Rose Vintage

Gathering In

Pretty aren't they, it's just a shame that they don't taste so good! Well at least that's what I thought earlier this summer but then I roasted them with a sprinkle of sugar, some good olive oil and some basil leaves and 'voila' some really good tasting tomatoes! Don't you just love the shapes and colours? The kinda crinkly red one is Brandy Wine and the ones that look like lemons are called Banana Cream but I can't remember what the other yellow one is called! I glad I persevered to try and find a recipe that brought out their flavour, I hated the thought of all that watering and tending for absolutely nothing. Things do have to 'pay' their way in the veggie patch and there are some things that I won't be growing again next year. The butternut squashes, although a decent size, taste of nothing, just not enough sun!

Still if the sun continues to shine as it has done in the last few days I will try them again. Butternut squash soup is my absolute fave and I was so disappointed with the flavour even after roasting them!

This time for the first time I grew sweetpeas and I definitely will grow them again. I had beautifully scented fresh flowers for the house for most of the summer which was wonderful. I have collected some of the seed and will dry it to plant for next year. We erected a wigwam affair in the veggie plot and grew them there. It got rather taken over by the squashes so you are not seeing it at its best!

Earlier this month my embroidery group met for 3 days in succession, what a treat! From doing very little sewing to 3 whole days, absolute bliss! I came home everyday feeling calm and refreshed and dying to get on with my sewing projects!

This is my Victorian patchwork which is taking ages but is very enjoyable.  The little rose spray above is in ribbonwork, one of my favourite ways of working. Not sure what it will be but one possibility is an  evening bag. I found this little bag in a junk shop and paid very little for it. The fabric is really past its best but the frame is really lovely, blue and purple enamel with small jewels and the colours match the fabric! Watch this space as they say and hopefully I will have an evening bag to show you all!

Have a good week!

I love Strawberry Jam

We have had a glut of strawberries in the veggie patch this year, down to the fact that we put up a fruit cage at the end of last season. It has made such a difference to the quantities of fruit that we are picking. The redcurrants are nearly ready and the raspberries are well on the way! Faced with such a lot of strawberries I thought I would make some jam. I've never had much luck with strawberry, much preferring the easier to make( I thought ) raspberry jam. I always found myself fiddling around with lemons trying to get the pectin levels right only to be disappointed by the end result. Usually a thin red liquid that would not set! Well no more! I bought some jam sugar, followed the very simple recipe on the back of the packet and ' Bob's your uncle' as they say. Lovely thick, scrummy strawberry jam.

And yes I know that the label has oranges on it but I've run out of the strawberry ones! So if you want an easy jam recipe care of Mr Tate and Mr Lyle I suggest that you buy yourself some jam sugar at your local shop, it took me all of half an hour to make from start to finish! I also like the fact that there is an element of recycling in the process in that I am using all my old jars collected throughout the year. Also I did not have to buy my strawberries and they were not sprayed with any chemicals. Bliss!

I recently bought this eiderdown from Clare's lovely shop Vintage Home.  I have been searching for an eiderdown just like this for such a long time and finally it's mine! Well sort of, as you can see Neville has taken quite a fancy to it!!

Edit to this post

For Marie

Strawberry jam recipe

1 kg/2.lbs Strawberries fresh or frozen

1kg/2.2lbs Tate and Lyle Jam Sugar

Method

1. Hull and wash the strawberries and drain well.

2. Put in a preserving pan and and mash or crush.

3. If using frozen fruit they will be soft when thawed anyway.

4. Add the Tate and Lyle Jam Sugar and stir until dissolved, then bring to the boil.

5. When a vigorous boil is achieved ( rises and cannot be stirred down), boil for at least a further 4 minutes until setting point is reached. If using a jam thermometer boiling temperature is 105 C /220 F. (Have to confess I never use one!)

6. Test for a set by putting a little jam on a cold saucer or plate ( I left mine in the freezer for 5 mins) allow to cool then push a finger gently through the jam. If the surface of the jam wrinkles, setting point has been reached. I tend to go away and leave it for a couple of mins then check the set as I often find I think it isn't ready, boil it all up again and get a hard jam - not nice! Also remove the jam from the heat while you are testing so you don't overboil the jam!

7. Remove from the heat, skim off any scum. Leave to stand for 15-20 mins. Stir the strawberries through the jam and put into warmed jars, cover, label and date.

8. Enjoy!

Elderflower Cordial

I've been busy making my annual Elderflower cordial and as it's so easy to make and delicious to drink I thought I would share the recipe with you! I make loads and put it in the freezer and then in the depths of winter when you need a bit of a lift and a reminder of summer, I defrost a bottle or two and make some up. It's particularly nice to have around Christmas time (eek can't believe I've written that!) as it makes a great punch with some lemonade and a good splosh of Vodka!

