Category Archives: Cookery

Writing is easy, it’s the titles I struggle with…

Dropped Number One son off in town for the second day of his Master’s degree then proceeded to have breakfast at Sainsburys, followed by shopping for crickets at the Garden Centre. It was a varied morning.

Arrived at the farm for 11.00, checked the polytunnels and managed to get photographs of a Speckled Wood. It really didn’t want to settle but I eventually managed a few decent shots. Meeting with a woman about an arts project that we’re trying to get going, meeting to teach me how to work the website and lunch. For once the meetings were quite useful.

Damson jam with camoflaged tops

Julia went of to view the tent we’re working in at the Ploughing Match whilst I did various things of little consequence before making a dozen jars of damson jam. I did it with the stones in after last year’s debacle and am hoping I fished them all out. It’s saved a lot of time though I’m just dreading the first complaint about a broken tooth. Sensitive subject at the moment as I pulled a crown off whilst chewing gum last week.

Rained later, which isn’t good for the show.

I’ve always found rain difficult to photograph

That’s it, short post today.

Great day in the bread class

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It was a self-taught bread session today as Gail is of on her yearly pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. (I’m not sure what she does in the other eleven and a half months of the year that necessitates a regular pilgrimage to cleanse her soul, and I’m not prepared to speculate because I’ve seen the way she handles a knife). I would say something about trying to curry favour, but that would be an appallingly obvious bad pun, even by my low standards.

Very interesting but what about me getting a look?

The subject was flat-bread, and Nina took the class. Now, she could have done types of world flat bread, with notes and theory and an overview and a summing up. It would have been good and we’d have all learned something. But she knows her audience better than that. We did flat-breads of several varieties but we also ended up with a chickpea and potato curry, a bean and courgette curry (hows that for a summer glut-buster when only beans and courgettes seem to be producing?) plus an apple chutney and a bean side dish. And we still learned something.

Circular chapatis are not as easy as they look. Mine usually look like a map of Africa

Note the special pan

It was also something of a training exercise because a small group of the bread students are off to India in January with Nina as guide. It’s sounds like it’s going to be fun but after my last trip abroad (which featured a riot, close shaves on the road, police attention, Kalashnikovs and a really bad bowel problem) I let my passport lapse and decided to leave travel to people with stronger nerves.

I’ve seen the Marigold Hotel films and I’m not sure I have the energy for a tour of India, what with the traffic and bustle and all that dancing. Even the promise of meditation and yoga doesn’t tempt me. And I certainly don’t have the fortitude to drink well water containing living things, even though Nina assures me she has never been ill from such water and that it contains healthy minerals. I like my water to stay still while I’m trying to drink it.

All I can say is that I’d be happy to be a vegetarian if I could always eat like this. Sadly it won’t happen as I just can’t season food like Nina, and what tastes absolutely brilliant after she has made it always tastes either insipid or searingly spicy after I’ve done it. I know practice makes perfect but I just don’t have the digestion for experimentation any more.

Yes, it was every bit as good as it looks

The bread group, in case you are near, meets alternate Thursday mornings but it doesn’t always include curry. I’m probably safe in claiming that it covers the whole bread making experience for A to Z as we did once make zopf, which is the difficult end covered. Come along – you’ll enjoy it. And Gail always makes biscuits for the tea break.

Contact office@farmeco.co.uk for more details.

End of advert.

One of those days in England

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It’s warm and the only sounds I can hear are the rumbling of passing grain trailers and the buzzing of a wasp nosing around my empty cordial glass.

I presume wasps “nose”. They look like they have noses. In fact, when I watched them eating jam last week they looked like black and yellow terriers. If only they were furry with floppy ears they might get a better press.

In fact, as I finish that line the only thing I can hear is the wasp. Now there’s a pigeon too. The wasp is loudest though because it’s in the glass and that’s amplifying the sound.

