Pot holders - Sewing Project

The story of how I came to make two sets of pot holders this Saturday afternoon.

I am not a sewer; yes I can sew on a button, make a hem, enjoy a little hand sewing, but am not a machinist.  I usually have to get out the instruction manual for 15 year old Singer 7463 to check on how to use the machine.  More and more I have been watching demonstrations on line, and this year I joined a group set up within my WI to help us novices get to know our way around our sewing machines and tackle a small project.

After the summer break, I had no idea what to make, and suddenly necessity came to my aid.  I am a knitter, and really enjoy that craft.  However the cotton threads of the first set of pan holders I made in 2008 were beginning to fray, and not really fit to hold hot dishes or bread tins from the oven.  The second set made in 2014 are in better condition.  Considering each set is washed fortnightly they have lasted well.

First I went through my stash of cotton yarn, and didn't have sufficient to knit a pair. I was on the point of ordering some double knit cotton, when I had a lightbulb moment: I might be able to sew some.  I went on line and found a good tutorial.

Easy Pot holders with Carmen Geddes

Having watched that, I knew I had some heat resistant batting which I bought over 10 years ago, and of course I had some left over fabric from some of the sewing projects I was tutored through by the wonderful Kay at the Kenilworth WI weekly sewing group. 

I never quite got into patchwork, although have tried, and in this instance I thought to bypass making a patchwork side and just use fabric on the theme of green to match accessories in the kitchen.  I had fabric left over in sufficient quantity from making my Pen Roll for my calligraphy pens and brushes.  

I haven't even opened the boxes with the stash of fabrics or sewing things for some time, and to my amazement came across a few trial patchwork pieces that I had made up at a county WI workshop in Warwick.  So the potholders would be made as per the video after all.

I had a few problems with thread bunching up on the bottom of the fabric, a couple of broken needles etc, but I remained patient.  I was quite pleased with the effect of sewing in the valleys type of straight quilting.

I am learning about different sizes of needles and which to use for different fabrics etc.  I was meant to keep this as a project to do when we meet up, but I was on a roll, and just got on with finished two sets yesterday.  Today one set was used and I am delighted with them. Whilst I cooking I can use the drawer knob to hang them from, but after that I prefer to put them away in the drawer.

It would have taken me several weeks to knit two sets, so all in all, these are excellent use of existing material and time.

There is probably a few years left in the newest of the knitted pot holders, so they will continue in service for a while.

Using the old pot holders to guage the size

Now I need to understand more about needles and order some more.  It was interesting to read the price on the ones I bought years ago, with hand written price and those available now!

Since first posting this I have had feedback and advice from my sewing guru Kay:

"The thread bunching, known also as birds nesting, can be caused by uneven tension.  I have found on more than one machine this happened but have cured it by using Guttermann sew all thread.  For some reason sewing machine are very fussy about thread spools.  You could also use try cleaning out the spool area. Lint and dust accumulate after a while."

"The thread in the shuttle should be the same as the top thread.  Older threads tend to be hairy to aid hand sewing so it is well worth investing in a couple of neutral coloured sew all threads."

Sewing machine needles 

To Eschew

 It all comes to one at some time, and now I am mid way between a temporary crown and the final one, which is in about two weeks.  There are so many of usual delicious foods that it is best to avoid.  Nuts, granary bread, crackling etc need to be eschewed, i.e. they must not be chewed!  It tickled me the use of the word eschew which means to avoid something deliberately is so appropriate when I need to avoid chewing!

As I have recovered my baking mojo what better than to make a ham, cheese and onion quiche.  It is ages since I had a spell of making those: before, for and after the coronation.

I have a dear friend Mandy and either on our posts or on Facebook, talk, discuss, share, tips on good food, sometimes frugal food, and very often luxurious food.  Here all three come together.  I bought a half cheese from our local cheesemaker and goat dairy woman.  It was a mature Burcott at a fraction of the price compared to if it had been portioned and separately packaged. Mr S and I saw this when we went up to say hello at our Wells Food Festival a few weeks ago.  Fellow punters glanced over and when I gave a cast-iron recommendation, there was a queue to buy up the rest of the full or part cheeses. 

When I got home I cut up the cheese, grated a whole lot, and put them into the freezer to use as and when we needed without filling up the fridge.  This went into the quiche.  Having ready grated cheese as good as any Manchego in the freezer, means that each time I wish to add some as a topping or within a dish, there is no need to get out the grater.

The ham was made up of some of the meat that I removed from a ham hock I had cooked with various herbs, and spices  for soup in the pressure cooker.  There was sufficient meat for two quiches, and three batches of soup, and one portion in a salad yesterday.  

Sowing the seeds of a new journey

They say a seed can only grow if the soil is ready, and the conditions too, for that particular seed.  The seed too has to be viable, and if space is limited, worth growing.

