Simple

I have just finished preparing tonight's dinner (meatballs in a pepper/tomato sauce, to be served with rice) and have made the shopping list online for the next few days.  Incredible how quickly things add up but there were a few offers that I took advantage of and I suppose that saves some pennies in the long run.  I did have to review the list a couple of times as it is far too easy to load up the virtual shopping trolley and as I hate being wasteful, I try and think twice about whether we actually need something.  That way we can keep waste to an absolute minimum and meal planning very much helps with that.

When you think about it, there is really very little you truly need.  Yes, shelter, warmth, food, water and clothing are pretty essential but even there things can get scaled down a bit.  Why have an enormous house when a smaller one would do or have a wardrobe full of stuff that never gets worn?  Ever since moving here I have made some progress with simplifying things but there is still a long way to go.  I love it when I do "go simple" though.  For example, yesterday's lunch was just some bread, a chunk of cheese, a couple of tomatoes and some homemade chutney.  It was satisfying and simple - just what I needed and not more.  Perfect!

Home, sweet home

Foccacia sandwich...

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, so I went for a walk by the seafront - it was lovely!  I decided to treat myself to lunch in a little cafe/restaurant - I had eaten there before with a friend and loved it, so I was really looking forward to returning.  Well, what a disappointment!  Now, don't get me wrong - I feel incredibly lucky that I can just go and buy myself some food and I really appreciate that.  What was disappointing was how bland the food was - I went for a veggie quinoa burger with fried potatoes and salad.  It sounded really promising from the description on the menu but wasn't tasty at all, not even after adding extra seasoning.  The only good thing was that I was full afterwards :-(
So this lunchtime I made my own lunch - homemade foccacia spread with pesto (also homemade) and topped with lettuce, feta cheese and figs...yummy!  Simple but tasty! :-)

I also harvested the first of our baby peppers :-)  Lovely taste if a little small but hey, they are mini peppers!  I might roast the next lot whole and either preserve them in oil or chuck them into a pasta dish or similar!

Homegrown mini peppers...

Muffins a la Hollywood

Just a brief post today with the latest baking adventures - mini muffins!  I'm not normally a huge fan of shop-bought muffins as they tend to be the size of a cake for four people and get a bit much after a while. These little chaps, however, are a nice size and came out a treat - I went for apple & raisin and mixed berry ones!  The recipe is yet another one of Paul Hollywood's creations, albeit slightly adjusted as I didn't have any blueberries left - but hey, the man knows his stuff!  Next time I'll probably add more fruit but these are tasty as they are.

Muffins...

To blog or not to blog...

...that was the question! :-)  Frankly, I have not really felt like writing which is why there has been a bit of a pause but I am back again now with no doubt more food talk etc.

We had a long Bank Holiday weekend which was lovely - plenty of home cooked food and relaxing as well as some stunning long walks with the dog.  I find it so relaxing to prepare food and eat it - it's a big part of what we do.  As I write, I have a mixture of veg roasting in the oven which I will have tonight for my dinner - possibly with fried polenta strips...a new thing I have been meaning to try. 

Homemade lasagne...

Hubby made some delicious spelt pasta the other day which we turned into lasagne - served with homegrown lettuce and tomatoes!  Doesn't that look yummy?  If you are a vegetarian, please just imagine that it is quorn mince :-)  The whole thing was just soooo satisfying, especially washed down with a glass of red wine.  The cheese on top was Wyke Farm's mature cheddar - excellent for cooking with!  Now, from what I have heard and read about Wyke Farm, they are an old cheese-making business with great ethics.  They are paying their dairy suppliers more than the usual pittance which is great!  Not so great that this has meant that they have lost their contract to supply the supermarket chain Morrisons due to being priced out by cheaper cheese makers who, I dare say, are probably not doing the decent thing and paying farmers enough for their milk.  This is not just about eating a great product - it's the values behind it that count and deserve supporting! So, maybe if you shop at Morrisons it is time to change supermarkets or ask them to stock Wyke Farm cheeses again!  Climbing off my soapbox now...

Veg growing olympics

It's the London Olympics and I have been glued to the TV, watching all manner of sporting achievements!  It's been stunning but has meant that, given that we have had visitors as well, the blog got a bit neglected.  It's been quite nice being in a bit of a bubble and enjoying the sports - a good distraction from the bad stuff that goes on in the world.

