Gem squash
“We’re going to have a gem squash for supper tonight.” I produced the dinky vegetable for Danny to see. “How do you cook it?” “Prick the skin in a few places and simmer for 20 minutes. Cut it in half and serve with lashings of butter and ground black pepper.” “So it’s tasteless then?” I knew that I would have a bit of a fight on my hands to get him to taste the squash. So I thought up a delicious supper menu that would allow the squash to be slipped surreptitiously under the blanket,...
read moreWin a luxury box of chocs and a bottle of Champagne for someone special
We love chocolate. D a little more than me. His tastes run the gamut of anything chocolaty, from a chocolate button to the sort of chocolate is presented to potentates. Leave him in the proximity of chocs and you will return to an empty box, as I have discovered to my cost. However, when faced with seriously good chocolate the guzzling airbrakes are applied. Especially if I am writing a review. Just mention Hotel Chocolat and his eyes close and he smiles. When Hotel Chocolat asked us to review their range of chocolate bars I was thrilled....
read moreCompanion vegetable
Danny and I both enjoy the weekly visit to our butcher. D considers them to be great “craic”. He shopped happily at Fred Fitzpatrick’s each week when I was down in Saffron Walden for months. When I was able to drop by again on Friday, Fred was able to do a passable Cork accent. I was impressed. Admittedly I had been away for some time. I spotted a large marrow lounging amongst the vegetables when I breezed in last Friday. It had a label stuck on its side which I examined as John sliced the sirloin steaks. It read “Free...
read moreWet walnuts
Years ago I used to visit Partridges, a wonderful delicatessen on Sloane Square. From now, throughout October and sometimes into November, they sold wet walnuts. I discovered this delicacy there. Wet walnuts are fresh walnuts that have not been dried for keeping. They are crunchy with a milky, mild walnut taste and excellent with a soft cheese, in a salad or a sauce. They are also packed with omega 3, if you need an excuse for rushing out to taste them. You neededn’t point your car in the direction of Partridges if you live in the...
read moreMagimix and colchicums – very special birthday presents
My mother remarried when I was eight. I encouraged the union. My prospective stepfather had a car, a Riley 127, and liked Cadbury’s créme eggs. Just before our first Christmas together the vacuum cleaner blew up. Back then, this was a luxury item. “Don’t worry,” said Arthur as he tucked in his napkin, “I’ll buy you a nice new one for Christmas.” The chirpy remark was met with a sharp retort, so swift it was hard to believe it hadn’t been rehearsed. “A hoover is a household expense....
read moreThe Great Sloe Gin Challenge – Three variations of our sloe gin recipe
No one seems to agree on the right time to pick sloes for sloe gin. “Pick after the first frosts,” advise the traditionalists. “Pick them in September, before the bushes are stripped bare,” chortle the enthusiastic. “Pick them now and give them a chilly blast in the freezer, to give the effect of the first frost,” suggest the practical. There are other questions too. If the sloes are left to mature until the first frosts, do they have a better flavour? Does the quality of gin affect the liqueur? Should one...
read moreTomatoes for breakfast
I harvest our tomatoes in the evening, when I water them. They are collected in the fold of my jumper and transferred to a bowl on the kitchen worktop to be admired and eaten. The harvest is just three or four a day at the moment and most mornings the bowl is bare. “Where are the tomatoes?” “I ate them for breakfast. You told me I could eat some.” Danny quite often gets up at four to start work. But tomatoes for breakfast Yuk! If I want to eat our tomatoes I have to hide them in a dark spot in the fridge or my secret...
read moreFlowers from the garden: September
This is the ninth month of flowers from our garden. I decided to stop buying flowers from the supermarket and wayside stalls in January. I worked out that including parties and festivals we were spending over five hundred pounds a year on flowers. Flowers have always been a regular treat and indulgence for me. They give me enormous pleasure. Especially a bunch on the kitchen table as this is where I sit and work when I am at home. Giving up buying flowers has not been a easy. The first three months were the worst when there wasn’t much...
read moreHow many eggs does a chicken lay each year?
This desperate string of words comes up a lot on search terms that have led people to our site, particularly at this time of year. People buy pullets in the summer and expect an egg a day from all of them, immediately. We made the same mistake. Our first six months of keeping hens was just husbandry without the egg tithes. We couldn’t understand it. They had a big run, good food, fresh water every day. They also had The Ritz (a hen house version) to roost in and a quiet, snug hay filled nesting box in which to relax and lay eggs. Every...
read moreFixing the dishwasher
For the first five years Danny and I argued constantly. About the washing up. I wanted to wash up in the evening after supper. He preferred to leave the dirty stack until the morning. “I’ll get up early and do it before I go to work.” I never believed him and he would insist, “I love washing up. As long as it’s in the morning. I’ll do it. I promise.” Ahh, the softness of those Irish promises are so sweet that I often forgave him when I came down to plates thick with dried on food in the morning. But...
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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
FD