SPRING HAS MOST DEFINITELY SPRUNG: FRUIT FLIES ARE BACK!!

Well, it's here, finally here!  After tempting us with warmer weather and a few buds and then reverting to dull, overcast days with temperamental rain, I think that Spring has arrived.  Hoorah!! Just wish that my mojo had returned 100% as well though as it hasn't!  Last week was full of quick dinners, freezer dinners and shop bought dinners; not really good, but every now and then it really doesn't matter so I'm not beating myself up about it!

Also had a rather bad experience at work that seems to have escalated completely out of hand and tonight I'll face whatever excess fallout there may be although, might I add, I am not to blame for any of it and did what I could but, as is quite normal for some members of the public, it wasn't good enough and as I'm front line staff, I got the brunt/blame from said parent.  Must admit as far as I'm aware I have been backed up by the powers that be although I haven't received a phone call to say as much and if it wasn't for a colleague I wouldn't know the outcome until tonight.  But I'm digressing and having a moan which isn't what this blog is about, although life does obviously affect moods, abilities and time allowances.

Yesterday I had a quick jaunt around the back garden and a proper clean up and sort of the front yard.

Told you Spring had sprung!

Camelia in flower!

Ready for my close up 😂

I've had to reconfigure pots out there as the Camelia keeps being blown down by the wind and as they don't like a lot of water...... Think I might need to re-pot, but it's now wedged up against another pot so hopefully....

Back garden is also looking good and bulbs/blossom is now blooming:

Muscari bulbs

Blue Lungwort - Bees adore it

Plum Blossom

We've also seen our first flog in our pond.

As to the kitchen; weekly banana bread is still happening although this week it'll be a bit late as I've run out of eggs!!  How did I run out of eggs? I'm never out of eggs!  But it would appear that I am, so tomorrow will be shopping and baking.

Yesterday, admittedly, I did an egg based dish (hence discovering that I had run out of eggs or at least didn't have as many as I thought).  Getting really bored with leftovers on a Monday especially when it's just roasted veg and a few greens.  Soup isn't something that other half considers as dinner so it would be a lunch item and I'm a little fed up with bubble & squeak although can't do that unless mashed potato involved and I'm not cooking spuds just to get mash! So a roasted vegetable frittata was the order of the day with a side salad of mixed peppery leaves, last of last week's tomatoes and half of this weeks cucumber with a mustard dressing.

Not a fab picture and the vultures had descending leaving me with this bit to photograph and eat!

Tonight is a mixed bean chilli in the slow cooker as I have work.  Cooked chickpeas from freezer and last of the dried black beans (soaked overnight and cooked this morning), along with last courgette, red pepper, onion, mushrooms, chilli flakes, ground coriander and cumin and a carton of tomatoes.

I also tray roasted off 2 courgettes, 1 red pepper, a tonne of various tomatos (before I used the last in the salad), red onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and mixed herbs yesterday so I've got the basis of a pasta sauce tomorrow.  Might leave as it or might add some chicken or some tuna depends on what I fancy.  Means I'm not having to worry about dinner tomorrow either and I can concentrate on shopping, baking and hopefully a bit of veg planting!

As to the title of this blog; fruit flies are back big time.  My plastic council compost bin is full of them as it is every year so whenever I take off the lid there is a cloud of them erupting! Just have to remember not to breathe in, haha!  Does make pretty good compost though and the worms love it!  I love my worms and my frog and my crows and my other birds and the bees and, and, well you get my drift, but I DO NOT like fruit flies; they get everywhere!  Hey ho!

CHATTING TO MR CROW (includes recipe for 'Fakeaway')

Working last night, so no chance to get blog done.

I've now used my slow cooker every day this week so far and will be using it again tomorrow as I'm back at work in the evening.

Surprising what you can do in it, haha

Yesterday was pumpkin chilli using another one of the pumpkins I picked in October at the pumpkin farm; yes, they are still ok!  I have one huge one left and it's still really firm.  Actually the one I used yesterday was a smaller version of the big one and the skin was so hard on it, I nearly sliced off my thumb; whoops!

http://pumpkinmoon.uk/ - Pumpkin Farm where we picked our own pumpkins for Halloween 2016

Ended up finding that the quickest and easiest way to do it was to wedge it into manageable bits, then cut into cubes using a very sharp knife and a tea towel so I could whack it and then cutting the skin off.  Bit laborious, but it worked.  Then I just shoved it all in the slow cooker with a wedged onion, some garlic, coriander, cumin, chilli flakes, salt, pepper and a tin of tomatoes and a tin of butter beans as I didn't have any kidney beans!!  Very unusual for me I have to admit.  Must get back into buying the dried, soaking and cooking and then freezing in batches.  Works out a lot cheaper. The chilli was then cooked for 4 hours on high.  They had it with rice and I had it with some pickle and yogurt when I got home.

