bah! another month bites the dust and i am still behind on my cooking updates.
weiner!
ok folks, here is a quick update for your gardening list this coming month.
from the 3rd until the 12th is the time you want to get any fruit bearing or leafy crops sown. this month i will be adding to my already planted seed some silverbeet in both the regular white stalk and rainbow colored varieties - this is a go to on our table over winter and i have been remiss not to have planted some already. i thought the stash we had would replenish itself as it usually does but i seem to have managed to dig over it rather too vigorously and it has yet to show is face above soil. (as soon as i plant though, i bet all those dormant seeds will be springing up all over the show....oh well, more to share around the neighborhood i guess...
and, i have digressed, back on track.... so, silverbeet, more peas (i have been having the worst luck with remembering to water the seeds i sow lately and am putting the lack of germinated plants down to pregnant-slash-baby brain) mustard and/or cress can go in any as yet to be assigned bare patches of dirt to replenish nitrogen content in the soil for spring, spinach by the tonne and broad beans ( because they also bring up great things in the soil, but i just love to eat them on sushi nights, freshly podded, lightly steamed then saulted with a hint of butter, salt and rice vinegar. yummo.
liquid feed your plants from the 12th until the 15th and get your spade and fork out on the 15th and dig deep down in the dirt to prepare any beds you have still remaining for planting ( great time to pay extra attention to where your soon to be sown rot crops will go, dig deep and rake well, the less clumps and stones in your soil the better your drops will be!)
root crops go in on the 18th and 19th and again on the 25th and 26th when water tables are at the best place for them to take off and if you have any bulbs waiting to go in, the 25th and 26t will do the job well for them too, though i will leave mine till next month and give them a good week in the refrigerator first to get them really gunning for success.
thats it for this month, the new moon strikes on the 29th, so get digging again over that time and if you intend to leave any beds bare fro the winter try covering them in pea straw or dead leaves, then a layer of manure, more pea straw and/or dead leaves and water in well. pop large sheets of plastic over this and weigh down wit rocks or stakes to gather heat and compost - i hear it will all be worth it in a couple of months when you find it wonderfully ready to dig through and plant in - i am gonna give this a try if i can manage to have spare un-planted areas in our patch.
take care all, and please feel free to comment.
xx
Wednesday 2 April 2014
autumn splendor and baking with the little
dont look at it.
just ease yourself back onto the sofa and, purposefully choose not to look it.
ignore the laundry pile
there
piled high on the chair
silently accusing you
crinkled and tangled into a chaotic mess of you-are-not-domestic-enough heckles and taunts
look at your book
look at your computer screen
look at the floor you vacuumed yesterday and the load of laundry you folded yesterday and have yet to put away
sigh loudly
at least loudly enough for the clothes to hear and feel ashamed for draggin your pregnant ass of the couch to fold it
fold it
put it all away (except for the little's stuff cos she is sleeping)
feel much more brilliant and bliss-filled as you smell caramel slice in the oven
realize a split second later that you in fact, smell burnt caramel slice in the oven
swear a few times to make yourself feel better and make a cup of tea
go back to the couch to drink it and nibble on some elderflower loaf and relax a while, waiting for the rain to ease enough for you to make a dash to the garden for peas, beans and spinach for dinner.
i found this recipe in a book called 'french children dont throw food'
i was visiting friends who were getting ready to welcome their first child and picked it up off the coffee table - i found it a rather interesting read. it is all about the differences between french children and their american or english counterparts. the authur tells us how french children have a certain calmness and manage to control themselves better than most other children she has come into contact with in both the usa and uk.
as with most books however that advocate various fool proof methods for raising children, i found it a little lacking when it came to applying it to our household, and, as with most self help books i took it with a grain of salt and used what i wanted, ignoring the other parts that didnt really mesh with my parenting technique.
what i have applied again and again from the book was a recipe that she included for kids to make.
it is a basic yoghurt muffin recipe, but i find it works really well as a loaf and is rather tasty when coconut and elderflower cordial (which i make myself every spring) are added to it. the relatively low sugar content means it is not too much sweet for the little to have as an occasional treat and the better she gets at the baking process the more involved she becomes at helping put it together. we have made this loaf together about 4 times and so far each time she gets better at not creating a huge mess and gets a little more responsibility. this time she did all the stirring without my cautionary hands fluttering near by, next time i think she will even be able to help with the scooping of the dry ingredients!
so, if you leave out the elderflower cordial and coconut threads you can keep it plain or add what ever else you fancy to this wee gem of a recipe.
and so, here it is.....
