Friday Jaunts

Friday was the beginning of this wonderful warm sunny spell we are enjoying, and I was itching to get out and about. Now regular readers will know that I am not the world's most active of people, but there are times when even I feel the desire to stride out - even if I don't stride very fast or very far! I am trying to improve my  ....er....track record..........

My Friday jaunt began in the early afternoon when I went for 'afternoon tea' with a new bloggy friend Maggie - visit her blogs A reading corner, and A corner by the fireside. Maggie and I started visiting each others blogs some time ago, playing the guessing game as to where in Norfolk we each lived. Eventually we realised we lived quite near to each other, and made arrangements to meet up. I didn't take my camera as I thought it might be rude! However I'm kicking myself now as Maggie has a lovely garden which you would love; it has several features which I would LOVE to incorporate into our garden but it is never going to happen - the Mister does the gardening (apart from the herbs) and if he doesn't like something I've suggested it doesn't happen! I think it is one of the few areas in our relationship where I have to grit my teeth and walk away! So, no lovely gravel garden, like Maggie's, no raised beds, no fruit trees. But hey, it's not worth arguing about in the final analysis; we are not going to fall out over it! Mind you I did gaze at Maggie's garden and sigh. I went expecting to have a quick cuppa and go - but it was two and a half hours later that Maggie and I said goodbye, having had one of those chats which you have when you 'click' with someone straight away.

On the way home I decided to get out and stretch my legs, and do a bit of foraging; I had come armed with plastic bag and scissors!

I parked the car and began my stroll. This was not, I have to say, a jog or even a brisk walk! Can you guess where I was going?

If you look closely you will spot the wild garlic. I've no idea how it came to be here, in such abundance, within a very specific area.

This is the actual corner of Onion Corner, and marks the boundary of the Ramsons' territory.

I think these might be previously coppiced willows, now left to become overgrown, unused. They spread throughout the whole of the ramsons wood.

Walked past these lovely chaps, how wonderful to live down the road from the field where your horses are contentedly cropping the fresh spring grass, with a couple of easily accessible bridle-paths on your doorstep.

See, Norfolk isn't as flatas folks think!And there are bigger hills than this! Looking in the rough direction of Sandringham.

                               Looking like blossom, these are small pale catkins.

I call this, whimsically, the River Withywindle, just a small stream, really, meandering through the ramsons and the willows. There was a duck gently cruising along when I approached but he had floated out of view by the time I had pointed and clicked!

On my way back I stopped to gather another bagful of wild garlic. I noted yesterday that the editor of The Independent has been reading my blog, as there was a 2-page spread on the topic, with a few recipes. You see, I've gone viral!

Once home the leaves were washed, dried and stored in the fridge, and yesterday I whipped up these goodies in about an hour, including clean-up.

In this batch of wild garlic pesto I used pine-nuts, almonds, and a mixture of sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, instead of the usual pine nuts, or the cashew nuts I used last time. I also replaced the parmesan cheese with some extra strong mature cheddar.

Two for the fridge and  four for the freezer. So far we have eaten it mixed with hummus on soda bread or crisp-bread, in minestrone soup, and as the base of a sauce for our Saturday Night Pasta. Mmmmm!

And taking a leaf (!) out of Independent columnist Mark Hix's article,  I dried the remaining leaves in the cooling oven, crumbled them and ground them with some chunky sea salt. So my ramsons  will be flavouring our food long after their growing season has passed. I know there has been a lot of interest in my wild garlic gatherings, I hope you have managed to find some near you and you have been experimenting too! Enjoy the rest of this lovely weekend.

Slow food, slow growth.

This photograph was taken on the 25th April 2012. See the abundant muscari, with their cheerful miniature blue flowers. Notice the height of the mint in the planter in the foreground. And observe the lush growth of lovage at the side of the planter and standing quite tall at the very back of the photograph.

I took this photograph today. Notice the few stunted muscari, and the newly emerging lovage shoots.

And here the few brave mint shoots poking their heads above the parapet! How different from last year. I wonder what other implications the long cold winter and slow spring will have for us on the food front?

Following on from my foraging trip last post, I got very busy in the kitchen as wild garlic wilts very quickly, and I didn't want my haul to go to waste. I decided to make a variety of 'foodie' items loosely following the recipes in Simple Things, a magazine I occasionally buy; although pricey it has excellent articles and recipes, and is a 'keeper'.

