I dreamt of tomatoes last night, tomatoes and the Pre-Raphaelites. Tomatoes fill my dreams and my waking moments, and rightly so. Tomatoes are bursting out of our gardens and I’m determined to make the most of every single one of them. Summer has returned here these last few days, the temperatures are suddenly soaring again. After the severe rain storms earlier in the week it’s making things feel a little topsy turvy, but I’m so grateful for the ripening sun…
As the summer is moving along we are certainly beginning to benefit from the bounty outside. Partly from foraging the natural plants available to us (clover for tea and plantain for salves and tinctures) and partly from the garden we’ve planted this year. Though this is our 3rd summer here, it feels like this is a first year of gardening properly. The first year we planted in a ploughed area that was quickly overtaken by weeds. Somehow we still managed…
I’m once again joining in with Heather over at her blog to chronicle what’s going on in my kitchen this week. I feel a bit like my kitchen has been neglected over the last few days, but when I look back over a few photos snapped in the early part of the week I can see there’s been plenty of activity. It’s been really busy here on the farm this week, it seems like every day there is more to…
Since our cow Wander started to produce milk in October, in fact since we decided to buy a milk cow back in the spring, my mind has been consumed with the possibilities of a home dairy. For the last 2 months our fridge has been stuffed with milk as I learn how to use this magical liquid, adding products to my repertoire, and fridge, as we go along. Since the first weeks of milking I’ve been making butter, which then…
Though I make this treat for the boys all year round, in the summer there is nothing better than a big tray of home made energy bar for us all to snack on. It’s cold, sweet and delicious and requires no oven time at all! I feel good knowing that the boys are snacking on nutrient dense foods and they feel good about the chocolate chips. Win-win! I’ll provide the smaller scale recipe here but I like to double it…
There are some days when a scone and only a scone, is the very thing you need to most. A scone slathered in yellow butter, freshly made jam and a good dollop of thick, cloud like cream. For those days when you need to cope with the heat, or the cold, or the rain or the…air? On those days accept no substitutes. Anyone who knows me knows I am a fan of scones, but really who isn’t? They are light yet…
So if you are anything like me you’ve tried sourdough and, well, failed. If you are already a sourdough expert you will now understand why I feel the need to wax lyrical now that I have finally (finally!) managed to get it right! I’ve spent quite a bit of time of late, reading and learning about preparing traditional foods. I will be writing more about this as time goes on but for now I’ll stick to the sourdough. I’ve tried,…
It was with not a little despair that Stephen and I looked at our messy kitchen this morning. It had been thoroughly cleaned before bed last night and yet…there it was. But as I commented to my beloved, it’s because we use it. This morning we had ongoing: soaked pancakes, a double batch of sourdough bread, water and juice kefir, slow cooker stew, a test batch of birthday party cupcakes and milk warming to make yoghurt. That makes for quite…
When we first moved to Canada, pancakes meant only one thing; thin, light, round and flat. Where we live now they are referred to as crepes, differentiating them from the thick, fluffy and maple syrup laden yummies known as pancakes here in Canadaland. Over the years of living here we have succumbed to the fluffy sweet goodness, but we’ve refined the recipe to our own tastes and now have one that works beautifully and provides a hearty breakfast, snack or…
As any busy person knows a hot drink is a luxury. The chance to pause, to make the drink, to wait for it to hit that perfect drinking temperature and then the time it takes to savour and enjoy. In the lives of many this can be out of reach. Yet we all know that the difference between a good day and a bad day is a series of moments. When we reflect on how a day went, what it…