COCONUT AND ELDERFLOWER YOGHURT LOAF
turn oven onto 180'C
3/4 cup of yoghurt (or milk kefir)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil
3 Tblsp elderflower cordial
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup coconut thread
mix together wet ingrediants
in a seperate bowl sift flour nad baking powder and add sugar and coconut thread. mixing well.
add wet ingrediants to dry and gently fold though until just mixed.
pour into pre-greased loaf tin and bake at 180'C for 45 minutes or until skewer comes out just clean.
head outside to enjoy the last of the sun for the day and watch little show the visiting cat how to catch bugs.... or was that the other way around....
cool, cut and eat for afternoon tea with some fresh milk from the farmer down the road.
bliss.
thansk for reading - please feel free to comment and come visit again
xx
jes
just ease yourself back onto the sofa and, purposefully choose not to look it.
ignore the laundry pile
there
piled high on the chair
silently accusing you
crinkled and tangled into a chaotic mess of you-are-not-domestic-enough heckles and taunts
look at your book
look at your computer screen
look at the floor you vacuumed yesterday and the load of laundry you folded yesterday and have yet to put away
sigh loudly
at least loudly enough for the clothes to hear and feel ashamed for draggin your pregnant ass of the couch to fold it
fold it
put it all away (except for the little's stuff cos she is sleeping)
feel much more brilliant and bliss-filled as you smell caramel slice in the oven
realize a split second later that you in fact, smell burnt caramel slice in the oven
swear a few times to make yourself feel better and make a cup of tea
go back to the couch to drink it and nibble on some elderflower loaf and relax a while, waiting for the rain to ease enough for you to make a dash to the garden for peas, beans and spinach for dinner.
i found this recipe in a book called 'french children dont throw food'
i was visiting friends who were getting ready to welcome their first child and picked it up off the coffee table - i found it a rather interesting read. it is all about the differences between french children and their american or english counterparts. the authur tells us how french children have a certain calmness and manage to control themselves better than most other children she has come into contact with in both the usa and uk.
as with most books however that advocate various fool proof methods for raising children, i found it a little lacking when it came to applying it to our household, and, as with most self help books i took it with a grain of salt and used what i wanted, ignoring the other parts that didnt really mesh with my parenting technique.
what i have applied again and again from the book was a recipe that she included for kids to make.
it is a basic yoghurt muffin recipe, but i find it works really well as a loaf and is rather tasty when coconut and elderflower cordial (which i make myself every spring) are added to it. the relatively low sugar content means it is not too much sweet for the little to have as an occasional treat and the better she gets at the baking process the more involved she becomes at helping put it together. we have made this loaf together about 4 times and so far each time she gets better at not creating a huge mess and gets a little more responsibility. this time she did all the stirring without my cautionary hands fluttering near by, next time i think she will even be able to help with the scooping of the dry ingredients!
so, if you leave out the elderflower cordial and coconut threads you can keep it plain or add what ever else you fancy to this wee gem of a recipe.
and so, here it is.....
COCONUT AND ELDERFLOWER YOGHURT LOAF
turn oven onto 180'C
3/4 cup of yoghurt (or milk kefir)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil
3 Tblsp elderflower cordial
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup coconut thread
mix together wet ingrediants
in a seperate bowl sift flour nad baking powder and add sugar and coconut thread. mixing well.
add wet ingrediants to dry and gently fold though until just mixed.
pour into pre-greased loaf tin and bake at 180'C for 45 minutes or until skewer comes out just clean.
head outside to enjoy the last of the sun for the day and watch little show the visiting cat how to catch bugs.... or was that the other way around....
cool, cut and eat for afternoon tea with some fresh milk from the farmer down the road.
bliss.
thansk for reading - please feel free to comment and come visit again
xx
jes
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