What a Beautiful Day but Autumn is slipping in

The sun is out, the air is a little chillier (at the moment) and Autumn is slowly starting to slip in, the seasons are changing yet again. I love the colours and warmth of Autumn just as much as I love the Spring.  Time to go out and really have a good forage to see what is out and about. The Blackberries are more or less over where I have been going to collect.  There might be the odd one or two lingering, but will see what I can find. 

Time to now move on to Rowans for jelly. Rosehips are a favourite here for making syrup, jelly and wine.  In the past I have also prepared the shells and ground them into a powder as a supplement.  If I can locate enough I might do that again.  Preparation for these though is tedious work, as the hips need to be cut in half and have their innards cleaned out.  Have to be careful with this as basically you are dealing with itching powder. A pair of disposable gloves is therefore a must when doing this.  As a family, we have always dried Rosehips in the oven or the Rayburn to keep them over the winter months.  Wine has then been made from them on a cold winter's night to get the next batch going, when things are not as full on with the preserving.

Then there are the Haws, Bullace or Damsons.  I have never been able to find the Bullace or the Damsons. Perhaps from the odd Farm Shop, but never in the Wild.   Damsons in particular make a lovely jam (it has a bit of Orange to it the recipe I have, but it is so yummy).  Damsons are good in Gin too.  Haws I would like to get as I want to have a go at the River Cottage Hawsin Sauce.

Time also to start collecting Teasels and seed heads as they can be turned into Christmas Decorations.  Need leaves for drying to make some wrapping paper with the aid of some paint.  You can make some really lovely packaging using paper and natural materials.  It can then be disposed of safely.

I am back under the stairs again today.  Hopefully it will not take too long to finish up.  I have tweaked the shelves a little more since yesterday, and no doubt it will be tweaked even more in coming days.

The veg shop is closed until the weekend.  On any annual holiday they close the shop for about four or five days and go do their own thing.

I have spiced Oranges to prepare later on for the Pantry shelf.  A simple project for today which I can fit in. They are nice served as a pickle with some ham or a Ploughmans salad.  I tend to use them for decorating the outside of a Ham and then glazing it with some Orange, Redcurrant or Cranberry jelly for the Christmas food table.  I also make a jar or two out of Clementines or Mandarins.  Although you use more of the little oranges with these to decorate a Ham, it gives a slightly different look.  We eat with our eyes first!

Time also, especially in view of the costs of energy going up to get the Christmas Cake and puddings out of the way. Earlier than usual, but needs must.  Have to keep an eye on those expenses, and selectively choose which items are going to use, to make sure your family is fed with good food and also that you keep as warm as you can.

Anyway I digress (I am forever going down Rabbit holes!). I have all my fruit to hand and it is my intention when I have not too much on my plate to get the cakes out of the way with.  They can then be stored in tins in the under-stair cupboard.  Puddings too stored in their bowls.  In my family the Puddings have always been stored like this.  Sometimes we have made more puddings for whatever reason and not been able to use them up. We have kept the same storage routine and some of the puddings have been eaten in their second year, and there is nothing wrong with them and the flavour has been magnificent. The combination of fruit, spices, alcohol preserves the pudding. As long as the shelf or place where you are keeping them is cool there is no reason why they should not keep. If you have a Pantry with an old fashioned slate or marble shelf, this is the cold shelf and an ideal place on which to store milk, cheese and Christmas puddings. The Pantry was always a dark room with ventilation and always cold. My puddings are always well wrapped in foil, and checked periodically.  Store nowhere near central heating as this does dry things out.  Most people have kept them in the Freezer which is also acceptable.  However with the increase in charges for energy, most people are trying to decrease the amount of freezer space they do have.  I do not have any freezers at the moment, but that may well change in the future.

There are always ways round things, sometimes you just have to approach or think about things slightly differently to achieve the changes you do need to make. Life gives you experiences, lessons.  Experiencing those lessons or having to do things to survive arm you with a different kind of knowledge and teach you how to get by.  Getting by, that is all that matters at the end of the day.  Each of us can do that.

If ever I manage to get that dream home, by choice, I would want an unfitted kitchen that I can add items of preloved, restored or revamped furniture to.  Make my own choices for what needs to be done in my kitchen.  It with an old fashioned Pantry/Larder/Cellar than a fitted kitchen.  It is a shame that they do not build them as standard in houses anymore.

I also have some filtering of some Passionfruit Gin to do later on, get into bottles and then into the Cupboard under the Stairs.  That will be another thing done and out of the way with.  There is more.

Also plan on making my Elderflower wine kit.  Anything else will be a bonus today.

Right off to the cupboard I go.

Catch you later.

Pattypan

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