Old Dowerhouse Chutney

I planned to make this at the end of the summer but couldn't muster the energy in my newly-pregnant state so had to postpone!  Hurrah for freezers - the fruit has spent a few months in the bottom drawer and I finally had the energy and time to make a batch the other day.

The bonus about making it in the summer/autumn is that you can use local, or at the very least British fruit, but you should be able to get hold of what you need for a winter batch if you're desperate!

It is just delicious, perfect in a cheese sandwich or with cold meats.  The recipe is good old Delia Smith's.

Bear in mind that this chutney needs a couple of months (ideally three) to mature before you can eat it, so don't make it now hoping to eat it next weekend!

1.5lb/700g plums

8oz/200g tomatoes (hence why it's best to make this in the summer/autumn, I used tinned ones instead of tasteless, foreign, winter tomatoes)

1.5lb/700g (weight after peeling and coring) cooking apples (such as Bramleys)

8oz/200g onions

1lb/450g raisins

4oz preserved ginger in syrup

1 large clove garlic

1.5lb/700g demerara sugar

1 pint/570ml malt vinegar

1.5tbsp salt

Make sure you have a really enormous saucepan, 7 or 8 1lb/450g jars and if you can be bothered, waxed paper discs.

Cut the plums in half, remove the stones and cut each half in half again.  Since I had found my plums in a reduced section in a local farm shop and they'd had a several-months long stint in the freezer, they really weren't looking so perky!

Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to the pan, then grate in the apple.

Blend or mince the onion, raisins, ginger and garlic until you have a coarse paste and add to the pan along with the sugar, vinegar and salt.

Bring to the boil, turn to a medium/low heat and simmer for 1-1.5 hours.  Stir regularly and keep and eye on it towards the end so that it doesn't stick and burn.  Also close the kitchen door and maybe open a window as everything tends to get a bit 'eau de vinegar' otherwise.  It's ready when you can drag a wooden spoon through it and see the bottom of the pan.

Don't forget to prep your jars!  Rinse them in hot soapy water, then place them in the oven and 'bake' them for 20 mins at 160C/gas mark 3.  This sterilises them and also means they are hot ready to put the hot chutney in.  If they're ready a bit before the chutney then turn the oven off but leave the jars in to keep warm.

When the chutney is ready, spoon it into the hot jars, top each with a waxed paper disc (not absolutely essential, but it mostly helps keep the vinegar from corroding the lid) and screw the lids on tightly.

Label the jars once they're cold and store somewhere not too hot or cold for 2/3 months to let the vinegar calm down a bit.

Antidote

Urgh, this weather is vile!  Having been sewing all afternoon I got to half past five with cold feet and an aching back and decided enough was enough.

The weather spent the day steadily building itself into a screaming frenzy - rain lashing the windows and wind howling round the house ad roaring down the chimney.  The chickens were extremely unimpressed by the whole thing and went disconsolately and soggily to bed at about half past four.  Having nearly been blown away when I went to shut them up for the night I decided it was time for proper measure to be taken to counter the horror that is January.  It isn't a great month at the best of times and a violent storm on top of that really is a bit much to bear.

First things first, cosiness is absolutely essential for countering grim weather, especially if you've been out in it.  I lit the fire, dragged the armchair as close as possible for high quality shin roasting and grabbed a blanket and a few extra cushions.  Curling up by a radiator or simply snuggling under a blanket with a hot water bottle are equally viable options.  Fluffy socks, pyjamas, dressing gowns are optional extras.

Next, sustenance.  A nice hot chocolate and a piece of cake, toast or drop scones are just the thing to stoke the cosiness and entirely banish the grimness of the weather.  If you are being boring and January-ish however then even a cup of tea or a mug of hot squash and some toasted seeds will also do the trick, in a slightly healthier, if slightly less exciting sort of way...

Then just settle down and bask in the lovely cosy world you have created!  Turn up the music to drown out the weather and dream of Summer; of hot days with a gentle soothing breeze, soft warm evenings and supper al fresco, holidays with nothing to do where you amble contentedly bare foot or lie basking under burnished blue skies.

Spring is hopefully on its way somewhere in the not too distant future; I have proof to keep me reminded of the fact and to cheer me up now that Edward is away again.

My daffodils were grown in Cornwall and have a gorgeous delicate scent to them, though their best feature is their bright jolly yellow faces which greet me when I come through the door.

On the dining room table I have some carnations I rescued from a 'reduced' section at the supermarket, a bowl full of tiny irises which still have a bit of growing to do, and a glorious stunning and beautiful hyacinth which has just burst open and is busy filling the house with the most fantastic Springy smell.

Now I can't wait for the narcissi!

Fabulous Distractions!

So Edward is away again and the weather is vile, both of which are not all that conducive to happiness and productivity.  However, luckily I currently have a very exciting distraction to help prevent a full scale meltdown into un-reserved wallowing-in-self-pity....I'm pregnant!  We are expecting a tiny arrival in March, which is just soo exciting!  It also means a lot of lovely sewing projects, which is just the thing to keep me busy whilst Edward is away.