Pumpkin Chilli before cooking

Today was another beautiful day; yesterday was overcast and I had another headache (convinced they are to do with air pressure), so quick trip for supplies in Aldi, quick visit to Wilkinsons for toiletries and home to put washing out on the line and have a general peruse around the garden.  Obviously I got distracted by Mr Crow and his constant cawing; it would appear there maybe a rival crow about as he wasn't very happy when another appeared.  Also saw the first bumble bee of the year and happily watched him buzzing about for another 10mins.

Mr (or Mrs) Crow

Decided that as I was out there I'd tidy around the 1st pond area and cut back the dead stalks from the tansy and the foxgloves, dug up some weeds and grass clumps and then watched the water snails and whirlygigs busying themselves in the water.  I can spend rather a lot of time just watching wildlife in my garden, haha.

Tonight's dinner was a first for me.  I'm on a slow cooker page on Facebook and they are always going on about a 'fakeaway'; basically a kebab type thing made with mince, onion, garlic and herbs which you moosh together until smooth (I did it in the food processor) and then cook, wrapped in foil, in the slow cooker.  I cooked mine for 4 hours on medium along with several sweet potatoes which had just been scrubbed and put in whole.

I would have taken a photograph, but they descended like vultures before I got the chance, so maybe next time.  It was alright, I wouldn't rave about it, but it was simple and served in pitta breads alongside some homemade coleslaw and a green salad it made a good meal.

'FAKEAWAY'
500g of lamb mince
1 onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
1tsp of dried oregano (although I used fresh as didn't have any dried)
1tsp of dried mixed herbs
1/2tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Blitz the onion, garlic cloves, oregano, mixed herbs, paprika in a food processor until very finely chopped.  Add the mince and blitz again until smooth (it looks a bit like sausage meat).
Turn out onto some tin foil and squish together into a cylinder/sausage shape.
Wrap in foil and place direct into slow cooker and cook on high for 3hrs or low for 6, or, if like me you have a medium setting, 4hrs on med.
Unwrap and thinly slice.

IT FINALLY FEELS LIKE SPRING IS COMING

What an absolutely beautiful day?  Woke up at 7.30am which is extremely unusual for me especially as I stayed up watching a movie until 1am!  But as it was such a lovely, sunny day I decided to get up.

Washing on, cuppa made, kitchen tidied where I had a bit too much of a close encounter with a rather large spider that had decided to nestle itself in a tea towel that had been left screwed up on the kitchen side.  Needless to say there was a bit of squealing and that wasn't from the spider.

Veg box delivered and off to town I went to visit my Indian shop which is now run by a Chinese man (?) and the Eastern European shop that is now run by an Asian 😖.  Love the diversity of my little town, haha.  But at least I now have a cheap huge bag of rice, cheap large bag of turmeric, gram flour, fresh coriander, spring onions, leeks (I thought there were some left in the garden but it would appear not), jar of sweet and sour gherkins and jar of roasted peppers. Lovely chats with both merchants about the weather in true English fashion.

Home and first lot of washing of the year on the line outside which meant, of course, that I got totally distracted by the neighbouring cat who appeared pleased to see me, the goldfinches and blue tits in the tree and Mr and Mrs Crow who flew pretty continuously from tree to tree to tree cawing loudly.

This afternoon was a mega bake session.  Two banana breads as I'd forgotten I had a load left and ordered another 8; whoops and some chocolate brownies which I haven't made since forever.

Banana Breads

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Both of these will go down well, although I have frozen one of the banana breads for a later date. Then made a batch of pasty for tonight's dinner.

Back beginning to ache so shoved the leftover cooked gammon, the remaining cheese sauce and some freshly chopped leeks into the slow cooker for a couple of hours to cook, once done I rolled out the pastry and placed on top and finished in the oven to cook the pastry while I did mustard mashed potato and green beans.

Gammon, leeks and cheese sauce - before it was cooked through

Am seriously hoping that tomorrow will be just as sunny as the area outside the back door needs a good tidy as does the front yard and there are some cutting back required on some of the plants that have overwintered in their respective beds.

Finally feel like I have a bit of mojo.

Cya

LOST A WEEK!!!! (includes a pickling recipe)

Oh dear!  I try doing weekly blogs and they don't work as some weeks I want to put up more than one recipe; I try doing quick daily ones and I lose days through being ill or no time, etc, etc.  So what is a girl to do??  I think I'll just give up on putting myself under pressure to do anything on a regular basis and just go with the flow!

So last week, after working all day on Sunday, then having to do Monday/Tuesday evening instead of Tuesday/Thursday, I lost all track of days, felt totally shattered by Tuesday night and basically did very repetitive meals that were quick, easy and didn't require a lot of thought.  Wednesday I lost completely as I could hardly move through aches and pains and kept falling asleep, so ended up ordering a take out!

