What to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon? Forage through the freezer, yielding almost 4 kilos of long forgotten red chillies. Match that to the Tasmanian grown ginger I was given recently, and the last of our home grown garlic = 8 batches of sweet chiili sauce. Thought I might as well finish making quince … Continue reading Lavender and Chillies

Time to harvest the Pepperberries - we estimate there are at least 3 buckets full. We are just picking the clusters and leaving the rest for the tiny birds. Robert included some in a wet hop beer brew yesterday. We will see how that goes. After all, chilli beer is good so this is only … Continue reading Tasmanian Native Pepperberries and Quinces

So much to love abut Autumn produce. Today - there's lavender to harvest and to experiment with. Some of the buds will be used fresh and then I found a great treasure in my pantry cupboard - one remaining jar of dried lavender.     There will be savoury recipes and sweet, I'm intrigued with … Continue reading Hops and Lavender Abound

As I know I've said before, most Tuesdays groups of carers from Community Based Support come for a cooking class. They are always such a jolly group, eager to learn and apply new and easy recipes and cooking tips. It's by no means a one way street. Some of their tips and shared family recipes … Continue reading The Class of Community Carers

With a gift of plums from a friend, time to make more Worcestershire sauce. The batch I made with peaches a few days ago was really good, but it's a yearly tradition to make the plum version. Anyway, you can never have too much, such a great addition to so many savoury dishes. I mixed … Continue reading Plums for Worcestershire Sauce

I've had a few requests for the recipe for the Autumn fruits paste. You can vary this recipe according to what you have on hand, but this is what I did. If you don't have any honey mead that's ok. No cider? Just use water instead. The paste is delicious on a cheese platter, especially … Continue reading Autumn Fruits Paste

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!