Trials and tribulations of life and 'Crochet' at last. . .

Do you remember the Crochet Hexagons I showed way back in April?  No you probably don't!  The post is Here.

I started off with a strange floppy hexagon, that you could fold like this:

or like this:

Claire  guessed I am trying to make a Jacketty sort of something. . .
It has been quite slow going but I don't tend to crochet so much in the Summer.  I have just kept going round and round...working two hexagons at the same time.  I can actually see the end in sight now. . .

I am not really following a 'Pattern', which is pretty typical of me and usually where I go wrong!  I also did not think to carefully about my colours.  I just got carried away going around and around working with my favourite colours!  I had in my opinion gone past the point of no return.  I hate to 'frog' anything.  I am not sure I will be wearing this with pride (well not outdoors anyway . . . but who knows with me anything is possible).  It will get worn in the house in the winter though.  Maybe just not Winter 2012!
              I have a fortnight left of my 'holiday' before I go back to work.  I have been busy doing this and that!

The chickens helped with digging in the garden and all four of us were delighted to find. . .

Potatoes!  Poppy, Daisy and Rose are digging everyday now and keep finding more.
                 My parents came for lunch last week to help with the 'Courgette Glut':

This was stuffed with Turkey and Spicy Tomato Cous Cous.  We also had jacket potatoes:

and homegrown Runner Beans:

Over the weekend our town had a three day 'Festival' it was a Community event with two stages for music.  There were also fair rides, stalls and shows.  The weather was perfect for this type of event and there was a large turn out.  Unfortunately on the Friday night No.1 Son ran into some trouble with a group that he did not know and he got hurt and pretty shook up.  On Saturday I took Euan and we spent 10 hours there.  We had fun and for the large majority of the time I had No.1 Son in sight.  He was having a great time and so was everyone else it was a great day, chilling in the sunshine listening to music.  When I first started my blog I wrote about the 'travellers' that stay every year just around the corner from my house.  Check out the post here to see photographs of their vans.  They have a band called 'The Hedgerow Crawlers':

  Euan and I thought they were fantastic.

We stayed until the end of the day and it was dark.  I called Henry on his phone to tell him to hurry up and meet me at the car.  It is a fine line between keeping them safe and ruining their street cred!  So he left his friends to hurry and meet me.  He was about three minutes behind me walking up a pitch black path with lots of other people walking back too.  He ran into the same ****** group and they hurt him again!  I could not believe it when he turned up at the car!  He just wanted to get home asap as he was cut and bruised.  He was checked over at A&E yesterday. . . we had a 3hour wait.  It made him (and me) feel better to get the all clear.  I have thought about not sharing this on my blog. . . but it is 'life' and motherhood.  I will not say too much more about it!
 
             I read an old Italian Proverb yesterday:

"Small children bring headaches, older children bring heartache".

Why do they have to grow up?  If I thought it was hard work when they were babies. . . it is nothing compared to now they are older.   Obviously I am anxious about him going out and about now but I also don't want him to feel afraid.  It is definitely too hot here today for me to have wrapped him in cotton wool and it would take a lot of cotton wool!  He has gone 'out and about'.   I think we are just going to put it down to 'an experience'.  I hope we learn what we need to from it!  It is just a shame and a reality that life is not always a 'bed of roses'.  I do literally view the world through my pair of 'rose tinted' spectacles and sometimes I need a reality check!
XXX

Stuck In A Bit Of A Glut!

