I wish I could say that I could keep my kitchen looking like this all of the time, but that would be a very big lie. As in, it could be seen from space due to it’s inordinate massivenessosity. That’s pretty big. Nope, most of the time the surfaces are covered in some kind of food in progress, either at the beginning or the end of the cooking/eating process. Honestly, that’s the way I like it. I will freely admit,…
I think if I asked most people where their meat comes from they’d say ‘the supermarket’. That’s fair enough and when people lead such busy lives with so many demands on them, sourcing food any other way can feel like a huge hurdle. But raising our own meat has driven home something that we already ‘knew’ but didn’t know, deep down. Our meat comes from a living animal. When we eat that meat we eat what has been a living…
What do you do when you have a lot of extra eggs to use up and a poorly looking beloved in the house? Yes, you guessed it, make a flourless, egg consuming chocolate cake. Or in my case, two flourless, egg consuming chocolate cakes. Despite my terror of all things Martha Stewart (though I’m sure her recipes are written by minions chained to food processors in small cupboards not the great lady herself) I find the recipes on her website…
Well it’s been a crazy busy week here, it feels like all we’ve done is dash from one appointment to another. Dentist, science club, naturopath, and of course the children’s hospital. A 3 1/2 hour session at the children’s hospital was needed to sort out Neirin’s cast (it might not be a fracture, yay!), which can come off for baths to let him move it and get some mobility back. I arrived at Wednesday night feeling pretty exhausted and very…
This weekend, all over the UK, fires were lit and fireworks whizzed into the sky. November 5th is Guy Fawkes or Bonfire Night and is a favourite celebration of mine. Coming as it does at the beginning of the winter season it sparkles with the excitement of dark nights and magical possibilities. And toffee, lots and lots of toffee. Our farm was a little piece of England this weekend too, as we celebrated with friends and neighbours a year of…
This weekend was a Mabon like no other. The equinox brought with it our pig harvest, as well as much goodness from the garden. As we tried to get to grips with how to cure bacon, render fat and store two pigs worth of meat in our freezer, friends came and went sharing the goodness with us. I used this really easy recipe to make pulled pork, it came out beautifully, falling apart and melting in the mouth….
I have a guest post over at Playful Learning about making your own lollies (aka popsicles). I know that some people are saying the summer is over but apparently the weather doesn’t know that! The boys are sitting in the kitchen demolishing a batch of berry smoothie lollies like they are going out of fashion, as the sun beats down outside. It should give them some fuel for some watery fun at the pool! So if you’re in the mood…
Are you feeling strained? No? Well my tomatoes are! Wait…don’t leave! Ok, no more tomato puns I promise but I can’t hold back on the many tomato pictures I’m afraid. After years of dreaming, lusting and coveting, my Roma hand crank strainer is finally here. I wrestled only briefly with the assembly instructions before whizzing into action, processing a couple of kilos of freshly picked (child labour) tomatoes. The days (and weeks) of aching arm, wrist and elbow are…
Everywhere I look at the moment I see abundance. In the garden, the kitchen and in everyday life. The boys are full of beans and beginning to gain confidence exploring outside; the bouquet’s of flowers are changing with the seasons and reflect their journeys to different corners of the fields. My basket contains not just eggs and salad, which we’ve had in abundance for a few months, but now the glowing red globes are starting to make their presence felt….
First of all, thank you for all the kind and thoughtful comments on my last post. It probably seems like I’m about ready to jump under a bus but honestly that isn’t true! I think I just needed to vent, get the self pity out of my system before dusting myself off and moving on. Sometimes a good complain can do the world of good! Thanks for indulging me. Second of all… The first batch of tomato passata has been…