Today, Sunday, is the first day that I've felt a little more like myself although I'm still sleepy.  Think a doctor's visit is required.

Obviously the other half is in the kitchen today as he cooks, but was at work this morning meaning I finally managed to get in the kitchen and sort out the turnips which have been loitering in the cupboard and had started to resprout!!!

After pulling up the remaining ones in the garden to join the ones already trying to make a break for sunshine in the cupboard I had a reasonable amount in which to pickle/ferment!  The recipe says it's a pickle, but as the process is done in salted water with just a few tablespoons of vinegar and then left for a few weeks in a warm place, it's most definitely a ferment more than a pickle.  Son loved them last year, so nice big jar now on the go.

Nice batch of turnips :-)

Peeled and sliced with added cloves of garlic

Brined and weighted down with a sterilized stone

Fermented Turnip Pickle - I didn't weigh anything, but did measure liquid.

1kg turnips, washed and thinly peeled
4-5 cloves of garlic, sliced (I left mine whole this time)
Salt (see method)
3tbsps white wine vinegar

Clean and sterlize a large jar or several small ones.
Slice the turnips into approx 1/2cm slices (mine were a bit thinner if I'm honest)
Put the slices into a jar and pour over enough cold water to cover.
Then strain the water off and measure liquid.
For each 500ml of water add 1.5 tablespoons of salt and stir until dissolved.
Stir in the white wine vinegar and pour back over the vegetables and weight down to ensure the turnips stay below the level of the liquid.  I used a bit of greaseproof paper and weighed it down with a clean, sterilized stone from the garden which I now keep for such things.
Cover with a clean cloth and leave in a warm, dry place for at least 2 weeks; do not seal the jar.
The fermentation will stop eventually and you can then seal your jar; this can take up to four to six weeks.

Ensure that the vegetables are under the liquid at all times and they may 'shrink'.  You may also get a cloudy liquid forming, but this will clear so don't panic.

WELL THAT WASN'T A GOOD START WAS IT? (includes recipe)

Missed out on a post yesterday as was ill all day until about 3pm and then off to work at 4.30pm so no real time to write anything up.  Stonking headache, neck ache and felt sick.  Tucked myself up in bed with water, paracetamol and slept as much as I could which did, eventually, help!

Luckily I'd prepped the slow cooker dinner the night before and as we have so many timer switches which are used at Xmas for all the lights, I dragged one of those out and plugged the slow cooker in meaning I didn't have to worry about dinner at all. Whoop, whoop!  Satay Chicken and it was devoured with relish apparently. Unfortunately it does mean that there were no photos.  Hey ho!

Felt a lot better today and as beginning of the month and weather was a bit brighter I went out and done the main bulk of the shopping.

Iceland for frozen fish and a few veggies and some cheese, then Aldi for sarni stuff (popped in to see a mate for a cuppa whilst round there as she only lives over the road) and then Holland & Barrett (our other independent health food shop closed down 😢 ) for flours and peanut butter.

Tonight's dinner was a new recipe for polenta; polenta and mushroom 'tart'.  Kind of like a pizza with the polenta being the base and then the veggies and mozzarella on the top.  I like polenta, but I'm never sure on quanties and always end up making either too little or way too much.  Tonight was the latter.

Polenta 'tart' (those are tomatoes not carrots, haha)

The mushrooms were cooked with spring onions, loads of garlic and thyme and some frozen sliced green beans.  The polenta was made using stock and then lashings of cheese, butter and rosemary added.  Not the most healthiest of meals, but was filling and tasted a lot better than it looked.


POLENTA AND MUSHROOM 'TART/PIZZA'

butter, plus extra for greasing
1.27 litre vegetable stock
300g quick-cook polenta
Chunk of cheese, grated
2 rosemary sprigs, leaves finely chopped
punnet of chestnut mushrooms, halved
4-5 spring onions, chopped
couple of cloves of garlic finely chopped
small bunch thyme, leaves only
couple of handfuls of green beans
2 balls mozzarella, drained
6 cherry tomatoes, halved

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Grease a large baking tray or roasting tin.
Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan, then slowly pour in the polenta, whisking all the
time and let bubble for 8 mins, whisking continuously.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, butter, rosemary and plenty of seasoning.
Spread the polenta over the tray and bake for 30 mins.

In a frying pan fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil along with the chopped spring onions and then add the finely chopped garlic, thyme and some seasoning.
Add the green beans and heat through.
Once the polenta has had it's 30mins, remove from the oven and place the mushroom mixture onto the polenta and dot with torn mozzarella and halved cherry tomatoes.

Return to the oven for another 15mins or until cheese is bubbling.
Allow to cool a little so that the polenta firms up a bit and it becomes easier to serve.

I didn't do that last bit and it was rather sloppy to serve, but then firmed up in the eating bowls.  Oh well, will learn for next time.