TARRAGON & THYME

Bread is a staple in many people's diet and one of my pet hates is wasted bread.  So much so, I am endeavouring to limit this where at all possible, especially in our current reality where War in the Ukraine has caused massive disruption to grain supplies amongst other things, prices of the grain have gone up across the board.  That has impacted on food everywhere and of course the fuel problem.  All that put together with things like Avian flu, lack of responsible food supplies within our own country are a crisis that we could do without. We could grow oh so much more than what we actually do and many other things besides.  It is literally our bread, butter and meat that is being affected, if not now that will come in the future as people will also go out of business because of the prices and the pot of what will be available will get less and less.  We have to take responsibility for our own families and put up what we can and how we can depending on those res...

......here in Peterborough.  The type of damp day that gets into your soul.  It rained as well yesterday.  We do need the water though. I have been stuck at the sink as well, washing and then sterilising lots of jars in readiness for preserves yet to come.  I have already been relatively busy this week on that score. Yesterday I cooked the proverbial Cottage pie, and there was a load left over for today.  We have devoured that and it has warmed us up very nicely.  Simple food that does so much good. I only ever have one portion.  OH, has two.  This is a good two- day meal that is very filling.  These types of meals are good for me as spending one time in the kitchen making a dish for two days opens up a little time for me to concentrate on other things like items for the Pantry shelf jams, conserves, pickles, chutneys, bottled fruit etc. I am also not at the moment doing a big shop at a supermarket.  I could do with it generally but...

A basketful of the items that I have dried this week. That have managed to put up out of the way this week with the aid of my small dehydrator.  The majority can be used for decorating but some of them can be used for both eating/snacks and decorating.  That for me is a win-win. This is really just a short post of those items that have been going on in the background of lots of things that have been happening in the kitchen this week.  Lots has been going on but there will be hopefully a full report on Sunday evening covering this in detail. The drying started with Spinach powder at the beginning of the week, quickly followed by Kale leaves (left in leaflets) and then decanted into jars. I need to add more of these but have not seen any in the shop since.  It may be that they have had them in and sold out, but they were not there when I went looking. Have gone on to bag up my Bay leaves from earlier on (some of these are going to be turned into powder in any eve...

Many apologies for the lateness in this post, unfortunately I was too tired to type it last night after an active day in the kitchen. I have often been asked how I make gravy for this or for that meal.  In truth it is similar but very different every time I make, as I take advantage of what is around me and I use very much what I have to hand.  One thing I do all the time though when making gravies, soups, stews well anything cooking wise is that I am constantly tasting the gravy in particular all the time as for me the flavour of the gravy makes or breaks a meal. First, after many years of home cooking, trials and tribulations - yes, I have burnt the potatoes (because I was distracted doing something else), and sometimes yes, I have been able to save them.  I am not perfect; I am however very human.  Some days are good on the cooking front, but if I am unwell then it tends to come out in the cooking usually quite drastically.  I am no expert, but I do love cook...

Sorry this should have posted yesterday but got held up on the photo front.  Anyway here it is: Hello everyone, hope you have all had a good day.  I have had a smashing one, wandering around in nature on my own gathering the wild fruits, and just being me.  It has been a lovely few hours on my own where I have taken time to recharge.  What better battery than Mother Nature herself. As threatened, I managed to get out today for a good old forage.  It was perfect weather a little windy but not gusty and I managed to find loads of goodies. The foliage looks glorious too all the yellows, russets, reds.  Look spectacular. I found Sloes.  Yippee.  Am quite pleased about this and managed to bring a few home again with a view to trying some new recipes that I have never made before.   I came home with Rosehips Two Carrier Bags of fallen Crab Apples.  These will need sorting out tomorrow as they were fallers and have all sorts of bits of gra...

Well,  I seem to have lost track of where I was on the Pantry front and what I have been doing.  I have therefore decided to start it again from last Sunday going forward and also giving a general round up of what have actually made or added to the Pantry shelf, including ingredients added to the stock pantry, during the intervening period.  This post is photo heavy. A lot has happened since I last posted on Pantry progress!   I take the view that when I am "gathering" items together whether that be wild fruits or boughten items, that I am "foraging", just in a slightly different style to what is normally expected.  I have always done things my way, but the end result is that I usually have a well-stocked pantry - well as far as the pennies permit in these difficult times. In all honesty, due to recent events, I am not as stocked up as much as I would like to be.  It is what it is though. Something is always better than nothing.  Part of my strate...