TARRAGON & THYME

Were well and truly scuppered.  I got as far as getting all the ingredients together and the jam jars out of the shed then something blew up (family matter) that needed sorting out and by the time I got finished up I was too late to start the chutney. Bother! So I have parked that on the back burner for this evening.  I will reconvene tomorrow evening and try again.  Never mind the jars are out of the box they were stored in and at least I got 9 jars of pasta sauce after yesterdays session. I have since found some more tomatoes which will need using up.  I thought I had processed all the ones I bought on Saturday but there appears to be another bag.  So have to look for another useful recipe. I am thinking tomato paste or tomato ketchup at this point. On the newer recipes I tend only to make up one batch of something (if its about four to five jars)  really to make sure that we like it or make notes on how to tweak it for next time.  A lot of pres...

This is the recipe I intend to make this evening when I get in from work.  However I will have to get the jars out of the shed and get them sterilised when I get in from work. Ingredients 1.4kg/3lb ripe tomatoes 675g/1 1/2lb small onions 1kg/2lb cooking apples 480ml/16 fl oz white wine vinegar 330g/12 oz of sugar 175g/6 oz of sultanas 10ml/2 tsp of salt 5ml/1 tsp ground cloves 5ml/1 tsp ground ginger 2.5ml/ 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper Makes about 2kg/ 4 1/2lb Method Cut the cores out of the tomatoes (the green bit at the top of the tomato) then  place the tomatoes into a bowl and cover with boiling water to remove the skins.  Leave about 15 to 20 seconds or until the skins actually split.  then place the tomatoes into a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking.  Remove from the water one at a time and remove the skins.  Once the skin is removed chop up roughly. Peel and thinly slice the onions (this is where I end up in ...

Its been a busy old day and I haven't got to do what I intended to do but I have got to do an awful lot of sorting out that needed doing.  But will get there in due course. We have had another visit down to the tip; another one is scheduled but I have an awful lot of decluttering to do.  Will try and get a batch of chutney on this evening and all bottled up, but if not it will keep until tomorrow evening when I may well be able to get both batches that I had planned up and running.   Oh has given the hedge a haircut and then taken me out for tea.  However there was a method in his madness.  He wanted to watch the Grand Prix without distraction!. Right I had better get a wriggle on still loads to do - hopefully I will make good inroads and get everything done and dusted. Catch you soon. Pattypan x

Saturday night was spent in the kitchen processing the tomatoes, onion and leak - with the onion making my eyes run  all for the making of home made pasta sauce.  No nasties in this sauce whatsoever.  I did three batches in all. Its not a strong sauce but it is tasty and it is made from fresh veggies - depending on what I am making I add extra flavour when it comes to the cooking of the sauce tailored to that recipe. I also add lemon juice to each bottle.  However once the canner arrives! I will make tomato and apple chutney tomorrow.  The  recipe is located and later on I will have two batches of chutney on the go side by side.  A batch of tomato chutney (it does have apples and other things in it) and also plum chutney.  I also have apple and pear chutneys to make as well.  The longer a chutney gets to mature in my mind makes all the difference.  There are a couple of new chutney recipes I want to try as well. I think I have p...

Well its not on the bubble but it will be shortly.  Hubble bubble time is my time for dreaming and weaving my magic with the preserves I make for the pantry shelf.  I just enjoy doing this sort of thing and whilst I am stirring the contents of a maslin pan I dream and plan; it is very cathartic and soothing. I have started with the pasta sauce.  The first batch is in the oven roasting down tomatoes cut into wedges, basil, thyme, onion, leak spring onion and garlic liberally drizzled with lots of light olive oil.  I have a couple of batches to go yet as I managed to get quite a lot of tomatoes quite cheaply.  I will do at least three batches of the tomatoes and if I have any tomatoes left over I will probably make some tomato and onion chutney.  That's the plan anyway.  I also have plums. I plan to do some chutney and then some Chinese plum sauce with these ones , but in the coming weeks I hope to get some Victoria P...

It started with a visit to work for me as last evening I lost my mobile phone.  So to make absolutely sure before I started to make further detailed search I popped into work - I had managed to leave it on my desk overnight!  So safely recovered it was back home.  OH had to go out to be fitted for his suit.  I inadvertently had been teasing him that his son had texted me and told me what he would be wearing i.e. one of these light up rotating dickie bows and that he would be wearing his birthday suit - ala Frank Butcher. I am not sure whether he believed me or not but to be on the safe side he did mention it to my step son - who declined all knowledge.  However I may have inadvertently given my step son an idea.  He is an eternal joker! Anway, he got scrubbed up and  donned the proverbial clean undies and off he went to get fitted up. He has at long last met the bride's father and he has a sense of humour so that is a good start!  We ar...

I love proper beeswax polish, especially when it has been liberally popped onto my welsh dressers and then polished off with a bit of elbow grease.  It smells good and wholesome and gives the furniture a lovely shine.  I first decided to make some myself just after they bought out the Turpentine substitute and in the process was not able to get any proper Turpentine.  I have been browsing through my books again and I have come across the recipe that originally inspired me to have a go in the first place.  A recipe from the Sloe Gin and Beeswax Book by Jane Newdick.  It is a lovely book.  If I remember correctly she also did a series on TV - I did not manage to see it all and was showing people how to do these things at home. I am getting myself organised again on the different crafting front.  This evening I have ordered some beeswax sticks, primarily for my embroidery.  I am one of these people who are a bit "cack-handed" and...

