Sitting down and peeling the beans

From The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith (Number One Ladies Detective Agency series)

"Mma Ramotswe decided to sit down.  She was not particularly tired - it was simply one of those occasions when she felt like sitting down.  There was no reason why one should always be on the move.  That was half the trouble with the world, she thought:  not enough people took the time to sit down for a few minutes and look up at the sky or at whatever it was that was before you - a herd of cattle, perhaps, or a stretch of bush dotted with acacia trees, or the sinking of the evening sun into the Kalahari.  You did not have to sit for long; even for a few minutes was enough to remind you that if you spent your life rushing about, then the years would slip through your fingers without your really noticing it until suddenly they were gone and you were old and before long it would be that moment that comes to everyone - the time to leave Botswana forever."

If you haven't read any of the Number One Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith I would highly recommend it.

I have been enjoying a bit of a sit down lately - peeling the black beans.

My other  favourite sit down is here with a cup of tea.  This is an interesting read about the perfect cup of tea.

Berry Good (part one)

 

 

Last week my lovely friend (and neighbour ) and I built this berry structure.  I have never built anything before and with Kim's help I have now drilled, cut using an electric saw, dug 50cm deep holes, tamped down the soil, measured, clamped bits together and checked for levels. (all with three little ones under foot!)
 It isn't finished yet....  can't wait to harvest some berries in the future!!

I love food!

I love food. I love growing it, cooking it and eating it!    And that is just what I did this evening....
I grew it, cooked it and ate it.  The entire dinner came from the garden - potatoes, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, shallots and garlic.  (OK there were a few extra ingredients - olive oil, salt and pepper and a few spices.)  Food miles - about 10 metres!  It was a simple dinner but delicious.  It was a recipe from
 Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstal's - River Cottage Veg Every Day. (Curried bubble and squeak).

 I love this cookbook.  I am trying to work my way through it - I made lots of soups over winter and there is still so much I want to try!

PS it isn't all healthy vegetable eating here....while I am at home eating vegetables the boys are off camping -eating sausages, marshmallows and beer....

Vietnamese Coleslaw

 

This is (one of) my latest favourite foods - Vietnamese style coleslaw (as opposed to coldsore which is what I thought coleslaw was called when I was a kid!).

All picked fresh from the garden - cabbage, carrot, shallots, Vietnamese mint, coriander, mint.
Then mix up the dressing:
* 2 tbsp lime juice
* 1.5 tbsp fish sauce
* 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
* 1 - 2 tbsp brown sugar
* pinch salt
* clove of crushed garlic
* 1 hot chilli (optional)

I have also been wrapping this salad up in rice paper rolls - yum! Unfortunately the cabbages are coming to an end for this season...I wonder what else i could put this dressing on? Cucumbers perhaps....

I have also been picking a bit of beetroot and recently made this yummy Indian pickle (recipe courtesy of an Indian restaurant in London - via Liz and Claire).  

 

 

As you can see I am no food photographer .
(Also unless you like it very hot I would put in only 1 tsp of chilli.)

This is my favourite song for this week....rock n roll... 

I love the passion in his voice....

A rebellious Sunflower

 

 

A self seeded sunflower has broken the rules in the garden. 

It did not believe it couldn't flower at the beginning of winter. 

It decided to go ahead and  flower anyway.

Doesn't it look beautiful all alone just standing there.  It wasn't even a sunny day.

*

 "I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. " Henry David Thoreau


“You can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it.”  Wendell Berry

What we are eating

Onions. I have pulled up lots of onions lately - including some huge ones. This one on the right weighed 600 grams!! All these onions means....Onion Jam. Yum. I have tried a few recipes but my favourite one is Libby's recipe (from Delicious I think).

For the relish

1. 2 tbsp sunflower oil
2. 3 red onions, thinly sliced
3. 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
4. 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
5. 1 tsp cumin seeds
6. 3 tbsp brown sugar
7. 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
8. Large pinch crushed chilli flakes

Method

1.  Begin by making the relish as it can be served warm or cold. Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan and cook the onions for 10 minutes until softened and lightly golden. Stir in the garlic and seeds and cook for 1 minute more. Add the sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, vinegar and chilli and bubble for 5 minutes until the liquid evaporates.

