TARRAGON & THYME

OH has just not long come home 9:00 pm and already it is minus 1 - looks as though it is going to be a really cold night.  I know I haven't felt one hundred percent all day.  Went really cold at work and shivery as though someone had walked over my grave and took me absolutely ages to warm up.  I had a very bad Raynauds attack at lunch where I lost the circulation in my hands and my hands went puce with thick fleece gloves on. I have the heating on at home and the cats are cuddled up as is Missy. Safe journeys and keep safe wherever you may be. Pattypan xx

Sorry this post should have been published on Sunday but somewhere along the line got lost.  I post it for the sake of completeness only.   Things were equally busy yesterday, yet more paperwork sorted still a lot to do and sorting out a pile of recipes that I might use over Christmas to one side to go through properly. OH worked yesterday and so when he did come in last night shattered I had a nice hot meal ready for him.  We had leg of lamb chops which were really tasted, cooked with roast parsnips, roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots, peas and lashings of gravy. Both of us were ready for tea and it went down well and was quite tasty. I also nipped to the shop yesterday to get some veggies and managed to get some reduced broccoli which is going into a blue cheese and broccoli soup and the rest is destined for the freezer.  So if you get the opportunity of reduce priced veg and will not have time to eat it before the sell by date prepare it a freeze it so t...

Its wet and windy here in Peterborough  - more rain no wonder I am seizing up a bit like the tin man these days whenever it is wet or we are going to get rain.  I have to walk to work so I have the brolly all sorted out and the all weather gear.  Just four more days at work this week then I am free for the week but have lots of things to do. I made a check list last night and it keeps growing - perhaps I am being a tad over -ambitious but I have a lot to do and little time to do it in.  I am going to pop up to our local market today to see what goodies they have on offer.  I am after doing some more souper mix stock base which is basically salt and fresh vegetables pounded to a puree in the food processor but it is very tasty and adds a bit more flavour to soups, gravies and basic stocks.  I also need some more jar lids so will probably have a potter for those. right it short and sweet must get a wriggle on Catch you later on Pattypan xx

Its been miserable weather wise today but my heart goes out to all those adveresely affected by flooding over the past few days I hope things calm down for you soon.  Equally I hope my friends throughout the country are all safe and out of harms way. Well things have certainly been busy here today and there likely to get a lot busier as the week commences.  I have a lot to do before I break up at the end of a week so that I can get on with preparing the house for Christmas and prepare a lot of food, get the decorations out and it also includes a lot of cleaning. I had hoped to have some photographs for you concerning the pomanders, but my camera is playing up so for this evening at least I have given it up as a bad job. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to play and create it really has been very enjoyable.  I have also found some proper wooden clothes pegs upstairs that I had forgotten about.  I have seen an idea for making some soldiers out of the woode...

I  was supposed to be out tomorrow evening but that has been cancelled so tomorrow night is Christmas pudding night (I got side-tracked today) and whilst I have the scales out for measuring the ingredients for the Christmas Puddings I thought I would make a batch of this, something that will be prepared quickly and easily using no gas. I found this recipe whilst browsing earlier on  and whilst declaring that I had loads of mincemeat readily to hand which I do have I just decided that a little more wouldn't hurt and besides I do use mincemeat a lot and I like to ring the changes with the different flavours. I normally make mincemeat after Christmas in the New Year, but hey what the heck you have to live dangerously sometimes and its nice to have something on the pantry shelf that someone else hasn't.  The plus side is that this is so easy to make just combining the ingredients in the order given  - no cooking.    I am going to leave for a couple of...