Well apparently, the Canner is on its way and looks to be delivered over the weekend/beginning of next week.  Fingers crossed for the weekend.  Can't wait.  Just have to locate the books now and then I can really start to play. I had also purchased a jerky gun, which basically means you can use ground meat/mince to make jerky with the addition of spices and a curing powder which I would take to be something like a Prague powder and then squirts it out of a special nozzle to create strips.  It is basically a medium sized sausage stuffer type gun with the addition of the special nozzles so I am looking forward to having a play with that too. OH has to go for a suit fitting this weekend.  My step-son is getting married to his soul mate shortly at the beautiful Orton Hall Hotel in Peterborough.  I suppose I had better start looking for something nice to wear as well.  No hat though; don't do hats as a rule. I have also ordered some candle m...

I came across this book whilst having a mooch around Amazon the other day and I must say I am very pleased with it.  The projects are mostly "vintage" themed and some of the items used are vintage fabrics and recycled.  Like a beautiful handbag made out of some pretty fabric and a pansy flower crochet mat.  It looks stunning and would make a very individual gift.  A charming book with lots of lovely projects some of which I shall certainly make.  It has given me some ideas for Christmas presents. Yet another lovely book by Debbie.  I have quite a few of the others and they all have something that I would want to make in them. In fact I have a long list of the things I would like to make lined up along with all the other things I have yet to complete and yet to start. I also like the Sew Inspired Magazine and am especially interested in the smocking technique for making cushions and handbags.  I just need more time to actually play and conc...

Here are some pictures of how a cheese should look.  If you look closer at the pictures the preserve is more solid than a jam and is sliceable the traditional way of serving a cheese.  Membrillo is a form of cheese but can also be referred to as a paste.  Some cheeses are stickier than others though. Basically a jam product made with the pulp left over from making jellies, with the addition of sugar and long cooking.  The "cheese" is then served in slices alongside normal cheese and meats (like you would a chutney to enhance the simple fare) although this is served in slices so it is more solid than a jam or a chutney.  It is believed that it is called a "cheese" because it was actually served with cheese.  If you look back in the older cookery books there are quite a few recipes for a cheese.  However what does become confusing is that Lemon Curd is sometimes sold as Lemon Cheese, which is not quite the same thing. Anyway wh...

Invested in a pressure canner that is.  I have invested in a Presto 23qt dial gauge air vented pressure canner.  It came down to price really and although I like the look of the American Canner realistically I cannot afford one at the moment.  It may be at a later date things will change but at least I am going to have a canner to put up some of the things I want to safely.  I have been collecting all sorts of recipes on Pinterest for canning and preserving and I have a Ball Book of Canning which I bought from Lakeland plus a couple of other books I have acquired along the way.  I have purchased it through ebay and with shipping charges and import duty it works out at about £135.  So not too bad in the greater scheme of things.  I have been messing around far too long where this is concerned and I need to get going.  So I am very much looking forward to playing with this too.  I am quite excited.  Sad I am. Today I hav...

What I use the Fridges to store I have two full length fridges partly due to the fresh food I have for preserving the other one is everyday things like cheese, cold meats, fresh veggies etc.  They sit in the dining room as there is no room in the kitchen and yet there was no way that we could have an all American style version as there is no plumbing and no capacity to have one here. So I opted for the storage on the grounds that one day should I ever win the lottery then these could go in the utility room to the dream house.  Well they might not be working by then but that's what made me opt for them.  Practicality and storage for those kinds of preserves that are a little bit volatile like oil based preserves like peppers and mushrooms in oil and goats cheese or labneh or feta cubes and chilli and herb.  As I have said before once you start preserving it becomes addictive. I always start off with good intentions with the fridge with everything nicely sorted a...

Everyone that I know loves Elderflower Cordial.  It is something that I make year in year out.  However lots of people just drink it when it can be used to flavour other dishes like a fruit salad, used as a sauce on vanilla ice cream, to make a sorbet, make a version of Elderflower Turkish Delight etc.  A lot of people will not attempt to preserve things because they don't really know how to use the finished product.  Really there are not many wrong ways to use a preserve and sometimes it is a question of experimentation and finding what works for you.  Like Mint sauce or Mint jelly; my OH eats this with absolutely anything.  We are brought up with a rule book of what goes with what but sometimes rules were meant to be broken and its a  matter of finding out what goes with what. The recipe comes from a series of books by Dick and James Strawbridge entitled "Made at Home Preserves".  I have given the ISBN number previously. During the ...

With the Blackberries and the Elderberries soon being in full swing I have been looking around for different recipes to try rather than the same familiar ones that I use year in year out. Cordials can be used for a drink with water or fizzy water or as a Kir type drink with the addition of some fizzy wine or a champagne (I am thinking Christmas here or any family celebration) and if you make a series of different fruit flavoured cordials you are giving yourself an awful lot of choice for now and over the winter months.  Cordials can also be used as additions to a fruit salad or indeed poured over ice cream as a sauce or through yogurt or cream to create a ripple and then frozen in a mould, cut into slices and you have a ripple ice cream in its purest sense. I have come across this recipe which will make use of whatever wild harvest of elderberries and blackberries and give a vitamin c boost especially if you have a cold.  I have not made this recipe before but it will be ...