Gluts

 

I'm not complaining!  Figs for breakfast - yum!  And this time I took a picture not only of the figs and cream cheese which I since devoured, but also of a few spares which will disappear over the next couple of days.  I promise you that there are still loads on the tree.

Apparently, it is a good year for figs.  I have no fig tree so I don't know but I do know that everyone who is friendly with Holly Dog's human is fed up with making fig jam and fig chutney.  

What I have is tromboncino.  Like all courgettes it doesn't know what to stop.  Fortunately my neighbour doesn't have a plant but he does have rhubarb which again has no idea that enough is enough so we did a little swap.  I'm picking, cooking, pureeing and freezing tomatoes as fast as I can.

It seems to be an excellent year for apples, pears and plums but not very good for runner beans.  What's done really well in your garden this year?  Or not?  And has anyone tried dehydrating figs?

Dog sitting again

 Holly and I are sending quite a lot of time together this month.  This time her usual human has gone to Turkey to spend a few days with her brother so Holly has allowed me to come.

Don't tell Holly but this time there is an extra incentive - the figs are ripe.  I love fresh figs!  Figs with cream cheese.  Just quartered and eaten with cream cheese.  Nothing as fancy as this picture but I was so keen to eat them that I didn't take a photo.  

Holly is happy too.  Her human asked me to get some cooked chicken to liven up Holly's meals but I roasted a chicken thigh from the freezer.  Holly says I can come again.

Lidl

I went to Lidl yesterday and got all this loveliness  for the princely sum of £1.50!  All of it is in great condition.

The beetroot has now been boiled and peeled along with a few more from the garden.  The tomatoes (plus some from my garden) have been in the air fryer so I can make puree ready for winter soups.  The broccoli went into the Instapot with more broccoli which I had in the freezer and will also become soup.  The potatoes will probably be saved for those times when I want a quick meal and baked potato would hit the spot.  The lettuces and peppers are in the salad drawer although the peppers might get roasted also for eating in salad.  The pears, oranges and single peach were all in the fruit bowl but the peach has "disappeared"!  

There's little danger that I will starve.

Food, glorious food!

I have been making and revising my Sainsbury order all week.  And thinking about how things were when I was a child.

The centre piece of Christmas eating was always a turkey.  It was the only time of the year that we ate turkey and after a few days of turkey sandwiches, casserole, curry, soup we were glad it was the only time of the year we had turkey.  A huge bird would arrive from the butchers ready plucked but Mother preferred to draw it herself and then make stock from the giblets for the gravy. A piece of ham would be the gift of my grandparents who would come from their farm to join us for lunch.  

Vegetables were from the garden.  Brussels sprouts, carrots, red cabbage and runner beans which would have been salted in the summer.  The pickles and chutneys would also be largely made from garden veg and would have been maturing a while.  

Mother would have made the pudding, the cake and mincemeat well in advance.  She made her own pastry, puff and shortcrust, but at Christmas she often bought bread.

I too will have turkey, but just a turkey thigh which I will stuff with sausagemeat and wrap with bacon.  The vegetables will come from Sainsbury and will include carrots, sprouts and cabbage but also frozen peas rather than salted beans.  I've made my own pudding and cake but will buy either mincemeat and ready-rolled pastry and ready-made mince pies.  There will be treats too like smoked salmon, fresh orange juice, and some charcuterie meats.

And I shall be very grateful that I have a freezer so I don't have to waste any of those delicious leftovers!

A Rather Nice Win

 Yesterday I was out to lunch with my Women's Institute and I came home with some rather nice raffle winnings.  Our tradition is that everyone chips in to create some wonderful hampers.  Mine contained chocolate panettone, a greetings card, a diary, Christmas coasters, crossword book, Christmas socks, Celebrations chocolates, mixed nuts, coffee, soup, two sets paper napkins, tea, truffle cakes, After Eight fondants, jam, custard creams, a calendar and a hanging organiser.  Some will go to the food bank but some may find a resting place a little closer to home.

Variation

It's many years since I have made a Christmas cake as everyone seemed to want me to eat some of theirs!  This year, however, I decided to make this very simple cake and cook it in a square tin so I could cut it into half (or even quarters), cover each section with marzipan and give small cakes to other friends who live alone.

