The Cottage Smallholder

  After discovering that Seville orange marmalade wiped quince marmalade off the map I was intrigued. I love the taste of quince jelly and quince marmalade might be good. I had 700g of quince pulp left over from making jelly. Rather than make Membrillo I thought I’d experiment with combining Seville oranges and quinces in Read More »

  I’m so pleased that we ran this competition as there have been so many helpful hints and tips and I’ve learnt loads! But the flip side is that it has been incredibly difficult to judge. If you didn’t win this time don’t despair – we are going to be running a competition twice a Read More »

  “My grandfather always grew Sweet Peas in an arched walk. I visited him a lot as a child and can still remember the smell of them now.” Melanie mused. This was years ago when I was starting to design the garden here. I could see the scene in my mind’s eye, a little girl Read More »

  “What do you think of my new bag?” I could see that Danny was fumbling for a polite response. “Well it’s ethnic…” In fact I was modelling a potato bag . Our local garden centre had them on offer 3 for the price of 2 so I snapped them up. Danny will be growing potatoes Read More »

  It’s been a strange life changing experience. My life was always a rush in the past. It was busy, stressful with very little time to pause and think. I was happy but, looking back now, I realise that I wasn’t content. I was running too hard to keep up. And keep up with what? Read More »

  Unless you are a truly dedicated reader of the blog you will have forgotten Hunky, Nirvana and Anne. These were the names for the three different types of pine needle vinegar that we made back in November. Apparently a good pine needle vinegar can taste similar to balsamic vinegar. This vinegar has been maturing Read More »

  For years I was not very keen on eating vegetables. Danny adores them but I was generally unimpressed. Until I started growing our own. Home grown organic vegetables have far more flavour than shop bought ones as they are ultra fresh. Vegetables that I’ve avoided for years – such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts Read More »

  I went to the sales this afternoon. To buy night clothes. These have become day clothes for me over the past six months. I needed pyjamas and a bed jacket – or as they are now known, a cardigown. I’d been haunting TK Maxx waiting for the prices to drop beneath the red sale Read More »

  Years ago Danny and I had an unforgettable meal in a Soho restaurant. As far as I remember we were the only customers that evening but the restaurant was designed so that we sat in our own little section – the atmosphere was intimate and the food delicious. The star dish of the evening Read More »

  I’m a big fan of Geo Watkins’ sauces. I use the anchovy sauce and the mushroom ketchup a lot. A few weeks ago I spotted there was a new (probably just to me) sauce on the supermarket shelves – Traditional Brown Sauce. So I popped it in my basket to put in Danny’s Christmas Read More »