TARRAGON & THYME

We are foodies and if we go out anywhere it is usually food orientated.  We had not planned on going to the fish man today or at least I hadn't but that is where we went.  We go to the small market town of Ramsey. We had already decided to go to the bakery Peter's Bakery in Old Fletton, which has kept open all through the pandemic but complying with requirements.  This is an old fashioned bakery where the bread tastes really good especially the crispy white buns which is what we had gone to get together with some other bits and bobs.  On the way back home OH decided to do a detour and that is when we ended up in Ramsey. OH went to the fish man today instead of me.  I had a Jack Russell firmly planted on my lap and she was not moving.  OH came back with some Crevettes, our Crabs, two Lemon Sole and two Skate Wings.   Now we have an ongoing story with Skate, twice before we have bought it home and despite going to use it straight away both times it ...

Wednesday It has been a wet and miserable day here in Peterborough and yet again I have not been up to much and have not done what I intended to do.   No energy again. I have however have managed to lose three cheese graters.  I had seen them the other day could I find them nope.  The reason for three cheese graters is that one was my Mum's original one that she used when I was a little girl so sentimental reasons for keeping that one; then there was my box grater and a small Triangular one.  Me and my short term memory.  I needed this for tea tonight - we had Lasagna and I needed to put grated cheese on the top.  Ended up slicing as could not locate any of the graters.  It turned out okay.  Quickly followed by Cherry pie and vanilla custard. Now look folks I actually cheated.  We bought a ready made Lasagna from the Butchers to try and whilst it was full of meat and cheese and tomato after a few mouthfuls it tasted really sweet.  I...

The Elderflower is coming into season and I have plans to go foraging this week to collect this precious bounty which can be turned into useful products for the shelf.  It is a marking of the seasons as well like apple picking in the autumn.  Nothing better on a hot summer's day than having a glass of chilled Elderflower Champagne that does not cost you an arm and a leg.  I then realised that I have not done much on the preserving front this year by way of posts and thought that I would share some of the links I use for both recipes and inspiration and in some cases tutorials on how to actually do things.  Even I am still learning after 40 years of food preserving.  It is a never ending process.  However I am a great believer that we all have something to bring to the proverbial table and at the end of the day we all learn from each other.  Whether that be by approaching something in a different way or finding a shortcut that works for you, which you t...

Of the computer kind and the Pantry kind   This is why my emails out are not being sent and I was not able to receive any.  I have a lot of deleting to do apparently which is going to take some time.  I also had managed to have some things ticked which I should not have done which coupled with the email issue has not helped.   So sometime over the next few weeks each day is going to be given to bringing this down to normal parameters. Since the Raynaud's attack at the weekend I have been slightly out of sorts but am getting there.  I had hoped to start on the pantry today to try and get things sorted and under control.  That will take a good couple of days or more.  It maybe that I will start this tomorrow as the main dustbins are due to be collected and emptied tomorrow.  They only empty these fortnightly with the recyclable stuff the following week. We did at the weekend get rid of a load of rubbish, but still have more to go.  A ...

Last night I was engaged in cleaning and organising duties between the kitchen and the dining room.  Time consuming but well worth the effort and in the circumstances I wanted something tasty but quick for tea.  I knew I had some Rib eye steak in the freezer - a bit of a treat really, so that was bought out and defrosted and we had it for tea.  OH is a big steak lover - I can take it or leave it but I do enjoy it in a sandwich with either fried leek or onion slapped between two slices of bread (the onion or leek being fried gently in a little oil and butter until caramelised.  Uncouth I know but this is how I enjoy it best whereas OH normally likes it as a full meal, however unusually he decided he would quite like the sarnie as well.  Sorry did not take any pictures was too busy eating. I washed my hair last night, used conditioner and anti-frizz serum and my hair has just gone really frizzy to the point where I can hardly get a brush let alone a comb through ...

But takes hours and hours of effort to sort things out, clean and re-organise them? Due to rain stopping play on the Ivy tugging, I have been in the house trying to sort things out a bit more.  Not easy but have to keep at it and in particular my kitchen and dining room needs the organisation more than anywhere else. In  my kitchen I have no drawers at all.  Drawers in a kitchen are a must in my book but there has not been the capacity to provide for this so far as my kitchen is more of a scullery (indeed some peoples utility rooms are bigger than my kitchen). The kitchen is hardly big enough to swing a rat, but for the best part I make it work.  In any event, storage is a big issue and I often have equipment in other rooms as a result.  At the moment I am trying to re-organise things that are more commonly used easily to hand with more specialist bits packed in boxes but still easily accessible  which in itself is a WIP.. In desperation I decided to buy a ...

I have not managed to get into the garden for the past few days as more pressing matters have had my attention in the house.  It is a slow old process but I think I am getting there.  Here is the journey so far: The jungle.  You will see that to the right of the picture there is a lot of Ivy growing.  This is the greenhouse covered by the Ivy  as it was when I started work on it. The area in front of the greenhouse looking towards the jungle and the first part of the greenhouse. Looking from the front of the greenhouse.  All you can see is Ivy.  No sign of a greenhouse and the area on the ground is all covered in Ivy too. After the initial removal session. A long lost Ballerina tree now clear to breathe again.  Does not look as though there are any apples this year, but fingers crossed for next year. The base of the dead Cherry tree which was a Stella and had the most beautiful cherries on it.  We regularly used to achieve about 40lbs of Cher...