TARRAGON & THYME

Its been a busy day I have had the washing machine on as it has been a good drying day and I have had what I laundered out in the garden in the lovely fresh air; I am now busy doing some ironing and getting the clothes hung and aired before packing them back into the wardrobes and drawers.  All the food I bought yesterday is all nice and frozen in the freezer. Big sigh of relief.  I had doubts but I think that is only natural especially with everything that has happened with the freezer so far. On Friday morning I woke up with  sore throat.  This morning I have woken up with a streaming cold; I am nursing it; but this is too early in the season to be getting a cold.  I must contact the Doctors and get the flu jab organised as I have been told that I should be having these on a yearly basis. We have had a very delicious tea, the stuffed pork belly with roast potatoes. roast parsnips, peas, shredded cabbage, carrots, and some of the runner beans I froze the ...

I appreciate that this post should have been posted yesterday but real life got in the way a bit and I ended up being otherwise engaged. We went shopping first for a new chip fryer.  Our other one had done sterling service but eventually started leaking and making a mess whether it was stood in the cupboard or on the worktop.  Once the decision had been made to replace it we then looked around to see what was currently on the market.  Primary requirements were that it had to be easily cleanable and offer some flexibility i.e whether cooking for two or the whole family. I have therefore opted for the new Cookworks double panned fryer. Mine came from Argos.  I shall let you know how I get on with it in due course. We quite like spicy food and we had thought that it would be good to have one pan for spicy foods and the other for general unspiced cooking. We then started the monthly shop.  This varies where I go on a month by month basis and upon what we a...

Sandie welcome to my blog I am ever so sorry about this I read your comment and was about to respond to you but the gremlins have got into the works and accidentally deleted your message. For the sake of completeness would you mind re-posting it?   However I did see the bit about the recipe for Beetroot and Apple Chutney Here is the recipe. Ingredients 4lb beetroot cooked skinned and diced 2lb cooking apples peeled cored and diced 1lb onions peeled and chopped Grated rind and juice of 2 large lemons 2 tablespoons grated root ginger or 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon of ground pepper 1 3/4 pints of vinegar 1lb sugar Put all the ingredients into a large maslin pan or large stock pot stirring the contents over a low heat until the sugar dissolves.  Bring up to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the chutney is thick and leaves a trail when you draw a spoon through the mixture.  Spoon into hot ...

I have had problems with my upright freezer for a little while only part of it freezing properly.  A while back it was defrosted for a couple of days and a it seemed better but still not right so I have not been able to freeze very much stuff in it.  However the other day it would appear that I accidentally pulled the plug out of the socket and defrosted the freezer - accidental yes but sometimes things happen for a reason, because when we plugged it back in again every compartment has frozen; so it would seem I have my upright freezer back again.   So it needs feeding I need to stock it up.   My big freezer has also packed up and my mum has kindly indicated that she would be happy to help out with a new one - which has yet to be purchased yet I think that will happen shortly I am very lucky in that one of my friends has a couple of neighbours who sell home grown produce at realistic prices at this time of year and she brings in veggies for me ...

Its still chucking it down with rain its depressing I know we need it but! I have been a bit fed up forever the eternal child who used to stare out of the leaded light windows nose squashed up to the cold glass that steamed up as soon as you breathed on it and watching it pelting down with rain resenting the fact that it combines you to barracks! And to boot its that time of the month again not quite pay day but the stocks are depleted somewhat to what they normally are and a hot warm meal is required to warm us up. Especially after the constant rain we have had today- which has made the house cold and I have ended up putting the heating on for a short while as my back has stiffened up again and moving about is not so easy - a case of mind willing body not cooperating! Where do I start - I checked  the upright freezer first and discovered some chicken portions that I had squirrelled away and forgotten about. I prepare a lot of things myself for the freezer mostly for econo...

Well I have started earlier than usual on starting to acquire items for the Christmas Food stock partly due to items being on offer and partly due to the long stop dates on the items in question in any event.  This list is just for the bought items - The Put Down 2014 covers the items I have made myself like home made liqueurs and  Chutneys I have not produced anything so far this year (mostly due to the hiccup earlier in the year) but that is about to change.  I shall update as and when I add further items to the list. Items thus far 1 x Bottle of Chocolate Sauce 1 x Bottle of Butterscotch Sauce 3 x Bottles of Raspberry Coulis 3 x Bottles of Passionfruit Coulis 3 x Bottles of Crabbies 3 x Lemon Mousse Mix 3 x Strawberry Mousse Mix 10 August 2014

Its been a busy afternoon  - for the best part engaged in operation oven clean - I am lucky to still have any nails left and that;s with Marigolds on! After Operation Oven Clean was completed I set too to do Sunday lunch - not a roast this week but Beef Wellingtons - I did not make them they were pre-bought   - and individual Wellingtons - more as an experiment really we liked them.  However when I get the new freezer I shall set too and make some individual ones myself .  Sometimes you have to try things to establish that you actually like them I also made swede and carrot crush, cooked fresh peas after podding them and  also broad beans (also fresh and podded), boiled potatoes, and mixed shredded greens served with gravy.  Very tasty it was too. Here are the photos: Its been wet and wild today with periods of bright sunshine in between and there have been thunder storms and lightning which I oh so do not like. D...

Horror stories of horror stories when I was a child Broad Beans were a no no for me I absolutely hated them.  Unfortunately for me because both my mother and  my grandmother used to pop Broad Beans as a side with every meal when they were in season and also into stews whereupon I would painstakingly remove every one and leave on the side of my plate.  Well they were grey looking in a grey coloured sack and were tough and as we got older we refused to eat them. Fast forward quite a few years  - I was watching a cookery programme and they were preparing Broad Beans and the preparation was completely different to what I remembered.  This is what I remembered: The Beans were podded and then blanched in boiling water then popped into cold water and the skins removed to reveal brightly coloured beans in two halves - a lovely green bean which just heated slightly before serving is a taste explosion - I just absolutely love them this way so far rem...