Veg box

We've started getting a veg box from Kitchen Gardens - the small box every 2 weeks.  I've enjoyed the anticipation of finding out what's in it & then trying out some new recipes.

So far we've had pak choi - made egg stir fried rice
Swiss chard - had it with a bit of oil & garlic. Made a curry- didn't use nuts & potatoes were old not new, & just stirred in the yogurt at the end.  Put some cubes of halloumi in.  Very nice.
Butternut squash - made a risotto

Had kale & romanesque just as side dish.

Made a beetroot relish: cooking apples, onion, cooked beetroot all grated.  Then simmered with ginger, white wine vinegar & sugar.

Made the mistake of roasting pink fir potatoes - they were crunchy but completely dehydrated.

Used onion & carrots to make a savoury rice to have with curry - added some toasted sesame seeds & desiccated coconut which gave alovely flavour.

Broccoli, leek, cheese & egg.  Sauté onion & leek, steam chopped broccoli. Put into greased dish. Beat 4 eggs & some milk, plus grated cheese & pour over. Bake in oven for 15 mins.

Swiss chard, feta & pine nuts. Sauté clove garlic, add chopped chard or greens, chopped tomatoes & sultanas.  Add some water & simmer with lid on until cooked.  Add some lemon zest & at end cubed feta & toasted pine nuts.

Dog diaries

My clever dogs have been keeping a diary.  I found this week's entries hidden down the back of the sofa.

Logan's diary:
Monday: Had cut & blow dry.  Smelt disgusting.  Must go through some ditches to put that right.
Tuesday: Slept all day.  Ran through the marshes later.
Wednesday: Slept all day.  Ran through the marshes later.
Thursday:  Slept all day. Ran through the marshes later.

Stats:
Pheasants flushed:  about 10
Toys destroyed: 0 Maybe the therapy is working
Balls lost: 3 Must try harder next week

Chance's diary:
Monday:  L had obviously been very naughty as he had to go to that torture place and have a bath & get all his mud flaps cut off. I was good & went to the pub & the man gave me a biscuit because I look so sweet.
Tuesday: Slept all day.  Barked at postman.
Wednesday: Slept all day.  Barked at postman
Thursday: Slept all day.  Barked at postman
Friday:  Slept all day.  Barked at postman.  Energy renewed for a weekend of sitting on laps, licking faces, following humans around.  I'm not as young as I used to be.

Stats:
People barked at:  Lots.  Still aiming to get some bites in some time though.
Food eaten: Chicken, pastry, biscuits, pasta, rice.  Bit too healthy this week.  Hope for higher sausage count over weekend.

Signs of autumn

Not wishing to suggest summer is over yet, as it's high 20s outside today, & ate my lunch in the garden,  but there are autumn colours in the garden & the days are getting shorter.   I like autumn - previous post celebrated things I like about it and after such a glorious summer, I think we're in for a perfect autumn.

In the garden are hips of rosa glauca, spindle berries, beautiful crocosmia Emilya Mackenzie, some delicate pink fuschia flowers, & a spider

Butterflies & moths

After a very slow start to the year, July & August have produced a bundle of butterflies.  I've been planting & encouraging nectar plants for butterflies for a while.  Just got hemp agrimony which is a bee & butterfly magnet. I've also got nettle patches around the garden for peacock & others to lay eggs.  Recently realised that it's good to cut them down so that there's new growth as they prefer this for laying.

It's prompted me to look into other plants for caterpillars.  I don't grow cabbages, but sometimes have had nasturtiums.  None germinated this year, but must think about some for next year.

Another one to try is birdsfoot trefoil which is a wild plant but looks attractive.  Will just need to find the best bit of the garden to grow it in.
 
I have been letting some of the grass grow to seed,  but need to be a bit more systematic with this I think as I don't know what varieties we've got & whether I'm managing them correctly.

I'd also like to get some more buddleia bushes - the orange bobbly one for example.  Recently discovered that moths like to visit the buddleia at night - had lots of migrant silver Y about this year. 

We had a swallowtail in the garden on my birthday a couple of years ago I think it was, be good to get one of them again, as well as a hummingbird hawk moth which I've never seen.

Hope the sun continues well into September so the butterflies & moths can continue to thrive!

Family & friends

Just coming to the end of a few days staying in mid-Wales with a cousin & her family.  Had a lovely time, been out with cousins & aunty, caught up with friends & heard family stories.  It's really nice to have such a network of good people, and affirms my belief that most people are thoroughly decent.  Really looking forward to getting home to beloved husband and dogs but I'm pleased to have ended the Easter break with such good times.

Chelsea bun report 3

March - Sultana & marmalade

Very nice filling.  Tried the dough from the January recipe, but it was not quite right.  Didn't rise very well, and a bit chewy rather than bready.  Might try again with a less rich dough.

Chelsea Bun Report 2

February - Bakewell Cherry

I'm not overly keen on Bakewell tarts, but I do like almonds & this was almondy - amaretto & almond essence & ground almonds in the filling.

A richer dough - eggs, butter & sugar - & extravagance in soaking the sour cherries in raspberry liqueur.

I added a raspberry jam glaze to make it even more Bakewellish.

Very nice. 

Chelsea bun report

January - white chocolate & cardamom

Nice soft texture
Cardamom gave lovely flavour, & white choc chunks nice to chomp.
Milk syrup topping seemed a bit strange, but worked well with them.

Put some in freezer, and they defrosted nicely.
Definitely one to repeat.

Janus - looking backwards & forwards

Haven't written for ages, but it's good to review and preview the years.  So 2012 was a good year.  It was the year of the dogs. 'nuff said.  Weather was pretty bad, but I managed to have 2 weeks off at home when it was dry & fairly warm.  However gardening was pretty bad.  Most of the annual flowers I planted didn't come up, or were very feeble.  I did have ipomoea & blackeyed susan in pots, and was pleased with those.

At work I became union vice-president.  Good to challenge yourself.  And 2012 was a good year for Open Access, my work obsession.

We got our act together on home improvements - builders now here till Easter adding a new bedroom, converting another into an upstairs bathroom, & creating a 'vestibule'  or dumping room as I mustn't let it become.

And I started a couple of hours weekly doing admin at Norfolk wildlife Trust HQ, which has been interesting.

So the year to come.

I'm going to do a chelsea bun variation a month!
Hoping that the new dumping room will help me be more tidy in the rest of the house
Want to contribute to the 38 degrees NHS campaign group
Now we're settled into dog walking routine, I hope I'll get some time for birdwatching
Will try planting annuals again.
Spend less time faffing about on the web?  Hmm.  That's the biggest challenge I think.

Wrapping up the blogpost can be tricky, but as they're not meant to be literary works of art, I should just write stuff & stop when I've finished.  There. Done it.