Saturday Morning Chatter…..and here’s one I wrote earlier,
like last night because….I just knew by early Saturday morning my hands would
be full of washed crab apples, perhaps like yours, for it's a compelling autumnal
chore, this annual preservation of veggies and wild fruit into delicious larder goodies, which simply must be done right now…for those of a squirrelling nature, like me. Our freezer is already happily packed with runner
beans, ratatouille, soup and vegetable ragout, and shelf-stored jars of chutney next to those filled with the harvest of 2014 product.
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| elderberries and damsons... |
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| my ratatouille mix bubbling away..... |
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| crab apples and red currants cooking last weekend for jelly |
In fact, they should have been washed, prep’ed and cooked on
Thursday afternoon, dripped overnight thru’ a piece of butter muslin and suspended
from an upturned stool, just like your Granny or Auntie used to do? Or perhaps they might have used a jelly bag
hung by three material straps connected to a ring holding onto a stout hook
from the ceiling. I used to own one but it became lost in a house move
somewhere along the line. It had enjoyed
a useful life of jelly making with crab apples, japonica and an array of other
berries so I’m not too upset by its mysterious disappearance.
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| jelly-making equipment and... |
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| dripping the jelly thru' the butter muslin using an upturned chair |
Of much greater disappointment is the ending of the garden
bean season with prize-winning runner beans, still hanging about but long-past
their good-eating pot status, like those he cooked for supper last night….still
tough and sharp after a long spell in the microwave…!
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| my runner beans are not allowed to get too big!! |
And cooking….did you see Matt win last night’s round of TV’s
Great British Menu for the North West round against fellow-competitor Eva whose
dish “Twinset and Pearls” had me wondering what those ‘lemon pearls’ were. Apparently, they are balls of flaked agar-agar plus flavouring and colouring,
squeezed into still partially frozen oil, forming tiny ball-shaped pieces as
they sink to the bottom of the pan; and as we all know, agar-agar is a thickening
agent from seaweed! I’m sure we shall
meet up with Eva in the future.
I’ve not yet seen this week’s Great British Bake-Off episode
but I’m looking forward to watching their game pie, Tennis Cake and Charlotte Russe challenge, while my crab apple mixture still drips out.
It’s been a big week
for anniversaries with the Women‘s Institute Centenary celebrations happening
everywhere. Our local group were part of
the massed gathering of about 750 members of the Oxford Federation at their
special Christ Church Cathedral Service on Tuesday, with Banner-bearing Ladies processing
about the Quadrangle and into the cathedral to rapturous applause, which was simply amazing.
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| processing outside Christ Church Cathedral on Tuesday... |
Battle of Britain 75th anniversary flight of
Spitfires and Hurricanes, a Tribute to the Few from Biggin Hill in
commemoration of their brilliant performance in 1940 when Britain’s young
pilots were up against Germany’s air power and won, putting an end to Hitler’s
invasion plan.
Also for last week, the anniversary to mark the beginning of
The Blitz of 1940, when many of our towns and cities suffered Luftwaffe bombing
by Heinkel bombers, with London under constant air attack for a period of 57
consecutive nights of bombing plus daylight raids too. We had a family garden shelter which my
grandparents and elder sister used, but hiding under the kitchen table when they simply weren‘t fast enough to make the shelter.
A busy week with a little gardening thrown-in for good
measure, cooking plus damson and crab apple gathering, my week ending on a high note
with our WI celebratory Centenary party on Thursday evening, which was brilliant. And Reflexology, we’ve been enjoying the
effects of this wonderful treatment this week with hands-on usage for gardening
self-inflicted aches and pains – ah well, on with life’s show! See you next week...
Toodle Loo…
Daisy xxx
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