Belated Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! How's 2013 going for you so far? May it get even better as the year goes on.

Let me catch you up with some of the things I've been up to. The main reason I haven't posted for a while is that I got myself a Christmas job at Boots (Chemist and beauty shop). 

Sorry about the picture quality - it was taken on my mobile phone. I worked full time, 5 days a week, from 7.30 till 4.30. That 7.30 start was a killer! I was up each morning at 6, which is really difficult for this bed-lover, in order to feed my two cats, rabbit and wild birds before leaving. It was also really hard setting off in the dark and returning in the dark, so I made sure I went out during my lunchtimes to see daylight. 
As for the job itself, it was really manual work; lots of opening boxes, lifting stuff, loading trolleys, shelf stacking, shelf tidying, and helping customers find where things are in store - AND I LOVED IT!!! Having been a Primary School teacher for 27 years, it was so good to do such a physical job without all the mental stress and, best of all, no work to do in the evenings and on Sundays!
What I completely forgot to factor in for a Christmas job was that I would need to work at Christmas! I had Christmas day and New Year's Day off but was back there for the Boxing Day sales. When Daughter came home from uni for the hols I only saw her in the evenings and on Tuesdays and Sundays. Never mind. It was a really good experience, and a good thing for the c.v. They said they were really pleased with me for 'mucking in and getting on with it' and wouldn't hesitate to employ me again.

I must admit it's been lovely to take my time again now, and my cats love that I'm around to make a fuss of them. Here's Bramble, my boy cat, hiding under the doormat, waiting to ambush his sister when she comes down the stairs:

And here he is again, this time in the kitchen, having batted something under the mat:

Here's his sister, Luna, taking a nap on the back of the couch:

I've done a little cooking too - Spicy Roots and Lentils Casserole. From this.....

...to this:

And I used the Gooseberries I bottled last summer to make a yummy pie for dessert:

Flopsy enjoyed eating the ends of carrots and parsnips left over:

We've had snow here for the past week and my water butts have completely frozen up. Should have insulated them! I like to use the water to flush my toilet, so  I thought to myself "Now what would my ancestors have done for water in these circumstances?" I expect you're already yelling the obvious answer at the screen, but it took me a whole day to realise.....melt snow of course!!! Durrrr!!! So, much to the cats' mystification, I put three buckets worth next to the radiator:

 I was surprised to find it took most of the day to melt. I knew from science lessons, and milk bottles on the doorstep, that frozen water takes up more space than melted water, but those three buckets only yielded one bucket of water. Hmm....live and learn.

And finally, here's a picture of my favourite Christmas pressie, which Daughter got me from my wish list on Amazon - a hurricane lamp!!

Isn't it beautiful?  I had the wick too high at first, which has left a sooty stain on the glass, but I've got the hang of it now. I found almost odourless indoor lamp oil at The Range (nearby shop) so I am very happy!

Blessings to all who read this blog!  x x 

P.S. Oops! Just noticed I've posted pics of Bramble's ambush before. Oh well, it still makes me laugh every time I come downstairs and see that tail sticking out.

Pumpkin Soup

I have never in my life tasted pumpkin. I know, I know, as a half-American that's a shocking confession. As a child I had never even seen a pumpkin, not even at Hallowe'en. I don't remember any fuss about Hallowe'en in rural Norfolk in the 1970s. In fact, I think I first heard about it all via Charlie Brown books and tv - definitely an American thing!

Anyway, this year I bought some cute mini-pumpkins, called Munchkin Pumpkins, for display along with the large carved one. It seemed a shame to just put them in the compost bin so, after first making sure they were edible, I looked on the internet for a really easy pumpkin soup recipe. This is the one I found, from the BBC Good Food site. All you need is pumpkins, onions,  vegetable stock, double cream and seasoning.

So, first you peel, de-seed and chop the pumpkins.

The peeling was a bit tricky - maybe it would have been easier if the pumpkins had been fresher?

Next, chop the onions.

Gently fry the onions till softened but not coloured.

Add the pumpkin pieces and cook till starts to soften.

Pour in the vegetable stock (I used Oxo), season and bring to boil. Simmer for about 10 mins till pumpkin very soft.

Add the double cream and bring back to boil.

Now use a blender to puree. I love my hand cranked one!

Ta da! Delicious soup!

So simple and soooooooooo tasty.

On reflection I think next time I would do the pureeing before adding the cream, since it was too liquidy at that point. (What I actually did was strain off the excess liquid, puree the rest, then add the liquid again.)

I'm sure lots of you have your own pumpkin recipes to tell me about!

July goings on.

July has been a busy month so far. 


Inspired by this book:

I thought I'd have a go at bottling (or 'canning' in America) gooseberries. I bought some from a PYO farm I came across to eke out the ones I grew myself.

