I rather enjoy making pastry and with a busy week coming up, I decided a few days ago to get a bit ahead. Somehow along the way I lost concentration and accidentally doubled the flour in the second batch of rough puff pastry. Rescue remedy procedure was quickly applied but still the results could have … Continue reading Pastry day…

I was given almost two kilos of blood (Satsuma) plums a few days ago. Today there were still enough left for a half batch of plum sauce. Gorgeous colour (despite its ground spices), lovely flavour. It's an excellent preserve for the pantry shelves (essential to mine anyway). It's delicious with cold meats, barbecues or even … Continue reading Bollod (Satsuma) Plum Sauce

Wednesday morning tea platter offering today - blackberry and pear shortcake. Thought the pear segments we bottled a few days ago would be pair nicely with blackberries and the crisp, buttery pastry. To serve with it? Made a raspberry/blackberry soft serve ice cream. (I should have made that earlier than I did as it was … Continue reading Blackberry and Pear Shortcake

From prickly beasts of the feathered kind, to prickly bounty of the botanical kind. For types of relaxation - well, each to their own. For my part I talk to our animals, but for Robert - he loves to go blackberry picking (unfathomable). He finds it very calming to spend an hour or two down … Continue reading Prickly Beasts of a Different Kind

Noisy, mischievous rascals - here are the four geese who came to live with us a few weeks ago. Granddaughter Charly and I spent an afternoon observing them with a view to giving each a name suited to its character. One of the boys, whose eyes that day were black as night- he was appropriately … Continue reading The Geese who Came to Stay

I was given a couple of buckets of strained off fresh raspberry pips, a by-product of a food business' making coulis. In actuality it was destined for the menagerie here, or the compost heap A few hours afterwards I noticed a smallish amount of luscious scarlet liquid had risen to the top of the pips. … Continue reading Raspberry Pips? Yes Please!!

Plum royalty - more than 20kg greengages fresh picked from daughter Stephanie's tree. There were pears too (also organically grown), a gift from a friend of a friend - about 10 kilos in all. A day of fast track and intense bottling ensued in the cooking school kitchen, but well worth the effort. All are … Continue reading Plum Royalty – Greengages!

Wednesday morning tea platter, a slice from the cake of yesterday. It kind of evolved as it came together. It could best be described, I guess, as a chocolate strawberry "poke" cake. The chocolate butter cake base was indented (with the rounded end of a wooden spoon handle) and strawberries poached in Morello cherry juice … Continue reading Chocolate and Strawberry Cake Invention

The pickling of onions saga continued today...... vinegar spiced, boiled briefly and then cooled. I made two different types - one with Tasmanian Pepperberries added and one batch without. The Pepperberry version is my favourite - beautiful colour. I guess that will mean pink pickled onions. While the vinegar cooled and the onions were drained … Continue reading Cherry Juice and Onions

Yesterday we were able to find a 20kg bag of best quality Tasmanian pickling onions. So today Robert is at his self-appointed task of peeling them all. A ghastly chore I think, but he sets himself up well so the worst of the fumes are blown away in the breeze. In a few minutes I'll … Continue reading Pickling Onions Time Again