We made fruit vinegar today, using gooseberries and blackcurrants from the freezer. It’s looking quite smart in its new bottles. Once we make the labels we’ll be ready to sell.

But first we have to decide on a “best before” date. One version of the recipe says 6 months and another says 12 months. The Food Standards Agency says that “best before” dates are about quality – it isn’t illegal to sell food after that date and it won’t harm you.

(“Use by” dates are a different matter and eating food after that date may well kill you. Try it by all means but don’t blame me for the consequences.)

Of course, if I was a cynic, I may suggest that “best before” dates are used by manufacturers to scare consumers into throwing away perfectly good food.

The good news is that my finger is improving and when the doctor saw it this morning they prescribed anti-inflammatories to complete the work that ice packs have begun.

The slightly less good news is that they also prescribed an antacid to stop the anti-inflammatory giving me an ulcer.

Next week they are going to give me a steroid injection.

I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forwards to that.

One of the things you can do with fruit vinegar is drizzle it on ice cream.

Seems good. After all, I am an invalid.

An embarrassment of riches

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Despite what I said yesterday I sometimes have far too much to cover in a single post. Today is one of those days.

We arrived early at the farm to set up for the session and I skived off for a moment to look at the buddleia. I’m glad I did, because I spotted my first Painted Lady of the year and got some great shots. Julia saw one a couple of months ago but only managed a blurred shot before it got away. Last year I saw two but didn’t have my camera with me either time.

Painted Lady

At that point the kids started to arrive. First of all they made cheese straws then spent the afternoon making a variety of things from plastic milk containers. I say variety – elephants, baskets and scoops.

Cheesy biscuity goodness

: Elephant

Meanwhile I had to make plastic bottle wasp traps as several of the visitors weren’t keen on wasps. I’m not sure I achieved much but it showed willing, and because it was only wasps none of the veggies complained. Would have been different if I’d built a kitten trap…

The scoops, which I had thought were a bit boring, were surprisingly popular, thanks to Julia making a sandpit on the new patio/BBQ area. Just goes to show what I know.

Sandpit and Scoop. Kids have such strange name these days.

Finally it was time for a meeting…

Catching up

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I just added a recipe for Fat Hen soup on the recipe page. It’s slightly misleading as there’s no hens in it, though I used butter to soften the onions so there’s plenty of fat.

We’re going to taste test it at lunchtime with fresh bread rolls that we’re cooking with the kids. (Fourteen kids of mixed age, half a dozen parents and two kilos of dough – what could possibly go wrong?)

Here’s a picture of the “staff”. We’ve been having trouble with the toaster. It’s difficult getting staff when you don’t actually pay, even worse when you promise them toast and marmalade and the toast bit doesn’t happen because the toaster will only do one side at a time.

It’s hedgehog rolls today (another misleading recipe title) for the kids and a bread roll for the soup if the parents want to make one. I will be making spares anyway because I need to get back in practice.

I’m slightly worried about the dough. I used a half measure of yeast and put it in the fridge last night. The result is three balls of dough that have risen but not risen quite enough. They aren’t actually refusing to rise but if they were human you’d think they were typical truculent teenagers. Apart from the fact that they are out of bed at 10.25am.

After bread rolls and soup we’ll be making woodland masks and (possibly) toasting marshmallows.

Have a look at @QuercusCommy if you want a progress report on the baking. We also have some pictures of the harvesting that started yesterday, including a shot of the combine cutting between the rows of apple trees in the agroforestry field. I say trees, but you might have to squint a bit as they are only two years old.

I’ll put some pictures up on the farm page to show a bit more of the field and harvest.

Bees, bugs and baking

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It’s been a hectic day of baking bugs. The bug hunt was a bust due to the weather – the only butterfly we saw was a Large White imitating a clipper under full sail as the wind whipped it past at a rapid rate. The hoverflies are still about and the larger types of bee are also getting to grips with the serious job of feeding. .

