Autumn is Here

When the mornings start to get dark and the evenings come in fast; the nights are cold, mornings are brisk, but the days turn warm; you know autumn has arrived.

The leaves on our plum tree start falling although not turning to golden colours and the growing of the summer vegetables slow. When I light the fire to burn rubbish there is a welcomed glow lifting the chill of a morning or a rainy day.

But that rain is pleasing to Harry and me as it means that mushrooms will be growing in our favourite spots.

However this year when we have gone for our evening stroll, with Charlotte, on a leash there have been no mushrooms. It’s like someone has been there before us! We have collected them for years in this area so there does not seem to be any other explanation. Now this is public land so we can’t ‘claim’ them as ours but “we” are not amused.

However there is a new area we have discovered, our own front yard! We have gathered two bowls over a few days and so mushroom sauce for our steak is still an autumn pleasure.

Mushroom Sauce

I clean any dirt or grass off the base of the stalks and tops of the mushroom trying not to wash them as the added water makes them soggy when I pan fry them.

I fry them on a medium heat with very little butter (about half a teaspoon).

Once they have become dry and reduced I add about a heaped teaspoon of flour and a good shake of mushroom stock and cook this stirring gently.

Then I slowly add the cream a tablespoon at a time trying not to boil it but allowing it to thicken.

We have it with steak, chops and chicken.

Little Baby Sets

Design two

Design four

I worked on some ‘little’ projects last month.

Jennifer’s little baby was going to come early and the midwife (having been Sarah’s midwife as well) knew I knitted so she suggested I knit some small hats in wool for the coming grandchild.

So finding some left over wool and knowing how quick small things would take I made two little sets of a hat with matching bootees.

I used the pattern I have for prem and little babies of which I have made a few sets for all the grandchildren - Cleckheaton No. 423, Little Babies including Premature Sizes

There are five sizes in this pattern book with the middle size being newborn and the two smaller sizes for tiny babies.

A very good book for knitting sets for little babies and the 'coming home' set.

Mini Bacon and Egg Pies

Often Katrina suddenly tells me at the last minute she needs to take a shared tea to something she is going to for the evening.

I have found these little pies can be cooked from scratch ready to go out the door in less than an hour, as long as you have the ingredients on hand. They seem to go down a treat with her friends too. I always have a pack of frozen sheets of puff pastry for pies as making it yourself takes quite a while. If you don’t have bacon a slice or two of ham would work instead.


For 8 pies

Two sheets of (frozen) puff pastry
4 -5 eggs
1 rasher of bacon
Half an onion
1 Tblsp chopped fresh parsley
Pepper to taste
A little milk


The easiest way to bake these is in silicone muffin cases in a muffin tray as they just pop out when cooked for easy packing away in a container for transport.

Pre heat oven to 210°C.
Cut circles out of the frozen pastry (keeping leftovers covered to prevent drying out) and allow to defrost before gently placing into the silicone muffin cases that are in the muffin tin.
Cut bacon into little pieces (about half cm square)
Finely chop onion and either fry a little or soften in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
Beat eggs well with the pepper and parsley.
Add the cooked onion and cut bacon pieces and mix together.
Spoon evenly among pastry cases approximately ¾ fill.
Top with the cut out pieces of left over pastry to cover the egg mix. Don’t woozy if the egg is not completely as the ‘vents’ allow for heat to escape and so not bursting.
Brush tops with the milk.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until just turning golden.

These will keep cooking a little if packed in foil for the trip to ‘where ever’ straight from the oven, so they can be removed from the oven before the 30 minutes.

Wool Scraps

What does one do with all the ends of balls of wool after the garment you are knitting is finished? I keep them in bags of specific colours and/or in the texture they are. This certainly makes it easier for when I want to find a colour or type to add a contrast colour or do a spot of mending.

Evelyn our first Grand-daughter turned one the other day and her parents gave her a dolls bed. Sarah asked me to knit a blanket to go on it and chose the wool one weekend when she had called in.

I was given some measurements of the bed and just cast on 100 stitches. Because of the type of wool and because it relly had to look the same oth sides I knitted it in garter stitch. I made random stripes alternating textures and colours, beginning and ending the blanket with the same colour.

At first I thought I had made it too big but once unwrapped we discovered the measurements for the bed were on the low side and the blanket fitted perfectly!
And all it took was a bit of time from me, but it was all for the good of making a little girl smile.