It has been a very rainy day.  I got soaked cleaning the chicken coop while three chatty 'supervisors' looked on, clucking their full approval.  Then I took a peek at the vegetables.  I was a bit surprised to see the courgettes/zucchini has run away with me.  I like this 'spherical' variety just for the novelty value.  These all seem to ripen up at once and grow at a speedy rate.  There is still more to come!  Of all the gluts I have had in my life I seem to have had courgette or marrow gluts the most.  I have tinkered about with vegetable growing in the garden and on allotments for about twenty years now.   One year I had a glut of huge marrows, about eight of them.  There is only so much you can do with a marrow.  I have tried jam, chutneys, pickles, stuffed marrow (a personal favourite), Marrow Au Gratin etc etc . . . you catch my drift.  101 ways with Marrow.   The year of the mega glut, my pantry was full of Marrows and I was reading an article in a 'Dog Magazine' about healthy diets for dogs. . . the article read. . . 'For healthy digestion, clean teeth, healthy gums and fresh breath feed your dog raw marrow. . . '   Over joyed at finding a use for a marrow I rushed to get 'Josh the Sausage Dog' a raw marrow.  He looked at me and looked at the marrow with a puzzled look on his face.  Then he dutifully ate his way through 3/4 of a large marrow, while I pottered in the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea.  I went back to the magazine while the dog was happily munching his marrow, turned the page of the article and it read "bone."  It actually said 'feed your dog raw marrow bone"!  Doh!!!  I don't know who was the more stupid, me for giving the dog the large marrow or him for eating it!
               I have just remembered too that Henry had 'Billy Marrow' that he was very attached to when he was about five.  I have a photograph of him somewhere grinning from ear to ear proudly holding his 'Billy Marrow'.  Billy Marrow had a little face scratched into his skin and got treated like a playmate for about a week.  (What a funny family I have proudly created)!
               Today I felt an urgency to do something with all these courgettes.  It is a shame to grow them and then waste them.  I googled a few ideas...I found this recipe for 'Courgette and Cheese Bread from 'Pebble Soup Blog'

The result is rather delicious. . . oh dear it is Weigh In day tomorrow.  I would definitely make this recipe again but may try 'Wholemeal Flour'.
               It hardly made a dent in my courgette glut.  Last night saw the return of 'The Great British Bake Off' on tv.  I think it went to my head a bit.  One inspirational young baker got very creative and he made a 'Pear and Parsnip Upside Down Cake'.  I took a leaf out of his book and got creative.  I made Courgette Cake with Chocolate, Chilli and Nuts!

I think I may be on my own eating this one.  Euan tried it but was not impressed.   It did use up a few more courgettes though.  I won't give you the recipe for this one!  (Say thank you Lucy)!  If you 'google' Courgette cake, or Zucchini Bread there are hundreds of delicious cake recipes out there.
                  Then for my third 'Courgette' creation of the day I made 'Sweet and Sour Pickled Courgette'.  I have made this before and it is rather tasty on sandwiches, or with cheese, salads and cold meats.

This pickle is good to eat after a couple of days.  I adapted this recipe for 'Polish Sweet and Sour Pickled Cucumber'  I did not add any of the seeds but I added red chili flakes for extra kick.
              I thoroughly enjoyed my 'rainy day' baking in the kitchen...but I have just had a thought, all that rain will have made more courgettes grow and swell to an enormous size.  Gahhh!  I need another Sausage Dog!
XXX

Random Raspberries and Other Stories . . .

What a lovely 1st of July.  Not only did we have the excitement of the Olympic Torch.  I have had the excitement of picking the first of this years raspberries from the garden.  Yum.  Three Little Red Hens cluck enthusiastically for their share.  They love raspberries and for the next few weeks they will provide a daily treat.  I try to put the raspberries to good use, making jam and Homemade Raspberry Liqueurs.  Tonight I made a scrummy and speedy pud using ready made Meringue Nests, Homemade soft cheese and homegrown raspberries.  Very pleased with myself I was too.

I just filled the Meringue Nests with the Soft Cheese and popped the raspberries on top.  Delicious.  The raspberries grow in the 'Chickens half of the garden'.  I had until today assumed the majority of the fruit was safe as although a hungry chicken can do a fairly high standing jump most of the berries are to high to reach.  Now this evening I have discovered there has been some cunning going on.  I found three chickens pecking all the berries off this fallen raspberry cane.

I did not see the deed but I suspect the three worked together and jumped on the cane until it fell!  I hope they are not going to make a habit of it.

Innocent until proven guilty. . . unless you are a chicken.  You can see they have been playing 'Foghorn Leghorn' with corn on the cobs. . . they love that too.  Good job I love them.  The cheeky girls!
Finally. . . Oh yes. . .

Pinch Punch First of The Month!   xxx

"2011" Looking back and Looking Forward "2012"

Looking back over 2011 we have had some 'Adventures'.  What a busy year, all those adventures made us hungry!  I hope we have even more 'Adventures' in 2012.  What a Blast!

And thirsty  hic!...I tried to use as much of my homegrown ingredients as possible.  Did somebody mention 'Healthy Eating Plan'?  Oh no!  Not for 2012!

