This week has seen the Autumn equinox come and go so now the days are officially shorter than the nights. As I was thinking about the seasons yesterday when out for a walk with my OH and JR it is obvious to me that Autumn is my favourite season. The leaves are turning beautiful warm colours and soon, in the right shade of golden syrup light, the trees will be on fire but in a good way. We are lighting the Rayburn on most nights and it makes the place cosy. My little quirk in naming inanimate objects has risen to the fore and the Rayburn has been called 'Mrs Jones' as it heats the home, heats the water and it is easy to cook in the oven or on the stove top so it is practically a housekeeper and what would be a good name? Why, Mrs Jones, of course!
I'm not crazy just differently minded.
There is always at least one plastic bag or empty drinks bottle in my bag when I go for walks now as I can never quite tell when I will find a huge cluster of gleaming blackberries and the gin has been needing topping up. Fruit pies and crumbles are a big hit in our home this time of year and later today I will be stopping by a friend's house to pick some plums at her invitation. There are some family favourites in the recipe books that we have at this time of year and my two children love a classic apple and lavender tart which is on my list of things to bake tomorrow. My store of jams and preserves is quite full now and the pressure barrels are full of ale which will be ready to drink at Christmas. Yes. I am thinking that far ahead already. My project bags that sit by my side of the sofa are filling up with little knitted stockings in red and white also tiny crocheted snowflakes are collecting in drifts.
My first year with a greenhouse is drawing to an end and although there are things I could grow over the winter, according to books and things, I am not sure as there are a couple of panes missing so things might get a bit chilly. Hardly any tomatoes ripened on the vine which was really disappointing so they are now sitting in bowls on the side in the kitchen to ripen a bit before I slow roast them and make a basic tomato sauce to put in jars for the winter. Next year I am trying some italiam tomato varieties at someone's recommendation. The chillies are ripening to fire engine red at a few per day and there are so many more than I had hoped for so they have been going into our dinners already although a slight miscalculation on my part led to some discomfort on my OH's part but let's gloss over that for now. The squashes are growing slowly and all that is left to harvest is some beetroot and carrots...oh, and some runner beans. Okay, maybe the greenhouse is doing better than I thought! My ginger experiment seems to be working better than I had thought and I am getting impatient to empty out the bucket to see how much root ginger I have managed to grow from the original three inch root that I planted a few months ago. Some of the online sources have said to leave it a year before digging it up but I really want to know how much it has grown so far...argh! Decisions, decisions.
Looking out the window I can see that the snow patch that was still on the hills in August has finally melted which would be good if they weren't starting to forecast snow on the hills. It's time for me to head outside to pick bunches of herbs for drying and if I am quick I might be able to give JR the slip as he has left my side long enough to fall asleep on the sofa. His self confidence has been dented by yet another large spider which scared him so he is hiding somewhere high up.
Hugs from Haggis Land
Jx
Friday, 25 September 2015
Saturday, 12 September 2015
Golden Grains and Ripe Berries
This is my favourite time of year and it is definitely Autumn now. The sky has that shade of blue reserved for now and the warmth that is is the air has an undertone of the cold that is on the way. Walking around I love watching the golden fields bobbing gently and how they are turned into wiggly lines of piled up corn before a machine comes along and seemingly sucks in the corn only to spit out a perfectly round bale at the other end. Soon all of the fields will have standing bales, corn henges, dotted around them. We cut the grass yesterday, well my OH did, and the smell of the grass was a reminder that soon it will be the last cut as we get ready for Winter.
In the kitchen I am taking stock of the jars of preserves and working out what we will want for the next few months. Last year the blackberry gin was very popular so there will be more made as soon as the berries are ripe. With all of the sorting and reshuffling as I check for jars, bottles and kegs while making space on the shelves and in the freezer JR has been watching from under the huge kitchen table. He has been continuing his persecution of the postman but he has been spending a lot of time with his bone. This bone has been chewed but was maybe a teeny bit too big for him and remains quite unchanged despite his every effort to nibble, knaw, and chomp through it.
