Busy as a Sewing bee...lotta Jandsdotter's, Every Day Style...

A day home alone...Ahmad poor thing, was away again. This time Birmingham. (England, not Alabama.) He left Friday night, bag weighed down with books and rolled up flip chart pages, scribed with foreign looking mathematical symbols that could have been hieroglyphics.   

My Saturday all planned out. New-to-me vintage 1980's sewing machine ready for it's trial run. Pattern book: 'Lotta Jansdotters Everyday Style', tracing paper, tailors chalk, pins, and scissors. 

A length of vintage navy woollen fabric with subtle, almost invisible pinstripes reminiscent of granddad's three piece suit. The end of a roll stamped with golden letters, woven in Scotland, probably fifty years ago. Still with the little brown card label and cursive script. Just enough to make the Esme tunic...but without the sleeves... That would work...A cool masculine pinafore dress. Workware.

I picked up the fabric and saw that it was peppered with holes...As big as speckles of coarse sea salt when the light shone through. Maybe chewed by ancient moths or accidentally pierced by the wayward slip of a hand.  It didn't matter. All part of the wrinkles of a long life. The sheep that was shorn, the fleece that was combed, the wool, washed and spun. Yarn dyed, then woven.  Wrapped onto rolls and cut into lengths. The old gnarled or fresh young hands that had each taken part in the narrative. Pondered how long that piece had been waiting until I found it...and so, it's life begins again...

Easy cauliflower curry

Ingredients:

• a medium sized cauliflower
• tomato passata or fresh skinned tomatoes, chopped finely
• a little tomato puree
• can of organic coconut milk
• a medium sized white onion or three or four shallots
• sea salt and black pepper and garlic cloves
• coconut oil or alternative to cook
• spice mix, garam masala or your own choice, I like ground turmeric, coriander seed and cumin, with chilli flakes
• a little hot stock or water
• fresh coriander or other herbs to serve 

Method:

1. peel and slice the onion. Place a little coconut oil into a heavy bottomed pan and heat up. Place the onion into the pan and begin to sauté
2. meanwhile wash the cauliflower and divide into florets and chop the tomatoes finely, if using. The smaller you cut the florets the quicker this will cook
3. cook the onion until it is almost caramelised, add the garlic cloves and cook. Add the spices, stir well and cook for a minutes or so
4. add the passata or fresh tomatoes and bring to a simmer then reduce the heat 
5. season with salt and pepper and add the cauliflower floret. Cover and cook until tender, adding the coconut milk after about fifteen minutes.
6. cook until the cauliflower is tender adding stock or water if necessary. Ensuring that it doesn't dry out.
7. add a little chopped fresh coriander or other herb

This is lovely served with cooked brown basmati rice, (especially if cooked in half water, half coconut milk mix),  or creamy whipped mashed potatoes/parsnips or butter beans...Yummy...  

weekend :: Merry, merry

Saturday morning I woke extra early and crept downstairs. I lighted lamps, lit tealights and made tea.  I could smell the Christmas tree's piney smell.  I nibbled  ginger hearts from an old french tin,  got out the rolls of paper and wrapped  gifts (including the Jack Daniels...No it wasn't a breakfast tipple). And I noticed for the first time the decoration of holly leaves and berries, cut out of the little tea light holder. I must have bought those six little candle holders in Denmark, ten or fifteen years ago, but Saturday morning was the first time I realised the pattern wasn't just a random cut-out. Isn't it weird how you suddenly notice something after all that time. 

...Must go help finish decorating before everyone comes for the holidays...We're camped out in Hannah's bedroom...our furniture on top of hers. Even our mattress is balanced on top of her bed. I feel a bit like The Princess and the Pea...

But before I go I just wanted to thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post and let you know how much I value all your friendship. And to wish you a very happy Christmas, the best one yet. The new year too, and that you find everything that you're heart desires. That it's fun and you sing and dance and laugh to your hearts content...all year long...

Merry, Merry,
Love and mistletoe
debx

...see you in the new year...x

recipes:

• Spicy Mexican eggs (huevos rancheros)
• Persian dill,broad bean and garlic rice. Scrumptious with salty smoked fish an tomato,cucumber and onion salsa.

joining karen for weekend...

weekend :: All the good things...