I am going to stop there, as this could lead me down the garden path, which is a place I love to be.  The other place I love to be is at the start of a new adventure.  Not too daring, not one that will take many air-miles, or cause any more pollution than is necessary, but an adventure that has the potential to enrich my life.  If it is an adventure will be based on food and eating and the Kitchen, I am ready.

It will be a journey, and an adventure and Mr S is 'behind' me.  I don't think he has a choice really, and I am sure he will greatly enjoy being my 'pack carrier' and bless him: washer upper.  I have probably been in training for this journey which will be an adventure, for which different other seeds were sown, from my earliest years.

Food and eating: good food and 'moderate' eating, has since I can remember, been one of my greatest pleasures.  Buying/growing and preparing food is one too. Whether it was 'standard' fruits and vegetables grown on volcanic soils under a semi tropical sun such as bananas, pineapples, mangoes, pawpaws, lobsters, fruit bats, hedgehogs and venison, or enjoying other delicacies such as imported olives, which my father adored, or coming back to England and enjoying iced lemon buns, and the wonderful wholesome dishes at my Grandmothers, I have always been adventurous.

A few weeks ago I happened to be listening to BBC Radio 4 Food Programme on the topic of 'how to get Sour back into your life'. ( How long the Programme will remain viable in the link, I cannot guess). At the time most probably, I was making Sourdough, which is another sort of sour.  Of course we love my chutneys, some of which I post on my other blog. 

From the library, I am enjoying reading Mark Diacono's prose on

sour/the magical element that will transform your cooking

I had started to dip my toes in a not unfamiliar pond, and am now a regular in the making of kefir.  I had been making kefir around fifteen years ago regularly, but something went wrong with it, and not having access then as we do now, didn't understand properly the needs of the kefir grains, which after some time, just died!  This time I am enjoying my kefir in all sorts of ways.

I happened to have ordered Fermentation by Asa Simonsson at the same time.  Reading up and planning is part of the excitement before a new journey, which I also enjoy. 

When I popped round to my special salad leaf supplier: Frances, and we were talking about this and that, she invited me to taste the Beetroot Kvass she has recently made.  I love beetroot, I love salty...she poured a little in a small bottle for me take home. 

I had been hearing and wondering for some time about preserving without vinegar.  When I was about eight, I heard my grandmother talking about salting down, and bottling garden produce for the winter...but how she cooked and ate them, I haven't a clue.  I suppose this sort of preservation points back to the days before electricity.  They lived in a part of Lincolnshire where electricity only arrived in the early 60s. My parents also make a type of Achard which used many of the techniques, which I enjoy making and more importantly love to eat.

Earlier in June, on our way back from our holiday in Devon, I wanted to stop off at a plant nursery on my HPS list...White Post Nursery near Wellington.  We had a little turn there...and it was near lunch time, and on cue Mr S asked 'what are we doing for lunch'?  He had gone back to the car,  and I had just returned from having a second tour of the nursery on my own, and I took it as a hint that I had spent too long looking at plants.

I said how about trying that cafe there...just on the side of the car park.  In we went, and I was amazed at the love and  thought put into the assembly and display of a myriad of fresh produce, and the deliciousness of the lunch.  Sadly it is a little too far from home or else I would be a regular!  I knew just by seeing the bread and other baked goods that this was my sort of place.  If you are in the vicinity of The White Post Cafe, do please plan in a visit.  With a few leaflets to hand, which I was pointed towards when asking about who supplies their bread, I came away with information about The Bakery which used to be on the other side of the hard standing but had now moved a little way away to Tracebridge: Tracebridge Sourdough and Fermenteria.

Not surprisingly after we had settled down after our holiday, I looked into Tracebridge, and fancied maybe one of their patisserie courses.  As we were in thick of decorating, the thought was parked.  However after the tasting the Kvass...and being determined to beat off the winter blues and in need of an adventure, last week I checked to see if they had any Fermentation classes.  Yes there was one only a week away, and only one place left.  I am on it!

Ash Trees on the Mendips

I'm using this Title on this post because I took a picture of a magnificent ash tree on my ride today.  It was a shorter ride at around 8km, with 144m ascent.

The quiet time after Christmas is traditionally a time to consider new resolutions, Normally I don't make any resolutions, well not at this time of the year, but it dawned on me in the small wee hours that I ought to be less timid.    Friends who know the outer me may laugh at this, but the inner self does lack confidence in just getting on and trying things.

In  my less timid mode, I thought through the things I ought to set my sights on.  An important one is good health and fitness within one's capabilities.After my injury on the walks in Crete and a realisation that my feet would hardly ever be likely to be in shape to attempt even moderate walks let alone walks such as The Tour de Mont Blanc and crossing the Pyrenees as I had done some years ago, my mind has turned to cycling.  We are fortunate to live in a beautiful area, with reasonably quiet roads so this will be my new challenge and offer a variety of 'adventures'.