I made wild garlic butter:

Wild garlic oil - this is stored in a dark place for 18 days then filtered and re-bottled. It will keep for 9 months in the fridge or 2 at room temperature.

And wild garlic pesto. This will keep for 3 weeks in the fridge. (I bet it will keep a bit longer, I have covered it well with olive oil) I've also frozen some.

The more you chop or crush herbs the more pungent they become; as a leaf wild garlic is quite mild, like a faintly garlicky chive, but once crushed - oh! My word. Talk about blow your socks off! Very peppery, much hotter than rocket or watercress. In fact I will have to let each spoonful down with more oil before use. I did however mix some with hummus for my lunch today, on homemade bread and it was delicious. You could also add it to cream cheese, which would be fabulous. I'm thinking...perhaps add a dollop to a tomatoey or creamy pasta sauce ....ooooh yes!

I just need to tell you a bit about wild garlic as some folks have been asking on Facebook.

Ramsons - common name.  Allium Ursinum - Latin name. Other common names are legion: Buckrams, wood garlic, Bear's garlic, broad-leaved garlic, and others.
Native to Central and western Europe. Thrives in woodland, moist, slightly acidic soils. Prolific spreader! Onion-like perennial, small white flowers which appear in May-June, by which time the leaves have become somewhat bitter.

Good for a plethora of ills: respiratory conditions, vasodilator and antiseptic. Reduces high blood pressure, is a good spring tonic for immune system, liver, gall bladder, stomach and intestine. Topical application useful for arthritic and rheumatic joints.

So there you are, go forth and forage!

My latest bread making was a bit of a visual disaster, as I was going for the 'slow food' approach and trying to let it rise long and slow, but I over-proved it and it collapsed in the oven. However, I can tell you, don't ever be dismayed if the same happens to you because it tasted wonderful!

And to continue the 'slow' theme, a quick look at some 'slow cloth' ... from the inside too!

Hope by the time next blog post is written this wind will have dropped - fed up with it now! At least the sun has been shining, and hopefully most of us will have a good weekend.

Gigs and Garlic

Well, the weather 'turned' just in time! Despite a howling, gale -force wind, the sun shone and the temperature got up to 21 degrees in our neck of the woods - it didn't feel like that because of the wind, but how astounding for it to change like that overnight!

The Ouse Washes Molly Dancers danced out at the Haverhill Arts Centre before the Spiers and Boden gig; or, as we like to say, we opened for Spiers and Boden! We had quite a good crowd which gathered to watch and listen, we played from 7pm until about 7.40. Halfway through I noticed John Spiers standing on the steps grinning across at us, fortunately for my fiddle playing I didn't spot Jon Boden!

Three of the OWM musos, Jan, Nicky Stockman (head girl!) and me. The bilious coloured walls were actually greener than that, sorry, it looks a bit alarming! The unfinished jacket passed muster.

We got several mentions throughout the concert - and a few strange glances from those in the audience who hadn't seen the dancing, as we were still more or less in Molly kit when we sat down - minus the blackened faces and hats, of course! It was a great gig, though fairly restrained as it is an all-seated venue - nothing like those rowdy Bellowhead gigs!

 I managed to sneak a couple of photos - John Spiers did say not to take photos while he was playing difficult tunes as he pulled strange faces! Nice to know even the best of us do the feared 'Melodeon Face'. (I am training myself not to do it but you never know!)

So there you are, that's my latest claim to fame.I've just noticed on the back of my ticket where the price should be it says "Complimentary Artist List". Phew, tuppence to talk to me now, folks! I don't know, Andy Cutting, John Spiers, I'm becoming a veritable Melodeon Stalker! Two very different box players, playing very different types of music.

I like garlic. I like it a lot. I use it a lot. I just can't grow it. I have tried, but with little success, which is a great blow to me, as I do grow many herbs with no problems. Over the past year or so I've been having a garlicky conversation via face book with my Burwell Bash fiddle friend Thelma. Thelma lives in Yorkshire and grows oodles of garlic, and she's given me a few few tips here and there. This year she even sent me - by first class mail - some garlic shoots for me to transplant I've no idea how well I will do with them, but I've given it my best shot. We did also talk about wild garlic - also known as Ramsons, and by coincidence I read an article in a magazine recently all about wild garlic.

