TARRAGON & THYME

For tea this Monday we are having a full roast chicken with veggies for tea and a cauliflower cheese.  It has been a while since we have had chicken just simply cooked and I was craving a proper meal.   The chicken came from Moor Farm at Newborough - the first time we had tried one of their birds.  Whilst not the biggest bird for the price, it is good solid meat that cooks beautifully and that for me makes all the difference.  The meat was "sweet", cut well and it cooked well.  I tend for the best part to cook chicken simply.  I either add a Lemon or parts thereof, depending on what flavouring I am going for or an Onion halved or a couple of large shallots to the cavity.  These days if I do a stuffing which I did not last night, I cook that in a separate tray in any event. I quite liberally coat the bird with butter and I then sprinkle with either Fines Herbes (with some Chervil in), Herbes de Provence [with Lavender in) (I love both of these herb...

I have gradually for a few months been adding things to my requirement list for having another go at making Sourdough.  I already had a hand blender which I bought in Summer and have gone on to add in a proper Lame and now finally a cast iron 5.3 litre pan for cooking the Bread in which should arrive later on in the week. (This has now arrived). This is something that has been on my wish list for quite some time.  Gradually the holes are being filled on the equipment front.  There are still a few more bits, but I will wait a while possibly until I can get good prices for the remaining bits and bobs.  I also have a proper set of electric scales and will therefore weigh the jar and then the ingredients which is also meant to help. I have therefore started off another Sourdough Starter.  I have used Rye Bread flour for this purpose as I read that it gives a much more stable starter than those just made from white flour.  You can also feed the Rye flour starter...

Yesterday G went to Moor Farm in Newborough yesterday to visit the Butcher.  I was left babysitting the animals and getting them sorted. He came back with what are called a couple of "Melts" which appear to be like a Beefburger with a melting middly bit and also a roasting sheet of beef and veggies and so I am serving them together as really for a good portion each we needed the same again as to what he bought.  However it is a taster and something different to what we are used to and so I am keen to give it a try.  He also came back with a Chicken (which was designated for tonight's tea) however that will happen tomorrow now.  More on that another day. A tub of curry sauce for a curry during the week, a couple of Gammon steaks and a couple of hot large sausage rolls.  Very tasty but far too big for me.  What I call a man-sized sausage roll. We had a good covering of snow overnight and at 4:00am when I looked out the window this morning, next door's roof wa...

Brghh it is cold.  We have Snow forecast with a yellow warning for ice until tomorrow evening.  I have not moved far, and so am taking advantage of the sit down time.  Basically, just planning and plotting and slowly gathering some items together for some up and coming projects.  Not getting stuck in per se just yet. I have bought in some Litmus paper for testing PH which is needed for a couple of upcoming projects I have in the pipeline. Not strictly necessary but something I am choosing to do for my own understanding more than anything else. Cheesemaking I regularly make homemade yogurt, but I want to step this up a bit and start making my own cheese.  There  a few basic items I need though. and I have subsequently ordered these in.  I have ordered a couple of books; one a cheesemaking book i.e. the River Cottage Cheese and Dairy book  the other a book on vegan alternatives to dairy, called The Vegan Dairy by Catherine Atkinson. I also bought so...

Definitely the boring bit!  First of all need to get the basics sorted.  That means the Diary to plan forward with regard to events, seasonal foods, opportunities etc.  That means a physical page a day diary for me into which I add all the sorts of things that I make or potentially make in any one year as well as seasonal things to do.  It encompasses a whole load of items that I have found useful over the years.  I may not choose to do something in any one particular year, but it still remains in the list year by year as an option, just in case I change my mind. A Page a Day Diary has proved the best option for me as I make notes as I go along with amendments and different ways of doing things.  I also plot the Wild Larder as much as I can in there as well.  It is my own kind of organised chaos and acts just as much as an Aide Memoire these days as well as a potential task lister. I do not really like a computer diary as it does not allow enough space...

Happy New Year Everyone.  It was a wet and wild one here last night with a right old "Hooley" blowing until early morning.  Also an escalation of Fireworks at midnight to what we normally get.  There is a lot potentially to achieve this year, but any move forward is a gain no matter how small. Christmas did not pan out well for me this year.  I had lots of plates twirling on sticks, and then I had a bad fall which basically crippled me up.  So I just gave in gracefully and dealt with what I had and the situation as it was.  We ate well but some of the things I had planned just did not get done.  Never mind.  Nothing has been wasted though. Was just getting back on track and I fell again and in the same place.  To enter out study/craft room/computer room we have to go down a step which is on a lower level than the rest of the house.  It is this step that I seem to fall on.  We have put some rubber matting down just there as I do not ...