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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Strange Crop





I know it looks a bit strange bit there is a perfectly good reason why I planted orange juice cartons on my allotment.
My leeks are coming on beautifully. I'm very proud of them as I grew them from seed. I earth them up to keep them white and I found orange juice cartons perfect for the job.
Just to add a bit of colour I also used pineapple juice cartons.




A whole new meaning to winter colour.

I also got to plant out my garlic.



Friday, October 12, 2012

And We're Off


The Christmas cake has been  started. I'm using a Pink Whisk recipe. It has worked out beautifully for the last few years. You steep the fruit in brandy for 6 weeks before you make the cake.http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2012/09/time-to-start-your-christmas-cake.html


A large jar of lemon curd another pink whisk recipe. It never fails. It was meant to be 2 smaller jars, but glass and hard floors don't get on.
http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2010/07/super-zingy-lemon-curd.html



The lemoncello is from Lorraine Pascale new book Fest, Fresh and Easy Food. It is something I have always wanted to try

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Not to waste the last of the vodka I added 2 vanilla pods so in a few week time I'll have lovely Vanilla extract for baking.





The 2 pots of Christmas potatoes I planted up are coming along nicely.




I got to plant out some wallflowers I have grown from seed. Hopefully the neighbours cat will not dig them up.




Add a present of Garlic. All going well I will get to the allotment next week to plant them.



 




 



Monday, October 8, 2012

Potato, Carrot and Parsnip Cakes.

The 2 things I always have in my kitchen is potatoes and carrots. At the moment parsnips are cheap in my local shop so there is few of them around as well. Mix them together with a few spices and this is what you end up with.


350g Carrots.
350g Parsnip.
350g Potatoes.
125g Bread Crumbs
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander.
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin.
I egg, beaten
Salt & Black Pepper.

Peel and chop the carrots, parsnip and potatoes to roughly the same size.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Drain and mash. Add the ground cumin and ground coriander, Leave to cool.
Add the beaten egg, the bread crumbs and the seasoning,  Mix until all combined.
Shape into 8 cakes and if you have the time chill for 30 minutes.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.

Lovely served with a green veg.


Enjoy



Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Allotment .......at Last.

I do have a allotment but the poor thing has been ignored a lot this year. Every time I plan on going there something happens. If it is not the weather it is something else. I managed to pay a visit on Monday morning. Yes that was the day the sun was shining for a couple of hours and it was great to be outdoors. It was a lot tidier than I expected but I did resort to weed killer  before the holidays.





I had a few plants I had grown from seed so I decided to put them in the ground. They can take there chances it is better than just leaving them to die off on the picnic table.



There was purple sprouting broccoli, kale and cauliflower. The white stuff is vermiculite. I use grit as my slug control and I ran out.

I got to bring home a harvest so I was quite pleased.





The onions didn't do well at all this year . The red ones failed completely. 

                                   


Some raspberries, broccoli. 1 Kohl Rabi the other one has something strange living in it so I put it on the compost heap The bolitti beans didn't do great. I fact I had a hopeless year with all sorts of peas and beans.                                                                                                                                                


This is the first time I have ever grown Kohl Rabi never mind the little question of what to do with it.



 So after looking it up on the Internet I peeled it and cut it into cubes. Tossed it in some oil with salt and pepper. I roasted it in the oven for about 15 minutes.


It was OK, not the most exciting vegetable in the world.