Another sign of Autumn is that the buzzards are back in the field next to the house. Last year there were three and this year we have seen two but they might not like having so many pheasants so close to them. Fat Pigeon is still very much in evidence and getting fatter seemingly by the day. The other day I looked out of the window and saw him strutting around the yard out front before he took off and flew to a nearby tree except his wings were creaking and working overtime to get him there. This is the only time I have seen him flying as he usually wanders up and down the bank behind the house, eating his way through the undergrowth and fluffing his feathers at any sparrows and robins that come close. This morning when I opened the curtains he was perched on the small gate at the top of the bank, he was watching me as if to say that he knows I've been telling you about him, although I really can't imagine him flying up there even after seeing him in flight; maybe he walks up the gatepost like SpiderPig in The Simpsons. The crow that knocks on my front door is back and if someone in the village hadn't told me they knew of him I would swear he is a figment of my imagination as he never appears when my OH is here.
Despite the menagerie I have never wanted to be a vegetarian although I have been perfecting my favourite meat free pizza. A couple of months ago we went camping in Wales and on the site the was a fabulous pizza business (it wasn't a wagon or a shop, just an oven and tressle tables under a tarp) and there I had a pizza with goat cheese, rocket and balsamic vinegar. I have changed it in that I use my homemade sourdough bread base, add onions cooked down with balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, tomatoes, basil, chillies and rocket from the greenhouse, goat cheese slices and a little mozzarella. Yum.
Hugs from Haggis Land
Jx
In the kitchen I am taking stock of the jars of preserves and working out what we will want for the next few months. Last year the blackberry gin was very popular so there will be more made as soon as the berries are ripe. With all of the sorting and reshuffling as I check for jars, bottles and kegs while making space on the shelves and in the freezer JR has been watching from under the huge kitchen table. He has been continuing his persecution of the postman but he has been spending a lot of time with his bone. This bone has been chewed but was maybe a teeny bit too big for him and remains quite unchanged despite his every effort to nibble, knaw, and chomp through it.
Another sign of Autumn is that the buzzards are back in the field next to the house. Last year there were three and this year we have seen two but they might not like having so many pheasants so close to them. Fat Pigeon is still very much in evidence and getting fatter seemingly by the day. The other day I looked out of the window and saw him strutting around the yard out front before he took off and flew to a nearby tree except his wings were creaking and working overtime to get him there. This is the only time I have seen him flying as he usually wanders up and down the bank behind the house, eating his way through the undergrowth and fluffing his feathers at any sparrows and robins that come close. This morning when I opened the curtains he was perched on the small gate at the top of the bank, he was watching me as if to say that he knows I've been telling you about him, although I really can't imagine him flying up there even after seeing him in flight; maybe he walks up the gatepost like SpiderPig in The Simpsons. The crow that knocks on my front door is back and if someone in the village hadn't told me they knew of him I would swear he is a figment of my imagination as he never appears when my OH is here.
Despite the menagerie I have never wanted to be a vegetarian although I have been perfecting my favourite meat free pizza. A couple of months ago we went camping in Wales and on the site the was a fabulous pizza business (it wasn't a wagon or a shop, just an oven and tressle tables under a tarp) and there I had a pizza with goat cheese, rocket and balsamic vinegar. I have changed it in that I use my homemade sourdough bread base, add onions cooked down with balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, tomatoes, basil, chillies and rocket from the greenhouse, goat cheese slices and a little mozzarella. Yum.
Hugs from Haggis Land
Jx
Sunday, 6 September 2015
Foraged feasts
This week has seen me serving up sorts of food including beetroot and walnut bread along with runner beans, peas and carrots from the garden but then my focus drifted further afield...again.
