An enjoyable Day

Sorry this should have been posted last night, but I got playing in the kitchen and forgot about time.  When I realised how late it was, it was too late for me to finish this post off.

Thursday

After a very cloudy start to the day, gradually things have warmed up a bit and the Sun has been out for a little while.  It has been slightly blowy and not really warm but not really freezing either.

In any event we went for a walk with her Ladyship this afternoon where we normally take her and I was able to gather a few more Wild Rose petals.  I have left the centres intact on the bush as they form the hips so they will continue to grow on the bush and produce Rosehips come end of August beginning of September when I shall go foraging again. 

I have brought the petals home for crystallising for cake decorating.  I shall pop up a separate post about this.  I also have a few leaves which I intend to cover in chocolate for another cake or gateau decoration.  More about that on the same post as the crystallising.  

I also want to dry some of the wild Roses for use in soap making or in bath salts, just a couple of the things on my list to try, and also using the leaves for making chocolate cake decorations. You could also make your own wedding confetti from the Rose petals.  Also managed to bring a few Rosebuds home as well to dry.  

I am hoping to get a few more in due course to hopefully press the petals in my flower presses and also some leaves. Roses can be used in all sorts of ways in cooking on tops of cookies and cakes.  Can also be used if pressed to decorate photo frames, picture mounts for multi-framed photos,  on candles, on glass jars, make some flower decorated lanterns, wall pictures. Some of the Roses are a very pale pink nearly white and the others have a deeper hue.  I love Roses of all sorts and one day I hope to have a Rose Garden of my own.  

Needless to say I am particularly interested in highly scented Roses and using them in cooking and decorating. Cultivated garden roses can be preserved in the same way. Being in nature though, that is when I am at my happiest, trawling the hedgerows.  Still very much a country girl at heart, looking for bits and bobs I can make use of.

The Wild Rose is one of my favourite Roses.  It brings happy memories back of my Pop (Granddad) walking us here there and everywhere and like my Dad teaching us about the Countryside. We were encouraged to know and understand our environment and as for most of my life I have lived in proper countryside it is still an inherent part of me.  We need nature. I think these Roses are so beautiful but so fragile.  They make me happy.  So simple but perfect. 

I have also managed to bring a few more Elderflowers home.  Tonight's task is to start off the Elderflower Cordial, the first batch of a couple of batches to be made for the year. The recipe I use together with a recipe for Elderflower Wine and Champagne is also on the link below.

Elderflower Wine, Cordial and Champagne

You can also use the Cordial as a base for making puddings.  There are a couple of links here for you to have a go at if you want to.  A good way of extending the repertoire of an Elderflower Cordial.

How to make Sorbets from Cordials

and

Lemon and Elderflower Syllabub

I have also found some baby Larch cones which I have picked up as well for decorating with later on in the year.  I am hoping to go on a proper forage either over this weekend or during the week as I need to get some other wild stuff gathered in preparation for additional projects.  I have started gathering preparations already.  I need to get a box sorted out though for my supplies to be stock-piled in readiness for my planned projects.

We have had Barnsley Chops for tea this evening, accompanied by New Potatoes, peas, Asparagus, Carrots and Broccoli.  Followed by Strawberries and cream.  Very tasty and a lovely lighter meal than we normally have.

I needed to go and get some frozen peas and whilst at the shop I added a couple of bags of different things.  A 1kg bag of Porridge oats and a 1kg bag of Basmati rice and a Coronation Tate and Lyle Golden Syrup Tin. I have several various ones which I have collected over the years. 

On the reduced counter there was also some Union Jack bunting reduced to 75p a pack of bunting so I came home with two.  They will come in useful at some point.  Will get put up in my stash.  I have stuff for different occasions squirrelled away. I had before the Coronation bought a cookie cutter in the shape of the Crown.  Today they had them reduced to £1.25 and as I already had one I did not add another one. I think I paid £5 for it before the Coronation.  Never mind, I collect Cookie Cutters in any event.

I will decant the dried goods into their storage jars soon.  I have very large sweetie jars (think vintage Sweet Shop Sweeties jars here) which I recycled into bulk storage for my Pantry and which I keep my bulk items in.  This ensures that I have a ready supply of ingredients to hand.  

I still need to get back to the Asian shop though for a few more things.  I am trying to add things every month that I will need later on in the year when I can.  I will soon start stocking up on dried fruit for use in Christmas cakes, fruit cakes, tea breads etc.  Another month it will be cooking chocolate and cake decorating bits and bobs or ingredients like ground almonds, preserved ginger etc.  Then nuts including pre-packaged Chestnut puree which I use for a Chestnut and Chocolate Terrine which you can freeze whole and then cut off the amount you want and put the rest back in the freezer.  It was a Ruth Mott recipe of the Victorian Kitchen series.  However as I have no freezer I just pop it in the fridge and we take what we want of it at any one time.  A few days worth of pudding. Naughty but nice.

Will update on what I was up to last night later in the day.

Hope everyone is well.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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