TARRAGON & THYME

I do not leave work until 5:30 pm and that is if I get out on time and by the time I have walked home It is usually 6:00 pm or later and by the time I get in and get sorted to start cooking tea it is often 6:30 pm before I start cooking.  I quite frequently use the slow cooker to make sure we have something nice and hot for tea but yesterday I bought some proper decent sausages (I prefer chipolatas you get about 12 to the 1lb) and so I had made my mind up that we were going to have a toad with a difference.  These days there are only the two of us but I always cook plenty as sometimes if it lives to tell the tale we have a repeat performance with a meal [that is if OH does not get his mits on things first]. Anyway this time I allowed two sausages per portion and spiralled them with the use of a cocktail stick round each other and then popped them into a small oiled pan trimmed the top with some fresh Rosemary and chopped an onion finely and popped this into the oven to st...

It has been a busy week this week.  Monday night was a special evening run by the Psychic and Spiitual Fellowship we had an evening with well known Medium Colin Fry and it was fantastic.  We hope to have him back again next year.  He brought with him one of his dogs and she was so lovely and well behaved. Tuesday night I was pottering around at home. Wednesday night I had a Reiki treatment with a  new client. Tonight I have been at home pottering again. I was late home as I had an urgent piece of work to complete  that took for absolute ever.  It will be a relief to be home tomorrow night however briefly and Saturday I am at mum's again.  However no peace for the weekend I will be engrossed in housework again tomorrow night. Did any of you catch the new River Cottage Fruit programme which started last night?  I started to watch it on catchup tv got distracted and then got locked out of the pin so I still have not seen it all the w...

I am always searching for new recipes especially using ingredients that I use on a regular basis.  Whilst I was searching for my pumpkin marmalade recipe I came across this recipe using pumpkin which I quite fancy having a go at and thought I would share.  This time  the recipe is for a Chutney.  The recipe is from Country Harvest by Linda Burgess and Rosamond Richardson. Ingredients: 1.4kg/3lb pumpkin or squash peeled seeded and cubed 7.5c m/3inch piece of fresh root ginger 12 peppercorns 225g/8oz/2 cups shallots or onions skinned and chopped 225g/8oz/1 cup demerara light brown sugar 1 green or red pepper seeded and sliced (optional) 225g/8oz/ cooking apples peeled cored and chopped 225g/8oz/ 1 1/3 cups sultanas golden raisins 900ml/1 1/2 pints/3 3/4 cups malt vinegar salt Method Put the pumpkin into an aluminium preserving pan, cover with salt and leave overnight. The next day drain off the liquid and rinse the pumpkin cubes i...

Its been a bit of a quite moochy sort of day and it is still raining and we have succumbed and put the heating on as everywhere and everything was just so cold and damp.  Fortunately I am starting to warm up but I am still going to have my hot water bottles to snuggle up to and keep me warm. It stops me being so stiff in a morning and having the discomfort of achey joints etc for the first hour of every day. Well I haven't got my fire but I did have my crumpets.  OH has worked today and so as I had not got tea on by then we had hot warm crumpets with mugs of tea just to keep the hunger pangs at bay until tea was cooked which was roast pork, apple sauce, peas, carrots. roast potatoes, roast parsnip, mash, broccoli and cabbage with lashings of gravy and it went down a treat. The animals are scattered through the house curled up fast asleep .  After Downtown I have some ironing to do and to get packups etc ready for tomorrow.   I also have some strawberry sauce/...

They are in the shops these two beauties I bought this morning and they are destined for some marmalade and for the freezer for roasting. I watched a very good programme this morning by Valentine Warner that roasted slices of pumpkin with red onion until nicely toasted and golden and then adding garlic and serving it up as a side order or as a supper in its own right I was salivating at the thought.  And this recipe for soup sounds delish as well one I am going to try very shortly and perhaps put some up in the freezer as well. http://www.valentinewarner.com/recipes/vegetables/dads-pumpkin-soup/ You might have gathered but Pumpkins and Squash feature regularly on the menu here but these ingredients are so much more. I first came across Pumpkin in Australia and had it roasted and I became hooked.  in fact as a family we all love Pumpkin and Squash. We are coming up to Halloween a festival where pumpkins feature heavily and are usually carved and the flesh dis...