It was a jolly pottering catching up weekend. More painting and sorting, a walk to gather leaves for a Christmas wreath to add to those gleaned from the garden. Making chicken stock ready for the Christmas dinner. It's now in a little plastic tub buried away in the freezer. I can't believe how organised I am! We made a flying visit  to a Victorian Christmas Market and accepting an invitation for mulled wine and mince pies from our friendly neighbours. 

We celebrated good news, just quietly. Mostly in our heads with the beaming smiles that we couldn't keep off our faces. I don't usually get too personal here, but it WAS good news. Notification of a clear mammogram result came through the letterbox Saturday lunchtime. Still clear since the one I had three years ago. Following the previous five years  since the first shock discovery. I just wanted to share positive news. Almost eight years, and clear. To give hope to others out there, it's amazing what clever Doctors and modern medicine can do, as well as alternative therapies, and positivity, lots of good friends and family, and trying to eat healthily (well sometimes). Keep your chin up any one out there whose going through those tricky things. 

Now I breathe deeply and can't help saying to myself...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU...and trying not to get annoyed about silly little unimportant things...Sometimes I need to remember LIFE IS GOOD...and not to take it for granted...to go and smell that honeysuckle blossom that amazingly is still blooming half way through December...


Homemade chicken stock 

Ingredients to make half a pint/half a litre:

• Chicken. I prefer to make stock with uncooked chicken. I think it's more flavourful. I was making a chicken casserole and jointed it into four pieces but reserved the backbone still with a little meat attached to make the stock for a Christmas dinner caramelised onion gravy. There will only be four of us for dinner this year so a pint is plenty as I'll add some wine and other ingredients. 
• One carrot chopped into chunky slices
• A small peeled potato also chopped. Don't add too much or it will cloud your stock.
• A small red onion with the outter leaves removed, roughly chopped
• A stick of celery, deveined and chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper
• One sliced clove of garlic
• Herbs, I used rosemary thyme and sage. I can't have Christmas dinner without sage and onion gravy like my granddad used to make. 

Method:

1. Simply place all the ingredients into a saucepan and cover with about a litre of water.
2. Season and bring to the boil. 
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover tightly with a lid to conserve as much as the cooking liquor as possible. 
4. Cook for about half an our or so until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced by about half. Check every so often to make sure it's not reduced too much. If so just top up with a little hot water.
5. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
6. Cool a little and then remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon. These can be used for bubble and squeak or add to soups, casseroles etc.
7. If not using straight away pour the stock into a clean container and allow to cool.I left it in the fridge overnight before freezing until it's required. 

I'm joining Karen for weekend...
that was a bit of mine, but how was yours?
dx

Country living :: Work and Play :: Fireworks, Slow Rabbit Stew, Mistletoe and Mince Pies

It feel's like Christmas again this morning. I think it's because of the mist. It casts an eerie light, like when it snows. It's typical autumn, day-after-bonfire-night mist, but very mild. The 1st of November and the warmest UK November day on record since 1946.

The attic has been restored and we now have storage back again, so we've been finishing off painting it (mostly Ahmad) then trundling back and forth with boxes, up and down from the garden shed, up stairs, and then up into the attic. It's fun to open them and find forgotten treasures, the plastic yellow elephant mirror! Some of Hannah's baby clothes, Christmas decorations, old photographs and winter clothes. 

The front room looks a bit like a loading bay again. I bought a bargain vintage 1950's/60's wardrobe for £50. It wouldn't fit up the little old stairs but we managed to dismantle it. Hopefully once painted we'll be able to take it up, bit by bit, then sort out our bedroom at last. 

It's busy, busy, again but we've had time for a bit of fun. An errand in Hay, on market day ended in favourite Booth's. I couldn't resist having another peek at the old bound Thoreau book...It's well and truly out of my system now...Ahmad treated me to lunch. Tasty warm chicken, freekeh and pearl barley salad with a tangy lemon dressing for me, boar burger with crunchy golden chips for him. Then we shared lemon polenta cake with a blackberry and apple glaze. We've eaten there a few times and the food is good, amazing ingredients, great service, well cooked and a nice friendly atmosphere (good for people watching too. There always someone interesting to spot). I love it...but would like to try The Old Electric Shop next time...the buddha bowls sound interesting...