We went for a walk in the woods with JR and now have blaeberry muffins for this morning's brunch, chanterelle cream sauce to go with the beef at lunch and raspberry gin...for next summer as it will need to mature. Looking for the blaeberries was a lengthy task and mostly on my hands and knees. It was odd learning to 'get my eye in' as it were as these things are little dark blue ninja berries and not at all obvious. They hide under leaves and seem to almost grow into the moss (yes, I know this doesn't really make any sense but they just do). The raspberry gathering was easy by comparison, they practically waved flags to say where they were, although the thorns were a bit tricky and I did get stuck by a couple but that's the price to pay for homemade raspberry gin. Last year I made blackberry gin as a gift for my OH's dad at Christmas which was more than a bit popular so I want to make more this year beacuse it was lush. This year I am aiming to make some sloe gin as it has been a few years since I made it and there is a good quantity of sloes to be foraged nearby although the thorns are huge so I might want to use some gloves. Correctly identifying the chanterelles was brilliant; I thought I recognised them and decided I was certain enough to pick them and take them home for a final check of their identity (thank Google!) and cooking.
Note to self: there is a line and I must obey the line. I may have ruined Sunday roasts from now on because that chanterelle sauce was so tasty and anything less than beef roasted with a salty thyme crust and served with chanterelle cream will not be good enough. My OH has actually said it is so.
My OH has suggested that I put the receipe for the lunch on here so here it is...
beef roasting joint
fresh thyme
rock salt
freshly ground black pepper
*sear the beef joint in a hot pan until it is very nice and brown all over
*combine the fresh thyme, salt and pepper on a plate and roll the seared beef joint in the mixture before putting in a roasting tray. Put the rest of the mixture on top of the beef then roast at 180C until cooked to your preference.
1 handful of chanterelles, cleaned and torn into chucks
knob of butter (2oz approx)
2 shallots, peeled and sliced
1tbsp brandy
3 tbsp (approx) double cream
salt and pepper to taste
*melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan then add the shallots to soften them (1 minute)
*add the chanterelles and allow to cook down, stirring occaisionally for ten minutes
*add the brandy and cook off for 1 minute then add the cream
*add seasoning
As you may have already gathered this is why I cannot diet!
Hugs from haggis land,
J x
We went for a walk in the woods with JR and now have blaeberry muffins for this morning's brunch, chanterelle cream sauce to go with the beef at lunch and raspberry gin...for next summer as it will need to mature. Looking for the blaeberries was a lengthy task and mostly on my hands and knees. It was odd learning to 'get my eye in' as it were as these things are little dark blue ninja berries and not at all obvious. They hide under leaves and seem to almost grow into the moss (yes, I know this doesn't really make any sense but they just do). The raspberry gathering was easy by comparison, they practically waved flags to say where they were, although the thorns were a bit tricky and I did get stuck by a couple but that's the price to pay for homemade raspberry gin. Last year I made blackberry gin as a gift for my OH's dad at Christmas which was more than a bit popular so I want to make more this year beacuse it was lush. This year I am aiming to make some sloe gin as it has been a few years since I made it and there is a good quantity of sloes to be foraged nearby although the thorns are huge so I might want to use some gloves. Correctly identifying the chanterelles was brilliant; I thought I recognised them and decided I was certain enough to pick them and take them home for a final check of their identity (thank Google!) and cooking.
Note to self: there is a line and I must obey the line. I may have ruined Sunday roasts from now on because that chanterelle sauce was so tasty and anything less than beef roasted with a salty thyme crust and served with chanterelle cream will not be good enough. My OH has actually said it is so.
 |
| chanterelles gathered in my cap. Always be certain when you identify mushrooms as some are toxic and will make you ill rather than happy. |
My OH has suggested that I put the receipe for the lunch on here so here it is...
beef roasting joint
fresh thyme
rock salt
freshly ground black pepper
*sear the beef joint in a hot pan until it is very nice and brown all over
*combine the fresh thyme, salt and pepper on a plate and roll the seared beef joint in the mixture before putting in a roasting tray. Put the rest of the mixture on top of the beef then roast at 180C until cooked to your preference.
1 handful of chanterelles, cleaned and torn into chucks
knob of butter (2oz approx)
2 shallots, peeled and sliced
1tbsp brandy
3 tbsp (approx) double cream
salt and pepper to taste
*melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan then add the shallots to soften them (1 minute)
*add the chanterelles and allow to cook down, stirring occaisionally for ten minutes
*add the brandy and cook off for 1 minute then add the cream
*add seasoning
As you may have already gathered this is why I cannot diet!
Hugs from haggis land,
J x
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