While we were in London over New Year's I made a pilgrimage down to Goldhawk Road (near Shepherd's Bush) and bought a few bits of fabric for baby-related projects.  (Actually I got slightly carried away and bought quite a few bits, but all at very bargain-y prices so obviously well worth it!)  Goldhawk Road is Fabric heaven - a whole road full of fabric shops, all stuffed with very reasonably priced and gorgeous fabrics - if you suffer from fabric addiction it's worth setting a spending limit before you go!

My very first project was to make a lining for the moses basket.

I bought a gorgeous piece of white cotton with a teeny tiny leafy print on it.

I did some very bodgy measuring, made all the bodgier by the fact that I was very slightly short on fabric...oops.

The inside of the basket was lined with the leafy fabric, a layer of wadding and some plain white cotton lawn.

I quilted the base, left the sides as they were, then added an extra strip of fabric without wadding gathered with elastic, to hook over the top of the basket.

Tadaa!  Oh it's so sweet!

Can't believe it's going to have a real baby in it...yikes!

La Galette des Rois

Today is twelfth night, celebrated in the Christian calendar as Epiphany - the day when the three Kings arrived to visit the baby Jesus.  It also marks an official end to all things Christmassy; all the decorations have to be packed away and there are no more parties and nothing more exciting than new year's resolutions to look forward to.  This afternoon I undecorated our Christmas tree, carefully packed up all the decorations and was left with the poor little crispy tree looking all forlorn and un-wanted.  I'm still feeling a bit guilty about stuffing it unceremoniously in the shed, tomorrow I will hack it up to use as kindling and we can enjoy it as a bright crackly fire this weekend.

Anyway, back to Epiphany.  The French have, as ever, devised an excellently buttery way to celebrate what could end up being quite a depressing day - a 'Galette des Rois'.  This translates as the 'Kings' cake' and is essentially a layer of buttery almondy frangipane, sandwiched between two layers of buttery puff pastry...excellent.  It also has the added excitement of containing hidden treasure and a crown for the one that finds it.  The treasure is called the 'feve' (which means bean) and is usually a teeny tiny china figure called a 'santon' (but can equally be a dried bean).  Whoever finds the feve gets to wear the crown and be King for the day!  My santon collection is already packed up in the Christmas box so I used a Victorian threepenny bit that my Grandpa gave me to put in my Christmas puddings.  If you don't happen to have a threepenny bit, a silver sixpence or similar, you could use a whole almond or a raisin.

It is, needless to say, utterly delicious, and luckily nowadays its consumption isn't restricted just to twelfth night, but is munched happily through most of December and January!

400g block puff pastry

3oz/75g soft butter

3oz/75g caster sugar

2 eggs

5oz/125g ground almonds

5/6 drops of almond essence

A feve! (and a crown!)

1 egg yolk

1tbsp milk

Whisk the butter until smooth, then whisk in the sugar and keep whisking until it turns slightly pale.  (You can also do this with a wooden spoon if you don't have an electric whisk).

Whisk in one egg with a tablespoonful of the ground almonds, then repeat with the second egg.

Stir in the rest of the ground almonds along with the almond essence.  Turn on the oven to gas mark 6/200C.

Cut the block of pastry in half and roll out to a square approximately dinner-plate sized.  A plate is actually perfect to cut round, then roll a little bit extra to make it slightly bigger.  Spread with the almond paste, leaving an un-almondy edge all the way round.  Don't forget to hide your feve!

Roll the other piece of pastry to the same size and use a knife to score a pattern across it.

  Brush the pastry edge of the bottom pastry with water, lay the pastry on top and press gently to seal all the way round.

Mix together the egg yolk and milk and brush over the top of the galette.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.  Meanwhile assemble your crown!

  Take the galette out of the oven and leave to cool on the tray for ten minutes or so before removing carefully to a cooling rack if you're eating it later, or onto a plate if you're eating it warm.

(oops, the split is where I scored too deeply with my pattern!)

Present with the crown sat on top of the galette.  Sadly I didn't get round to making a crown for mine, so just imagine one!

Enjoy warm or cold at any time of the day!

To use up the leftover pastry: pile up the offcuts and roll them out.

Spread with a teaspoon of Marmite watered down with a splash of hot water.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Roll up along the long edge and cut into 1cm thick slices.  Place on a greased tray or non stick-liner.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden.

YUM

Happy New Year!

Last week I braved London driving by myself for the very first time!  London was gorgeous in all its Christmas sparkle and I arrived at my in-laws feeling 

We were lucky enough to be able to climb out onto the roof on New Year's Eve, which gave us a spectacular view of the fireworks, all within sensible distance of the champagne and choccies.

A certain someone arrived very unexpectedly, just in time to join us for the count down, hurrah!

...3...

..1.......

The fireworks were absolutely spectacular, so much lovelier and sparklier than the photos!  We toasted the arrival of the New Year from our lofty vantage point and then clambered back down to the warmth to finish the cocktails!