They say (and I can’t vouch for this as it’s on the same internet that thinks Miley Cyrus is a celebrity) that a bumblebee with a full stomach has only enough energy to fly for 40 minutes and enough honey in the nest to last just a couple of days. You can see from this why they have to keep plugging away at it. I have enough energy to last several days, enough in my pantry to last several weeks and I don’t get lost when farmer’s spray neonicitinoids. Makes you realise how lucky you are.

Magic Disappearing Tree

(Update: I just took a break from typing and spotted a Red Admiral in a sheltered nook of the garden. No photo as Julia has my camera.) Two butterflies in one August day – hard to believe.

Anyway – back to baking bugs. Sadly this should read “baking bug-shaped buns” as we’re not allowed to feed insects to children. Another example of political correctness gone mad if you ask me. Not that anyone does…

We have shaped silicone baking trays, we have icing, Smarties, red fondant, black fondant, cutters and coloured icing pens. We have cake mix, we have those hard shiny metallic balls and we have a dedicated team of bug builders.

By mid-afternoon I confidently forecast that we will see several new species described in a mixture of cake and icing. Probably with fingerprints in the fondant and bite-shaped pieces missing round the edges.

New species for the British List

Yes, this has all the makings of a classic day on the farm.

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Insoles, rissoles and an annoying person

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I’ve reached that point in life when I’m able to carry on a conversation with my father on the subject of feet. I don’t remember how it happened, but it crept up on me like moss invading an ancient stone. First we started talking instead of arguing, which took about 30 years, then people started telling me I was just like my dad (not a compliment, I assure you) and finally we drifted onto middle-aged topics, like how Saga insurance isn’t as cheap as the adverts lead you to believe and the effectiveness of foam insoles in helping with foot pain. I won’t go too far into plantar faciitis but if you’re fat and forty you probably already know about it. After having a steroid injection in the sole of my foot (which made things worse for three days – exactly how the doctor described it) mine cleared up but I’ve used various insoles since. I like the ones from the £1 shop. They seem to do the same as the ones from the sports shop but for a lot less money.

I’ve also reached a time in life when cheap food is of great interest to me. If I want to carry on with my low stress lifestyle and survive to retirement without getting a proper job I’m going to have to make economies. Getting rid of the kids was one way, but they seem to have drifted back so that idea is clearly doomed. So it’s rissoles. I’ve seen them recently when looking at wartime recipes and it brought back memories from my childhood.

We had an Aga in those days, an aluminium 1950s kitchen in cream and red (though I’m not sure it was actually English Rose – the shapes were different) and even a servant’s bedroom in the attic.

It was a great place to grow up and the lack of heating, smouldering electrical faults and masonary bees didn’t bother a child.

We also had rissoles. It’s the last time I actually remember having them, because I’ve stuck to burgers ever since. Looking through recipes and comments that people are making I have the feeling that I’ve really been missing out. Time will tell. It’s on the project list with Fat Hen Soup and bubble and squeak (another retro project).

Finally, you may have noticed I’ve been a bit shaky on titles recently. Unfortunately I allowed a comment in my spam to get under my skin.

I read them because I’m always afraid that I’ll miss a proper comment. After reading just short of a thousand comments I’ve decided that I’m not reading them again. I can stomach the ones that clearly have no relation to anything, the ones that tell me how to steal content and the (often mis-spelt ones that offer to increase my search engine ranking). I even ignore the irritating one that tells me on a regular basis that my blogs would be improved by fewer typos and spelling mistakes. It’s true, I should iron out the typos, but I’m not going to let someone tell me this when they make more mistakes in their message than I do in a week.

However, I have allowed one to get to me. It criticised my titles, describing them as “vanilla”. Apart from the criticism, from someone who doesn’t appear to write a blog I’m still fuming at the use of the tern vanilla. Vanilla is a great flavouring with a long and excellent history, and shouldn’t be used as criticism by pipsqueak wannabe critics hiding behind the internet. Rant over. Just a mild one this time. However, it’s put me off my stroke with titles.