I have my workhorse of a bicycle, which with its panniers, serves me very well for visits to friends locally and most grocery shopping.  However there is no reason to limit oneself, and this is the third of my rides in my new regime.  I am exploring the area straight around our home.

Another area in which I have been timid, is in the use of the mobile phone!  After years of having first a pager, then a mobile phone for work, and jumping each time wondering what emergency would need to be dealt with, I had decided to use them as little as possible.  I have one and I want it to be a tool.

On my recent two cycle rides on the levels, one of the difficulties was getting out the Ordnance Survey Map from my pannier, opening it, finding where I was, and maybe trying to hold it open in the breeze or in the mizzle, which is the name for very fine rain/mist.

With the new Ordnance Survey Maps there is a facility to download a code, but first you need to upload an app, my first one!, and now I have the map on the phone, with a little help from Mr S.  So today, I have used this for the first time, and I am sure there are many features to explore and will be fun to use.

Another 'must try harder' area is using the mobile phone to take pictures....The picture of my Giant was taken with the phone, and another first for me today was uploading the picture to a 'Facebook' post using the phone.  Another first was sending the picture to my own email from the phone, so that I could upload it to my blog.

The Ash Tree was taken with my camera, and it really doesn't quite look as good.

There are large areas of mixed woodland on the Mendips, with Ash dominating.  Away from the coppiced woodland within the smaller fields 'eye catcher' specimens like this one offer landmarks along the lanes.  After cycling and indeed walking up steep hills pushing the bicycle, there was a steady downhill ride into Wookey, with much breaking. 

When looking up the flora and fauna of the Mendips I read that one of the plants 

"Purple gromwell: A characteristic plant of the Mendip ash-lime woodland frequently found in clearings and beside rides"

which by the way I shall look out for this spring around the edge of the wooded areas,  is growing in the green swath, which stands in for lawn in my front garden.  Was it planted there at some time, or is it a remnant of the original turf?

Somerset Level Alders

To end the year I planned a solitary cycle ride on the levels taking me a little further than a week or so ago.  With ordinance survey opened out, I found a low point in the ridge along which the B3139 runs from Wells through to Wedmore and beyond.  It was across the gap near Panborough that I ventured from North Moor to Knowle Moor which lies wedged between this ridge and the Mendips.

On North Moor the tall willows mark the edges of dykes along field boundaries, and within the grazing areas wide expanses of sedges dot the grasses Over the last few weeks I have come to appreciate the beauty of this low level countryside, and plan to learn more about  its flora and fauna.

Towards the ridge, it was the Alder Trees that started to take over from the Willows.  In the low winter light, their twigs with tight buds shone purple.

With their leaves all gone, the structure of the branches is silhouetted against the low grey clouds,  again forming field bounderies.  The Alnus glutinosa adds fertility as it is able to trap nitrogen with the help nitrogen fixing bacteria. 

At one stage a brightly coloured kingfisher flew ahead of me along a dyke,  and later I stopped to watch a sole little egret, I think, well it was egret shaped and white, but as soon as it turned and saw me, it flew off!   There were the usual flocks of gold finch, long tail tits, willow and other tits.

On the way back I cycled round Knowle Hill, where I found a young heifer loose on the drove.   At the time I was anxious in case it turned towards me, so I made sure I kept a constant steady slow speed, and as it jumped the dyke  in a well trodden area, It dawned on me that it must have done this several times. It had galloped in front of me for half a kilometer before jumping the dyke and then swaggering into its 'home' field by Knowle Farm.

On the last leg of the cycle, I had a few hills to pass through as I cycled through Yarley and back towards the Ben Knowle and Hay Hill Gaps, passing Fenny CastleVineyard.

The weather was mild.....

Marina di Chioggia Pumpkin, former post in the name Ironbark Pumpkin

I'm putting the update at the top of the post, but leaving the rest intact.  Through leaving a card at the Deli, the grower has been in touch.  She grows the pumkins in her own garden along with a number of other pumpkins.  She bought the seed for Marina di Chioggia which is an old variety, and was grown along with Uchiki Kuri, and Crown Prince, so I am afraid that the seed cannot be guaranteed.


This morning we were out of the door and walking briskly to Town ready for our early checkup at the Dentist.  I was rushed out by Mr S, so I blame the early start for my forgetting to take any shopping bags.

After receiving the all clear by the dentist, we sauntered round Wells, popping in and out of shops, primarily looking for new leather gloves for me, hopefully in a nice shade: pumpkin or orange, or maybe even a golden yellow.  The only ladies leather gloves we came across were black!

Bear with me:  the finding of the object is part of the pleasure of my day.  Along our way home, we found two clocks, and bought them...we have been looking for some for over a year!  Mr S found just the right bolt for his lathe, from the cycle shop, then I wanted to go to a kitchen shop to get a flexible spatula which was just one piece, with no joints...and found it in a local shop, together with a new spatula to replace the one we have had for about twenty years!  Both in a lovely green colour too.