I used my new preserving pan to sterilise the jars and lids, with a tea towel folded at the bottom as instructed. 

Topping and tailing the gooseberries was rather tedious, but necessary. Miss Read, in her Fairacre series of books, says she uses a pair of nail scissors but I prefer my knife.

I packed each jar with fruit then added hot syrup (Just sugar and water). I screwed on the lids and slightly loosened them, then lowered them into the hot water and brought the water to 88 degrees Celsius for the amount of time it said (20 mins I think - it varies, depending on the fruit used).

The finished result. Now that the fruit has softened there is loads of room left in the jars!

 I was amazed at how the jar lids dimpled down, indicating a vacuum has formed. When you think about it this is just the same process as tinned fruit that you buy in the shop. 


I'm very excited about all this! I love seeing the pictures of Amish cupboards filled with jars of produce, and I love the thought of preserving food without needing a freezer. I've bought some smaller Kilner jars to preserve rhubarb, chopped peaches and chopped pears. I would like to preserve vegetables, soups and stews this way too but, due to low acid content and the danger of botulism therefore, I would need to get a special canning pressure cooker for these.


This month in the veggie garden, after weeks of rain:


First potatoes dug up.

Courgettes (zucchini) are forming. Had to pick these a bit smaller than usual due to slugs nibbling the skins off!

My one remaining Pumpkin plant is now flowering. It always amazes me just how big Squash flowers are! I caught this one in the morning; by midday it had curled up again.

The mint plants, which grow wherever the mower can't reach, are also coming into flower. The bees LOVE them!

And finally my 3 'helpers'....


Bramble,

Luna,

and Flopsy.

What have you been up to this month?

Busy day!

Hi everyone!
A very busy and productive day today. After breakfast I walked to do the Tesco shop, dragging my tartan granny shopping trolley with me. Daughter refuses to be seen with me when I use this trolley, and Mum says she'll get one one day when she's old enough! As I'm not at work till September (hooray!) I'm trying not to use my car for distances that I could easily walk - unless there's too much to carry. So that was a total of 1 and a half miles walked, with added drag factor on the way back.
When I got back I prepared the main meal of the day, putting it in the slow cooker. I used the meat left on yesterday's roast chicken together with red pepper, onion, celery, mushrooms and carrots to make a delicious thick stew.
Next, with help from an agile 17 year old, I achieved my aim of putting two boxes of old, but still precious, toys into the loft. However I also ended up with loads of bags of old letters, bank statements etc (belonging to a certain hoarding Male) being brought out of the loft to be disposed of. So the dining room is now all cluttered up with those! There is too much to shred at home, and it takes ages to burn in the metal dustbin-like incinerator, so I think I'll actually pay to have these shredded.
After eating the delicious stew with rice and a bread roll, it was off to choir practice next. That was another 1 and a half miles walk all told. Needed two big, heavy music hymn books today so used my other trolley to carry them. This one is a beautiful wicker basket on wheels with a walking cane handle. I got it from Ebay and I love, love, love it! It's only disadvantage is that it only holds half as much as my tartan one, but it's perfect for little jobs like this. Had a great sing-song, practising hymns for Sunday's main morning service and special 'choir's choice' Songs of Praise in the evening. It was very hard trying to pick just one hymn - there are so many beautiful words, tunes and memories to choose from. Eventually I picked "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation". I sing Alto in choir but requested that we sing the last verse in unison so I could let my voice soar for "Let the Amen sound from His people again, Gladly for ay we adore Him." Yessssss!!!!
Finally I'm now on my computer telling you all about it! A good day - praise God!

Me in my choir robes - taken about a year ago.

Yummy home made chips

I'm not well known for my home cooking skills but occasionally I feel the urge. I don't do fancy stuff, just plain, honest, homely stuff. 
The other day I had the urge to make home made chips - that's fries, for our American cousins. I remember these as a special treat when I was a child, running down the garden with a bowlful seasoned with salt and HP sauce. Chip shop chips are much better than frozen ones, but home made ones are better still! So, with apologies if I'm teaching Grandma to suck eggs, here's how I make them.....

I have discovered that leaving the skins on makes a much sweeter taste, so just scrub the potatoes clean. These are new potatoes.

Cut to shape.

Wash off the excess starch with cold water.

Drain and pat dry with a clean tea towel. (Water will make the hot fat spit.)

Place in the basket of your chip pan. I used to have an electric chip pan but it was a pain to clean and I hardly ever used it anyway.

Carefully lower the basket into the hot fat. I usually do this with the lid on at first, to avoid hot fat splashes. From time to time lift the basket out and carefully shake to separate the chips. Cook until golden.

Dish up and enjoy!!!!