A present of seeds: “such stuff. As dreams are made on..”
“What are those? They look like sweets!” A hopeful, sugar addicted Danny, was peering over my shoulder as I unwrapped the chunky package that fellow blogger *Emma Cooper had sent me as a present. “It’s Oca. One of the things on my extensive A Taste of the Unexpected wish list.” Yes, apart from the book list I have several others! Lists to lurk over and dream. I was thrilled. Then I spotted a pack of Goji berry seeds – also on the same wish list. I remember Emma blogging about these and am really keen to grow them next...
read moreMin Pin memories and news
Years ago, when Dr Quito was attacked by a lurcher on the Newmarket Gallops, we didn’t go out for months as we wanted to give him every chance of recovery. He needed lots of physiotherapy and TLC. During this time, Danny and I designed our first website. It was called Surfingdog and was filled with small two frame line animations of our little hero. There you could see Quito surfing, working on a computer and lots more. The radio buttons on the site were tiny Quito heads. We had a lot of fun making the site and even had Surfingdog...
read moreSneak preview of my Christmas book wish list!
I’ve spent quite a few delicious hours making a Christmas book wish list and I thought that you might like a sneak preview. Although I’m sent a good stream of books to review there are always others that tempt me throughout the year. Of course if I can find the books on discount sites it’s a real plus as it means more books for less money. The Book People website is a good start when looking for discounted books. They have some excellent collections that are hugely discounted – such as the eight nominated books for the Booker prize....
read moreSuperb slow cooked lamb casserole recipe (posh lamb stew)
I used not to be much of a fan of lamb casserole or stew. I think that I made it once for Danny and didn’t like it as it tasted bland and fattylike all the lamb casseroles I’d tasted before. Back then I didn’t have a slow cooker/crock pot – which is great for enhancing the flavour of cheaper cuts of meat. This week the scales fell from my eyes when I used some lamb shoulder neck chops at the Highgate Farm Shop. Six chunky chops (900g) for just over four quid. Feeling thrifty I bought them, determined to make something...
read moreCottage Smallholder has a ‘new’ sewing machine and is now on twitter
Pottering outside the village shop yesterday, I noticed a list of things for sale – wriiten with a spidery hand. My eye ran down the page to the line “Singer Melodie 50 sewing machine and 50 bobbins – £10” And below it “Large amount of materials, skirt lengths etc. £5.00” I rushed home, rang the telephone number and within 10 minutes was parking in front of a snug bungalow in the village. I’ve been hankering for my own sewing machine for years but could never justify the cost. Now I’m doing more crafts the hankering...
read moreEasy recipe for rissoles – best left over Sunday joint recipes
The joint of wild boar was excellent. I chose a recipe from the superb Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon as my starting point for the leg joint. Although it was delicious, the sauce was a bit too strong for home reared wild boar (and I left out the vinegar!). The flavour of our joint was good and gently gamey and I’m definitely going to buy it again for a special treat meal. I’ll use white wine for the marinade and post my recipe then. Meanwhile – what to do with the leftovers? I decided to branch out and try making some rissoles,...
read moreNew member of the family
Years ago I found a lovely old lath back chair in an unused room in my Aunt Pickles’ house. This was to become a good friend and was a constant nightly companion when I first started blogging and often worked late into the night. Unfortunately it needed re gluing and, every now and then, a leg would fall off. I had plenty of glue left over from my days as a wooden toymaker and I would make a small repair. Then one day, rushing the repair I made the chair slightly off balance and one of the side struts snapped. The chair sat in the...
read moreThe Garlic Lovers Collection from The Garlic Farm, Isle of Wight
“The great thing about working from home is that I can eat as much garlic as I like and not have to worry that I reek.” Danny was savouring some chunky garlic cloves in a baked vegetable dish. “As long as you eat some garlic too,” he added as an after thought. I will never make the mistake again of not eating garlic when Danny is devouring it. The two days in non garlic purda were very long indeed and strenuous as I had to breath through my mouth. We eat a lot of garlic. In fact our consumption has rocketed over the last two years...
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