Baileys condensed milk fruit cake

1kg mixed dried fruit

400g tin condensed milk

3/4 cup Baileys Irish cream

2 cups self-raising flour

Method

In a large bowl, combine dried fruit, condensed milk, Baileys and 1/2 cup water. Mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the fridge and stir well, allowing it to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 150C. Grease and line an 18cm square cake tin.

Fold flour through soaked fruit. Pour into prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for 2 hours until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

(For dried fruit  I used dried strawberries, cranberries, sultanas, raisins, blueberries, glace cherries, figs, dates, apricots)

Food , glorious food!

 I suppose the most ubiquitous Christmas tradition is eating!  There's Christmas lunch with poultry, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roasties and wonderful veggies followed by pud.  Christmas cake, mince pies, yule log - all the wonderful sweet things.  Nuts, sausage rolls, pickled onions and the savoury selection.  Wonderful!  

If it were just Christmas day, there wouldn't really be a problem, other than consuming the leftovers.  That's not how it is though.  Yesterday I was out for a turkey dinner followed by Christmas pud.  I've got more meals on similar lines over the next couple of weeks.  This continues right up to Christmas and beyond.  And I can rarely resist.

How big will I be come January?!

A Christmas tradition

 What is it about Christmas and Brussels sprouts?  For many households it wouldn't be a proper Christmas lunch if those tight, green mini-cabbages didn't appear.  They are the stuff of legend - think "Vicar of Dibley's Christmas" and the sprout eating contest springs to mind.  Brits eat more of them than any other nation in Europe.  The equivalent of 3240 football pitches are covered with sprout plants here.  

So many Christmas games are sprout-themed.  A quick check found pass the sprout, racing sprouts, sprout escape room.

They are a "marmite" vegetable.  The RHS website says, "While so many of us love them, others hate them, which could be due to the specific gene TAS2R38, otherwise known as the ‘Brussels sprouts gene’ which regulates bitterness perception. Or it could be down to the way they’re cooked."

Who am I to ignore tradition?  Yesterday I passed a wayside stall selling sprout trees.  Isn't the arrangement of sprouts on the stem lovely!   I shall have them stir fried, sauteed and steamed.  

But it's entirely possible that I may have very few friends in the next few weeks.

Y is for YMCA

As we walked away from church on Sunday, an elderly gentleman and I were discussing what we were having for lunch.

"I'm having salmon with new potatoes and salad" I said.

"I'm having YMCA" he said

"YMCA?"

"YMCA.  Yesterday's Meal Cooked Again."

I rather liked it and I giggled a bit on the way home.

But it made me think about weird names for food. Some proper names for food are weird. One reader commented that her husband didn't believe there really was a dish called Bubble and Squeak.  I asked how he could make himself eat a Hot Dog. 

But it's the informal names for dishes which are the most fun.  I've just eaten a bowl of Whatever Soup, so named because it includes whatever happens to be in the fridge.  Others call that Bottom of the Fridge Soup, Bung It In Soup or Iffits Soup.

Any ideas from you?

V is for vegetables

 Five a day, thirty a week, plant consumption is SO important.  I usually manage both those targets but I have to do a bit of planning to make sure I hit the second.  The thirty can include not just vegetables but also fruit, nuts, seeds, herbs, edible flowers, spices and some grains.

A couple of times each month I pick up a Waste Not box from Lidl.  They are brilliant value and they often contain items which I wouldn't normally buy but, as I consider myself honour-bound not to waste anything from these precious boxes, I eat them.  I'm not keen on pears or padron peppers but they were in last week's box so I am eating them.  Some things, eg large quantities of potatoes, I give away, knowing that the recipients won't waste them either.

My freshest vegetables are from my garden and this year it has done me proud.  In this bed I've got tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, courgettes, beetroot, leeks, and broccoli.  There are some French marigolds in there too

And I grow runner beans amongst the flowers.  Jack says he doesn't approve but I think he may be coming around to my way of thinking.  If not - tough!

The sweet peas have been flowering since 27th June with at least a vaseful each day and plenty to give to friends

I is for Ice Cream

 Every alphabet book I saw as a child had "I is for Ice Cream" so, big kid that I am, I'm sticking with that.

