Sunday Catchup

Sorry for being quite for the past couple of days or so I have been taking things easy for a change and allowing myself to heal.  My mouth is now sore as it is starting to heal nicely but I have taken the opportunity to rest and sleep and I am starting to feel a little more with it.  I still have not had to have any medication am just using regular salt washes and it seems to be doing the trick.  Which reminds me I will have to get some more sea salt at dinner as I am nearly out.

As I am not very good at doing absolutely nothing I have taken the opportunity to read.  Its a long time since I have curled up with a book and just read and the book I am reading at the moment The Brethern is extremely good.  I am about three quarters of the way through it.  Needless to say I have had a very quiet weekend.

We had a delicious Sunday lunch - a piece of stuffed rolled pork from the Butchers which was very tasty served with roasted courgettes and roast potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage and carrots with lashings of gravy.  It went down very nicely.

Today the start of August, a new month and eight months into the year - where is the year going to it seems to be going very fast.  This month for me starts the concerted effort in popping stuff onto the pantry shelf for feeding the family.  Things like bottled tomatoes, pasta sauce, pears in syrup, plums in syrup, cherry brandy, (a double whammy as you get the alcoholic cherries and the liqueur), peach jam, bottled peaches, fruit salad, blueberry jam, mixed berry jam.  I also want to make some pesto and pop that into the freezer as well as chopped chives and some other herbs.  So I shall be making more use of the market and seeing what I can come upon.  I am eager to get hold of some of the softer fruits if I can but I may end up going to a pick your own farm,

I noticed at the veg shop that red cabbage has put in an appearance as have marrows, I have seen shallots in Waitrose at £1.50 a small bag.  I only ever buy them by the net and although they are a lot of work shallots and pickled onions are well worth doing.  Now is the time to start popping up baby beetroot, sliced beetroot and beetroot chutney as well as popping some into the freezer to drag out for roasting.  Plums are due this month as well so a good time to put down plum jam, plum and apple jam, Pam Corbin's Plum and Russet Mincemeat and also some of the Souper Paste.  I particularly want to get hold of some Victoria Plums  - they are our favourite are good to eat raw and also freeze, bottle and make jam from.

This year by the end of September I want to get the Christmas cakes made so I can just feed them and forget about them.

So this month potentially has a lot of work involved - I also need to get the pantry sorted out to make room for all the new additions.  I am so lucky to have a pantry but the dream is a big walk in one where I can get everything sorted and find everything easily.

Right had better get a wriggle on.

Catch  you later.

Pattypan

x