High time to do something with those amazing pears and peaches. First juice the pears, we decided, as they were very juicy and ripe. That juice is delicious in its own right, so we preserved it and reserve our options for later making into pear cider or drinking it as it is, chilled. Peach Worcestershire … Continue reading Autumn Preserving in the Valley of Love

That wood box bread dough.  Did it cook in the sun? Well yes, after a fashion. I could describe it as having a light crispy crust with a lovely aerated soft crumb, but really that's praising it. Proven it could be done though. (Pardon the pun.) A passing grasshopper stopped to check it out, but … Continue reading The Wood Box Bread

Well, next episode - brought the dough inside, knocked it down and gave it a good beating with a spoon. Thought that would keep it in check while I went merely to put clothes on the line and give Snowball the rabbit a new bottle of ice to sidle up to. This  is what I … Continue reading Episode 2 Runaway dough

Thought I'd just sit the bread dough outside while  I filled the dehydrator with tomatoes. Maybe not such a great idea - that dough is going to take some serious taming!

In the midst of a busy day of appointments and shopping, a fantastic gift from friends - clingstone peaches and Corella pears, LOTS of them. No prizes for guessing what we will be doing tomorrow - preserving them all one way or another. Someone else is picking damson plums for us, which will go into … Continue reading Peaches and Pears and soon to be Plums

Meanwhile, back in the cooking school kitchen, it's blackberry season once more. Robert went foraging yesterday, and left a bucketful on the bench. Quick as a flash I'd put them into the jam pans to make cordial syrup and jam. A batch of sparkling blackberry was soon starting its time in a bucket before being … Continue reading Blackberry season has arrived!

Finally, finally the ducks have started laying again. Huge eggs, maybe to make up for lost time. Here are a couple in an egg carton, which of course won't close over them, with a chicken's egg in the middle for comparison. What a difference their eggs make to baking! For instance - those jelly cakes, … Continue reading Ducks’ eggs versus Chooks’

or some time now, most Tuesdays we have had groups of carers from Community Based Support coming here to cooking classes. The focus is always on easy to prepare dishes, the current theme "Like Grandma Used to Make." The photo - a little snack for when they arrive being prepared early this morning - savoury … Continue reading Carers’ Classes in the Cooking School

Bottling class here today - great fun sharing the hours preserving with lovely people. After the class and in amongst the washing up, the excess-to-needs produce was bottled in the Fowlers preserver (thanks Robert), and the dehydrator filled with tomatoes now in the process of semi-drying. Meanwhile I pickled several kilos of lovely beetroot (purchased … Continue reading Bottling Class Today

Such a windy day, no use doing anything outside in the garden. Then the cooking school is all set up for tomorrow's class, can't bear to mess it up again. Time to look about for things to bake with down in the house - odds and ends in the pantry and fridge that need using … Continue reading Windy Day Play – let’s use the leftovers!