Our outing was proving to be very productive...and I have been having a little craving for something sweet..chocolates are out of the question, I daren't even have one of chocolate bats.  One of my favourite treats is really good Turkish Delight, and I felt it was worth trying the deli to see if they had Pistachio Turkish Delight.  I have had two lots in the last year from the Village Shop in Wedmore, which does stock some delicious things.

Queen Street Deli came up Trumps!  I was triumphant, and with my Pistachio Turkish Delight paid for, turning to leave the shop,  my eye was caught by the window display.  A trio of different pumpkins were in the window with a particular magnificent pumpkin which I didn't recognize.....they had been brought in by a local gardener.  I had never seen the like of the one that caught my attention.  Its variety was unknown to the Deli owner, but it was a culinary variety.  In any case, without anything to carry the said pumpkin in, which was over 8Kg, it had to stay in the shop.  I was shown a few other smaller pumpkins or squahes and had thought they may be 'under developped' Turks Turbans.  I had grown some lovely specimens several years ago when I had an allotment.  However having trawled various specialist pumpkin seed merchants, and realising the grower may be into some 'exclusive' varieities, they may be Burgess Vine Buttercup.  I shall be at the Deli again tomorrow!

Having arrived home, on went the PC, and I started to trawl the internet for pictures of  dark green pumpkins with knobbly skin, and came up with Ironbark Pumpkin.  It is a heritage pumpkin from Australia.  I knew I had to go back and get it...my only thoughts were the dismay I would feel had it been bought by someone else.

This time we took the car into Wells...and I was triumphant...Mr S did the gallant thing and carried it to the car.

The two other pumpkins in the picture are Crown Princes, which I have had for a few weeks...but their noses have definitely been put out of joint by this beautiful Ironbark.

Today the 'carved pumpkin', set out to advertise the presence of baked goodies, having been baked, is already being made into sourdough dough loaves.  I am going to have such a good time finding and making Pumpkin dishes.

If anyone has grown this one, and visits this site, or has cooked  Ironbark Pumpkin  I shall be delighted to hear your experiences.

Blackcurrant Bushes Planted

A couple of weeks ago I dropped Mr S off in Shepton Mallet to start his weekend away with friends exhibiting a large model railway layout.  As I knew it was market day there, I went down to see what was on offer.  There were only a few market stalls, but I spied one with plants.  There were some bare-rooted fruit bushes, all well labelled, and with their root balls very nicely taped up in small bags with soil around them.  I found the stall holder very helpful, giving me advice on the best fruit for the area.

These bushes had been grown in Norfolk.  He had a variety of fruit bushes and trees.  When I asked about the variety he would recommend for my small garden he suggested Ben Sarek and found me two very sturdy plants.

A few months ago I had been researching which varieties to grow and this is one of the recent introductions and is compact , and self fertile.  What I like is that Ben Sarek is early fruiting, frost and mildew resistant, and has good yields of large berries.

Today the sun has been shining, it hasn't rained, and I felt the pull of the outdoors.  After half an hour or so of weeding, my eye fell on the plants standing up by the water-but.  Each plant has been carefully planted in a deep hole, and the soil as it was returned around the roots, mixed with well matured compost and fish, blood and bone.  It was very nearly dark when I finished, but my little camera still coped with the low light.

In all my gardens and also when I had an allotment, I have planted blackcurrants.  They are a fabulous fruit to have, and each bush can yield a few pounds.  Even when I was without fruit for a season or two, I managed to find some lovely fruit for preserving.  One of my favourite deserts although quite simple is poached pears and blackcurrants.

Mr S's choice preserve by far is Blackcurrant Jam.  When we went together to pick some at a pick your own farm, he realised just how hard work they are to pick...and hence the price in the shops.

And now for the hard to bear pruning regime, which entails cutting these lovely little twigs with their promising buds down to about two inches above ground.  I was really hoping to find some way of keeping some stems and hence fruit this season.  I did leave a couple of bushes like this in my last garden, but the hard pruned ones did perform the best.  Tomorrow I shall go out, and prune them hard, and as the stems look so healthy, will try rooting them for additional plants.

Here is to 2019 when I hope to pick the first blackcurrants!

Whole Hosta Leaves

Holeless leaves on my Hosta courtesy of copper tape.  This hosta, name unknown, left by the previous owners, has been repotted several times, and each year I vowed that I would throw it away, as every leaf became damaged by mid season.

Last autumn I bought a roll of copper tape from Waitrose, and during December put it around the pot just below rim level.  I even emptied the hosta out of its pot, to make sure there were no slug lurking in the bottom.

My friend Liz Watson has a lovely collection of hostas given to her by another 'enfuriated' gardener, and all of her pots on her shady patio, have tape around them and were much admired at the last open garden.  She did mention that you have to wipe the tape from time to time, because the tape can become compromised by splash up of soil, and the little slugs and snails soon find this out.