Homegrown & very tasty...

We have been able to harvest the first lot of tomatoes - they are absolutely delicious and sweet.  I will definitely try and grow these again next year.  We have also been feasting on our blueberries and the potatoes are in now as well - smaller than hoped but tasty nonetheless. 

I don't think we will have a lot of apples this year :-(  It was just too cold for the bees when the blossoms were out, so not enough pollinating went on.  I would say we will probably have about a quarter of last year's harvest... not great!  I dare say that it is the same across the country, so I wouldn't be surprised to see prices going up in the shops.  And there are other - far more serious - implications of the current weather scenarios across the world.  The drought in the US is affecting wheat, corn and soya crops and flooding in the East is causing havoc for rice growers.  This has to be a wake-up call for all of us but I doubt it will be :-(

More homemade stuff

The sun is out and finally people and plants are getting some much needed vitamin D!  Amazing how a bright day can change everyone's mood - there are lots of smiles around at the moment...long may it continue! It's been a busy few days but productive ones at that!  There is nothing quite like making something from scratch and my pet project this week was bath bombs.  

Lavender bath bombs...

I have wanted to make those ever since watching a program on TV which made it look so easy to do - and it really is!  Mix together bicarb, citric acid, essential oil and carrier oil, press into mould (in this case a biscuit cutter), leave to dry and ta dah - bath bombs!  I made lavender ones, adding dried flowers and using lavender essential oil which should make for a relaxing bath...I will try them out today before making a bigger batch.  To keep them dry before use they will have to be wrapped in foil - I will try and get my hands on some chocolate wrapping foil which will be thinner than normal alu foil and easier to wrap around.

My other project was chutney!  As we don't yet have a glut of anything in the garden, I made spiced apricot chutney (Delia's recipe) which is made out of dried apricots and other bits and pieces.  I hope it will taste nice once it has matured a bit - we will have to wait for at least 4 weeks before trying...

Peppers anyone?

First peppers appearing...

Very exciting news: the pepper plants which have grown indoors on the window sill for the last few weeks have started growing tiny little peppers!  At the moment, there are just a couple but I can already see some of the flowers making place to some more.  I grew these plants from seed and not having done this before, I am especially proud! :-)  They are a dwarf variety but I do sincerely hope they'll grow slightly larger than they are right now :-)

With the sunshine we have been having these last couple of days the tomatoes have started turning colour - I can't wait to try one of these little fellas!  Patience....

Tomatoes ripening...

Plastic bag

Small plastic bag/purse with cork buttons

Stripey back...

Ok - I don't like plastic bags!  When we go shopping we try and always bring fabric bags to avoid having to get the plastic ones.  And yet, in the kitchen drawer and larder, hidden away in the corners lurk some plastic bags...and as a project on a rainy day, I thought I'd try and convert those into well, a plastic bag...It's probably more like a purse but could be used for cosmetics or similar. It's knitted it out of strands of plastic and has a couple of cork discs as buttons.  Quite sweet really....

What to do on a rainy day...

Well, what not to do is take the dog out before 8am and get absolutely soaked!  You know that the weather is bad when not even your 9 month old puppy is keen to go out!

Old bananas = banana bread...ta dah!

Instead, a much better thing to do is to use up the squishy old bananas that have been lurking in the fruit bowl to make banana bread...mhhhhm! I can see a slice of this with a hot mug of tea in my near future...The funny thing about this weather is that instead of wanting summer foods like salads, I am now craving casseroles and looking forward to making Christmas cake...that is just wrong in July, isn't it?

Gooseberry growing

Gooseberry & kiwi jam...

Last year our gooseberry bush had a total of 2 (yes, two) gooseberries on it and we decided to cut the bush right down to ground level.  It was either grow back better or we'll chuck you out completely...Well, fast forward to this year and I am pleased to say that I harvested 150g worth (a small bowl full). To get the most out of the crop, we decided to make jam - gooseberry & kiwi jam, in fact!  Not a huge amount came out but enough to fill a couple of small jars, so I am very pleased!  Let's hope next year's crop will be even bigger!

As can be seen from the photo, the sun is out today!  How lovely!  We still don't exactly have summer temperatures but at least it is dry today.  Quite worrying just how many floods and flood alerts are occurring throughout the UK - we are quite lucky that we have not been affected by those and just had some miserable wet days.