I have just realised a little error stir up Sunday is today and not next Sunday - 2 December.  Ohhps a diddly.  The day for making Christmas pudding is today.  I had done a little research into when it was supposed to be this year and I typed in advent  next Sunday is the second Sunday in advent.  Many apologies.  Might have to get the puddings started a little later on have everything to hand. So sorry and many apoligies  folks the best laid plans of mice and men.  I anm heading for the kitchen with my wooden spoon.  Oh and must not forget to put in my apple and carrot (I always add to whatever Christmas pudding recipe I use). Catch you later Pattypan x

I am  playing in the kitchen today with some festive pomanders which should hopefully make the house smell wonderful over the Christmas period. This is taken from the book by  Stephanie Donaldson called Aromatic Gifts. And from what I have read it would seem to be a win win situation.  As the fruit dries the pomander hardens up and the scent will fade and yet according to Ms Donaldson if you simply refresh the pomander in some warm water and then dip it back into the saved drying mixture and leave for four weeks turning the pomanders regularly  they will be as scented as they were before.  I have bought a net of oranges that were on offer  - I already have plenty of spices in but hopefully I should just have enough time to get this sorted in the run up to Christmas really they need longer, but I am hoping that they will keep and I will be able to use them next year as I am using orris root which is a natural drying dessicant. The drying spice mixture c...

Last evening I spent sorting out a load of documentation that needed thinning down and disposing of and once that little job had been completed I then set too sorting out some more of my magazine articles both craft and recipe.  In fact I have found a rather nice cable jacket that I would like to have a go at.  However I have found lots of lovely recipes as well as lots of nice Christmas recipes that are ideal for giving away to friends and some very different preserve recipes as well as some ideas for Christmas decorations.  Plenty of food for thought and squirrelling away for future use.  After a busy week at work it was quite comforting to sit in the warm and methodically work and get everything organised.  It would have been lovely to have had a fire as well it was particularly cold last night.  The sky was really clear and it was as though the stars were chandeliers in a large ball room and only part of the moon was visible but an extremely clear nigh...

I have been searching through and sorting a batch of magazine recipes and also some Waitrose booklets and leaflets going back to 2003, and by the sound of the title of this recipe I thought that I was going to have to soak slices of Panettone in vodka for a while which I thought might be a tad messy but on reading the recipe I think it is a loose term more to do with the dried mixed peel that gives this recipe its flavouring. I now a lot of people don't like mixed peel but it does add a little Je ne sais qois to the flavouring even if you do not like the texture of the mixed peel.   I am sorry I cannot give credit to the recipe creator as I have no name and this particular article I thought might have been taken from a book, but it would also appear not or at least no credit is given within the leaflet although it sounds like a collaboration between Smirnoff and Waitrose  It sounds interesting and it might just be made in time for Christmas this year.  The pictu...

Just a quick pop in to wish all my American friends a happy Thanksgiving and to wish everyone else a day filled with blessings. Still damp and horrible here in Peterborough and it has been murder walking to work the past few days as it has been so windy horrible and wet and so dark even though I have the protection of a large brolly (it has turned inside out a couple of times) Makes you just want to creep under the blankets or duvets and hibernate and with not having our normal quota of sun this year just compounds matters a little more than normal. Intend to pop into Lakeland at dinner time as I need a few more bottles for sauces etc. Catch up with everyone a little later on Pattypan x

When we were younger and especially if we had been unwell mum used to get powdered glucose and sprinkle it on our cereals to give us a bit more umpff and energy as it is more readily processed by our systems and is must gentler.  Glucose is predominantly used in sweetmaking and also in beer making.  You can buy powdered glucose from Boots.  A while back I had come across an obscure recipe for making your own glucose syrup from powdered glucose then promptly lost the recipe.  As I have said it is an obscure one. Anyways I have been researching what sweets I am going to be making during the Christmas period and I have recovered that obscure little recipe so I thought that I would post it here so that I can locate it.  It bugs me if I know I have a recipe and cannot locate it (but that is due a lot of the time is that I have a lot of books and I readily use them on a regular basis. I was checking out the recipe for Divinity from one of my sweetie books called C...

This morning I have had a treat for my breakfast or should I say petit dejeuner.  I am a real fan of croissants (having acquired the taste for them in Belgium when I was seven spread lavishly with chocolate hazlenut spread.   I have for a change had two pain au chocolat with a nice mug of tea.  I would have preferred coffee but my system no longer copes with coffee so we have to make the best of what we have available to us and I must say it has been a lovely treat.   In the run up to Christmas I tend to stock up with quite a bit of proper chocolate for use in home made truffles etc or home made bark.  As I had to nip to the shop as I had run out of potatoes (will get a sack at the weekend) and I happened to be browsing when I noticed that the Co-op had an offer on two bars of proper confectioners chocolate  for £2.00 so whilst there I snaffled a few bars to put up in the pantry for Christmas and for future use. Christmas would not be Christ...

