Late Autumn Activities

Well, you've seen one activity in my previous post; the Craft Fair. About two or three weeks before the fair my textile mojo went for a vacation. Yes, it just up and went. Never giving a thought for bad timing or inconvenience. So it was a hard slog to get things finished and everything else done that is required before you set off to sell your wares. I know from past experience that this situation won't last, but until my mojo returns I can safely say there won't be much of a textile vibe going on round here!

However, other events and interests have filled my existence and I'll fill you in on some of them.

First of all there has been the seeing off of our eldest grandson Chris on his way to a holiday of a lifetime in New Zealand which we promised him when he had finished uni. So he is there now, spending time with his Uncle Kit and Auntie Krissie and taking off on his own, backpacking his way round North Island, and fruit picking to pay his way.

I'm playing lots of music -I  even have a video on you tube - look for Attingham Waltz - Lynne Gill - and there it is. Though you can't see me. Which is a good thing. A couple of music-playing friends came for the day a couple of weeks ago which was lovely. I don't know whether we played as much music as we'd intended, there was some chatting and some eating (see below) but all in all we had a good day.

On the subject of food, I've been cooking up a storm, having great fun trying out new recipes and using different  ingredients.

 I've been glued to Youtube videos of Rick Stein and Ottolenghi, because I love Mediterranean dishes, and I'm  developing a bit of a passion for middle eastern dishes. I've been experimenting with various dhals  and versions of humus which Jim enjoys as well - fortunately!

This is coconut lentil dhal. After we had it hot over rice, we ate it cold as a spread for the rest of the week - I did make rather a lot! It is delicious cold as well as hot.

This is the humus I made when I had friends round for music - we also had the kale crisps, below, which were a hit! I prefer kale this way I must admit, to a cooked vegetable. I know it's very very good for you but......

Goulash and spelt soda bread for a suddenly very cold day! Paprika and smoked Polish sausage. Yum!

 I went to town clearing out my spice shelves and re-stocking. I made a large batch of natural vegetable stock : NO MSG and very little salt. It's quite good.

Dried thinly sliced vegetables in a very low oven. Both root and leaf veggies are fine but they do dry at different rates.

Whizzed the result in a small chopper, until it was a medium fine powder with a few chunkier bits in it.

I added dried herbs, garlic powder, celery salt, pepper ...... I think that's the lot. Looks much like the stuff you get in the cartons. And you don't have to do a whole amount at once, you can just shove some veg in the oven when it is cooling down, and process it in small amounts.

So, here's the neat spice shelves:

And here's something else  that I was experimenting with the other week: Garlic cloves in honey! Apparently after a couple of weeks the garlic tastes like candy, and of course the honey is great for colds and sore throats. I grated lemon zest into it as well, and I could have added some sage leaves too, both good medicinally.

For some reason I've lost the photo of the whole loaf of date and sultana tea bread - but here it is sliced and buttered.

I thought I'd have a go with Filo pastry, and made my first Spanokopita - Greek spinach and feta pie. Filo is fiddly to use, as it dries out very quickly and you have to keep it damp while you work, but the results are well beyond the skill it actually takes to make this pie. We really enjoyed it, I made it with half spinach and half chard.

We collected a fine autumn lamb from friends who run a small flock, so this is in the freezer -  apart from this lovely shoulder which I first marinaded in olive oil, garlic and lemon juice and thyme.

It was delicious, we had two days roast dinner from it and two curries, and six samosas. Beautiful rare breed lamb- tasted like nothing we'd had before. In a good way!

So, I'm afraid there are no textile photos for those of you who came here expecting to see some! I'm hoping that very soon I will be feeling like getting in to the sewing room and picking up a needle and thread. However, I've really enjoyed my time in the kitchen, there's nothing nicer on a cold or wet afternoon than chopping and peeling and mixing and stirring over a hot Rayburn.

Does anyone else find their muse disappears at inconvenient moments? Until next time .......

Walk on the Wild Side

I had a 'roasted garlic and herb' grinder from Sainsburys. I used it a lot for speedy seasoning, despite the fact I've always got garlic in the house and herbs in the garden. When I'd emptied the jar I was reluctant to buy a new one as they aren't cheap, and it got used up quite quickly. So I checked the ingredients and decided I could make my own blend up quite easily. Black and pink peppercorns, dried onion and garlic, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, celery seeds, and some dried herbs which seldom get used. A teaspoon of coarse sea salt - and Robert was indeed your father's sibling! This amount filled one and a half jars'

They now grace my newly tidied spice shelves, along with the basil, wild garlic, and mixed herb salts I made up a few days ago. I do love my shelves. I know that's sad, but I get great satisfaction out of seeing all my bits and bobs (there he is again!) lined up. I'm determined to pick blackberries this autumn and jam them.

 I went for a walk in the sunshine the other day, just round the village.

As I wandered nearer to the edge of the village I noticed a lane I hadn't been down before, which led into a small wood. There was a stream running through, with several planked 'bridges' to cross.

It wasn't a particularly salubrious looking stream, very copper - coloured so no doubt polluted with something or other.

However, it was a jolly nice walk, and good to find a little bit of village wilderness! Had it not been a beautiful sunny day I doubt whether the idea of walking through the wood would have appealed.

Here you see the results of my first attempt at sourdough. What a palaver! Luckily I didn't have to make the starter from scratch, my music friend Marj had one on the go - she is a recent trier-outer of this method. Next day I made the 'sponge', which was left overnight in the fridge.  The following day I added flour salt and sugar and water to the sponge and kneaded it - I have to say it is a beautiful dough to work with. This then sat to prove for 3-4 hours, knocked back and shaped into batons and left to rise a further 3 hours. Quick-bread it aint! Into a hot oven for 30 minutes. We had the result today for lunch - well some of it. I had a shop-bought sourdough loaf to compare it with. According to Jim and Mike mine was better but then they'd have to say that, wouldn't they! Personally mine could have been a bit lighter, less dense, though it wasn't 'solid'. Lovely flavour, which is what all the long proving is about.

This is the crumb - the shop-bought one had larger holes, less tightly packed as it were. I am quite pleased with it.However it isn't the kind of bread you make on a whim. I'm not sure I'd want to be trying to think ahead all the time to make sure I was at the right stage. But it is lovely bread. Well, I shall keep feeding my 'starter' and see how it goes. Anyone else have any experience of sourdough baking?  And here below we have a couple of plain white mini-bloomers. Bog standard, but just like a lovely crusty roll. 

Make the most of this sunshine I think we are in for a blustery weekend, to say the least!

PS I don't believe this! Having ten minutes read while supper is bubbling away to itself - reading a Katie Fforde book. The two girls are out for a woodland hack.

"Oh look, wild garlic," says Zoe. "It's late for that, isn't it?"
"I suppose it depends where it's growing. I made some great pesto with it the other day." said Jenny.

This stuff is following me about!!