How to cook puffballs recipe
“I want Mrs Boss to have a memorial. She deserves it.” Danny was warming his hands over the wood burning stove. He had just finished burying her in the garden. It was March 2009. “They have some nice Willowstone chickens at the garden centre. I’ll get one. I know that they are well under £20.” But when I visited the garden centre there were no chickens on display. In fact it has taken me all this time to discover that the stone garden ornaments had been moved to a different area. Last week I chose the chicken that looked most...
read moreDuncan’s pickled nasturtium seeds recipe (UK capers)
Have you ever tasted nasturtium seeds? They’re nutty and peppery. I knew that they could be pickled to make an English version of the continental caper but I’ve never found a recipe when the seeds are green and perfect for pickling. So I was delighted when Duncan, a reader and contributor to the Cottage Smallholder site, sent me his recipe. He had already road tested it. “I sampled my first batch yesterday and wow they are good. I have got the next batch in brine as I type. As it was a success and it is a good free alternative to...
read moreBlossom means fruit
Driving down to Essex this morning, I was enjoying the May (Hawthorn) blossom, the blue skies and sunshine, when I suddenly realised we are just on the brink of all blossom bursting out in the hedgerows. Most of this blossom will turn into fruit which in its turn can be picked for fruit gin, wine, jelly, chutney and jam. Blossom is much easier to spot in the hedgerows than fruit. As I purred along at the wheel of a companionable Jalopy, I suddenly realised that if I can identify the blossom of the fruit I particularly like, I can easily find...
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