Preserving the harvest

Posted by Rosie

As summer slips towards autumn I usually find myself getting more and more busy in the kitchen, preserving the harvest. This year, however, after a disastrous year in the veg garden due to the weather (more of that another day) I have less to preserve. However today I have made chilli courgette pickle and marrow and ginger jam. I also have dried apricots soaking ready to make marrow and apricot jam tomorrow. Notice a theme here? The only vegetable to have made anything like a glut is the courgettes and marrows and only then because I planted a ridiculous number of plants! Still - we like courgettes and the chilli courgette pickle is a favourite. In fact I think I'll start another batch now.

I'm still waiting to see if the marrow and ginger jam has set - it can be a bit temperamental in that department. Not that we see that as a problem but simply label it as sauce not jam and enjoy it over ice cream or with pancakes for a decadent breakfast. For anyone wanting to make this jam/sauce the recipe is here. (scroll down to the third post)

Coypu

Posted by Rosie

I think I saw one of these a couple of nights ago; a coypu (ragodin in French):

We had been round to friends for a BBQ and were cycling back in the dark and with no lights, when I heard a lot of rustling in the field edge. It was much too noisy to be a cat or a fox and I did briefly wonder if the one of neighbour's calves had got out. However, I could see nothing (it was a very moonlit night) until all of a sudden this creature dashed out of the undergrowth in front of me and galloped across the field towards the stream. It was about 45cm long, stocky in build and exceedingly heavy footed - I could almost feel the ground trembling under it's footsteps.

It certainly fitted the description of a coypu and I know there are a lot around here. Friends who live in a water mill nearby have had to have a coypu catcher in to try and eradicate them as they cause a huge problem with river bank erosion when they build their burrows. They are native to South America and were introduced into Europe by fur farmers. As with so many introduced species, some escaped and without natural predators their numbers rose rapidly. Wikipedia gives more information but does contain an error in the distribution maps. They say that they were eradicated in the UK in 1929 but there are still sightings now of coypu in Norfolk.

Simon and the boys were a bit behind me and didn't see it - I'd like them to be able to say that they have seen a coypu but I would equally be happy if there were none of these non-native, destructive creatures around here. Somehow I doubt that will ever be the case.

Camping ... if they can find the campsite ....

Posted by Rosie

Simon has taken the boys camping over in Brittany for a few days and I intend to profit from the peace and quiet and plan to get loads done here. I have a great long list of things that are quicker to do without the "assistance" of the boys including sorting their clothes drawers; so much easier they are not wailing that I can't possibly get of that that T-shirt despite the fact it is either torn to shreds or far too small. Then I'm planning a lot of gardening (weather permitting), jam and chutney making, a grand sort out of the food cupboard and buying their stuff for school. The dogs have added onto the list, "take us for lots of long walks" and I might even find the time to finish the book I have been reading for ages.

The intrepid campers left about half an hour ago and I am wondering at what point Simon will realise he has forgotten to take the directions with him!!

Au revoir Lou

Posted by Rosie

After a friend wasn't able to help out in the few weeks before the gite needed to be ready, we put a call out on HelpX for anyone daft enough to come and help us finish off about 4 weeks worth of work in two. Bonjour Lou. She came, she worked her socks off and then she stayed!! She finally left for home yesterday morning after 7 weeks with us. Thank you so very much Lou - you helped us out more than you could have imagined this summer; you were like a part of the family and now it seems so very quiet without you.

(However we are planning to make the "croissants in a tin" you bought and are enjoying the cheese you forgot to take home!!)

No 22 - Elderflower Champagne

Posted by Rosie

So, why did my making of elderflower champagne merit a post of it's own and was it linked to that some what flippant (albeit very true) comment at the end of my last entry - "A few failed but only one became a potential killer - more of that another day ........."?

