Home grown

Basically windfalls, five rough pears, two apples, three green walnuts and a single green tomato. The wind must have been blowing.

For the first time we have a good crop of apples on the main tree, the pear tree is bent over with pears that are growing slowly larger. The walnuts are being stolen by squirrels who bury them and the tomatoes are growing in a hanging basket and in a grow bag surrounded by other plants. They are all having to take their chances while there is less rain, but they are well established plants and I think the fruit trees have deep roots. We plan to do some pruning of the garden. The blueberries are gradually ripening, the gooseberries have all been eaten as have the raspberries. I saw no strawberries this year, but I think they have been shaded out by other plants. We even have redcurrants although I misidentified them as woody nightshade (not a good idea). Earlier in the year we had a small crop of cherries and we might get a few elderberries. So all in all not a bad year of fruit and veg.

Crumpets

‘and shall we have crumpets for tea ?’

I don’t remember where that quote comes from. But that’s what we had for our meal this afternoon. Toasted to a slightly brown colour and hot so that the crumpet is cooked through. I usually have butter or margarine on it but today I had butter and then as a treat a small amount of Greek honey.

The porous, sponge like consistency of the crumpet makes it good for absorbing melted butter. The top of a crumpet is full of a lattice of holes, whereas the base is solid, so these lacunae stay filled and only leak slightly. Yummy! I’ve also toasted crumpets, then grated cheese on them and then I gently microwave them for a savoury snack.

This bought back a memory of using a fork pierced through a crumpet and pushed onto the front bars of a gas fire. A tricky thing to do as the fire might burn your fingers as well as the crumpet! Cook the back first then the front, then take it off the fire and butter and eat. (Childhood memories of when life was more basic).

picnic time

Nothing nicer when you are travelling to stop off for a break. In this case we were on our way down to Falmouth and stopped off at Tewkesbury Abbey. My friend who runs Ivans_uk_tours.com provided a picnic hamper full of goodies. I want to go on another trip like this. Its great not to have the responsibility of a long drive and to have an itinerary sorted out by us but undertaken by someone else. I kept saying it was like having a butler!

Bovisand cafe

Cafe and shop at Bovisand Bay, sitting next to the car park above the two parts of the bay. The cafe and shop used to be separate but have been joined together so you can explore a range of beach wear, body boards, sun lotion, crafts, etc, etc on one side and the cafe on the other. It seems like a nice set up. The people there were friendly. I think we will go again if we can.

I hope that they get good custom now that covid, which is still on the increase in the UK, is at least milder. One day we must get over it? I hope so.

Bang!

I was cooking an evening meal and decided to open a bottle of rosé brut wine to go with it. It was very warm in the kitchen, but I didn’t think much about it as I took the wine out of the fridge. I peeled off the foil round the neck and loosened the wire around the cork. Then I had to check the food, stir it, add herbs. Suddenly…

BANG!

The cork had come flying out of the bottle, wine started to bubble out of the bottle all over the kitchen counter. I had to mop it up. I think about a quarter of the bottle was gone! It just shows how hot it was. Next time the wine is staying in the fridge till the food is ready!

Pestle and motar

This is a lovely ceramic pestle and mortar I bought at a craft Market a few years ago. I was crushing some garlic for a chilli last night and decided to use this instead of my garlic press which falls apart every time I try and crush more than one clove of garlic.

But thinking about it there are a couple of coincidences linked with it. Last Monday I was wearing a mortar board. Not much of a coincidence, but then after our meal I did a quick crossword clue ‘pounding tool, used with a mortar’? Of course I got the answer

Picnic

Not something I’ve done for years. But a picnic on a sandy beach was fun. Luckily it was a still day so the sand didn’t get blown into the sandwiches! Salad was tasty with olives, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. A drink of tonic water and orange juice mixed was very refreshing. It was great to use a real picnic basket. I think we will do it again.

Celebratory Mouse Mousse

My friend bought me this mousse Mouse today from a Greek cafe as a gift. I was going to keep it till tomorrow but then I got the news that I have got my painting in the local art exhibition and I just had to celebrate.

He had (yes he’s gone) a chocolate sponge base, chocolate mousse topping and mouse shape, a shiny chocolate ganasche covering and chocolate buttons for ears and a tail. Then two white icing dots for eyes. It was very sweet to look at and eat.

We will go back so I can try some of their savory food. I fancy a Greek salad and stuffed vine leaves.

Croissant and banana!

I wanted something to eat and I decided to have a couple of croissants. I split them and spread a bit of butter on them, but I shouldn’t eat jam, so what else? I saw a banana, it’s a similar shape so I sliced along it’s length horizontally. One half folded into each puff pastry croissant. Delicious! I might try them with whipped cream next time!

Baked beans

I went to buy a few groceries today and was shocked at the price of a branded can of beans. £1.45! The shops own brand was 36 pence a whole £1.09 less. So the most expensive can was four times more !

This is madness, the food you buy is costing more and more. But why should something cost that much more. I wonder how much more they will charge if they can. How much is because of limited stock, the cost of delivery, manufacture or because of making profit from people who can’t afford the increasing cost. This would be difficult to determine, except for the cheapness of the other can!