We desperately need the rain but why does it all have to come at once!  It never stopped all last night and has rained on and off all day so far.  Its the damp that comes with it that I cannot bear and its afternoons like this where I desperately crave a log or coal fire to snuggle up next to to dry out.  Central heating although efficient just does not cut the mustard on an afternoon like today and memories  of day's like today and being at my grandpaents and of toasting crumpets on the fire come flashing back . I had hoped to start the Christmas cake today but I think because of a lack of time it will have to wait until next Sunday and I will try and do the Christmas Puddings at the same time so that they are all done and dusted.  Might make double whammy so that have some to give as pressies also. Anyway I am off to potter - just wish the rain would stop. Catch you all later. Pattypan x  

This week has predominantly been acquiring accessories more so than food stuff.  The other day I popped into Primark to have a look around and in their home wares department I came across some Scandinavian/Fair Isle style throws to use to keep warm - whilst sitting watching the TV over the Christmas period.  £10 each so I bought two.  They have a similar type throw in M & S slightly different pattern and more money.  I also purchased a small red fluffy owl printed throw for £5 - I intend to get another one as the colouring will blend in with the Scandinavian/Fair Isle style throws (so far have spent £25 - which is not bad). They also had some other throws for the bedrooms at quite reasonable prices also; now I have to save up as I would like at least a couple of each. This is a particularly cold house so I like to have plenty of blankets as well as quilts etc to snuggle up into.  Ideally I need a house with a proper coal or log fire as well as central heati...

There are some staple ingredients that I have month in month out which allow flexibility when it comes to choice of meals.   These are the core ingredients and items which I buy month in month out and from which like building blocks and foundation stones all my other recipes are based and the house is run.  There are other items but these I must have else I get twitchy.  Remember if you have core/staple ingedients in you can tackle making your own pastry and even your own cheeses. They are as follows: Milk at least 2 x 6 pint bottles a week sometimes 3 and if experimenting with home made cheese etc sometimes 3 to 4. A tray of eggs sometimes these last two weeks sometimes much less and if they are not shifting quickly enough do some baking. Potatoes - I keep a sack in the house for the two of us this on average lasts 6 weeks (a family of four or bigger much less.  Potatoes accompany so many different dishes and have many combinations. A net o...

Things have been a bit hectic round here over the weekend.  I promised to come back on Saturday evening but real life got in the way and I was busy pottering organising some things that needed sorting after coming back from my mums and as a result did not get an opportunity to pop back.  Yesterday was very similar and before the blink of an eye you just do not know where the time has gone. We had a lovely roast chicken dinner yesterday with potatoes, carrots, Kale, broccoli, peas and cauliflower and it very nicely hit the spot.  There was roughly half a chicken left so I set too and started off a  frugal chicken stew last night in readiness for tonight's tea in the slow cooker. I tend to a bit organic with stew recipesadding a few peas, carrots, cauliflower, kale, some pasta strands to the shredded down chicken and some potato to thicken up the stew.  All I have to do this evening is cook some potatoes when I get in, enough for tonight and to do a Cottage P...

Its a bit overcast here in Peterborough and I have overslept. so I am a bit on the hoof this morning.  Just a quick drop by as I am off to my mum's for the day to sort her out and enjoy some quality time with her. Will try and pop by later on. Catch you soon Pattypan xx

I bought the new edition of the Good Food Magazine and was quietly perusing the same and minding my own business when  I stumbled upon a recipe for Frumenty. (described by Ruth as something between porridge and rissotto)  On closer inspection there is a recipe from Ruth Goodman and a caption indicating that Ruth and Peter (Minus Alex) will be back on the television in November for a six part series which will be on BBC2.   There is a link here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/tudor-abbey-farm.html   with further details but this time they are using the Weald and Downland Open Museum as the backdrop.  This is somewhere I have wanted to visit for a while as I love "open air living museums" like at Blists Hill and Morwhellam Quay. This time round Ruth Goodman and Peter Ginn  are joined by an Archaeologist Tim Pinfold in replacement of Alex Longlands.. Now that is something to look forward to as I find their programmes v...

I would like to welcome a couple of new followers nice to see you Irene and Secret Garden (and to anyone has snook in whilst I was not looking - please accept my apologies to those who I have not mentioned no offence is meant it is just that sometimes I cannot tell who is new and who has been a member for a while.   I hope that you find plenty of interesting bits and bobs scattered through my ramblings.  Grab that cup of tea get yourself comfy  and enjoy and please feel free to comment. Its been a busy old day again and I have been a little stiff as it has been wet and I always seize up when it is damp.  Never  mind these things are sent to try us. I was given some runner beans the other day by my friend Mandy along with some mini pumpkins and they are delightful; some roast pumpkin soup is on the agenda for this weekend I think and the beans will get used up with the roast chicken (I shall make stock from the carcass).  I am very lucky. ...

