Not an Early Morning start..... Today
I was still up at 1:00am and it was unbearably hot so did not sleep very well. Nodded off and was awake at 6:00am but nodded off again and it was 10:00am before I did manage to get up and mobile. It is just how things are with me these days.
I have been busy in the kitchen. Tea tonight was supposed to be a homemade Quiche which we have not had for a while and was going to be served with salad and some baby potatoes. However, as it is so unbearably hot have had a Take away. Fish and Chips which we have not had for a long time. Was delicious. Quiche will now be had tomorrow with salad and new potatoes and maybe a herb dressing of some sort. It is really just a matter of switching things about a bit.
Earlier in the week, I processed my Bay Leaves and also the Black Peppermint both of which had been left to dry on my Dresser. They were the first batches dealt with and quite a few more batches to come. I have more Mint and Bay leaves ready to be picked and dried.
The Bay Leaves are now decanted into their jar.
The Black Peppermint is now crispy and Dry. It has been "Rubbed" off the stems and decanted into a bowl for now which is covered before being popped into its glass jar. This has been preserved primarily for making natural homemade Peppermint tea for the winter months. I have some more Mint projects in mind in due course. The stems are not going to waste though as they will be used in making "Fire Lighters/Starters". I have been collecting a few things up to make these which I hope to do shortly.
As I have mentioned, I did go into the kitchen and made two batches of Butter Pastry and Lard Pastry, using an old Be Ro recipe. Fortunately I had a big bottle of water in the fridge in readiness for making the shortcrust pastry (Be Ro recipe) which I made in my stand mixer.
The Quiche is in the process of being made and once cooled that will go into the fridge. I also intend to make an egg custard for a choice of puddings and serve it cold as well. I am also going to make an Orange Jelly and an Orange Mousse and buy some ice cream to serve with it. That should cool us down a bit. The egg custard can be eaten in slices in any event if we fancy something in between meals. Will see how things go.
Still unbearably hot here, so am keeping to the house and pottering doing jobs here and there. I have put on a dress today though as it is a lot cooler for me to wear. Washing machine is going on again as well so that I can get stuff out and about to dry on the line. Glad I watered up again last night for the plants sake. Hopefully will get out into the garden to do a little bit if it starts to cool down. I shall do the same again tomorrow.
I am nursing a Grape Vine at the moment which has an awful lot of tiny bunches of grapes on them. I am hoping to actually get some this year.
The reason I had went over to the veg shop was because G had nipped over to get some tomatoes and eggs and seen some Greengages, not big ones, but nice sized ones. I love Greengage jam, but I also like bottled plums or Greengages. The batch I have I intend to make jam with but I may go back and see if they have any for bottling.
On my little trip across the road, I came across a load of Redcurrants on the marked down pile at the Greengrocer/Veg shop. I am going to make Groseille (Redcurrant) jam from them. I have not made this for years, but it was a favourite when I last made it. Not really come across Redcurrants in any quantity for a while. I am therefore classing this as a bit of a bonus as I did not expect to be able to get any preserves made at the moment. I therefore came away with some for eating and some for jam. I also bought a large yellow Courgette for everyday use as well. I may go back for some more though for use in a Chutney or a Relish. I use Courgettes in fresh eating as well so it will also be used up if it does not go into a preserve. So feeling blessed in this respect.
It has been - and will be for the next week - over 30C with high humidity. We are also getting almost daily thunderstorms which does help to cool things a bit at night but the A/C and fans are running overtime. Can't manage big projects when its like this but I do plan on getting through a series of small jobs so that I can rest and cool off in between.
ReplyDeleteI think I may make a couple of quiches this weekend - I cut them up and put them into the freezer and then take out a serving as needed. I get up early and use the oven before it gets crazy hot. I don't need a lot of groceries but may get some tomatoes and mushrooms and some cream for the quiche. I tend to eat a lot of fruit along with yogurt and cream cheese for an easy meal and there are a few items in the freezer that can just be defrosted and then warmed up in the toaster oven with a few vegetables added.
Give yourself a break from the heat.
Hi Margie, if I had a freezer things would be a lot easier. I had a large chest freezer and two uprights but lost them in the fire. They were located in a shed outside the house. I have not replaced the shed, so have nowhere for a freezer. The only way I would achieve that is to move somewhere else at the moment and sadly that is not on the cards. We have had our one fan on constantly as well, although I did open all the windows up. Fortunately no storms. Have been taking things easy, and trying to keep the cat and the dog chilled as well bless them. Simple honest food is often the best. Hugs Tricia x
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