We bought local honey on the market, a brace of pheasant to cook with pomegranate molasses, walnuts and honey to make Persian fesanjoon, and rabbit, to make stew. 

Back home we tidied up the garden after the old golden egg plum tree had a short back and sides. I managed to rescue the mistletoe. Hope it'll keep 'til Christmas. 

In the kitchen I made my first rabbit stew. I'm trying to wean Ahmad off too much red meat.  I was hoping he'd like it and didn't expect too much, but hands down this is the most scrumptious thing I've made this year. Probably because of the addition of Ahmad's amazing homemade cherry wine.


Slow Wild Rabbit Stew

Ingredients for four people:

• One small wild rabbit, skinned and jointed.
• A litre of chicken stock (hot)
• Two cloves of garlic
• Two leeks, topped and tailed, cut in half lengthways and sliced and then washed thoroughly in cold water to remove any soil.
• Good red wine a couple of glasses. I used our lovely deep red homemade cherry wine. It has a lovely intense fruity, sweet/sour flavour 
• A little flour, any kind will do 
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Three or four small potatoes
• Two smallish carrots
• Olive oil  

Method:

1. Remove the outer leaves from the leek. Top and tail and cut in half down the centre then cut into smallish slices. Wash thoroughly to remove any soil.
2. Pour a little olive oil into a heavy based pan,(cast iron is perfect for this). Add the leeks and cook until softened
3. Whilst this is cooking, season a couple of tablespoons of flour with salt and pepper and coat the rabbit portions and peel and wash the potatoes and carrots. Cut the potatoes into quarters and slice the carrots finely.
4. Peel and crush the garlic cloves and add to the leeks, cook for a few minutes.
5. Push the leeks and garlic to one side in the pot, add the rabbit portions and brown.
6. Add the carrots and potatoes to the mixture and combine with the other ingredients.
7. Pour over the hot stock. 
8. Add the wine and bring the stew to the boil. Cover and reduce the heat. Cook for about two hours until the rabbit is tender. Remembering to check and stir every so often to ensure that it isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

This is delicious served with creamy mashed potatoes and a dark green vegetable like cavelo nero(black tuscan cabbage).

Rustic Mince Pies

Ingredients for about a dozen pies:

• 6oz of cold butter or alternative
• 14oz of plain flour (I used strong flour because I like a firm crust for mince pies, but you may prefer to use regular plain)
• a pinch of salt
• Two beaten eggs
• A little milk
• Icing sugar for dusting. If you like a sweet pastry you may also like to substitute some of the flour with sugar.
• A jar of good shop bought mincemeat. I used just over half of an 840g jar of rich Christmas mincemeat. If using a plainer one you may like to add extra lemon zest, chopped apples, or other fruit or alcohol to spice it up a bit.  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200c
2. Sift the flour into a baking bowl.
3. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
4. Add icing sugar at this point if making a sweet pastry and stir. 
5. Add the eggs and combine to form a dough. Wrap with baking parchment or place in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for about twenty minutes.
6. Oil a muffin pan well.
7. Flour a clean work surface. Remove the pastry from the fridge a and cut in half. Return one half to the fridge to keep cool. Roll out the pastry until it measures about 3mm thick. Cut out twelve circles using a cutter or glass that larger with a 4ins diameter. Place one into each of the holes in the pie tin and press to shape.
8. Spoon a generous spoonful of mincemeat into each one.
9. Do the same with the other half of the pastry. Only using a 3ins diameter cutter. Place these circles on top of the pies. Press gently together.
10. Brush the tops with milk and then bake for about twenty minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.
11. Dust with icing sugar.

Lovely served warm, with natural yoghurt or vanilla ice cream. mmm...

Saturday night was bonfire/halloween celebration. I'm still a kid when it comes to fireworks...Hope you had a happy Halloween too...

I best go and move some more boxes...

debx

joining with karen for weekends...