autumn term

The autumn is well and truly upon us: we have finally finished the runner beans and are deluged with apples instead, and upholstery classes have begun again.
My latest piece is a commision which will cover the materials and tuition, so I get to learn for free and the owner gets her chair revamped.
Youngest is now a sixth former with a lengthy reading list and Eldest is back in Oxford though not quite back at university yet - we deliver the rest of her stuff when she moves back into hall next week, always assuming I've found and packed her requirements!

Displacement!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who resorts to displacement activities: today, instead of tidying and cleaning the house, making a food plan for Sunday's birthday lunch (or, more specifically, a Pavlova for Sunday’s pudding and a birthday cake for Sunday tea) wrapping the Christmas presents I’ve bought so far, getting on with making the Christmas cards, or even writing one or two, I have been making Apple Chutney.

It's a lovely sunny day so I've taken a couple of shots to update the building work that's now complete in the garden  - though not yet the planting, it'll have to wait for the spring. I can't help thinking an 'apre ski' style party on the patio might be fun. Hmm!



And for my next distraction I’ve updated my blog! Oh well: there’s always tomorrow…

Too much of a good thing

It is harvest time. Yes, I know it’s traditional and lovely, but why is it that when the allotment delivers it does it all at once? No, no! I’m not complaining: I’m remembering how lucky I am as I wash yet another 3 lettuces and wonder when exactly we’re going to eat them. Youngest, of course, doesn’t eat vegetables and Eldest seems to have decided that home grown items aren’t up to supermarket cleanliness… I’ve tried explaining about washing in chemicals or washing the stuff herself, but she prefers to go without.

The potatoes are mud caked, but will probably wait to be cleaned when we want to eat them, and store reasonably in the garage. The issue is with the ones now living in a trug in the kitchen ‘because they need eating soon’… this because more than one something has had a go at eating them already…
Then there’s the courgettes arriving at roughly two a day. Three of us eat those, but I can’t keep up as we won’t eat them daily. We’ve had them steamed, marinated, roasted, chopped into casseroles, mince and quiches, at the moment we have a chocolate courgette cake sandwiched with raspberries and cream – two harvested foods in one!
The raspberries come at a rate of a 2L ice-cream tub every day or so. I love them, and they freeze really well, so we don’t have to eat them after every meal.
We can’t anyway because we’re getting an equal quantity of blackberries (they freeze: yay!) and the apples are beginning to mount up… I am pleased to report that I’ve already picked the Conference pears which are in the fridge. Eldest eats most of those as she takes them to school to eat for lunch.
Luckily Sadly there are no beans this year as Husband had no luck with them. They did germinate – twice – but were then eaten by something, rabbits or deer he thinks. They would have provided a welcome change and there’ll be no green bean chutney… Still, there’s chard to offer variety; I’m becoming adept at substituting it whenever the recipe calls for spinach, and it does disappear to a pleasingly small helping even when you’ve picked a huge quantity.
The onions are lifted and drying all over the house because the forecast is for more rain. Again there is a box of ‘dodgy’ ones that ‘need eating’ in the kitchen.
I'm planning to try beetroot muffins next: there's only so much purple lovliness two of us can eat, particularly when they're the size of a football. There are only four ice-cream tubs of roasted beetroot in the freezer so far so I'm sure there's room for more, and I've found a recipe for beetroot chutney that needs apples!



I have ordered vinegar and sugar and Sainsburys will deliver them tomorrow. If you need me I might be making jam or chutney…

Spiced Apple Chutney

Yesterday I made apple chutney in a successful effort to reduce the glut of windfalls. So, at last, a recipe to share!

Spiced Apple Chutney

5 red onions chopped

4lbs peeled and cored apples chopped

4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

4 green chillies finely chopped

6 oz raisins

1 tbsp Worcester Sauce

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1 1/2 pints vinegar

3 lbs sugar

I use my whizzy machine to do all the chopping. Put everything except the sugar in a jam pan or large saucepan and warm it as you give everything a good stir. Add the sugar and continue to stir occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved - do not let the mixture come to the boil until all the sugar crystals are gone! Then bring it to the boil and simmer gently until the chutney has changed colour and lost most of it's liquid - when you run your spoon through it the channel should not fill with liquid. Pack into sterilised jars and store in a cool dark place for at least 6 weeks. After that the chutney goes really well with cheese or cold meats, and is also a useful addition to such things as Shepherd's Pie.

I used a mixture of malt and white wine vinegar, and a mixture of caster and dark brown sugar on this occasion. What you use will effect the end result, but I enjoy the experiment!

But the picture is clearly of Raspberry Jam! Yes I know, but it is so much prettier than the jar of chutney, and I did make that yesterday too. Chutney always takes longer than I'm expecting, so on this occasion I rustled up some jam.

Raspberry Jam

I used 500g of raspberries from our allotment and 500g of preserving sugar (the sort that has pectin in it). Put them in a large bowl in the microwave. Cook on HIGH for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep going until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil and continue to cook until setting point is reached. This is surprisingly fast so be careful or you'll end up with jelly. Leave to stand for 10 minutes then stir and pot into warm sterilised jars. Eat it warm on fresh bread straight away!