Quote for a Monday.............

"I loved my garden, and my garden loved me back"



Treska Lydia Stein (M.E.N. 235)

I would like to go here..................

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/mfm.htm

Wonder if they'd let me move in? LOL

Mondays....................

I like Mondays. I've always liked Mondays. Even though technically (?) speaking Sunday is seen as the first day of a calendar week, I think most folks see Monday as the real start . Although I haven't gone out to a paid job for a while now, I still work within the working week framework - work Monday to Friday, with a mroe relaxed Saturday, and try to have Sundays "off".
What I like about Mondays is the fact you can re-invent yoruself every week LOL.

This will be the week I................(fill in the blanks)

This will be the week I catch up on the housework/cleaning/laundry/letter writing/bills/gardening/mending etc etc etc, and by the end of the week (ie Friday) my life will be a shining example of organised calm and productiveness.

Er no, doesn't work like that, at least not here! By Friday I have inevitably done a lot of kntting, baking, spinning, reading,etc while the ironing mountain threatens to engulf the storeroom and teh wine still isn;t bottled, teh veg beds still not tidied...........
Ah well. Must try harder.

Climate change farming

Hugely interesting programme on Radio 4 early yesterday (Sunday) in the On Your Farm strand.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mtq2c

My friend MarkD played host to an interviewer from Radio 4 to talk about his venture into climate change farming and growing. Well worth a listen, literally food for thought.

Follow Mark and his venture on his Otter Farm blog:

http://www.otterfarmblog.co.uk/

Let me know what you think if you listen, or heard it yesterday.

What's made me laugh today......................

This has - someone's avatar on Ravelry, but I just had to share as it made me laugh out loud LOL

Mincemeat

I like to get mine made in good time to give the flavours a chance to develop and to soak up the copious amounts of brandy LOL This is an easy and fairly economical recipe, and I got 9 jars out of it - plenty for Christmas and the following winter weeks. As well as mince pies, I use it in baked apples, mincemeat cake, slices, with ice cream, etc.
For the dried fruit, I use whatever is in the larder to make up the quantity; this year I used a cake mix that I buy in huge bags from the wholesaler - raisins, currants, cherries, mixed peel, sultanas. It's a handy thing to keep in stock for cake mkaing, etc, and I use a lot of it. For suet, I buy the ready made stuff, and the vegetarian one so Bean can eat the mincemeat - she'd never forgive me if she couldn't..............lol I bought mine last month in the half price basket in a farm shop I popped into for something else - bit of creative shopping there!! Nuts can be added too, with almonds being the most suitable I think, and an assortment/amount of spice to your taste. I use cheap brandy for mine, but you could use homemade wine, whisky, cointreau, whatever you like really. Extra lemon/orange zest and juice if you like as well. The apples for mine came from a box of free ones by the roadside; make sure you use a crisp fresh apple that will hold its shape in the moist mincemeat.
The thing is about this recipe is it is infinitely adaptable - use what you like to eat, and what you have in stock.


Recipe:

3lbs of mixed dried fruit of your choice
3/4 lbs chopped/minced suet
zest and juice of two large lemons
1 lb sugar, brown, demarara or white, or a mix
1 level tablespoon of mixed spice
1 1/2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, chopped fine
brandy

Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl or similar - I use one of my jam pans. Moisten well with brandy - use plenty as it makes the fruit plump up and helps to keep the mincemeat moist and soft through storage over the winter. Cover and leave for 24 - 48 hours. Have ready some clean jars with lids; fill jars, screw on lids tightly, wipe round to ensure they are spotless on the outside. I dunk my tightly lidded jars in a deep bowl of very hot water and dry straight away with a clean tea towel.
Label and store in a cool, dry place for a good few weeks before using.
Roll on winter..................:)

MrsL's almost self-reliant adaptable pudding.............

This is rather good - tastes just as good as it looks! Very easy too, which is what we want.


Make some hazelnut meringue - 4 egg whites (large), beaten until very stiff, with 1 tbsp sugar incorporated. Fold in about 2 oz of toasted, chopped hazelnuts. Bake in the same way you make your meringues, then leave to cool. When cool, crumble into a large carton of double cream whipped until it holds its shape, and add a good handful of fresh raspberries; fold in gently, preserving the lovely marbled effect.
Chill until ready to serve.

The adaptable bit? Make the hazelnut meringue in two lightly oiled sandwich tins, turn out to cool when baked. Spread one half with whipped double cream, add the raspberries and place the other half on top. Chill for a couple of hours, then slice to serve.
Or how about a pavlova? Make the meringue into a pavlova shape, bake until crisp, then fill with the cream and the raspberries.
Or make into individual meringues for an autumnal afternoon tea?

The almost self-reliant bit? The eggs are from my own hens; the raspberries, Autumn Bliss, picked fresh from the garden this morning after the dew had dried on them; the hazelnuts were from one of my trees in the garden which gave an excellent crop this year - shelled and toasted in a dry frying pan over a high heat until just coloured, then chopped fairly roughly. Still working on the cream , but if I get the goats organised next year - who knows?? LOL