What have I missed most through all these weeks of not cooking? BAKING BREAD! It's my most favourite thing of all to do. I am stretching the proverbial elastic to be doing this quite so soon, but with family coming for dinner tonight, and with Hester still burning brightly, it was the perfect opportunity to … Continue reading And then there was pizza galore!

I've had many requests for the recipe for the bread mentioned in my last post, so here it is, along with a few tips: The water that is added should be above lukewarm as the oatmeal mixture is quite cold by the time it is added, reducing the temperature of the dough and so it … Continue reading Oatmeal and Milk Bread Recipe

There have to be some limits, can't bear not baking any longer, so today with Hester burning brightly, I made some Oatmeal and Milk bread. If you are lucky enough to have a Big Bakers Oven, a good way to ensure an even crust is to use a large tray after about 20 minutes baking, … Continue reading Oatmeal and Milk Bread – time to bake again!

It's been a  while since I've posted anything I know and my apologies.  There was an issue with my website for a while there, but it's all sorted now thankfully. In the meantime there has been a whole lot of preserving going on here.  The benches in the cooking school are covered, due to the … Continue reading Autumn in the Valley

It's a very plummy time of year, which is of course, just wonderful. A gift from a friend yesterday, three types of plums, in abundance. One of the varieties was the lovely golden gage plum. They were quite ripe, so into the bottles they went first this morning. Some jars were made into a mixed … Continue reading An Abundance of Plums

Just over a week ago at 8am, we were weeding the raspberry patch in 29 degree heat. Today - so cold we had to light Hester. No complaints from Poppy and Rose about that....

Then yesterday and today - elderberries, from the garden of a friend in New Norfolk. They are a breeze to pick, and simple to remove from their stalks with the tines of a fork. The rich, dark liquid was strained off (after brief simmering) last evening. Today it was completed with the addition of some … Continue reading Elderberries into Syrup

Here we go again - given another 50+ kg greengages today. Wonderful! (Thanks Pat) We only had size 36 preserving jars left, each holding 1.5kg. The last of the 32 bottles are in the preserver now. Love to get the production line into full swing - have quite a system going, and they were done … Continue reading Greengage Plums in Abundance

Guess who's winning the eggs-citing game of hide and seek with the eggs? Not us, that's for sure. I thought the chooks had gone off the lay a little, but still ample eggs to bake with so didn't think too much about it. The truth revealed - 3 separate mums with innumerable babies arrived yesterday. … Continue reading Winning! The Egg Games

The only way to travel - in the comparative cool of the evening, the 101 jars of preserved greengages are now in boxes, now on their way to a new storage area. Now just need to find space for all the preserved rhubarb and apricots.....