Stilton crazy...

Today signals the start of cheese week at our house, when the five tons of Stilton that we bought, received and somehow acquired must be eaten up or rendered somehow useful as part of our war on waste.

First up was the thanks to the mega talented Shaheen at Allotment2kitchen. I saw these cheese, potato and kale pasties on her site and new we had just the leftovers to make them...


Then using the same mixture with addition of cranberry sauce I made smaller puff parcels...



These started off bite size but grew... Or maybe that says something about the size of my mouth!

Then I moved on to cheese scones.




Never having made these before I went to Internet for inspiration and followed the recipe from the Stilton website- where else?! They turned out pretty well, they're bound for the freezer so i'll have to see how they fare there.

And to finish, blue cheese pasta, nice and simple after the afternoons bakeathon...



Okay so that's a blue cheese dressing too! Phew - at least the Stilton is all gone now...until next year that is. Now does anyone know what I can do with a wheelbarrow full of Brie?

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Stained Glass Jelly ...

Ive been inspired to new heights since reading the Food Librarian Blog - honestly what that blogger cant do with Jelly isn't worth knowing. Jelly is a big favourite of my minifreerangers and to be honest I don't make it enough for them, so inspired by Stained Glass Jello we gave it a shot.

We mixed up a few flavours of jelly and let them set really hard the night before and then cut them up and tipped into one tray. Then we mixed condensed milk with gelatin, let it cool and then poured it in...hey presto!!!

Who knew that jelly had so many possibilities! The minis are putting there orders in already...does anyone know where I can find blue jelly? They wont be happy until we've made a rainbow, or at least the Spurs colours for dad!

Pumpkins, pasta and plenty of painkillers...

Well I feel as though I'm a stranger to my own blog at the moment. Once again being able to sit down and type seems like the greatest luxury, perhaps when I talk you through the last week you ll see why!

It all started pretty well, I was following Jamie's thirty minute suppers and we made porcini tagliatelle, mushroom pasta in fact. The raw materials were assembled, the timer was started and I'm pleased to say that before the thirty minutes were up...pasta was served.

That Jamie really knows his onions, and his mushrooms for that matter. The result was delicious...

The only thing I would question are his portion sizes, this made enough for both of us and packed lunched the following day, Jules Oliver certainly doesn't fit into those frocks on this this diet!

So far so good... then came the day of the great support. No, not a fitting for ladies undergarments, but the the day the steel support were lifted in through the window and put into place ready for the hall wall to be knocked out. Now on Grand Designs this always involves a crane and lots of men in hard hats shouting 'steady on ' - not in this house it doesn't! Instead the sturdiest chaps we could muster were assembled and the thing was lifted in by hand to cries of , well its probably best not to repeat them to be honest!

So the blog was put on hold again...

And then just as the skip arrived and the all of the rubble needed removing BHs back took a turn for the worse. Skips don't fill themselves so sleeves had to be rolled up and wheelbarrows had to be filled. Of course children had to be fed and pumpkins had to be carved too!

So the blog was put on hold again...

So now I'm glad to say wall have been demolished,  rubble is removed, children have been fed, pumpkins carved, tricks treated, invalids medicated and were all well on the way to recovery.

Its nice to be back...Happy Halloween!!!

From all of us xxx

National Baking Week

Did you know that it's National Baking Week here in the UK...I know, any excuse to fire up the ovens!
We got ahead of the game on Sunday and continued our adventures in breadmaking. We started with a bread machine but reverted hand kneading over the past few months. My first loaves were solid little affairs best used in self defense rather than self sufficiency! But I'm proud to say that after lots of trial and error... We're getting there...



But of course Freerangers cannot live on bread alone - they need cookies too, white chocolate and cranberry to be precise ( they started as Nigella white chocolate and pistachio but I'm always looking for a reason to crack out the cranberries).



Since the oven was already on ( that's my favourite baking excuse of the moment) I put some brownies in too. C'mon it's not baking without brownies! Again the recipe is courtesy of Nigellas Domestic Goddess, but this time without the walnuts (little freerangers spit them out - heathens that they are!) I replaced them with cherries and cranberries and I was quite pleased with the end product if I do say so myself. They taste quite Christmas cakey but still with plenty of chocolate loveliness...


The other thing I want to bake this week are some scones - mostly as a challenge as Ive never baked them before...I know shocking! But what about you... What will you be baking this week?...

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Dilly Beans...

Now the Courgette glut is coming to an end Ive been looking for things to do with the runner beans. Even when we lived in a tiny flat in London I've found ways to grow runner beans that have gone straight to the table. But since moving here I swear the Yorkshire air has either gotten to the beans or gone to my head because our beans have gone crazy and are producing pound after pound.

There's not much space left in the freezer (its full of courgettes) so I've turned my mind to pickling. Alys Fowler made Dilly Beans on TV the other night so I thought Id give them a go. Just white vinegar, water and salt brought to the boil and poured in. then packed with some garlic and dill. I did fiddle about with the recipe on jar number 2 and added a packet of pickling spice to try a different taste. They need to stand now for at least a couple of weeks and then we'll give them a try. Let me know if you've ever made these, I'm dying to know if they're worth it!

Now I'm starting on the tomatoes! Pasta sauces are already underway, I guess I'll have to find some freezer space after all.



To top it all our first batch of damson jam arrived to day from freerangenans production line. It definitely passes the taste test. I am very lucky to have the jam maker extraordinaire just around the corner, the damson harvest is so looked forward to for the jam we get I don't think BH trusts me not to turn it into damson soup by accident!

A courgette quickie...

Just a quickie tonight because I can't quite believe how tired I am after the first day back at work - too tired to cook even the humblest of courgettes - so instead...uncooked courgettes.