 Suddenly I remembered local folk-lore about a lane where wild garlic grows in such profusion you can smell it before you see it.

This lane is about a mile away, and though it is called something else on the maps, it is known as Onion Corner. I was on my way to visit my mum today, and thought I would take a slight detour to find some wild garlic. You really couldn't miss it. The aroma is quite pungent, and the plants grow in abundance; I felt no guilt about chopping a good handful of the aromatic green leaves.

                                                            Swathes of the stuff!

 I shall go back when they are in flower and gather some seed - I just know they will do well in our garden.

So I shall be preserving ramsons leaves in oil, as herb butter in the freezer, and as wild garlic pesto.

You can forage for wild garlic in damp, woodland areas. You can't mistake the leaves, the smell will tell you pretty quickly. Once the flowers are out the leaves become 'older' and slightly bitter, so pick now before the flowers appear. I hope the weather continues mild and sunny for your foraging!

Sideways Glances

I was glancing through a magazine today and thought how strange, often the photographs which catch my eye the most are those tiny glimpses of something. And so I thought, as I have been a bit remiss over the old blog recently, that I would pop a quick post in as an extra, which is largely made up of those little glimpses, or sideways glances, of my home. Seriously edited, no horrific piles of clutter and tat!But not 'styled', they are 'as is'. So not much in the way of words today. (Amazingly!)

                       
                                                                                Beverage Corner

                                                                    Spice Corner

     
                                                                       Baking Corner

The back of the merchant's chest we bought was a little rough, and as it wasn't hidden against a wall I stretched a furnishing fabric remnant across the back. It reminds me of an old school piano!

    Another back - this time the back of the kitchen/dining room door, laden with my bags. My crocheted Lucy Bag is there, with a wool and felted wool grey bag I made last year. And an unintentional glimpse of my Molly Jacket over the back of a chair.

A few VERY selective shots from my sewing room. You know what didn't get into shot - yes, clutter! Oh and by the way, that's not a length of copper piping on the shelf it's a penny whistle!

So that's it; a quick little filler-in of a post, but I hope you enjoyed these little glimpses. See you soon!

Behind the Times!

I'm SO LATE with this blog-post. I just got stuck in that gloopy mire of being unable to get going so here is what I've been doing over the last week. I did a fair amount of baking. One thing I made which was a HUGE success was Annie's (Knitsofacto) Lemon Pudding. It doesn't look much in the tin but OH! my goodness it was wonderful. Jim only likes Crumbles for dessert, but he loved it too so it will be a regular feature at Gill Acres!

Wonderfully light, with that scrumptious lemony-saucy layer at the bottom. Do try it, Annie gives the recipe on her blog.

The Hot (crossless) Buns eventually became a luxury bread and butter pudding for when my Burwell friend Jane came for a day of music and natter last Wednesday.

And a fair bit of bread making took place; I'm adding more liquid than I used to, and I start it off in the Kenwood until it's less 'claggy'. Still enjoying trying various kinds of flours, and dodging between adding oil or butter, honey or sugar, water or milk/water. And I'm working my way through a packet of ground seeds by a firm called Linwood, adds great flavour and colour - and health!

The weather has been so cold, but we've been blessed most days with amazing sunshine, which does cheer me up a lot. The spring flowers are having a long run, though of course everything else will be way behind this year.

And these from someone else's garden! I love tulips, I would have armsful of them all over the house if I could afford fresh flowers every day.

Been doing a bit of cutting and stitching. Lovely young Georgia sourced me a new top hat, and my 'topper' fits beautifully.

Also started stitching my 'Boro-ish' embellishment on my jacket for my new Molly costume.

Close-up of cuff. Yes, I know there are raw edges. One day (oh yeah!) I may tidy them up a little, but I need to get some colour onto this jacket in time for the weekend. We (Ouse Wahses Molly Dancers) are dancing out at the Backyard Session at the Spiers and Boden gig on Sunday.

                                                               Both cuffs.

           
                                     The back so far ......a long way to go with this!

Oh! Before I go, I need to say something about Google dropping their blog-reader in July - I'm sure you bloggers already know about it. Dc at Frugal in Norfolk has posted some great info about your options, thanks Dc.I will be having a close look at Bloglovin' and Feedly. WHat are you thinking of doing with your blog? I hope the alternatives work as well.

Hoping for some better weather soon, and that you are all keeping well.