Last year I tried to make elderflower champagne in plastic fizzy water bottles, messed up the recipe somewhat and with added yeast ended up with a not very nice drink. I subsequently left the bottles in the shed unaware of the ferocity of this seemingly innocent drink. Suffice it to say I didn't release the pressure and the after a while the bottles exploded and covered the contents of the shed in my not very nice attempt at champagne.

This year I used a different recipe, did exactly as instructed and used grolsch topped lemonade bottles. I opened a bottle a while ago with the gentle pop of a delicious tasting, gently fizzing taste of summer. Wonderful. I felt so proud of my first successful foray into alcohol production.

A few days later a friend rang and rather shakily said that one of her bottles had exploded, shattering her and her husband in broken glass. She was unhurt but realised how serious it could have been. I promptly covered my bottles with a towel until Simon could move them away from their potentially dangerous location on the front room windowsill. But it was late and we thought before panicking too much we'd open one to ascertain the fizz build up. Simon did the deed and once again the bottled popped gently and the champagne was a gently fizzy delicious drink. I stopped panicking and decided to move the bottles the next day.

Now picture if you will, our front room. The windowsill is on the far side of a large room. The table is in the middle of the room and against the opposite wall is the computer. Picture Simon, myself and Lou sitting around the table enjoying a glass of elderflower champagne. As our glasses emptied and the night drew on we each went our separate ways, Lou to another room, Simon upstairs and I went to the computer.

BANG!!

Literally seconds after we all moved one of the bottles exploded sending glass everywhere. There wasn't one part of the room without glass in it and the largest piece, some 10cm long landed UNDERNEATH the computer chair where I was now sitting and must have flown in a direct line via where I had been sitting at the table not 2 seconds earlier. Who could have thought that something as innocent as elderflowers, sugar, water and lemon juice could wreak such havoc and potential danger? And who could have believed that we could have been so lucky to have all moved away from the exploding bottles just seconds before?

Apparently (as I now know) the lemonade bottles are not strong enough and you should use either proper champagne or cider bottles with wired on corks or plastic bottles and remember to release the pressure. I've about 9 months to decide whether I will risk elderflower champagne again and if so which bottle I will use.

Incidentally, Simon opened the 2 remaining bottles - one popped gently lie the two we had already opened and the other went with a heck of a bang and despite being left open the champagne continued to fizz for several days. They were all from the same batch and whilst 3 fizzed perfectly 2 went mad. Why - I do not know?

52 in 2010 Update

Posted by Rosie

Seven and a half months through 2010 and 27 recipes under my belt - so I am a little behind schedule but in my defence I have have a few other things to keep me busy recently. So, what have I cooked and how did they turn out?