   But we cook the onions for longer about 30 mins to start with then another 30 ish after adding the vinegar etc.  I also usually double the recipe.  So yummy on a sandwich. Actually on anything.  I put it on my dahl last night, it is good on fritters, vegie pies.  Yum.

Cabbages.  We have been eating alot of cabbage - usually as a coleslaw (cold sore).  I like to use a simple dressing of 3 tbsp white vinegar, 1 tbsp of light olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar.  Adding orange segments to the slaw is nice too.  We also love the purple cabbage salad like Bob makes and last night I made an Indian cabbage dish which was good!

Zucchinis are just coming on.  I have made some yummy fritters from a recipe thanks to Gourmet Girlfriend as well as the old faithful zucchini slice.

Cucumbers are going crazy - i picked the first one yesterday then found another 5 today.

I planted heaps of sunflowers but only three survived.  This one is getting very tall.

The boys harvested the garlic the other day, we got a wheel barrow full.

You can't beat a root

I have been picking quite a bit of beetroot from the garden this week.  Two different types - blood red and pink and white striped. Both delicious.

What to do with it? Well so far I have made my usual grated raw carrot and beetroot salad with a garlicky vinaigrette. Simple, colourful and good. I also like to pickle it.  Here is the recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  An old American cookbook which my Granny loved and gave to me.

Pickled Beetroot
Mix half cup white vinegar with a quarter cup of sugar (or a bit less) and boil for 5 mins.  Add quarter teaspoon of salt.  Pour over about 2 cups of cooked, sliced beetroot.  (tastes remarkably liked the tinned stuff but better cause you know you grew and cooked it).  I love a bit of beetroot on my sandwiches!

I also made Madher Jaffrey's beetroot and onion curry for the first time.  It was ok, actually pretty good with the cucumber raita but I liked it even more cold the next day with the felafels and tabbouleh we had for dinner. Yum. (i love Madher Jaffrey's Indian Cookbook.) You can find some recipes on the internet here.     

• 350 g raw beetroot
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
• 100 g onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 0.125-0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
• 225 g tomatoes, peeled and very finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 300 ml water

Method

1. Peel the beetroot and cut them into wedges. A medium-sized beetroot, about 5cm in length, should, for example, be cut into 6 wedges.

2. Put the oil in a medium-sized pan and set over a medium heat. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 5 seconds. Put in the garlic. Stir and fry until the garlic pieces turn golden. Put in the onions. Stir and fry for 2 minutes. Put in the flour and cayenne. Stir and fry for a minute. Now put in the beetroot, the tomatoes, salt and water. Bring to a simmer. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until the beetroot are tender. Remove lid, turn up heat to medium, and cook uncovered for about 7 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly.

3. This dish may be made ahead of time and reheated.

(I just pasted this recipe on here and all the links came with it.!!Cool!)

On an internet cruise I found this site which has a recipe for Beetroot pakoras which I might try out next week....cause you can't beat a root!  ( I love a corny phrase!)

PS just saw this cool video of a beetroot cake on vimeo

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Life's a garden, dig it!

It has been beautiful out in the garden lately.

Beautiful purple cabbages to make purple cabbage salad.

We've had lots of broccoli (much to Nelson and Django's dismay!)

This is the first time I have grown fennel and I quite like it!

This is the result of me forgetting to shut the net and the chooks getting in. Naughty chooks!

Out in the garden

    Here is the garden all undercover so the bower birds don't eat everything!

          The garlic patch is round this year.
  

 Seed Raising area - i have planted cabbages, silverbeet, cauliflower, broccoli, parsley, onions, leek, fennel, celeriac, celery etc

                                           The chook house.

                                           The chook chooks.

                                           Chickens in the sandpit.

                                           The Madagascan Bean Kirsti gave me going nuts!!
               

                                          The garden is desperate for some mulch!

                                           The day's pickings.