Spring Prizes

April is the Spring Show at the Kenilworth Gardening Club, and now being Show Secretary, gives me very little time to put up my exhibits.  Also I have 'bowed' out of the preserve section, giving other the opportunity to 'win'.  This also now allows me to help with the judging in that section.  After several jars of marmalade and jellies, I really felt like a drink and a slice of plain toast.  One of the finest flavours was a pineapple and grapefruit marmalade and I am looking forward to trying my hand at making that one.

Of course we love to have as many exhibits as possible, so having come back from holiday it was a quick search for possible entries to swell the numbers on the bench,  without trying too much.  I was non the less pleased to get a couple of placements:

Laverne Socks continued

I can usually spot a good design, and being a fairly experienced knitter love a good challenge.  The Laverne Socks looked like just the right design for my 'competition socks'.  As you can see I am knitting them on two fixed ended circular needles.  I really enjoy using the Knitpro fixed circular knitting needles, and the wooded tips are both sharp and smooth at the same time.  

                               

I realise now that I ought to knit the two socks more or less as the same time, since when I get to fiddly bits, I do a bit of 'finessing', but worry that I will do exactly the same thing on the second sock. Of course normally I wouldn't worry too much, but you need to impress judges!  I will knit each sock up to the fiddly bits separately, do the fiddly bits on each, then continue etc.  Each sock in the pair would then be finished more or less at the same time.  I had this eureka moment during this pair of socks, so will be sending off for another two needles!

This is definitely the easiest way to knit socks, compared to the four or five needles.  I have quite a few pairs of bamboo and birch short needles.  With the two circular needles you never loose them whilst knitting!  It is also very easy to position batches of stitches for a pattern area on one needle, and plain stitches on 'the sole needle'.

As soon as I had started the foot part of the sock, I realised that there were multiple errors in the pattern.  I had corrected them on my enlarged chart, where I marked them with my highlighter, but I was concerned that other knitters may waste some time over these and end up 'frogging' their project, or in desperation consigning their project to the bin!  Isn't it wonderful that with the internet, it is so easy to send queries that can go straight through to designers and publishers.  Yes I had spotted all the errors which I had highlighted on my working sheet, which had occurred when they had transcribed the authors pattern into a chart with their standard house style.  They have now posted an updated version.

This yarn comes in two balls...and even when I am knitting one pair of socks from a 100g ball, I often worry about whether I shall enough, and sometimes my digital scales come out.  As I have increased the length of the rib section, and increased the number of motifs from five to seven, I was getting a little anxious.

Here is my sock nearly finished and just being tried on, so that I can judge when to start the toe, to make it a perfect fit.

I arrived at the end, and had just a comfortable amount left, and was ready to sew the ends together using the  Kitchener Stitch which looks just like knitting and leaves no ridge or lump or bump.  I sat in a sunny conservatory where the light was much better to do this last bit.

So one sock is finished...and now the second one is being knitted up!

If you are knitting this pattern, or any other sock, and would like to link up with yours, please leave a comment, and if you are posting on your blog, please mention mine.  Happy Knitting....

Quince prepared for the freezer

I was lucky enough to be given a basket full of quince by Penny.  Last year I made a pale quince cheese and still have a jar or two in the cupboard.  I put it down to this and the fact that Penny had given me a nice pot of her beautiful deep coloured quince cheese made this year too, that meant that the quince lay prettily in their basket filling the dining room with their sweet soft perfume.  Each day I looked at them, and could not bring myself to do something with them.  Sometimes it is like that with me...almost a malaise.

A couple of days before setting out for our break in Cambridge, as I was dusting around...I spied that the end of one or two of the fruits was going brown, and I felt completely guilty: a selfish shellfish as my mother would have put it, for having asked for, being given the fruit then wasting them.

However without even consciously thinking about it...a solution came to mind.  It came as I was wondering how to use the fruit in deserts.  Usually they need long cooking, which sometimes puts one off using the fruit...but what if the fruit was fully prepared, almost fully cooked, and ready to use?  I consulted various cookery books including my old Jane Grigson's Fruit Book  but no clue was given.

I put all the fruit into a large stainless steel bowl, and gently brushed them, removing the downy bloom, put them on the chopping board, and cut them into quarters, removing only the brown bits which luckily had not spread, the stalks and the the dried bits from the blossom end.  The fruit is so hard and I thought how much easier to remove the cores when the fruit was cooked.

They went into the pressure cooker up to about half way level, with the water level about a third of the way up the fruit and cooked them for 8 mins at 15lbs pressure.  The fruit when completely cold was a beautiful rosy or peachy colour, and so very easily cut down into segments, and the woody core removed.  I even decided to leave the skin on as it was silky smooth.  So that individual pieces could be taken out I froze the segments separately on a baking tray.  With a layer of cling film below the first layer, and one before the second layer, they went into the freezer overnight and once hard, the following morning I put them all together in a large bag.