Dinner With The Dudes

The other night we were invited to a cooking demonstration at our friend’s Sheryn and Steve's house.

Ceasar

Skip

Sheryn had invited Ceasar (chef) and Skip (right-hand man) - "The Dudes" - down to her house to cook us dinner - with the challenge to use ingredients that she has produced on her block - no fancy pre-prepared, expensive stuff.

They spent the day harvesting and milking etc. Then 8 ladies (some with their partners) came and joined them in the evening. We watched them cook, learnt the tips of trade, drank vast amounts of wine (an essential part of cooking) and ate the resulting dinner.

Most of the preparation was done before I got there but I was still able to watch Ceasar plate up and learn some of the ways he had prepared the food beforehand.

Ceasar tossed the salad that included julian carrots, grapes and walnuts, for the vegetarian main course. In the bowls in front of him are deep fried basil, halved cherry tomatoes, iced shredded spring onions and thin kumara chips.
This was all built up on the plate creating quite a tower of food and decorated with nasturtium flowers.

The trick was to place small handfuls of salad on top of each other to allow air to hold it up so to speak. Next were the kumara chips, spring onion, basil and flower and the cherry tomatoes placed around the base. A dressing was made from vinaigrette and plum sauce and dribbled around the completed salad.






Then it was Sheryns turn to copy it!








The main meat course was roasted vegetables topped with a pork steak that Skip had barbequed.
This also had caramelised apple rings and then topped with the spring onions, basil and nasturtium flowers.

We prepared the tables outside with hops from the orchard and tea light candles.

Harry was very handy with his lighter!!

We had 19 people eating and enjoying the food and company in the evening air.


After the dessert of fruit crumble and what I would call an egg custard The Dudes gave us a display of twirling fire sticks.

Angels

Marian Keyes has written a few novels based on a family in Ireland.
This is the second in the family saga (although it is a light hearted read) that I have read.

Angels
Maggie has always been the white sheep of the Walsh family. Unlike her comically dysfunctional sisters, Rachel (heroine of Rachel's Holiday) and Claire (heroine of Watermelon), she married a decent man who adored her and found herself a solid career. Where Rachel was reckless and Claire dramatic, Maggie settled early for safety. Or so she believed until she discovers that her husband is having an affair and her boss is going to fire her. Suddenly, her perfectly organized life has become a perfect mess.

Devastated, she decides the only thing to do is to run for the shelter of her best friend, Emily, who lives in Los Angeles. There, with the help of sunshine and long days at the beach, she will lick her wounds and decide where life will take her next. But from the moment she lands in the City of Angels, things are not quite what she expected. Overnight, she's mixing with movie stars, even pitching film scripts to studios. Most unexpectedly of all, she finds that just because her marriage is over, it doesn't mean her life is. In the end neither the City of Angels nor Maggie Walsh will ever be the same again.

I enjoyed this book and the story even more because I had already been introduced to the family in the book Watermelon.

Ash Wednesday

I woke this morning knowing it was Ash Wednesday but with a feeling of sadness that our church at the moment doesn't celebrate it. In the past our vicars have held a service and the palm crosses from the previous year have been burned and a cross was marked on our foreheads if we wanted to go up to receive this.

It also marks the beginning of the season of Lent where one is encouraged to give up something (fasting) and spend more time in prayer.

Ash Wednesday
In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count).
Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers.

I want to spend this season of Lent really focusing on all that is Easter and what this means to me as a Christian. My fasting is going to be ‘no chocolate’ or chocolate baked goodies.
I am also going to focus my prayer times on Gods direction for us as a family, especially for hubby and me.

I was unsure where to start so I turned to the Anglican Prayer Book and found the readings for this day a great place to start.

Sentence of the Day

Return to the Lord your God, who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Joel 2:13

When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret.

Matthew 6:17-18

Collect of the Day
God of the desert,
as we follow Jesus into the unknown,
may we recognise the tempter when he comes;
let it be your bread we eat,
your world we serve and you alone we worship.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.

Almighty and merciful God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all who are penitent;
create in us new and contrite hearts,
so that when we turn to you and confess our sins
we may receive your full and perfect forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.

I also discovered a very long poem written by T S Elliot on his thoughts of Ash Wendesday after his conversion