These are from Nigellas Forever Summer, and she calls them a carpacciao of zucchini gialli, which she admits is a bit poncey - I called them yellow ribbons, but whatever you call them they're surprisingly delicious. Just ribbons of courgette, a squirt of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, some maldon salt and pepper.

I made them to share with BH but they were gone before he made it to the table - never mind!

Buildings a Go Go...

First of all thankyou for sticking with me whilst I disappeared from blogland for the last week. Citygirl treated us all to a very much appreciated break and we packed up the the tribe and headed for the hills.



Our minifreerangers couldnt have been happier - at last a chance to release their inner princess and pirate without mum and dad moping on about cement mixers!

Bless that Citygirl! She certainly knows whats needed and when! Waiting for planning approval had us both at the end of our tether - I'd convinced myself that it wasnt going to happen, we would have to move and start again and my veg patch would belong to someone else - boo hoo! But Citygirl knows better than to give into amateur dramatics and shoved us on bikes for the week to take our mind off things ( she also knows just when a mojito is called for!) so Mojitos, bikes and lots of rest were prescribed and we certainly feel all the better for it.


Especially because...our building plans have been approved!!!! Hoorah!!!


We got the call a couple of days early and it took us completely by surprise, but now its full steam ahead. Bricks are being laid at last!



Secondly - can I thank everybody who posted suggestions for what to do with my courgettes - in the culinary sense that is! Bionic Grandpa kept watering while we were away and they just kept producing more and more. So in honour of you all I am going to try and cook a different courgette dish from your suggestions every night this week (also Ive run out room in the freezer!)

Tonights was nice and easy - Spicy Vegetable Soup. Onions, Courgettes, tomatoes, Peppers, more courgettes, an anonymous chilli, some basil, more courgettes and plenty of seasoning.



Its very simple but very yum! Its also very low calorie to compensate for all the lovely food citygirl plied us with, but theres no compromise on the taste. Im going to try freezing some as a lunchtime standby...



Im already planning tomorrows creation...

All that Jazz...

When we left London our friends were all very supportive and oohed and ahhed in all the right places when we showed them pictures of where we were heading, but the one thing they couldnt really get their heads round was 'what would we do here'. Once we'd fed chickens and dug potatoes and walked dogs and built sandcastles - what would we do? How could we leave the theatres and concerts and comedy clubs and galleries all behind us? Fortunately we knew that there is life beyond the M25 and what people so often didn't realise was that although all that was on offer in London, when you've got two small children and are paying a London sized mortgage, you dont go out anyway!


I am very glad to say that is all remedied now. We've just enjoyed a fantastic weekend of culture and all just up the road from us at Burton Agnes Hall.



I love the Hall, its a real hidden gem as so many just dont know what's on offer there. It has the most amazing art collection which has really shocked some of our city friends when they've visited, but also amazing grounds including a walled garden.



I often find my way there - sometimes just to retreat after a hectic week at work. This time I sent my teenage goddaughter into it to explore on her own and find her own treasures. She came back wowed after her own 'secret garden' exploration!









Obviously a garden this size takes some looking after - they take all the help they can get!




This weekend was the fourth annual Jazz Festival. We got tickets as a joint birthday treat between myself and my old girly friend H, she'd had her birthday, mines coming up and we spent Saturday camped out on the lawns. It was a real treat for the Mums - very chilled out, enjoying great music, a great picnic and even greater dancing from our big brood of Jazz Babies!



We had a great view of everything from Big Band Swing to Dennis Rollins - Jazz trombonist (He blew us away - excusing the pun! He may even have converted BH to jazz!)



But a birthday picnic is nothing without a cake, so my own Jazz Girl was very busy the day before making sure we had extra special picnic treats!





So in answer to to my City Friends - its okay - we're finding plenty to do!

And the beet goes on...

As a child I was reknowned for my appetite, no picky eater reputation for me, my mum regularly rolls out the story of my eating new potatoes whole, drinking from the vinegar bottle and climbing on the dining room table before i could walk to polish off a blackberry pie. I do not tell you this out of pride, nor do i recommend such rudimentary table manners, but to explain there wasnt much i wouldn't touch...

apart from

radishes

broad beans

beetroot

and mussels.


My how things have changed...I grew tons of these this year as I was given plants or the seeds were free and the magic of growing them outweighed any reservations I had about the end product. My conversion really started last year but is in full flow with this seasons harvest.



I can't get enough of these radishes in all their Peter Rabbit pinkness. Picked early they're still lovely and crisp and totally gorgeous with guess what...broad beans. Okay, the beans arent from our plot but I couldnt wait for ours to be ready (I never thought I'd be saying that!) When the beans are still young they're tasty in their skins. Mixed with a splash of Olive Oil and lemon juice and then sprinkled with rock salt they're perfect.




But woman can not live on radishes alone - so we also harvested some of our beets tonight, to be honest we've got so many we are going to be harvesting them every night. Last year our beet crop was less than impressive but this year we are more than making up for it. These Boltardys give a perfect little sphere. The only down side to them is that despite successional sowing they're all ready at once!



I'm addicted to beetroot salads at the moment and I cant get enough of this one. The beets are simply boiled until the skins slip off then chopped small. A couple of large dollops of low fat yoghurt are mixed with a good squeeze of lemon juice, a teaspoon of whole grain mustard and a crunch of black pepper. Its that easy. The hard part is getting it to the fridge before it gets scoffed. Oh, and did I mention its fabulously, luridly, shockingly pink!



So whilst i started growing veg to get my children inspired to eat them its had the desired effect on me too.

But I still think mussels are the work of the devil!