There was very little 'juice' left in the pressure cooker, so this was added to the misshaped segments and put into two small bags together, and they will get pureed at some later date for a tart or something similar.

So from feeling a little bit down-crested I ended up with a solution, which will mean that I can pull segments from the freezer for deserts or savoury dishes throughout the year.

Ocado came to the rescue ...arriving at food shopping on line rather late

I guess many people are already shopping on line and having a timed delivery.  I have just had my first delivery!  Why now...just because I wanted some Swedish sugar pearls, and the only place I could get it without large postage charges was Ocado.

The whole experience has been an eye opener..so easy.  I had to call the help desk once and the person on the end of the line was so pleasant, easy to talk to, listened to me, made suggestions..and I now have my stash of sugar pearls, but two will be passed to other bakers. I also got some other flour including Maize flour....The delivery man was very helpful too.

I had a present too of a colourful tea towel.  They even suggest inviting a friend and there would be a £20 discount for each the friend and myself.  So if you would like to try this, then leave a message below, and we could both benefit.

Soudough success

I like a challenge, and sourdough is a challenge..I always like it, but Mr S sometimes says it is a little too sour for his palate, or the holes are too big!  So when my 'rye mother' passed away a few months ago, I let it be.  

Just a couple of weeks ago, Marie Claire turned up with some bread.  She was extremely proud of her sourdough which I had been 'mentoring' her on.  Mr S loved the bread...so I asked for a little of her wheat mother.  This is the second loaf in this latest batch.  I reread some of my books, and followed more or less the process explained by Jane Mason in All you Knead is Bread for her Virtuous Bread.  The timings are a little different in that it takes me two days rather than three.

I refresh my starter after breakfast, 

90g of starter from the fridge, 90g white bread flower, and 90g water..and it is bubbling away fiercely by late afternoon.  

Late Evening

I keep 90g back and put it in the fridge, and to the rest I add my mixture of wholemeal, rye and white stoneground bread flours totalling 300g of flour, and 200g of room temperature water.  I mix this  and leave it covered with the shower cap overnight on the kitchen counter.

Day two, 

about 6 hours before I want to bake the loaf,

I add 100g mixture of flours as above, 10g salt, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon diax and 1 tablespoon molasses.

Then the dough has to be kneaded for a good ten minutes.  I chose to add about 50g sunflower seeds, which I had already soaked overnight, drained, then roasted in a low oven.

It is then left covered to rest, then folded as per Jane Mason's techniques, three times with about 3/4 hour interval.  It does not matter if it is a little longer, if you are busy doing something else.

Then it is shaped, and allowed to rise to about 1.5 times.  This time I chose to use the long thin tin, which Penny gave me last year.  It gives a smaller slice, useful if you want to have a smaller sandwich or slice of toast.  The addition of the molasses balances the acidity very nicely, and with the crunch of the sunflower seeds, makes for an excellent loaf.  For the previous load I used honey and just the soaked seeds, and baked it in my wider loaf tin.  Two very nice loaves.  The holes were not too large, but very evenly distributed...Mr S gave 5 stars!

Lime Marmalade with Juniper

I've been trying to perfect my Lime Marmalade for several years and I may have just arrived at my goal of getting a good set.  My last batch even won a first prize at a competition, but I was still not at all happy, as it was far too sloppy for my liking.  The judges just take a spoonful from the top, but I like to see a consistent set throughout the jar.  I recently gave a jar to my friend Marie Claire as they had no marmalade left, and she had missed the Seville Orange slot as they were in New Zealand.  Since I taught Marie Claire how to make jam and marmalade about three years ago, she and Steve have been enjoying making their own preserve.  Of course I sent it over with my apologies.  One very good thing has come out of this gift, is that Steve searched the internet, and found that generally there is a problem with lime marmalade as the acidity is too high.  Dan Lepard, one of my food heroes mentioned this in the Guardian.

Like the chestnuts which I wrote about earlier, I am always attracted to limes.  I love the flavour, and the colour, and the very best of limes were the small Citron de Rodrigues.  I'm not sure if they were lemons or limes, but the flavour is fabulous, and I have loved those since my early childhood.

I had about 500g limes, which I cut into quarters only, and put them just like that in water to soak overnight, with about half the amount of water 0.75litres rather than the 1.5 litres as I was pressure cooking the fruit.  Usually you pressure cook oranges for marmalade at 10lbs pressure, but I know from experience that limes are tough.  I gave them about ten minutes at 15lbs, before turning off the gas.  Then I let the fruit soak overnight in the liquor.  The next morning I scraped all the flesh and most of the pith, cut the peel into shreds, and brought the peel and drained liquid up to boil.  I looked at the pith and flesh, and since there were no pips, wondered why I was throwing it away, so decided to pulverise it and added it to the pan, with 1Kg of Tate & Lyle Sugar, and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.  It really frothed up, so I was pleased that despite the small amount of marmalade had decided to use the large jamming pan for the boiling stage of the marmalade.  I used the jam thermometer to test for 105C, then put some in a ramekin dish in the fridge.