I'm a child of the fifties and ice creams were a special treat.  There was a local ice cream company called Sargents and they sold totally delicious vanilla ice cream cornets and nothing else.  They sold only from vans and the driver would announce his presence by ringing a big, noisy bell.

Move on twiddly-umpty years and ice cream was one of the things I avoided when I cut back on ultra processed foods.  At one time I always had a tub in the freezer but no more.  Ice cream now has to be A Treat.

When I visited the Humber Bridge and went to Far Ings Nature Reserve I sat in the viewing room for quite a while.  There wasn't a cafe but there was an ice cream cabinet.  And I succumbed to one of these.

To be honest it was OK but not as good as I remembered.    Maybe abstaining from UPFs has changed me.

But then Bonnie came for lunch and I made some mango ice cream.  Sorry I didn't take a photo but I was enjoying it too much to take time out to do that.  That was ice cream to savour!

So "I" can still be for "Ice Cream" in this OAP's book!

G is for Guests

It is such a joy to prepare a meal for friends!  When I was working I prepared many meals for friends and parishioners but these days almost every meal I cook is just for me.

Today my dear friend Bonnie came for lunch.  I found the first few sweet peas and arranged them in a pretty vase for the table.  I made some creamy mayonnaise and on the strength of that made coleslaw and a tangy potato salad.  That veggie box contained some lovely peppers which were splashed with olive oil and roasted.  Boiled eggs are always a treat for me so they came out too.  There was a mixed green salad, tomatoes, and soused cucumber.  And to top it all a salmon fillet each.  For pudding we had home made mango ice cream, freshly churned by me this morning.  

All food is best garnished with a large helping of love and laughter and we had both in plenty.

Ah, it is good to cook for guests!

A Lidl Bit of Loveliness!

 This was today's haul.

 Lidl is my favourite supermarket.  Our local one has wide aisles that I can trundle down on my (mobility) scooter, loads of very convenient parking, and lovely staff.  And what's more - it's cheap!

Whenever I go I look to see if there are any "Waste Not" vegetable boxes.  If there are, that's what I buy first then I take it to my car, check what there is in it, and amend my shopping list accordingly. 

Here are the sorted contents

That's 1250g potatoes

116g mini peppers (4)

345g peppers (2)

18g chilli peppers (2)

143g pears (1)

240g satsumas (3)

806g apples (9)

195g lemons (2)

120g shallots (4)

250g apricots (8)

I costed that lot at about £7.50 in Tesco, the only other supermarket in the middle of Brigg so I reckon I got pretty good value.

Some will go into the fridge for use over the next week, some will be frozen and some will be given away.  I hadn't planned on buying apricots but I can feel apricot and mango ice cream coming on!

D is for Ducks

 

Mallard

Not the sort that floats.

Bombay duck

Nor the sort that swims.  

Savoury ducks

But these.  

Savoury ducks are real country food.  They are called faggots in many parts of the country.  I used to buy frozen faggots until I read their ingredients list! From now on, it's homemade only.

Lincolnshire has a strong tradition of pork-based dishes.  When I was a little girl one of my favourite meals after the pig had been butchered, was pig's fry.  There would also be haslet, stuffed chine, "scraps" as well as more recognisable pork recipes.  Our sausages are wonderful but the items labelled "Lincolnshire sausage" or (even worse, "Vegetarian Lincolnshire sausage"!) bear little resemblance to the offerings made by my grandmother or, indeed, by local butchers today.

Good, old fashioned food.  Local specialities.  Can't beat them.  

Ducks are made of pork, pork liver. bacon, onions and breadcrumbs with lots of herby seasoning and baked.  I then make a rich onion gravy and cook them a second time in the gravy before serving them with carrots, potatoes, cabbage - the vegetables which grandad grew.

A feast fit for a King!

Such bounty

Is there anything more tasty than the first few saladings from the garden?

 

Thanks, Jack

Life's little pleasures

 

Life is full of simple pleasures if only we take the time to see them!  Or maybe take time to hear, smell, taste, touch, FEEL them!   I had a truly simple pleasure today: a plain lamb casserole.