1. Aromatic Belly Pork - Hugh FW recipe - delicious and will do again
2. Microwave sponge pudding
3. Goat Curry - a Levi Roots recipe - tasty but it was fiddly and time consuming to make.
4. Pineapple and Banana fritters
5. Celeriac and Blue Cheese soup - not overly exciting and unlikely to be repeated this year as my celeriac crop has completely failed.
6. Duck Liver paté - not my favourite but then I am not really a paté person. It did however look very nice in the duck terrine someone had given me.
7. Ginger Beer Plant - this was Simon's and unfortunately it wasn't too nice - too yeasty. He has now got another one going and we are waiting to taste it in a few days so fingers crossed for this one.
8. Turkey Au Vin - besides trying very hard to set the kitchen alight this was extremely nice and likely to be repeated.
9. Cheese Fondue - much liked by the boys who are yet to know about cholesterol!!
10. Friendship Cake - this is something I made many years ago, a yeast bake cake you feed from a starter and then pas on to your friends. Sadly the starter I made, whilst not unpleasant was not as I remembered the one from before. I'll have to do some more searching and see if I can find a better recipe.
11. Fruity Cereal Bars - Yummy - but not as yummy as:
12. "Healthyish" Oat and Krispie Chocolate Slices ....... chocolaty but still vaguely healthy. Many of these have been eaten this year.
13. Old Fashioned Teabread - also known as Bara Brith - wonderfully filling fat free fruit cake - well fat free until you smother slices of it with butter!
14. Balti Prawns and Vegetables - from a cookbook on my shelf and worked well although I did have to alter the recipe a bit.
15. Green Lentil Dahl - made for the same meal as the Prawns and lovely - in fact I think I may cook this again tonight.
16. Hot cross Buns - I made the dough for these in the bread-maker - I think I should try the old fashioned way next time as they were a bit dry.
17. Lancashire Hot Pot - I can't believe I had never made this before this year - it was so simple, so tasty and so cheap made with neck of lamb. A perfect cold weather dish that almost makes me wish it was cold enough now to cook one.
18. Rhubeena - Rhubarb was one of the few things that has done well in the garden this year so I had plenty to make into this fruit cordial. It's lovely as a drink and also mixed with fromage blanc to make fruity milky ice lollies for the boys.
19. Rhubarb cake - more of a pudding than a cake but I'm not complaining.
20. Beech Leaf Noyau
21. Yoghurt - I love yoghurt but can't seem to get this one right. Grrr as I dislike being left with commercial yoghurt pots that I cannot recycle.
22. Elderflower champagne - ah - this actually deserves an entry of it's own so you'll have to wait for more details on this one.
23. Strawberries with Black Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar - OK not so much a recipe as a mix of seemingly unlikely ingredients that somehow marry into something surprisingly tasty!
24. Courgette and sultana salad - a new way to deal with the only veg glut I seem to have had this year.
25. Raspberry Vinegar - we bought a second hand freezer recently complete with several large boxes of raspberries. I made jam with some, stewed some and made the rest into raspberry vinegar wondering if I would regret using so many on something I may not even like. Did it work - Yes - do I like it - YES!! How could I have never had this delicious concoction before?
26. Crispy duck pancakes - not quite as authentic as the ones eaten in Chinese restaurants as I used savoury crepes but they still worked well and were a good way to make one duck feed 4 adults and 2 hungry children with meat to spare.
27. Naan bread - started off in the bread maker and sitting on the side ready to be eaten with a curry tonight.

Overall the recipes have been a success - some have become regular favourites and others occasional treats to look forward to. A few failed but only one became a potential killer - more of that another day .........

Days out

Posted by Rosie

Yesterday and today we have been out and about being touristy. Today was a trip to our favourite beach at Ouisterham with a detour to Pegasus Bridge where we lucky enough to see the new bridge being raised. Yesterday we went to Falaise Castle where William the Conqueror was born. We thought the boys would enjoy the castle but I have to admit I was a little dubious about yet more displays explaining the history of castles and the Medieval Ages. Well I have to say I was completely and very pleasantly surprised at the way the castle has set up it's displays. I will not spoil it for anyone wanting to make a visit there but I would strongly recommend Falaise for both adults and children. A great day out for all.

OK - so which one of us is going to drive this thing then?

Posted by the dogs and Smokey

RIP - Moonlight

Posted by Rosie

Last night we had the unpleasant job of having to put down Moonlight, one of our lambs, because she was dying. You may remember back in February I helped her into the world and even then I was concerned about her health. She never was a strong lamb, slow to feed, smaller than her sister and always giving me concerns. About 10 days ago she got fly-strike (when flies lay their eggs on the sheep and the maggots eat into their skin) and although we started to treat her straight away and cured her of that problem we believe that it caused an secondary infection that she was too weak to fight off.

Having to put a young lamb down raised some very interesting points with the HelpX volunteers we have here at the moment. One is vegetarian, although from a rural area, the other 2 are not vegetarian but from a large urban area in America. None of them has ever been this close to the ugly side of farming when it comes down to the practicality of whether a lamb is worth saving or better off (both financially and for her own sake) put down. In some large commercial flocks, sheep are not checked throughout the night and Moonlight may have died at birth. On other farms and probably most smallholdings, they are checked but even then others may have taken the decision to cull out a weak lamb at birth. Working with such small numbers of sheep we decided to keep her and give her a chance. However as the fly-strike developed into the secondary infection and she rapidly went downhill the decision was made to end her life.