I hope my Garden is good to me in 2012.  'As you sow so you reap.'

These were a great addition in 2011.  I hope they continue to stay healthy and have as much fun as they do now in 2012.  Long Live the Chickens and may there eggs be plentiful!

I hope there is lots more 'Hooky' time waiting for me in 2012.

I would also like to keep spinning.  (I really need the cupboard space).

Happy New Year and Best wishes for 2012.

Lots of Love

Lucy xxx

Tour De Stuffed Marrow and chips! 2011

My life just isn't complete without this family tradition.  Every year for as long as I can remember we have 'Stuffed Marrow and Chips' at least once a year.  There are many things in my life that would not be 'Everyone's Cup of Tea' and this is another of them.  Sadly this is not a homegrown marrow, but my courgettes look promising.

 The Marrow was stuffed with a Minced beef and vegetables in gravy.  I cooked it on low all day in the slow pot.  It has to be served with chips, homemade of course!  It also has to have lots of salt and vinegar.  I have also stuffed marrows with vegetarian lentil casserole mixture.  I think it is delicious but the rest of the house eat it under sufferance.  They like the chips though.
I will be spinning later to make some more 'Scrappy Beard'.

This is my Day 12 Effort, I started a second bobbin of 'Rainbow Scrap' yarn

Work experience update;  Quote: "I have had the most stressful day of my life today!"  He worked with older children who try to be naughty, where as he thinks the littlies try to be helpful.  He also did two hours in the office cutting out stuff!  He never wants to go in an office again and I think the teaching career may be over before it even started.  I just thought 'Hmmm welcome to the real world'.  My Mother told me there would be days like these!   Character building stuff.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  It has made me think of all the jobs I have done in the past that I have hated.  I have worked in McDonalds and hated it, cleaned toilets and hated it, worked in several factories and hated it, worked in a Supermarket which was ok, worked in social care which had it's ups and downs and for the last ten years (and a little bit more) have taught children with emotional and behavioural issues, some days I love it and other days are tough.  I only work three days a week for now, which helps.  The hardest job I have ever had though is 'Mom'.

Day 6 'The Tour De Peas' 2011

The 'Tour De Peas'...well it makes a change from the 'Tour De Fleece'.  I do love fresh peas.  I don't have many but the ones I do have are very tasty.  I love them raw but am very wary of grubs.  I always inspect my peas and it gives me a shudder to see grubs in the pod!  These were steamed for about a minute and added to a simple pasta salad.  It is important that I sustain myself with 'Carbo loading' as all athletes need to pay attention to their diet.  Day six of the 'Tour De Fleece',  I sneaked in a bit of crochet today!  Before continuing with my 'Rainbow Bobbin'.  I think it is getting fatter.

I must admit my right knee is feeling a bit creaky but nothing too bad.  I am sure the rest day on Monday will help.  It is a good job I am not in 'The Tour de France'!  I am too much of a hypochondriac.

Fresh Blackcurrant Muffins

I set myself a goal to try Five Recipes to Make with Fresh Blackcurrants.  I have made the Blackcurrant Marbled Cheesecake twice.  I made some 'Blackcurrant No Bits Jam'.  I will look on the bright side and make the 'Blackcurrant Curd' next year when the Hens are laying as it requires 10 eggs!  I may squeeze in a Blackcurrant Fool this week, who knows.   Finally with some of the last few Blackcurrants I have also made:

Blackcurrant Muffins.
Ingredients
100g Butter
100g Sugar
100g Self Raising Flour
2 Eggs
2 tbls milk
200g Fresh Blackcurrants


Method
Cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs and milk.  Fold in the Blackcurrants.  Fold in the flour. Place mixture into paper cases and bake in a medium to hot oven for 10 - 15 minutes until the muffins are golden brown.  I love the way the deep blackcurrant purple 'bursts' in to these muffins.  The sweet cake is just the contrast to the sharpness of the fresh fruit.  I love my paper cake cases I received them in a Swap Parcel all the way from Pittsburgh USA and I knew the blue would be perfect for these muffins.  Very pretty.

Making Homemade Raspberry Liqueurs

It is so lovely this year to have some help harvesting the Raspberries, although my helpers are not trained yet to pop the berries in the basket!

I only have a few Blackcurrants left hanging on the bush.  The Blackcurrant glut is officially over for another year.  However the raspberries are still coming thick and fast.