I love the special foods we have around Christmas: sausage rolls, cake, turkey, mice pies;  I love the leftovers however they come; but there is something very special about that first Sunday dinner of the New Year.  Today I had a simple lamb casserole with rich gravy with a baked potato, swede and carrot and a few peas.  Delicious!  Sorry, I didn't even take a photo!

January is my special time for appreciating the simple pleasures of life and my mind has been turning to the famous poem by the Welsh poet, W H Davies.  Americans and Brits pronounce the title very differently but I think we can all appreciate the thought.

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?-

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Six weeks to go.

 
I don't really enjoy wrapping things (but I love unwrapping!) so I need to get started before the heap of gifts to be wrapped becomes overwhelming.    Pretty paper, a sparkly bow, a bit of ribbon and it will look OK!   But that's not good enough.  I wasn't happy when I looked at my waste last year.  I salvaged what I could and will use what I have but I want to get more creative and less dependent on the plastics. 

I buy quite a lot of stuff on line and it all comes "well packaged" so throughout the year I have been salvaging the brown paper and cardboard sleeves sent by A****n and this is a pud wrapped in salvaged brown paper tied with raffia and labelled with card from an A****n sleeve.  I've used dried orange slices to decorate it and I've used an adhesive label on the reverse to list the ingredients.  This also covers some printing on the card - I'm not giving anyone free advertising!

I shall experiment with eco wrapping this year but that will include any "non eco friendly" stuff which I reuse although I won't be buying any more.    Nearer to Christmas I may go outside and collect a few natural bits and pieces to decorate parcels.  I've bought some zero plastic tape and ordered some compostable cellophane.  I'll let you know how I get on.

Zero waste wrapping takes more time than using the plastic stuff so I'm glad I've started early.  

I've done an inventory of the freezer contents so I can eat up the older items.  It's good to have space for those delicious leftovers after The Big Day!  And it's also good to be able to buy reduced food after Christmas.

Seven weeks to go

 

I'm trying to be organised but the weeks seem to be flying past!  These weekly posts are intended to be the basis for my Christmas planning in years to come and blogging about my preparation is a cue to assess the situation each week.  

This week I bought sausages and bacon and made and froze pigs in blankets.  I have Christmas Day alone but I enjoy a few PIBs through the Christmas-to-New-Year season.  I've put a three-bird-roast and some rather nice stuffing into the freezer too.  

My big brag of the week has to be that I have got all my Christmas cards written.  I don't think I have ever been quite as early as this, certainly since I retired.  I've written letters for some of them but a couple will get letters written just before I post them at the end of the month.  

Later on I'll need to think about decorating the house but most prep now will centre on presents and food.  

Eight weeks to go

Family wedding in the mid-fifties.  Mine is the face almost peeping out!

 This week I really pressed on with the Christmas cards.  It's one of the most time-consuming jobs that I have to do in the run-up to Christmas.  I write a "round robin" type letter for some, others have a brief note written in the card and others are just signed.  I have a large collection of family photos, a few dating back over a hundred years, and I get one or two duplicated to put in family Christmas cards.  I find it all too easy to get in a muddle with cards so I like to get this job out of the way.  It will take several weeks at a few a day.  

I've continued making Christmas puds.  So far I've been asked for fourteen of various sizes.    Again this is a job which takes a long time but it's not "my" time - I just mix everything and then leave them in the slow cooker for a long time.  Using a slow cooker is slow but I don't need to keep checking in case they boil dry.  I've borrowed a couple of slow cookers from friends.

I've been making "hats" for jars of jam and chutney. I like giving things where it shows that I have taken extra care over a home made gift!

Three score years and ten

Biblically, as of today, I am an old lady. At the moment my legs would agree with that opinion but my head still wonders how it happened.  

I decided a while ago that I wouldn't make a fuss about the Big Seven Oh as I'm still uncomfortable about going to pubs and restaurants so inviting friends and family out for lunch didn't seem like a good idea.  However, other people decided that such a day couldn't go unmarked.  As a result I had fudge brownies for breakfast.

And chocolate biscuits mid morning.

And steak, wedges and salad at lunchtime.

And THREE different birthday cakes,

But most of the seventy chocolates are still in the box.

My Mother told me that at 7pm seventy years ago she was cooking fish and chips for Father's evening meal and by 7.30pm she was nursing me.  I can't manage that sort of speed these days.  And certainly not this evening.