The empty washed and rinsed jars had had their 10 minutes in a hot oven, and I was ready to pot, when I had an idea....

Why not add some Juniper.  I love Gin, and good tonic, and a slice of lime.  What I particularly like about Gin is the Juniper which is used to give some of the flavour.  I love juniper so much, I often add it to pork and chicken dishes...

I've potted up two medium and one small jar without juniper, and reheated the remaining lime marmalade in the pan and added about 10 berries, bruised in a mortar, waited about ten minutes again for the marmalade to cool and start to jell so that the peel remains evenly distributed.  I'll wait a few weeks for the flavours to blend, then do a taste test.  When I send round one of each to Marie Claire and Steve, no apologies will be necessary, I hope.

Autumn Show

The September Show was a great success last night.  This is the first time that I have been Show Secretary at the Kenilworth Horticultural Club, and I could feel the tension mounting.  Therefore despite having bought some of the ingredients for baking, I decided to  let others have a chance, since I have been winning prizes in those categories for a few years now!  I did have have nice comments made to me though last evening on how I ought to have entered etc.

It was easy enough for me to grab a couple of jars of jam, and a couple of jars of Chutney, remake the labels without my name on them, and put them in.  I had not even tasted the spicy Mango Chutney, and I am very pleased with the Judges's comments on that one.  The Piccalilli won the second prize.  The Wild Plum Jam, fruit picked by Steve and left on my doorstep, won first prize, and The Kenilworth Cherry Jam, fruit from Roz's garden,  won second prize.  The judges' comments on this last one amuzed me:  a Little Chunky.  I though, am really pleased with this, as I wanted at least half of the cherries to be almost whole, as I intended it to be used with yogurt, or wedges of almond cake etc for desert, so for this it was spot on for me!

My 'wild' fern, which just grew by itself on the edge of one of my beds, and later transferred to the lovely container found for me by Penny, was not placed, but the judge really likes my Scilla.

I bought the Scilla at the Shrewsbury Show in 2014.  I thought then that the name was incorrect.  I tried to contact the seller but the company had closed due to retirement, but today through Google and searching pictures I have found out that it is Ledebouria socialis, or Scilla socialis, Silver Quill, Leopard Lily...By looking back just one year, I am amazed at how well it have filled out.  Now that it has its prize, I shall be splitting it up, with one piece already being reserved by the Judge!  Loving plants with nice details I feel for this one immediately.  The bulb grows on the surface and is covered with a purple flaking skin, and the flowers though not showy are well worth peering into.  I love the word socialis and I imagine it is because of the way all the small bulbs just crowd up on themselves.

Leek Wootton Show

Every year since we moved up to the Midlands, we have visited this show in the adjoining village.  It is very small, not commercial, more like a party for the village and surrounding areas.  We particularly like it because of the wonderful fruit, vegetables, flowers including Dahlias which are really magnificent.  I also love that Mark a local gardening enthusiast has a plant stall, and I spent very nearly all my week's pocket money on four beautifully grown plants.

Last year when I was speaking to the Show Secretary, she suggested that I entered, as it was open to people from the surrounding areas.  With a stem from my Munstead Wood rose tree, from which I had to cup three side buds, because it was 'One Rose', I won third prize.  All the other blooms were Hybrid Teas.

A bunch of Astilbe Chinensis won second prize.  My Wild Plum Jam won first prize, but I was disappointed that my courgette chutney was not even placed.  Penny who was there mentioned that my chutneys were not as sweet as some!

I did not enter my very best pair of socks which are even more complicated, but almost look as if they are machine knit.  This was just one of the pairs in my new sock stash.   I was particularly chuffed with the judge's comments, but modesty prevents me from repeating them!

Last year I sowed a few seeds from my Chilli Plant that was into its third year last Autumn, and it seemed just right to enter it now that it has grown into a sizeable plant, and here it is again with some lovely comments from the judge.  The Mother Plant was consigned to the bin as soon as this one looked like it would run.  With very little room on the only sunny windowsill during the winter one plant is more than sufficient for my needs, and I always have spare chillies to give away.

At the end of the show items are auctioned off if they are left.  As I just have one chilli plant I was not leaving that or the socks.  However I just had to buy back my own preserves as it was towards the end of the show that these items were being auctioned off, and the price was less than the price of the empty jar!  I bought some nice Dahlias as I remembered that my friend Kay's father was famous for growing these, and indeed she was almost in tears when I turned up at her door with them.  I also got a bunch for Dawn next door who had just returned from hospital after an operation.  I bid for these at the start of the Show and I was pleased to give a good price which all helps to support the local Village Hall.  I spent my winnings and more at the Auction!