  I was contemplating the other day what other foodie things I tend to have in store at anyone time and these are just a few of the useful things I try to keep to hand on a regular basis.  This is just primarily dealing with Tinned/Jar Goods and there are more but I thought that this would be a starter for ten.  It makes for a quick meal or a useful addition to a substantial meal Tinned / Jar Goods Baked Beans Whole Tomatoes Chopped Tomatoes Chick Peas Chilli Beans Cannellini Beans Mushy Peas Marrowfat peas Pasta Sauces Sweet and Sour Sauces Curry Sauces Tomato Soup Chicken Soup Oxtail Soup Scotch Broth Tuna Pink Salmon Red Salmon Crab Anchovies Sild Pilchards in tomato sauce Bamboo Shoots Bean Sprouts Water Chestnuts Coconut Milk  Corned Beef What ingredients do you keep to hand? Catch you all later on. Pattypan xx

Well I went puddle jumping and got drenched on the way to work.  My brolly died on me on the way to work looking something like a wonky flower petal rather than a nicely shaped brolly and then to add insult to injury my zip on my coat would not undue and I had to wriggle out of a heavy duty jacket not a pretty sight. When I did get in this evening it was straight in and straight out as I was at the Fellowship this evening and I did not get in until 10:30 am where I have quickly grabbed a sandwich and a cup of tea and I am now in the process of getting things ready for tomorrow.  I am shattered but still have a few things to do before I wend my way up the stairs to Bedfordshire. Catch you later Pattypan

I have woken up this morning to torrential rain -  proper September weather. I now have to navigate from home to work with the aid of a brolly;  the wind is gusting so it should prove interesting and on my past performance the odds of the brolly not turning inside out are not very great. (its not worth betting on)  On that basis it may be a foregone conclusion that I am going to get wet in more ways than one.  I think the odds are slightly stacked! It looks like I am going puddle jumping like it or not.  So if I am going to get wet I may as well go the whole hog and let the inner child surface - well just for today.  As a child I used to have a pair of red wellies and each puddle I came to I would jump into both feet together and slosh around a bit much to the annoyance of my mother.  There is something delicious in doing something "dangerous" like this, flouting authority and just going for it and you have the freedom without expectation to actua...

I thought I would share the latest experiment which I have been playing with colour wise for this year's blanket for my bed.  I try and start at least one blanket a year and then have them on a roll so that when I have a few moments I can pick up and be industrious whilst sat down and able to do little bits at a time without having a permanent effect of the work being produced. The pattern is a simple one.  I let the colours speak for itself.  I have chosen a deep purple for the centre; tourquoise, lilac pink, navy blue, tourquoise, cerise pink and then navy.  The pattern I use is: To work centre Work 6 chain close with a slip stitch and form a ring. Work three chain (which forms the first treble) and then work 11 more treble round the ring and close with a slip stitch. First row onwards Work three chain (which forms the first treble) and then work two more treble, two chain and then three more trebles this forms the first corner.  Then ...

It has been busy here as usual.  I was late out of the office again by 15 minutes which puts me out quite a bit as I have a good three quarters of a mile to walk home before actually getting into the house and then setting about tea.  This evening we have had chicken thighs cooked in the oven and then served with home made stir fry. Its a good way of using up all the bits and bobs of vegetables lurking in the fridge.  As I had the oven on, and rather than waste the extra heat I nipped to the shop and got a small white loaf reduced for 38pence and turned this into Marmalade Bread and butter pudding. I had a half used jar of marmalade open and in the spirit of waste not want not I used some of this up.    I used 4 eggs and a good half pint (probably a bit more of milk) beat them all together in a bowl and put in some grated nutmeg and whipped this well with a whisk.  I then set about slicing the loaf and taking the crusts off, buttering and then spreadin...

Pinch, punch first of the month, white rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits So the saying goes and tradition has it it must be spoken in the morning otherwise the utterer will bring bad luck upon themselves.  Now we do not want that do we. So we are into October, where has this year gone!  There is a definite shift in the temperature, spiders are coming in and causing havoc with the housework, some mornings are mist laden the leaves on the trees are beginning to turn and everything is starting to close down nature's natural cycle.  So far we have been lucky with the weather but I am leaning now to add a jumper rather than a top and a cardigan to make sure I keep warm . Lets see what this colourful month brings.  We always used to go to my Nan's to harvest the apples and climb trees and lark around with each other.  Apple picking is a serious business but we always made time for fooling around with a father like mine it was essential. Nothing s...

I am a bit of a bookworm and a bookaholic  - I do have kindle books but to me you just cannot beat the feel and smell of a new book it is so tactile and I can lose myself for hours .  I have to confess I have another new book to add to the collection  that I am rather chuffed with and I think I have purchased it just in time to make use of this seasons freebies blackberries,sloes, bullace, crab apples damsons and whats more the ladies who have written this wonderful book also have their own little preserves business and a web site with an updating letter every so often if you sign up and a blog http://www.wildatheartfoods.co.uk/ Want to have a look inside the book have a look at the Amazon website here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hedgerow-Cookbook-Delicious-Recipes/dp/186205956X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380610966&sr=8-1&keywords=hedgerow+cookbook I have quite a lot of preserving books and this one stands out there with the best of them. The photog...