"Could you not keep her just one more day to see if she recovers?" was the first question. No - her health as deteriorated so much and so quickly it was obvious that if left she would die in the night anyway, possibly in pain.

"Could you take her to the vet?" No - in pure economic terms she had no current monetary value and even if she was to recover the cost of the vet would outweigh the value of the meat we could get from her. She was an animal bred to eat, not a pet. Furthermore in her weak state it would be most unlikely she would recover anyway.

The vast majority of people today do not live on farms or have anything to do with them. Many films (Babe being a fine example) and children's story books paint a wonderful picture of a countryside where animals can be saved and all is rosy down on the farm. In reality it is a very different story and yesterday three young people may have learnt just how hard farming can be.

Interesting Find

Posted by Simon

Last October - having been here two years - I was getting a measurement for some works in the attic and had to climb up on to an old timber cupboard and to my surprise found an old rifle.

It was in a very poor state but after some cleaning up we have found out it is a Mauser 98 - possibly a model 98K from the WW2 - Wikipedia Link. How long it had been up in the attic is anybody's guess.

So now we would like to know how it got here, is there any history to it or was it just found and hidden - interesting. I have been told that some children were 'evacuated' to Lenault from nearby villages that were more in the firing line and one of these children may know a little about this - so now we have more time we can follow this up and speak with this man. Maybe we'll glean some information and will let you know.

No, not the Decontamination Unit in the veg patch .....

Posted by Rosie

... but the local Fire Brigade who came, dressed in very fetching rubber suits to clear not one, nor two but three wasp nests I had found in the veg patch. Apparently it is a bad (or good, depending on your viewpoint) year for wasps and those in the ground tend to be more aggressive than those with nests in trees.

Here in France the local Fire Brigade will come and remove them for you free of charge so earlier today I phoned up and this evening they came and dug out the nests. It's a pity as wasps actually do a lot of good eating garden pests such as aphids but bearing in mind Simon, myself and Ben all react badly to wasp stings plus wasps and a gite are not a good combination I decided we needed to get these dealt with sooner rather than later. Let's hope we now remain a sting free summer.

First Guests & Thank You

Posted by Simon

Well I'm sure you want to know how things went with our first guests and now we have recovered from the rush to get everything ready and have done a few other jobs that needed doing I have a bit more time to write a post.

The guests, a Dutch family of 4, arrived minutes after we had finished and were pleasantly surprised to see the garden area was completed - their last look on the blog was on the Thursday when I was about half way through building it (and before the digger broke down). They were over the moon with the gite and settled in quickly.

Their two boys were soon playing with our boys and in the end the family only went out for two of the days they were here. The boys were having such a great time here playing, with plenty of space, that they actually had trouble getting them to go out on those days. Mum and Dad had time to relax and pursue hobbies throughout the week.

From the feedback they gave us they had an excellent week, loved the quiet and the beautiful countryside and watching their boys having a good time. They made a couple of small suggestions of items they would have liked to have had (a tea cosy, a toaster and a door mat for the living room door), otherwise were very pleased with the gite. And are planning to come back next year.

For us - they made all the hard work worth while and it was great to see the gite used and the whole family having a lovely holiday and we were rewarded by receiving two lovely paintings - one of the gite and the other of the play area and view - as a present. We are over the moon with these and trying to decide the best place for them.

And finally a special thanks to our first gite guests, especially for trusting us that it would be finished and making our first week open very rewarding. Also a huge thank you for all those who helped us - a list too long to mention everyone - but we could not have done it without you.

Now for the next project - well soon.