My friend Rebekah kept her
wedding cake top layer in her
loft for four years and went to
look at it the other day for the first time.
She says 'Oh well, it went the same way as the marriage'...
...because we have all been ILL, that's why. I have only eaten one kiwi fruit since Christmas eve. I missed canapes twice, a full roast turkey dinner, desserts, loads of wine and all the extras like mince pies, cake and big slabs of home cooked ham. Am only just getting my appetite back - this was a very un-merry christmas for me.
The first one of the year... The sun was out, felt like something summery to eat so made chicken and spare ribs in the oven and finished them off outside. Served with rice and peas, sweet potato salsa and rum punch. Then it rained.
Nice to meet a friend here in Bury on Saturday for a cup - well a good sized pot actually - of tea, with a fresh scones, the thickest cream and those little jars of strawberry jam. Their sofas are the most comfortable seats in the town, it was warm on a freezing cold day and there was free wi fi access for the laptop. And the staff are REALLY nice!
GCSE's over for this week, so time to show Danielle how to make elderflower cordial. The flowers are fantastic at the moment and have picked them while the sun is out - as recommended by others. No citric acid though so will add lemon juice and hope for the best, whatever happens this is going to be a lot cheaper then buying it in the shops.
What a boring final, but good excuse for a family food event - supporting Spain with jugs of Sangria and various Tapas (a kind of English tapas - whatever you can make without going to the shops.) Had more fun with intermmittent singing of Y Viva Espana and flamenco music and eventually, finally, yawn - the goal.
Look at my produce! I thought jam was a hassle (thermometers, muslin, big aluminium or not pans, rolling boils, saucers of cold water...) until I discovered the sugars with pectin in and now there's no stopping me. This week bought kilo bags of two types of the sugar (one for soft fruit jam, one for fruit with stones) Then got just over a kilo of apricots first, made that one in an hour. Then bought raspberries, made that one in half an hour. Will make one more lot from wild bullis plums later as these are my real favourites and just fall off the trees into my open carrier bag!
More...
Without knowing my plans for vegetarian and curry, Tanya has cooked me curry again - kerala fish curry - so delicious. Will have to excuse this fish as wouldn't strictly speaking be eating fish as a vegetarian, but still - no meat.
Making plum jam – with the free yoghurt mention and a message to Veuve Cliquot
Written by Claire
These are the plums, the ones that are dropping from the trees all over our roads at the moment and no one picks up. I am about to make some more jam which is fab for breakfast mixed into plain Greek yoghurt, instead of buying those horrible flavoured ones. This is especially good timing because my free sample of Total yoghurt is going to be delivered tomorrow! I am planning to do this jam -making in my Veuve Cliquot apron.
Here is the dip and the vanilla cream terrine made from the yoghurt, which is now coming to an end. It really was the thickest, tastiest and most versatile - so I am converted. See Madame Maincourse's comment to find out exactly what she did. Recipes later.