I love Christmas, and Christmas decorations and I must say I am not impressed withe Christmas decorations this year in the Queensgate Centre.  Normally there is a central display but this year nothing looks as though they have cut back on things bearing in mind the economic climate at the  moment, but they normally manage to put on a good display.  I really liked last year's decorations they were really effective.  Here are a couple of the ceiling lights from last year   I have even looked around the shops in town there are one or two nice decorations and the ones I was particularly interested in from Marks and Spencers seem to have gone already they were wooden  miniature trees and I was quite taken with them but thus far I haven't been able to find any for sale. I have found this lovely little ornament made out of natural things that greatly fits in with my style of things for this year that is simple homely and made with whatever you have aro...

I only have a half size oven therefore cooking of any sort has to be planned.  Come Christmas or the run up to it I am doing bits and bobs most nights and I try and plan my cooking wherever possible.  This year I have quite a bit of time off in December to do the decorating and the cooking.  The first stage is making  things like pate and home made pork pie  and these sorts of things are made usually prior to December wherever possible  and in some instances preparing the items and then just freezing them like the Pork pie au natural  and then finishing off as we need it.   Then there are those sweet items that are long keeping  like toffee and Turkish Delight; then comes the baking like mince pies, Sausage rolls etc.and then I  and cooking  a large celebrationary meal is and can be somewhat of a challenge.   I have therefore learnt to stagger and do things as I can to enable that everything that is required ...

In approximately two weeks time it will be the first  Sunday in Advent.  Advent changes from year to year but this year it will fall on Sunday 2 December 2012 .   I am posting this a tad early but I thought that it might serve as a timely reminder for everyone who is making their own Christmas puddings or considering doing so that this is thee traditional date for making your Christmas puddings.  And a reminder to start gathering all your ingredients together if you haven't already done so.  Otherwise known as "Stir up Sunday" (not originally to do with Christmas puddings but to the sermon that was read on that day which was supposed to stir up the hearts of men"). In modern practice a time for the family to gather around the Christmas pudding mixing bowl, have a stir of the mixture and make a silent wish for what is yet to come. This is what we used to do as children with my Mum and if we were at my Nan's the same custom would prevail.  Nan also us...

It has been a quiet lazy day from my perspective after an extremely busy week at work which has left me cream crackered and I think I have the start of a cold which I could do without.  Now I am in the kitchen the laziness has fled and I am pottering about to my heart's content.  I am using up bits and bobs out of the fridge so that we get maximum return.  I have some chipolatas I have on the go for tonight's tea  i.e. toad in the hole with mashed potato onion gravy and mashed potato.  Nice and simple.  I also have a cottage pie on the go the spuds are all peeled and the potatoes for both meals are cooking together.  The cottage pie is destined for tea tomorrow.  I am desperately missing my large freezer and I am getting a bit tetchy as I am well behind with food preparations to what I normally am at this time of year; it will sort but just means I am going to have to be highly organised and get a wriggle on in the next few weeks.  These thi...

Good morning everyone from Foggy Peterborough.  I went out last night on one of my spiritual jaunts and ended up going out to Farcet Fen on the Ramsey Road to a local pub.  Was a bit of a pea souper and as it is a bendy road with dykes down the side we decided to travel cautiously.  It was really thick in the Fen and when we came back into Peterborough last night it was very patchy and then just dissipated.  There is something ethereal and creepy about the fog; it masks everything.  Foggy Peterborough though is nowhere near like Foggy Lincolnshire.  When my Nan was with us I used to go and stay periodically with her and on a Saturday night my Uncle would come to take us out to a pub in Louth where there would always be a bit of entertainment on.  Uncle bless his socks has never been the best of drivers and on one of our trips out we came to leave the pub in Louth and it was thick fog.  We couldn't see where we were going and at one point I had to...

