Monthly Archives: November 2014

Sloe jelly – the rich colour of winter

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Geranium,nicotiania, marigolds and nasturtiums are still flowering even though we are in mid November but today was one of those days where it never got light and eventually the rain set in.  To cheer myself up I thought it was time to make sloe jelly – one of the richest coloured preserves around.

Sloes are the fruit of the blackthorn a common part of traditional hedgerow.  The berries are a deep dark shiny purple and cluster round the sharp thorns.  Birds love them but don’t be fooled to try to eat them from the bush as they have a dry sharp flesh which makes your tongue shrivel.  But use them to make sloe gin to sip at Christmas or sloe jelly for use in winter stews or to accompany game they are delicious

I had picked about 1lb of sloes last weekend and earlier in. the week I had cooked them with cooking apples and strained the pulp overnight but as I hadn’t enough time I froze the strained liquid until today.  Gently heating the liquid with sugar and stirring until it came to the boil and enjoying the lovely smell and colour brightened up a wet afternoon.

Testing for 'set' before potting up sloe jelly

Testing for ‘set’ before potting up sloe jelly

Now as I write I can smell sausages, chunks of potatoes and red onions gently cooking  and once the onions have caramelised I will add the sloe jelly that didn’t fit in the jar and a slug of red wine – should be good!

 

 

1 Cucumber, 2 Raspberries and 6 Tomatoes

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My first leisurely start to the day for a while so I was enjoying a relaxed breakfast and checking my stocks of dried fruit as it almost time to start the preparations for Christmas – sweet mincemeat and plum pudding are on the list to be made this weekend. The Christmas cake is a mid December job as this household prefers a light glacé fruit cake rather than the traditional rich fruit cake.

As the morning progressed and the sun fought its way through the rain and grey skies I was lured away from the much needed domestic chores to take the dog for a walk. What a beautiful mild sunny day. The grey sky gone just clear blue and many trees still holding their leaves in a multitude of autumnal shades – a good to be alive day!

I haven’t been home much in the daylight recently so hadn’t really had a good look in the polytunnel or veg garden probably for 2 weeks. I expected mildewy tomato and cucumber plants and was amazed to find they are still looking relatively healthy and the tomatoes are still ripening. I picked 6 tomatoes and a cucumber which will add a bit more variety to the cheese on toast I was planning for lunch (food shopping is the final chore for today!). I checked in on the hens who are enjoying a temporary stay in the soft fruit area and there above their heads, and out of reach, were two ripe raspberries which were delicious.

So a morning that started off with wintery, grey and full of Christmas planning has developed into an autumnal day and I’m off to eat my cheese on toast topped with tomato and cucumber in the sunshine in the greenhouse!