun can definitely be seen to be increasing is the date taken for the celebration. This was regarded as the 25th December, the 1st January being the start of the new year. The time between the first Roman festival and the second one was taken as a sacred time and quite possibly gave rise to the 12 days of Christmas theme. The early Church adopted this date of the 25th December, it seems because it was better to equate Christ with the return of the father of many deities the Sun, than to compete against it.

The name Yule seems to have been a corruption of some other term, possibly of the word for wheel as this is the most ancient symbol for the sun in Europe. Yet it has survived to day and over the years many practices have been added to this special time.

The idea of adding protective and decorative greenery to the household probably dates from the Roman customs. Ideas of purification, protection and luck bringing for a birth, be it of the year, sun or the Christ child would have given the greenery great significance. We know that the trees were given many magical properties by the Celts and so the use of holly and ivy may have had very ancient connections, mistletoe too was venerated though not necessarily at this time of year. Fire and light were also significant for the same reasons of protect and purification, and appear increasingly as the years go by.

The meaning of the season, despite it's not so definably ancient history, is still of great importance. Here in the depths of winter with the outlook still bleak, we can celebrate the returning energy of the sun, gentle as a new-born child. This is our inner life, a spiritual path we are celebrating for although the time ahead can be the hardest season of all we have our inner light to comfort us through all the unknowns of the material world. It is a time for nurturing compassion, in the understanding that there is always death and rebirth and all beings need food warmth and love. Its is also a time for inspiration, for thoughts and guidance for what we want to to set in motion in the Spring, after our period of inner reflection and study.

Date December 21st - 22nd

Foods

Cakes and cookies, dried fruits, nuts, pork dishes, turkey, ginger tea, oranges
spiced cider, wassail, or lamb's wool (ale, sugar, nutmeg, roasted apples)

Herbs

Holly, misteletoe, ivy, cedar, bay, juniper, rosemary, pine

Colours

Red, green, gold, white, silver, yellow, orange

Gods & Goddesses

Brighid, Isis, Demeter, Gaea, Diana, The Great Mother. Lugh, The Oak King, The Horned One, The Green Man, The Divine Child, Mabon

Incense and oils

Frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, orange oil, pine , juniper