I was born in Lincolnshire  and most of my relatives live in that fair county so I am well versed in some of the local delicacies such as Lincolnshire Plum Bread and Chine.  So was very pleased just recently to locatey from  my butchers a little bit of Plum Bread and served this with some nice strong cheese.  It was a little pricy but it was very good.  A  Bit of a treat really and something we used to have on a regular basis, especially at my Nan's.    As a result I wenty mosying through  my numerous cookbooks I located this recipe which comes from a recipe book sold in aid of and contributed to by members of the public.  Needless to say its all Lincolnshire recipes.  I am going to give it a try this weekend to see how it turns out. Ingredients 3lbs self-raising flour 2lbs currants 1lb sultanas 2lbs moist brown sugar 1/4 lb mixed peel 1/4 lb cherries 1/2 lb butter or margarine 1/2 lb lard 5 eggs 1 tablesp...

 The Sack of Potatoes One thing I and my family is used to is good food, cheaply sourced.  One thing I do do on a regular basis is buy in a sack of spuds.  I refuse to buy my spuds from a supermarket.  Mine are delivered by the Veg shops owner and on average I have been paying £6 for a full 25kg bag of spuds which on average during the winter months lasts me about 6 weeks (that is for two of us with me cooking most days.   Potatoes are stored for long periods before we get out mitts on them they are long keepers, if stored correctly so people thinking they are getting them "fresh" is a misnomer.  The only way you get potatoes extremely fresh is if you grow them yourself and dig them straight from the garden. My argument is that if you have a few staple ingredients in at all times you can make a meal out of very much nothing and tasty meals at that.  £6 is not a lot to pay for massive bag of potatoes when you put into context that you are at least pa...

For a few years now I have had my eye on an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator with timer and as part of my research I wondered whether any of you good ladies have experience of the same or similar products and wondered what you would recommend.  I know that they are pricey bit of kit, but I am looking for something that does what it says on the label.  Many years ago I had a cheapie it cost me £25 and the same machine is still on sale in Lakeland but for £50.00.  I am also considering the Excalibur becuase I can do a lot with it craftwise as well as on the food front.  Would love to hear your opinions on the same. Many thanks Pattypan x

In recent years where I can I have been having a go at making Christmas decorations from foliage, seed heads etc where I can just to add a little bit of me into the Christmas decorations rather than it all be bought baubles and glass and bits of plastic. I chanced upon this lovely tutorial for making home made Christmas Star decorations with a twist.  The stars have been made out of cinnamon sticks in place of twigs, which Rosy had taken her inspiration from.  I in turn at the moment cannot obtain long cinnamon sticks I only have the tiny ones which are not really big enough  for this project.  So in the same principals of being inspired I have some Indian version of Cinnamon which is more like the outer bark rather than the cinnamon itself so I am going to use them together with some star anise and some dried rosemary and probably some other seed pods.  A little bit of inspiration goes a long way.  Although I have sourced some larger cinnamon sticks at Ho...

I suddenly thought in retrospect that I was taught how to line a cake tin when I was at school and maybe there are some of you out there who do not know how to go about this. This is the way that I do it and I am not dexterous but I do seem to get an evenly shaped cake out each time I use this method.  It is a bit long winded for which I apologise. The first thing I do isroll out a piece of greaseproof paper that will comfortably take the base of the pan you are going to use be this round or square.  I  then double it up and then fold it in half. I then place the base out of the tin onto the paper and go round it in biro so that the template is marked. I then cut out working from the outside unjoined edge cutting through both pieces of greaseproof until I have two circles. I then repeat this procedure again so that I end up with four circles. I then get a piece of string or wool and run this round the circumference of the tin allow about an inc...