They are growing all the way up one side of the garden with the solitary Blackcurrant in there somewhere.  I have made jam, eaten a lot and given some raspberries away but they still keep on growing.  The chickens love them and get so excited with gratitude when I throw them a handful.  Today I had another load so I decided to put them to good use I have made Raspberry Vodka and Raspberry Gin.  I am sure in the winter I will sip away and look forward to another Summers abundant harvest.

I used 1 litre of spirit to 350g of Fruit and 350g of sugar.  I squished the raspberries into the bottles (obviously sampling a good few for quality control) added the sugar and then the spirit.  Now all they need is the occasional shake and a good few months patience.  Like so many things they improve with age.  They will actually keep for years, but not in this house.  I have used a brown bottle and a green bottle, if the glass bottles were clear I would need to wrap them in brown paper.  I will be sure to share a tipple with you when they are ready.  I am really looking forward to judging which one will be the best, Gin, Vodka, Vodka, Gin?  To be honest they tasted pretty good already!  If you don't grow raspberries these recipes may be worth tracking down a 'Pick Your Own' farm' on a Sunny Day.  If you would like my helpers to help with your harvest I will gladly hire them out!
I have just noticed a post over at 'Sheep Spinach and Strawberries' where 'Strawberry - Mojito' has been made in the 'Shepherdess Kitchen' It looks delicious.  Between us we will have you using up your Summer Fruit and getting rather Squiffy!  I believe in the medicinal qualities of such concoctions. 

Jamming

Blackcurrant 'No Bits' Jam

I have been busy working my way through my list of recipes to make with Fresh Blackcurrants.

Five-recipes-to-make-with-fresh Blackcurrants

I made the Cheesecake.

Blackcurrant-Marbled-Cheesecake

Now I have made the 'No Bits Jam'.  Again I adapted the recipe.  I only used two ingredients.

Ingredients
Fresh Blackcurrants
Sugar

Method
I used the same amount of sugar to Blackcurrants.  I didn't add any water.  I simmered the blackcurrants and pressed them through a sieve.  Then I added the sugar and boiled until the jam reached the setting point.  This has made a firm set Jam.  It is important to my youngest son that his jam has 'no bits'!

Today I picked fruit in the garden again.  The sun was shining and almost ripening them faster than I could pick them!  This year there seems to be a bumper harvest.

and ................

I have already turned the Raspberries into five jars of Raspberry 'No Bits' Jam.  The Raspberries are ripening and want picking everyday.  I have a 'Creative Spinning Workshop' to go to tomorrow evening and again on Saturday, I am going to bake 'Raspberry Buns' and 'Blackcurrant Muffins' to help me keep my strength up!

My son had an English Literature Exam yesterday he had to write an Essay on 'Of Mice and Men'.  I had to do that when I was at school!   I can remember one quote from the whole book!  The character Lenny used to repeat to himself;
'Live of the fat of the land'.  It gave him hope and comfort to dream of a day when he could own his own land and become self sufficient!  I wonder if he liked jam and turnips?

What a lovely pair!

A lovely pair of turnips, the first two of the year!  Turnips are my accidental speciality.  With my abundance of Blackcurrants and this pair of beauties I am really 'living off the fat of the land'.

They were washed, peeled and chopped within minutes along with swede, carrots and onion.

It was all mixed thoroughly together with some minced steak and seasoned with lots of salt and black pepper.

Wrapped up in a circle of Shortcrust  Pastry and Baked until Golden Brown.

A Cornish Pasty to my mind has to contain a bit of turnip for it to be 'Proper' 

I have shown you 'Cornish Pasties with the recipe in this previous post' I just wanted to show off my turnips!  I am off to Google 'Vegetable shows', I think mine are winners!

Blackcurrant Marbled Cheesecake

I think the colour 'Palette' here is beautiful.  (It would be a good design focus for spinning a Yarn).

In true 'Lucy In The Sky' fashion I find a recipe and make it my own depending on what is available in my store cupboards.  This is the recipe I devised based on the 'Blackcurrant Swirl Cheesecake' recipe from my
'Five Recipes to Make with Fresh Blackcurrants' post yesterday.

