No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

flowertotmum

Hi all..hope your all ok..just a quickie..
MLW..well done on the CS find..
SM..welcome home
VJ's mum and Kate..i love a warm bath..
AOT..glad your feeling better..keep up de-cluttering..
Candlelight..hello lovey..
got to go
love you all
ftm

candlelight_2013

Evening all,

Has been a lovely day today, but raining this evening. That seems to be the pattern this week, rain in the evening.

Popping into town tomorrow, must pay some change into the bank, surprising how quickly it mounts up. Must go into £land for soap and toothpaste and some metal containers for my batch cooking.

DGD1 and her boyfriend are coming to tea on Sunday, so Sunday morning I will make sausage rolls and a chocolate cake, and some fairy cakes. I do love to see her, she is almost 21 now and I just feel so pleased that she wants to spend time with us.

Hope everyone is keeping well and warm, although it doesn't seem to be as cold today. Had my 6 monthly check up at the hospital today and everything is fine, so onwards and upwards 3 years down, 2 to go.

Have a good weekend all and stay safe.

Much love
Candlelight x

charlies-aunt

Hope everyone is well- its been another hectic week at work for me and I'm feeling pretty frazzled this morning so pleased that its Friday today....and the weekend is almost here :j


My medication has been doubled this week as I'm having a rheumatoid flare, very creaky at the moment, but this will lower my immunity so steering clear of anyone coughing or sneezing!


Just started our HM caramelised onion chutney - its quickly become a family favourite - aromatic and yummy - so my next free evening will be spent making another batch as we are still only half way through our HG onions and haven't started on the shallots yet


Will have a self indulgent browse through Wilko's gardening section tomorrow - quite fancy putting some cultivated brambles in the garden this year if I can find a suitable location


Have a good day everyone

[Deleted User]

CHARLIES AUNT we have two thornless blackberries trained along the bottom fence at the end of the garden. They are behind both the polytunnel and the big mini barn and get enoung light to live healthy and productive lives. They've been there for 3 years now and give us kilos of blackberries each year. They get trained in both directions along the fence and trained and tied along wires and the fence is 6 feet high so we get much fruit and it's lovely to have in the freezer as well as to eat fresh and jam make with it. It's a useful thing to grow at home, Lyn xxx.

charlies-aunt

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

CHARLIES AUNT we have two thornless blackberries trained along the bottom fence at the end of the garden. They are behind both the polytunnel and the big mini barn and get enoung light to live healthy and productive lives. They've been there for 3 years now and give us kilos of blackberries each year. They get trained in both directions along the fence and trained and tied along wires and the fence is 6 feet high so we get much fruit and it's lovely to have in the freezer as well as to eat fresh and jam make with it. It's a useful thing to grow at home, Lyn xxx.

Hi Lyn - your blackberries sound fab! Please could you let me know what variety they are? They sound ideal for what I'd like to put in here - there is a south facing, four foot high boundary fence that I could train them against - I do have early raspberries growing in front of this but plenty of space for something else. The raspberries would be finished fruiting well before the blackberries would be ready so I hope they will happily co-exist. Its a nice surprise to know that two plants will provide so much Apple and blackberry pie - yum!!

[Deleted User]

I'll ask He Who Knows if he has the record of what the variety is CHARLIES AUNT, I know we got them from either Thompson and Morgan or Marshalls through the post but I'll let you have the variety if he can remember it, they are prolific fruiters and being thornless are so easy to pick, Lyn xxx.

katep23

Ooh Charlies Aunt, any chance of your onion chutney recipe please? I made red onion marmalade years ago and it was lovely but chutney probably has more uses.

Another free car load of wood collected from freegle last night ready to chop up - I know what I'm doing tomorrow!

ETA, Mrs L, we've just finished our first jar of bread and butter pickles and they were so nice, thank you for the recipe x

scottishminnie

Evening all. Glad you are all well although I find it heard to believe none of you were washed away while I was gone. I have never seen such soggy countryside in my life. Flying into Gatwick then Glasgow it looked like the land of 1000 lakes.


I've been back to work for a few days so truly back in a routine now. Will be working through the store cupboards and freezers for a few weeks to use up the stash. I need to go onto rations anyway as I am even more rotund than normal. Too much good food, too little exercise. I only managed 3 spin classes and a half hearted run round a lake which came to a very abrupt halt when I spotted a nearby otter. I'm not sure who was more fascinated, him or me, but we eyed each other up for a while and then I sat down on the grass and he went back to dipping in and out the water and coming back to the bank with things to eat. Most enjoyable!


I treated myself to an ice cream and frozen dessert book so lots of experiments ahead!


I have a question for you all - I often make Delia's buttermilk scones which turn out well however I'd like to make fruit (possible blueberry)scones - has anyone ever adapted this recipe? I'm reluctant to try other scone recipes as this one has been my foolproof "go to" for a while now.


I've also been thinking about a bit of experimentation with something else. I have a dulche de leche cupcake recipe which is great however not everyone likes cupcakes and they are quite large so was wondering if I could use the mixture for some sort of a loaf and cover the top with a layer of frosting. Will perhaps try it out on Sunday - promise to report back.


Apparently the weather tomorrow is due to be pretty shocking so my plan is a couple of hours fitness classes, trip to B&Q for some of those big plastic storage boxes, lunch at the farm and then an afternoon's cupboard decluttering. That will probably yield some things to go to the charity shop next weekend so should be beneficial all round.


Now I'm off to tackle the small mountain of mail which came while we were away. I'm confident 95% of it will be going straight in the shredder though so I'm sure it looks worse than it really is.

charlies-aunt

katep23 wrote: »

Ooh Charlies Aunt, any chance of your onion chutney recipe please? I made red onion marmalade years ago and it was lovely but chutney probably has more uses.

katep23 - The worse job is peeling and chopping the onions! :)Try a teaspoon stirred into a jug of gravy for instant luxury!


Caramelised Onion Chutney


3 tablespoons of Olive Oil/veg oil/sunflower oil
3lbs of cooking onions or shallots
10oz dark brown sugar
7 fl oz malt vinegar
3 tablespoons of wine or cider vinegar
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard
a pinch of salt
a pinch of paprika
a pinch of crushed chillies or chilli powder


Peel and slice onions thinly
Heat oil in large pan and gently soften the onions without browning them
Add 3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar and turn up heat to colour onions.
Add rest of sugar and remaining ingredients
Simmer for 15 minutes until reduced and mixture turns thick & dark caramel colour
Spoon into clean, sterilised jars and leave for a month to mature. Keeps 6-12 months. Store in fridge after opening jar.


Gave DD1 and her partner a jar to try the other night - they loved it and ended up eating the whole jar in one sitting We love it with cheese, cold meat and salads

[Deleted User]

Sorry CA we've been right through the gardening records and looked on the plants but the labels have come off and the records don't go back that far. If you do decide to get a blackberry the thornless ones are much easier to manage than the thorned ones, Lyn xxx.