So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

rtandon27

Morning (oops) Afternoon Vix - any chance of a linky to that rosemary cracker recipe?  We have a church event to attend in a couple of weeks, and rumour has it there are 50 types of cake arriving but nothing savoury!  Given that our monster of a rosemary bush is in constant need of a trim, I'm sure the trimmings could be put to good use

themadvix

Hey RT, it’s here: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/homemade-rosemary-crackers

As with all these things - when they roll it out to the thickness of a £1 coin, make it thinner! I also put less salt in the mix and ground some fresh onto the tops before I put them in the oven.

rtandon27

oooo - thanks for the tips Vix! - They look fabulous & with a bowl of homemade hummus it may be the only savoury dish of the lot!

Karmacat

Nice one, I've noted that down myself.  Easy, and uses rosemary, win/win.  Thank you  

themadvix

I can’t take any credit - QueenJess posted them on her diary 😊 But you’re right, they are good! Hmm, houmous, that might be tomorrow’s lunch filling if I put the chickpeas into soak now… good call RT!

themadvix

Well we have stirred ourselves this afternoon and done some work on the patio. Not sure if I mentioned this, but if I did it would have been a long time ago (last diary?!). Last summer (or was it the one before?!) we rebuilt the raised bed in the garden with sleepers and reshaped/relocated it slightly, with the intention of making the patio wider. We bought the necessary slabs and sand but didn’t get any further - I blame Covid as Mr MV took a long time to recover fully and then I was ill with it in the summer. So more than a year later we are finally getting on with it (there’s definitely been some ‘I don’t know how best to do thisI’ procrastination from Mr MV too). The first slabs were laid today, having cleared and levelled the site and it finally feels like we might get this finished. Which is good, because the next plan is a deck off of our patio doors (patio is at bottom of garden for sunshine in evening, the deck space gets the morning sun). The decking will be a job for next spring, but it would be great if we can get this finished this autumn and get some use from it!

 I’m at the cats’ now, but have also popped over to Olio friend, who had a huge pile of oversized gherkins that her plant had grown while she was away. She’s off again this week and doesn’t trust husband to pick them, so has left me with the responsibility! And the ones she’s already picked and a sachet of Czech pickling magic (salt and preservatives?) and instructions! I think this may be a job for Wednesday… She also gave me another jar of pickles as the top hasn’t popped on them!

 Dinner is going to be masala carrots as we have quite a few that need eating.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, well done for making a start on the patio! I definitely know all about those 'I don't know how to do this' procrastination moments 🙄 Good that you are pushing through! 

rtandon27

LOL - ladies in our house those procrastination moments usually end up in me telling OH to pay the nice man!  Our latest is a set of wiper blades that should have been changed 6 months ago!  While we were away, our little car suddenly decided to be in need of oil! I used the opportunity to grumble at OH about having on one of his for best shirts which elicited the desired response of 'shall I pay the nice man to do both?' 

Suffolk_lass

Re bottling - we have just had a mishap here. It was raspberries, which I don't usually bottle. A red stain on the shelf. I've never had this before!  They had fermented and DH says it is because the larder is so warm. That will teach me to be so certain!! I think it is the jar I did in the oven. The other I tried in the pressure cooker. I will stick to freezing them or making jams or jellies (or cordial to add to gin!)

themadvix

Unfortunately (😝) raspberries never make it to any form of preserving here… Apart from maybe a few in the freezer. I would need a whole allotment’s worth to jam them!