Well the mincemeat has been made for quite a while and I have a few different varieties to go at on the pantry shelf there is a rum and raisin version, Pat Corbins' Plum Mincemeat, Mixed Exotic fruit mincemeat to name but a few.  I start making mincemeat in January of each year; I have found it is a good way to use up dried fruit that is getting near its sell by date and I usually make it in one of my Rumptopf pots its an ideal container.  I shall pop some recipes up in the New Year.  Its a good way to start the preserving for the new season and besides I use mincemeat all year round not just at Christmas.  I first started making mincemeat from the Delia Christmas book, which uses suet.  These days my mincemeat very rarely has suet in it at all. I have all sorts of jams and preserves put up and Chutneys. I have a few more things to do which will not take too long and I have further time off work yet to have so I will probably get them done then. The cak...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow  Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. John McCrae circa 1915

On the 11 November (the eleventh day) at the eleventh hour we pay our respects to those that have gone before and fought for the freedom of this nation of ours initially through the first and second world wars and latterly more modern conflicts.  It is also the day my grandfather was born in 1900 within the sound of Bow Bell.  Happy Birthday Pop, even though you have been passed over for a few years now I still celebrate your birthday in quiet reflection as the day itself dictates. My grandfather was a Fitter/Engineer when the second world war broke out.  He was trade restricted and not allowed to enter into the services because of his trade.  This however did not stop him joining the Homeguard (what we know more commonly today as Dad's Army) so he did his bit in more than one way.  Frequently called out during the night; Pop also grew his own veg and built his own Anderson shelter in the garden which was kitted out with a bunk bed and made really posh.  ...

I wish you could smell the yummyness of the Christmas cake as the fruit begins to absorb the brandy it smells really lush.  That will be cooked out tomorrow as it needs about 4 1/2 hours in the oven. I use spices a lot in cooking throughout the year not just for Christmas.  One of my favourite ways of using cloves is a ham studded with cloves, the flavour is wonderful.  (Well I think so).  I think that could be well on the cards for preparing for this Christmas just a small piece as again OH is not keen. However I have been busy I have made some mulling syrups for both red and white wines which are very simple to make.  Alternatively it can be used with Cider. This should take some of the hard work out of making mulled wine.   This makes a couple of bottles.  I recycle other bottles that have had ingredients in and sterilise them carefully before re-using.  The recipe is a BBC Good food one.  Ingredients: ...

I have been mooching round other people's blogs and also finding lots of ideas via Pinterest in the run up to Christmas this year and I have found this rather nifty idea on how to make your own cinnamon oil for using on pot pourri or on pine cones for the Christmas decorations.  Although I know we haven't got long now I have decided to have a go to see how I get on and if I like it will be put forward to do some more in readiness for next year.  Its funny how a simple little post can end up inspiring you to take the idea even further, which is what this link has done for me. I was inspired by this post here http://cleverpinkpirate.com/2011/11/15/making-cinnamon-oil-for-christmas-pinecones-pt-1/ A lovely little blog with some good ideas. I also  founda a lovely little recipe for a simmering pot pourri to put in a saucepan to scent the house on the same blog   http://cleverpinkpirate.com/2011/12/12/diy-christmas-potpourri-easy-and-inexpensive/ Both ideas sou...

I have had a lazy week this week and this morning I got a lay in or should I say I overslept.  Never mind.  I haven't really done much else but the Christmas cake has been started which I am pleased about as it stands a chance of maturing well before the actual day. It will be cooked on Sunday.   We have had a lovely sweet and sour chicken for tea together with rice for tea tonight.  Very tasty and very warming.  I have  also done the week's washing and I am so impressed with my new washing machine.  The animals are all in the warm and Demetri is getting softer and softer he comes most nights now and sits on the settee with me; in fact all the animals seem to be operating a rota system throughout the day they all want the fuss and are all aiming to sit with me at one point or another.  Probably something to do with the pile of blankets in the corner of the settee that they seem to be snuggling into. Its cold out there tonight, th...

As a child, I always used to help my mum with the Christmas cake  - it was a fascinating process to a curious child and I loved handing the ingredients to her and trying to swipe a fingerful of the mixture although in those days I was none too keen on the fruit.  My mum makes a lovely fruitcake also and in those days Mum also used to make a Dundee cake as well. As I grew older My Nan always used to make my Christmas cake for me as my Christmas present. Nan  used to make a wicked fruit cake.  I found out in later years that she used to feed the cake on whisky (quantities unknown but a little dubious) and that cake never used to last very long at all. This year I am late in making my cake; slapped dannies naughty Pattypan.   I normally have this all done by the end of September,  in order that the cake will have time to mature and give time for dripping brandy into the cake (called feeding the cake) before lining with marzipan and icing. { Ideall...