TARRAGON & THYME

I have a big job ahead of me in the evenings to come as I have decided to re-arrange the furniture on my blog a tad which means me going back through previous posts and re-adjusting everything as I want to make it a bit easier for you to find things.  Things might appear and disappear whilst I make my mind up  but please do not worry it will all come out in the wash and hopefully be a lot easier for everyone to find things. But then again equally something may not happen for some time.  Will have to see how it goes.  Its a learn a long a thingy  - I will be learning as I am doing. Hope you are having a good day wherever you may be its a bit grey here in Peterborough Pattypan x

Rhubarb when I was growing up I wasn't keen on it cooked.  My preferred method of sampling rhubarb was the way my nan taught me a fresh stick out of the rhubarb patch dipped in some sugar when we got back into the kitchen.  Ugh you say - well there was a method in her madness it was one way of making sure that we were regular!  Anyway enough of that.  Little Clanger asked for some recipes for Rhubarb and I thought you ladies and gents might also like these recipes also. Rhubarb and Ginger Chutney 2 medium onions 300ml cider vinegar 2 allspice berries 2 whole cloves 1 cinnamon stick 1 tsp ground ginger 1 heaped tablespoon grated fresh ginger 300g soft light brown sugar 200g dried apricots 1kg rhubarb trimmed weight Put the onions into a preserving pan or heavy based saucepan if you don't have a maslin/preserving pan together with the vinegar, spices and the fresh ginger and sugar.  Slowly bring the contents to the boil stirring until the sugar is co...

Evening everyone today has been a grey day literally it has been peeing it down with rain this afternoon and this evening it hasn't let up at all.  We have had home made Lasagne for tea today with fresh spinach in between the meat and sauce layers and it was scrummy.  Warm hot and filling, just served with some bread and butter it is very filling.   Quite simply a tin of Italian tomatoes a jar of my home made passata sauce, some garlic, pepper, fried onions, white pepper and spinach together with white cheese sauce served in layers.  No nasties at all in just simple hone cooking.  Now the nights are getting colder you need the warm food to stoke up the proverbial boiler.   I still have this cold hanging around which is also getting me down.  Grey should be banned I simply do not do Grey.  Its a good toning colour but we had grey wallpaper in this house when we moved in and it quickly got changed to really bright colours. I watched War Time ...

Whilst cooking tea last night I nipped to the shop last night as I wanted some veggies available for use during the rest of the week.  In our household we eat a lot of veggies, in fact there is invariably more veggies than meat on the plate.  I very luckily managed to get three trays of new potatoes off the reduced counter for 20 pence a tray, (should have been £1 a tray)  so three trays for 60 pence saving £2.40.  two cauliflowers reduced from 80 pence each to 64 pence each (I am thinking Cauliflower Cheese here), some Spinach £1 a big bag, and some parsnips  I have petit pois in the freezer and a bag of broccoli and carrots.  I already have some loose carrots, sweet potato leeks and squash and a cabbage and onions in and some cannelini beans and a soup mix so I am looking to make a veggie soup in the next few days or so using a chicken carcass that I have for stock.  You don't need meat to make a meal, but you do need reasonable quality vegetables t...

Well tea went down very nicely very tasty it was too and OH was pleased of a nice hot meal when he got into night.  Jokingly I asked whether he had been dreaming of lamb steaks/chops all day and he indicated yes he had!  He ate it all up in any event. As I mentioned I had bought a bread mix which I hadn't tried before.   I wanted some buns for pack ups tomorrow and so I made the mix up in the bread machine on the dough setting only.  I then knocked back the dough and kneaded it and then shaped into 10 medium sized buns let it rise again and they have come up very well.  The mix cost £1.09 and all that was needed was some water but I added a little sunflower oil and a little butter.  The mix is a Wrights Mixed Grain Bread Mix.  I have ten medium sized buns for that money.  The buns were cooked on Gas mark 6 for about 10 to 12 minutes until cooked and then I turn the buns upside down on the tray and give them a further 5 minutes just to crisp...

Boy isn't it cold this evening. Its been quite busy here since I got home this evening at 6.00 p.m and I really have got a wriggle on.    On has gone the heating as my poor digits have gone blue.  Tea is busy cooking we have minted lamb double chops with mashed potato, carrots, broccoli and peas with lashings of gravy.  I have some dough mixing at the moment for some mixed seed buns.  Its a pre- packaged bread mix which I haven't tried before so we shall see how it turns out.   However I have been down the list of the contents  which is as follows: Wheat flour Kibbled Malted Wheat Oat Flakes Rye Flour Malt Flour (wheat and barley) Golden Linseed Kibbled Rye Poppy Seeds Brown Linseed Sunflower Seeds Chickpea Flour Pearl Barley Flakes So a good range of ingredients We have home made rice pudding in the oven too so hopefully not before too long we will have a nice warm tea to fill us up and warm the cockles of our hearts.  I a...

Be Grateful for What you have When you don't have the pennies in the pocket its more than time to be grateful for what you do have.  Rather bemoaning the fact that you haven't got money to do this or that which is always awkward stand back and decline to do things especially if you do not have the wherewithal..There is no shame in this although it can make you feeling left out.  Find something to do with what you already have at home or easily available at your disposal.  You have a blank new canvas to try something new and it need not cost the earth if anything with a little bit of lateral thinking.  There are plenty of tutorials on different subjects on the Internet watch some of those and see how you get on and if you do need some assistance ask for it from a friend or a relative who may already have those skills or seek someone out.  You have a whole new canvas to fill and learn new skills.  It is not the end of the world when the wherewital is ...