The potpourri project: Making my first batch of Cherhez’s Old English Rose Potpourri
“I bet your house smells wonderful.” The lady in Holland and Barrett exclaimed as she put my essential oils in a bag. “I’m making potpourri and our cottage is beginning to smell great.” The Holland and Barrett essential oils are very good quality and the scent lasts well. We use them for making essential oil recipes that I found in The Fragrant Mind by Valerie Ann Worwood. I will be using some of these recipes in my potpourris and scented bags as we have found that they are extremely powerful. It’s taken ages...
read moreHomemade Christmas marmalade with whisky
Last year I happened to meet someone who supplies citrus fruits to one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK. “How come their fruit and vegetables don’t last as long as those from Waitrose and M&S?” “Ah,” he said, “it’s all a matter of storage temperature. They keep the produce in vast stores with the temperature set very, very low. This means that they can store perishables for a considerable time. Once they come to room temperature they will fade far more quickly.” Fascinating stuff. The temperature in our barn...
read moreBest melt in the mouth vanilla fudge recipe
Danny loves fudge. A few weeks ago he bought some fudge in Newmarket. It was inedible, chewy, tasteless stuff. Danny has a sweet tooth and a passion for cheap sweets and even he couldn’t get beyond the first mouthful and threw the rest away. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered making fudge as a child – or rather watching my mum making fudge. We used to make sweets as Christmas presents individually wrapped in cellophane like little jewels. I trawled the internet for recipes – there were millions of them but this one by Nick...
read moreHappy Christmas everyone
Just a brief post to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas. My mum treated us to a wonderful Christmas lunch at the Bedford Lodge Hotel complete with crackers and those clever long balloons that drifted around the dining room ceiling wailing as they lost their air. These were politely returned to the tables from which they’d been launched. My first balloon didn’t make its first flight as it was accidentally punctured by the holly on my mum’s Christmas pud! But then disaster struck (don’t ask) and I finally limped home at the end of...
read moreThe flash of red at the window
Even though I knew that Father Christmas didn’t exist I was always fooled by my mum’s comment during the month of December. If we were being naughty she would glance outside and say. “I’ve just seen a flash of red at the window. You better behave if you want Christmas stockings this year.” This stopped all bad behaviour in its tracks instantly. So I grew up thinking that Father Christmas was rather a stern man. Being naughty was fun after all. There was also a Father Christmas decoration a hard rounded egg shaped body with...
read moreThe run up to Christmas
“I’m more excited about the gate side stand than I am about Christmas.” Danny remarked as he carefully avoided an icy patch on the country road. We were driving back from the market laden with fruit as we’ve run out of some lines. I’m delighted about our stand too. Sales have been pretty good since I put out taster pots. I’m thrilled that people are buying our preserves and coming back for more. We are now making flavoured vinegars to sell when the bottle supplier is up and running again in January. I’m also experimenting with...
read moreThe mystery Christmas card
It happens every year. We are sent a Christmas card and cannot decipher the signature. I did it myself one year and everyone wondered who Frank was. A mystery card arrived yesterday. We started to look for clues. “This is an older person’s hand writing.” “Yes definitely a hand that has written Christmas cards for years.” “It’s a charity card for Parkinson’s Disease – not a fashionable charity. So a kind person.” Then we examined the picture on the card. Who do we know who would choose that sort of card? We had no idea...
read moreHot Spiced Cranberry and Apple Sauce recipe
When I worked out how much money I was making from the jars of cranberry and clementine sauce on my gate side stand I found that I was barely breaking even. Cranberries are expensive in the UK – as most of them are imported from America. I love the intensity of my quick cranberry sauce but surely I could come up with something a little bit different that would pad out the cranberries and make a delicious ‘have with anything’ thick fruity sauce. I don’t know which inspirational angels were floating in the kitchen but this sauce is a...
read moreHot apple and chilli jelly recipe
Danny doesn’t like things to be too hot but strangely the combination of sweet and heat in this jelly gets the thumbs up from him. Apple chilli jelly is brilliant with sausages, pork, lamb or any rich meat. Pork chops baked with a few tablespoons of this jelly are yummy. In fact it’s a very versatile preserve and well worth making. I’ve even added a little to winter salad dressings to give them a bit of a lift. The health benefits of eating chillies are amazing. I thought that I’d written up this recipe and spent ages looking for it...
read moreGarden porn
“Have you got a list of the props that you want for Christmas?” Danny’s words had me switching on the laptop in a trice. Danny calls my gardening tools props as he doesn’t really believe that I use them all. He claims that they are mostly there for show. I must admit I do have a weakness for gardening tools and equipment. And have been known to splash out on something that was never really used – like my beautiful topiary shears. One of my favourite 2009 tools is a border edger that I bought after John retired. It has a good old...
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Recent Comments
{ I was thinking the same as Magic Cochin but then like you I don't have my phone attached by an umbilical cord wherever I go.... } – Wed 8 :47 pm
{ Good point but I don't tend to take it about with me everywhere 
} – Wed 7 :25 pm
{ Doesn't your mobile phone have an alarm setting? C x } – Wed 6 :32 pm
{ I would put it towards a bbq, it's just a shame you can't purchase some sunshine from b&q } – Wed 12 :04 am- { Hi Lesley The clucking means that she is brrody also plucking her own feathers is a sign too. } – Tue 11 :58 pm
- { Hi Lesley They have to stay in the broody coop 24/7. Could you put in a garden shed or garage? } – Tue 11 :57 pm
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