Blackcurrant Marbled Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Base
300g of crushed Chocolate Digestive Biscuits
125g of melted butter
(If you have never used Chocolate Digestives for a biscuit base before Oooo, give it a try!)
For the Cheesecake Mix
450g of Curd Cheese (Lower in fat than cream cheese, see who says I am not health conscious!)
1tsp of Vanilla Essence
50g sugar
2 Beaten eggs
2 tbls of Natural Yogurt
For the Blackcurrant Puree
400g of Blackcurrants
100g of Sugar

Method
First make the Blackcurrant Puree.  Place the blackcurrants in a saucepan and simmer gently until they are all soft and broken down.  Rub them through a metal sieve.  This is easier when they have cooled.  Stir in the sugar.
For the base mix the crushed Chocolate Digestives with the melted butter and press in to an 8 inch Flan dish.  Put it into the fridge to cool.
For the Cheescake, mix the Curd Cheese, Natural Yogurt, Sugar, Eggs and Vanilla Essence.
Place the Cheesecake mix on top of the flan base.  Drizzle the Blackcurrant Puree over the top and use a  skewer to swirl a 'Marbled' effect.

Bake the Cheesecake in the oven on Gas mark 1, (140C, 270F) for 1 hour.

Does this count as one of my five pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables a day?  Bring on the Blackcurrants.  

Thank you for all your lovely comments yesterday, I feel like I am having my own

 'Blackcurrant - Food Festival' in celebration of these little Black Juicy Gems.  You can read more about the Blackcurrant here at:

 The Blackcurrant Foundation.  Blackcurrants have climbed the ranks in scientific studies to earn the title of 'The Number One Super food'.  They contain three times more Vitamin C than an Orange and are extremely rich in disease fighting antioxidants.  They have health benefits for Cardiovascular, Aging and Brain function, Eyes and Vision, Asthma and Urinary Tract health to name but a few.  They have been grown and used by herbalists in the UK since The Middle Ages.  The British Isles produces 13,000 tonnes each year.  I think they need to be re-named, 'The Wonder Berry'.

Five Recipes To Make With Fresh Blackcurrants

Today I picked this lovely lot of Blackcurrants, bursting with Summery, juicy goodness.  I love this time of year when the garden is beginning to bulge with healthy fruit and vegetables.  I like it even more when I can pick that healthy goodness and turn it into something sweet, sticky and naughtily delicious!  I have selected five recipes and aim to try and work through them this year, the Blackcurrant Curd looks delicious, but you need 10 eggs!  I am a bit stuck for eggs right now, I may freeze some blackcurrants and wait for the Hens to do their thing!  The other recipes I can see no reason why I can't get busy on them asap.  

Blackcurrant Curd  

Blackcurrant Swirl Cheesecake

Blackcurrant Muffins

Blackcurrant Jam (No Bits)

Blackcurrant Fool

I will of course let you know how I get on.

Digging For Victory

I thought I would give you a tour of my garden in this post.  I have been busy and have lots to show you.  I use 'Deep Raised Beds' to grow vegetables in a small space.  These have several advantages.  They are easy to maintain, easy weeding and no digging and the soil warms up a little quicker to give the plants a headstart.  I read a book 'Square Foot Gardening' and follow some of these ideas, as plants are finished more get poked in.  I get a reasonable amount of produce from a small space although it does become haphazard.

I rotate what it is them each year as vegetables do not like to grow in the same space year after year.  The Potatoes are taking over here but there are also Parsnips and Courgettes.

This bed is home to Spinach, Onion, Turnips, Beetroot, Broad Beans, one or two Lettuce, and a Tomatillo.  It also has the Cold Frame that I use for salad crops, Rocket, Radish and Chives.

 The last one has Runner Beans, Peas and Kohlrabi.

 I also have ten Tomato plants in gowbags, in the Greenhouse.

A couple of Cucumber plants.  I am not very good at growing cucumbers but I try every year.

And five Chilli plants.  The Greenhouse is long overdue a clean and tidy up.  It is on my list of things to do.

I have this little Fig Tree that hated the harsh Winter, even the leaves aren't enough to cover your modesty!

The little Apple tree however, promises a bumper crop.

I have one blackcurrant bush and it is a really heavy 'cropper' I will get 5-6 pound of fruit from it. 

I also grow a few herbs, this lovely Sage bush attracts all the pollinators, the bees love it (so do the chickens!)