TARRAGON & THYME

  I always look forward to the Christmas magazines year in and year out and many are saved and recycled for their ideas and recipes for future years.  The ones I have picked up so far are  down below.  I predominantly collect the magazines as over the years they have had some super recipes and indeed ideas for foodie gifts which recipes and ideas I tend to collect.  I think in all fairness each magazine has a lot to give it really at the end of the day comes down to what you are actually looking for.  I prefer a more traditional take on Christmas, but that is not to say I do not appreciate some of the more modern decorations. The two magazines in the bottom right hand corner are from previous years. 1.  Country Living Christmas  Magazine Lovely seasonal visuals in this magazine with some nice easily achievable simple decorations to make yourself which are quite charming.  There are some excellent articles including Emmetts Store in rural Suff...

 I overslept this morning and have spent the best part of the day catching up as I have not been firing on all cylinders.   Missy decided that her Dad was fair game this morning, and decided to give him a wash and rinse.  I am not sure how she is going to accomplish the tumble dry though? I also had an appointment at the Hospital today which went well. I have been cleared for surgery after having several checks at the clinic today. There was a little consternation though as I had low blood sugar when they tested my blood, but with some apple juice and a biscuit that soon came back to what is considered normal at 4.5.  I had had a bowl of porridge early in the morning,  and then a beef bun before going to the hospital.  Everything is okay though. Because I was cold, even though I was wrapped up, I was having a bad Raynaud's attack this morning, which I think together with the rest of the soft-tissue connection issues and autoimmune conditions I have, I ...

This is what we had for tea last night. OH had not had Calves liver before but I think he is a convert.  I tend to use Pigs liver for this type of casserole but they did not have any so could not get this.  This Calves liver though made an excellent substitution. I basically fried off in some seasoned flour the liver cut into regular sized pieces very gently and then did the same with some streaky bacon (the bacon I cut into small pieces after cooking).   I then emptied everything into a large casserole dish and added a couple of sliced carrots, a large onion finely sliced, a little fresh leek also finely sliced.  I then added in some Beef stock, mixed herbs, white pepper, redcurrant jelly, (I added water to the frying pan and bought to the boil to use the meat juices and then emptied it into the casserole dish) and some Marigold powder.  Everything was mixed in and the lid put on and cooked at Gas Mark 5 for a couple of hours.  Half way through I adde...

  Due to the bargains I found at the shop yesterday, I have now set myself up for some quite considerable work over the next few days on top of everything else.  We need the stuff to hand in the pantry though and that is the purpose of doing it.  Our local supermarket has had trouble keeping the shelves stocked due to deliveries promised but not arriving.  I am however very lucky in that I have a very good veg shop although they have been experiencing problems in sourcing stuff as there has not been stuff available at the wholesale auctions and market.  Prices have also gone up astronomically from what they have said. Bearing all of that in mind here are my plans for this week on the preserving front. Running Wednesday to Wednesday.  I find these lists helpful in that they keep me on track with what I need to do. The Cucumbers need to be turned into Bread and Butter Pickle Preserves.  OH eats these like sweeties. Four Boxes of eggs need boiling, coolin...

 It has been a very cold, grey and misley day here.  I suspect it is only one of many more to come as it feels really cold to me at the moment.  As a result of a medical condition i.e. Raynaud's Syndrome, I tend to feel the change in temperature way before most other people.  Hang me up on a wall and I would make an excellent Barometer! Today we have paid a visit to the Butcher at Willowbrook Farm Helpston near Peterborough.   Willowbrook Farm It is the first main meat shop since coming back from holiday and hopefully it should last us until the end of next week if not longer.   Like most shops to survive the Butcher we use has diversified and it is a Farm Shop.  They have a selection of vegetables, delicattessen, eggs, frozen as well as other items. There is a tea shop/restaurant and also a small garden centre at their premises. Today before we even ventured into the shop (the veg is in a shed outside) I saw these massive leeks.  I have...

I was in the front bedroom yesterday, slowly starting to sort things out a little bit, which  am I am slowly inching along with. During this process, I managed to sort a couple of large bags of clothing which will go to the Charity shop today (already gone there were three bags in the end), with a couple of other things we no longer want or need.  I have also kept a couple of OH's shirts back as there is at least a metre of fabric in each shirt, which will come in very useful on the crafting front so they have been put into my fabric stash in readiness to strip down when I get five minutes to spare. There are three shirts and they are in shades of  pale lilac, medium lilac and plum and will fit in with some fabric I have already managed to harvest for my crafting stash.  I am anticipating using the fabric towards a quilt of some sort.  I like to  bring things together gradually when I have a project and like to get all my ingredients, fabrics or crafting st...

I have been very blessed today in that I have been able to locate and buy at reduced prices the following: 10 reduced cucumbers at 42p each reduced from 65p each. i.e. £4.20, 4 boxes x 6 eggs @ 75p per box i.e. 24 eggs for £3 Punnet of sweet grapes £1 Eating apples @ £1 a bowl x 4 = £4 for  4kg Oranges at £1 a bowl x 2 bowls = £2 2kg Pickling Onions @ £2.50 per kg. - £5 2 Bowls of Italian Sweet Peppers £2.00 Total spent - £19.20 I will report back on how many jars I get of each in due course. What am I going to do with them.  Turn them into useful products for my pantry shelf.  I plan on making the following: Cucumbers to be turned into more Bread and Butter Pickles for OH. Eggs Destined to be turned into pickled eggs. You pay about £3 a jar in the shops and do not get very many. Punnet of sweet grapes for eating but may buy some more and dehydrate. Eating apples for apple butter and dried apple rings. Never had Apple Butter before and am going to make in the Slow Cooker....