Does anyone else have this problem, either with titles or listening to criticism?

Ramblings, art week and the first post of the day

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It’s Sunday and this is just a few random thoughts to get me warmed up so don’t worry if you have a feeling that you’re trapped in an overgrown garden of rampant verbiage.

Belly pork tonight, a NIgella recipe. I made it last week and it turned out well so tonight is to test bif it was a fluke or a repeatable result. If it works again I may add it to my regular recipe selection. There is a recipe on the internet where she marinades the pork and stuff – but as this is great in its plain form why mess with tahini and lime juice? Air miles, Nigella, air miles. We’re going to be eating ours with the first broad beans of the season. I am looking froward to it.

We’ll be having radishes for lunch tomorrow – there are four of us here tomorrow so we can have a couple each. I’m not a great radish fan, but I do love stuff straight from the garden.

Sunday started, as always, at an unreasonably early hour. I then did laundry; wondered if this was what my life will be like for ever (there’s nothing like using a launderette at 7am on a Sunday to make you examine your companions, ambitions and lack of success in life); went home to tidy and make sandwiches, and then went shopping before coming to work.

I’ve used semi-colons there because it’s the right thing to do, as I recall. I’ve also had a go at sticking in an Oxford comma. It’s probably a little late in my life to start worrying about such things – particularly when my normal habit is to use commas, dashes and brackets in a manner that looks like a chimp has thrown a bucket of punctuation marks at the screen. On the other hand, what is life if it isn’t a series of attempts at self-improvement?

Well, having just had a quick look round the last day of Sherwood Art week in the Nottingham suburb of Sherwood, life might be a journey to self-improvement through the medium of novelty knitting – check out the pictures.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Out of the frying pan…

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We had a booking for 16 breakfasts this morning, and I was planning on being around as back-up because 16 breakfasts is a lot to prepare and serve at one time when you have seven ingredients and only four rings.

I’ve only done the breakfasts once before and it ended badly. Fortunately we had the regular…ah, there’s the problem. On Friday night I had a text saying “you know how we joked about me going off sick to avoid the 16 breakfasts…”. I’ll leave you to fill in the blanks. Fortunately we have a group of five cooks who take it in turns so a back-up was no problem. Well, actually it was. Two had other plans, one was already doing the pizzas at East Bridgford Show (with 25 kg of dough that I mixed on Friday night) and one hasn’t replied yet.

That all leads to one conclusion – I was in for a tough morning.

To put it in perspective, it wasn’t as bad as the start that the regular cook was experiencing, as she had texted early to tell me she was in hospital. (I’m not being insensitive referring to the “regular cook” by the way – just respecting her privacy).

Nor was it as bad as the start they were having in East Bridgford.

No point worrying though, I had my trusty chafing dish ready, I had new fuel tins and I had the experience garnered from my last disastrous day in the kitchen. I even had floral decorations prepared by Julia the night before. What could possibly go wrong?

As it turned out – nothing.

One of the neighbours pitched in to help with the egg cookery (not my strongest area), the party of 16 smiled and ignored the smoke and swearing that accompanies my breakfast-cooking antics.

You can tell all you need to know about my egg cookery from the fact that I dropped four poached eggs and was able to catch two when they bounced back from the floor.

They may have been slightly overdone, though, being lightly dusted with detritus from the floor, nobody had to test them out.

All in all, a successful day, though I forgot my camera so I don’t have any photos to prove it.

quercuscommunity

Life after the Care Farm

Category Archives: Cookery

Writing is easy, it’s the titles I struggle with…

Great day in the bread class

One of those days in England

An embarrassment of riches

Catching up

Bees, bugs and baking

New Content

Insoles, rissoles and an annoying person

Ramblings, art week and the first post of the day

Out of the frying pan…