I loved the various entries by Children particularly the carved vegetables, and gardens in a tray.  Of course, the tea and cake was fabulous, and it was nice that Penny turned up, and joined me at the outside tables.  It was really warm and sunny and we were lucky that we were in the shade.

Mid April Garden

The sunshine is warming up the soil.  The bees, bumble bees, and 'my' red mason bees are also active.  All the flowers are buzzing.  I'm feeling rather pleased with myself too, as I have just finished giving the garden bench and the three gazebo benches, several coats of paint.

Lime Marmalade and Grapefruit Marmalade win Prizes

I was surprised to win these as I did not count these as the best I have made.  I entered just for the sake of taking part and swelling the numbers!  £2 as first Prize Money, will go towards some more fruit for more preserves.

Catching up

When I have a little break from things for whatever reason, I find it hard to get going again.  I used to find this when I went on holiday when I was at work.  I worked jolly hard before I went on holiday to get things in tip top form, then when I got back somehow I  lost my stamina, and was not as effective as before I went on holiday for at least a week.  Thus it has been this week.  I had meant to get down to writing up about our holiday, but with catching up with the washing, a long walk on Sunday to keep up the fitness levels we had built up on holiday..then each day slipped by, thenWednesday, then Thursday, it was chatting with my sister in Australia today which has lit the torch!

So starting with Wednesday this week...this was the day of the September Show for the Kenilworth Horticultural Show.  I decided earlier in the week what I would enter.  The garden gave forth mean offerings, which I did enter, but no prizes this time.  We had many more entries and they were very good.  I decided to enter two jars of jams in the jam, marmalade and jelly section, a jar of chutney in the chutney and pickle section, chocolate sponge cake, scones, and fruit cake.  Feeling very pleased with myself, as all won first prizes...except for third prize in the fruit cake section.

I realised what let my cake down...I used natural 'uncoloured' cherries so maybe these did not show up, and instead of using blanched almonds, those were on the 1st and 2nd prize cakes, I scattered flaked almonds on the top.  When doing this I had a quick thought as to whether that would be OK, but I had no whole almonds in my stash, so took the short cut!  I took cake to the Library to share....instead of sweeties from our holiday, which incidentally I had forgotten to get.

Usually we get paper gift vouchers for Waitrose, but this time we had the plastic gift cards.  So I do not know how much each first prize got, must be about £2, since there were two in each envelope...what a shame to have all that plastic waste!  But I shall add them to our stash of plastic cards to use when filling etc when decorating.

Busy as a bee

I've awarded myself this lovely Busy Bee Badge, by Debbie Colby.  My very dear friend Jayne came down for the day, and on our travels around various open studios in Kenilworth, also popped into Sew Arty to get Jayne some crochet hooks.  Its green, its got a lovely bee on it, hand made, so I just could not walk by and not get this.

Yesterday I made a whole lot of delicious apricot jam with Kernels, which I have written about on my other blog....

During the evenings when it has been a little cooler, I've been tidying up in the garden, and weeding the stones.  Germinations of the Carex Comans Bronze Form needs to be kept in check.  A bonus is that from that level, I can see all the bumble bees on the new and old thymes, which make them worthwhile growing.

Last week, I was in a particular rush on the Wednesday of the Kenilworth Horticural Club Meeting, and very nearly decided not to go.  Meeting up with Knitting Friends in the morning, then a visit to my Uncle and Aunt to take honey to them, then back to cook, and then out early to stage entries....But my conscience pricked.  I 'volunteered' for the Committee, after I stepped down from being Chairman of Kenilworth in Bloom, and felt that the rest of the committee would complain that I was not supporting the club!  So very early as I went for my usual tiptoe down the garden, I cut a few blooms, and put them in a bucket of water.  They were not as good as I would have liked, and almost all the roses were resting.  Its been a strange growing season, flowers coming earlier than usual then all the heavy rain...but it is the same for other gardeners.  Here is the outcome, with the shield for best in show for the white pinks!  No the judges do not know the name of the entrants...and then only judge when the room is empty!  I had popped in, then gone to do the shopping with the car on the way back, then quick dinner, then back to the club.

I was really pleased to receive the well rooted plantlets of Phuopsis Stylosa which were potted up immediately, before I took the flowers to the show!  

Looking particularly good at the moment is this Silver Jade succulent which has spent the last couple of months baking on the patio...I have five magnificent stems in flower.

and Super Excelsa on the pergola by the shed.  This is now blooming after the other roses have finished their first flushes

Also in full flower is a big clump of alstromeria, growing in quite the wrong place, but which yields plenty of cutting material.  It was given to me about six years ago by a fellow Kenilworth in Bloom Committee Member, and which was unnamed.  Its large enough to need splitting and replanting in a better place, so that is now on my list of jobs to do, when the time is right.  

I was cutting out the seed heads on the Iris Sibrica and think they make a nice addition to this bunch, but already hints of autumn are creeping into my bouquets.