Monday 30 December 2013

Kale chips

I normally only eat kale at Christmas. I grew up eating fried kale on Christmas Eve and that tradition has stuck with me. I parboil the kale and then put it in the freezer until needed. On the day, I fry it with a bit of cream and salt and pepper. Lovely.

This year we've grown kale ourselves and have more that was needed on the Christmas table. So what do you do? Well, I searched the Internet and found this website. Oh they were delicious! It says in the recipe that kale chips are an acquired taste. Well, I acquired the taste rather quickly. I'd call them very moorish. However, next time I think I'd better go easy on the salt. I was very thirsty for the rest of the day!


Mrs. M.

Thursday 26 December 2013

Sprouts

What can I say? 



Of everything we've successfully grown (not that much really) this really must be number one. They simply tasted delicious!

Today has been a lazy day.The weather has been glorious so Little Miss M. and I went for a walk in the sunshine. She was wearing her new hiking boots and I was wearing my old ones. 


After a refreshing walk we went home and had some hot chocolate. A rather perfect Boxing Day. 

Mrs. M.

Sunday 22 December 2013

Harvest

The day Mrs. G. and I have been longing for finally arrived. Dressed in warm coats and wellies, armed with bags and a small saw, we found a gap in the rain and headed towards the allotment. Harvest time. Oh yes, the time had come to harvest our brussels sprouts. Yippee!


Don't they look great?! After recommendation we've put them in a bucket of water, ready for peeling and left in water on the 24th, ready for cooking on the 25th. I can't wait!


We took a chance on the parsnips as well. Some of them were big and some weren't. Oh well, we'll try them out anyway. There are still plenty in the ground for later. 


After the harvest it was time to light the fourth candle and have a cup of tea and a biscuit. I ended up watching a rom-com with the older Master M. and his little sister before baking tomorrow's dessert and some of the food. We're having a 'getting into the Christmas spirit' do here tomorrow evening. It's time to start the party!

Mrs. M.

Monday 9 December 2013

Hungry

Today has been a really long day. By the time I got home it was dark and I then had to get to the post office before it closed to send off Christmas presents. What a rush! 

Luckily I didn't have to cook dinner tonight as Mr. M. had been busy making Cornish pasties. He had never made these before and they were absolutely delicious. They had just come out of the oven when I got home and the smell and sight of them made me very hungry indeed.


I wasn't the only hungry one today. While Mr. M. was busy cooking these he heard the chickens making a real racket. Fortunately they were in the run, as a fox was circling around the coop and run. Mr. M. ran outside and threw stones at the clearly hungry animal but it didn't take any notice. It wasn't until Mr. M. had run up to the chickens and shouted at the fox while waving a big stick at it that it ran off. Oh dear. Looks like the days when the chickens can wander around in the garden on their own are well and truly over. 

Mrs. M.

Sunday 8 December 2013

Yum

December certainly is a month of indulgence. In my preparation of delicious food for the Christmas period, I've made some old fashioned toffees. 

I mixed 3 dl of cream, 3 dl of sugar and 1 1/2 dl of golden syrup and cooked it until it reached 125 degrees Celsius. I then poured the toffee onto greased baking paper and let it cool before cutting up into small pieces. They were then wrapped in festive paper, put in a jar and hidden away in the cold garage. 

Hidden away? Well yes, if left in the kitchen they would all be gone within a few days. I'm able to keep things until Christmas but the two younger family members find it impossibly difficult. They will just have to wait a little while longer :).


Mrs.  M

Sunday 1 December 2013

First of Advent

Finally the official countdown to Christmas has started! Little Miss M. put the Christmas CD on before having breakfast and I can foresee myself being really sick of the songs by next weekend...

Mr. M. cleaned the chicken coop yesterday and ended up with a bucket full of ... so today we went to the allotment to empty the bucket. I hadn't been for at least 3 weeks and was slightly worried that I'd be met by beds covered in weed. Luckily that wasn't the case. It did look a bit dull but I was very happy with how well the brussel sprouts are doing. 



They're looking so lovely and I can't wait until we serve them with our Christmas meal!

The Savoy cabbage is also looking okay though slightly small. 


There wasn't much else going on up there. The garlic and onions are coming on nicely, the leek is looking great and fingers crossed that the parsnips in the ground are big. It was rather cold today so we only stayed for a short while before we headed back to light the first Advent candle and drink some hot glögg. We also had some of yesterday's gingerbread and a mince pie each. Lovely!


All in all a lovely start to December!

Mrs. M.