Elderflower Cordial

Ingredients

25 Elderflower heads, picked with the sun on them ( I often use more to increase the flavour)

3lbs granulated sugar

3pts cold water

2oz citric acid ( available from your local chemist)

2 lemons and 4 oranges, washed and sliced

Method

Place water and sugar in a bucket with the sliced fruit. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix well, squeezing the fruit and helping to dissolve the sugar. Wash the flowers and remove the stalks, add to the liquid with the citric acid and stir. Leave to stand for 24 hours, stirring occasionally and squeezing the juice from the fruit with your hands. Finally strain and put into sterilised bottles. I usually freeze mine and sometimes I adjust the recipe and use equal oranges and lemons and slightly less sugar.

To serve - dilute to taste, delicious with sparkling water or lemonade and slices of lemon and lime.

Home Grown

I am quite particular about the food I eat and I like to know its origin if at all possible especially the meat and fish that I buy and cook for us. I think there are a lot of people today who are concerned about the amount of pesticides and chemicals that are used when our food is mass produced and reared intensively so I try to grow as many vegetables as I can and I don't spray them. We buy our grass-fed beef from friends who farm and we have a small flock of chickens. I also try to support local Farmer's markets when I can. That said, I would not say that I am a purist in the organic sense, it is just not always possible to buy or grow everything organically and certainly food that we buy at the local market is not organic  but at least we do know where it comes from. So I try to do what I can.

My organic 'Colleen' seed potatoes arrived earlier this week and once the veggie patch dries up a bit I will get them planted. We have had so much rain here that I think most things will be a bit late going in! No matter, there needs to be a bit of sunshine and warm weather to get them started off so it is not a great problem. We tried this variety last year for the first time and they were delicious! I was drawn to them simply for the name alone. My Mother's name is Colleen so it was as they say a 'done deal!' There is also a huge satisfaction in digging up potatoes.  I have always wanted a veggie patch and last year was the best year ever. If you ever toy with the idea of having a vegetable garden and you have the space, just get on and do it! It is one of the most rewarding things to do especially if you enjoy food and cooking and you really don't need that much space. There really is no comparison with shop bought carrots, even organic ones to those you grow in the garden. 

The eggs in the picture are from my Cream Legbar hens, they are a rare breed and lay the blue eggs you see in the bowl. The khaki coloured egg at the back is from one of my neighbour Lucy's hens. The hen is a cross breed of lots of different blue laying hens and her eggs are this colour! I have to be inventive with egg recipes especially during the summer. I have usually about a 10-11 eggs a day so I sell some to friends and it covers the cost of their feed. They also get most of the household veggie waste and they love a bit of pasta and rice! So all in all we waste very little and it all gets recycled! They naturally kept laying all through the Winter this year so I did not have to buy one egg from the supermarket. 

The builders are back at the moment but only to build a small porch on the back of the house so that we have somewhere to put coats and boots and so that the wet and mud does not go straight into the kitchen. They also made an exciting discovery!

What you can see in this picture is the original well to the house! It has been capped off but all of the pipe work is still intact and it leads to part of an old pump. I had noticed what I had thought was an old piece of pipe in the corner of the garden but had no idea that it was the original pump! I think we will try to get it going for the summer so I can use the water for the garden and the pots and baskets outside of the house. I was a bit conservative last year and only had one or two pots as we had a hosepipe ban and I did not want to waste water.

Well I think I will toddle off and check out the greenhouse, it's quite a sunny day today although chilly and I love the sense of being in the garden but sheltered behind all that glass! I really thought that Winter had returned with a vengence last week with a few snow flurries and some cold east wind.  I normally overwinter some tender plants in the greenhouse so I need to check them out and also get it ready for my tomatoes this year. One of the varieties I normally grow is Brandy Wine, a big tasty variety that are easy to bring on and lovely to eat. Hopefully I will have some photos of them later on in year when I will be asking for all of your lovely tomato recipes....Have an enjoyable Sunday!

Love is.....

The Aga you can see in the picture is something that my whole family (dogs and cats included)are drawn to especially on a cold winters day. I am not quite sure of its age, I think it is about 1960's as it was secondhand when we bought it. It is a very unusual colour for an Aga, a sort of powdery baby blue. Before I had an Aga, I could not understand what all the fuss was about and even now I'm not quite sure if I can quite put it into words but I do love it! I'm about to embark on some baking this afternoon ( I feel a recipe from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book coming on!) I thought I might give the Crunchy Top Lemon Cake a whirl. I had it at a summer fete last summer and it was just delicous.....