Spiced chicken liver salad recipe
“I’d like a bottle of white wine please. I’m going to try and tempt Danny with mussels tonight.” “Does he have a problem with them?” Enquired John. “When we first met we overdosed on them. But it has been eleven years and I spotted rope mussels on offer today. They looked so enticing.” “Surely after eleven years he’ll want to give them a go.” At the mention of mussels Danny’s face set quite still. “But we planned to have a warm chicken liver salad.” Within seconds he confirmed that he didn’t want to eat...
read moreTales of a busy dehydrator: Celery
Well the Westfalia Food Dehydrator finally arrived from Germany. It took two weeks rather than the ten days stipulated on the website but it is the cheapest dehydrator on the market and I’m thrilled with it. OK it’s a very basic model with no temperature control. It’s marketed as being perfect for the beginner. More advanced dehydrator folk run machines built like tanks and called Excalibur. I hadn’t even considered home dehydrating until I read about them on various American websites. Dehydrate2Store.com has loads of web videos...
read moreThe Launch of Cottage Smallholder Forum
Danny took a week off work to tweak our site, give it a good polish and set up a forum. Although I’ll try to answer queries I don’t know all the answers. And sometimes I’d like to ask questions myself. At the moment there are quite a few people who respond to comments on the blog and I appreciate this enormously. We hope that our forum will become a place where people can share tips, access solutions and even just chat. As the blog has become more popular the comments section of some posts have become large and unwieldy. A lot of...
read moreCutting the hedges
The garden at the cottage is divided into three compartments with a selection of yew, box and beech hedges. In fact I was so enthusiastic about my hedges that I bought a hedge trimmer when I planted them. “That trimmer will be a vintage model by the time the hedges are big enough to need it.” John had laid down his well oiled shears to examine the box. Then one glorious August day the hedges were finally tall enough to be sheared. John walked down the garden with a long extension lead and the trimmer. As he swished and moved smoothly...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Easy passata recipe
“Now you are going to see a piece of kitchen equipment that hasn’t been used for twelve years.” Danny was goggle eyed as I moved the Wellington boots to access the kitchen cupboard. I’d remembered that years ago Seraphina had given me a food mill for pureeing apples. It was right at the back – a bit dusty but complete with a range of three grinding disks. After a few minutes I worked out how to assemble the beast and clipped it onto a saucepan. I glanced at the handle – this was an Italian model reassuringly named...
read moreThe great sloe gin challenge: The Results
Picking sloes to make sloe gin is hugely popular in the UK. Perhaps because it combines the hunter gatherer instinct and the delight of making your own tasty grog. Although traditionally it is drunk at Christmas, it’s the most popular drink to be proffered in a hip flask out here in the country. There is a lot of competition over who has the best brew, secret recipes are not aired and shared. To be offered a sip of ten year old sloe gin is an honour, not to be turned down. It’s two years since we completed this challenge and I must...
read moreKitchen Garden update September 2009
Thank goodness the cabbage white butterflies have stopped using our kitchen garden as a prime love fest location. They were attracted by so many tasty brassicas they are the new super food after all. Watching them canoodling was fun but fighting with their caterpillar offspring was a nightmare. For a good two months it was war. By the end I was patrolling morning and evening with the organic gardener’s version of a Kalashnikov – a powerful soapy spray gun. I don’t know whether it did much good. But the chickens enjoyed eating the...
read morePeeling apples in heaven
I’ve been trying to use up all the apples from our trees in the garden. Bottling with blueberries and blackberries, making apple chutney and apple sauce. I’m going to make apple butter and dry slices when the dehydrator eventually arrives. I hadn’t realised that peeling, coring and slicing apples could be such a chore and take so long. I began to make excuses to avoid dealing with the windfalls. “The chickens will love these apples and also the Min Pins.” The flock and Min Pins chomped and chomped. But the bounty was so...
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