Techna-what????? and screen wash.

It's so cold that Dizzy's squirters have frozen up and no matter what, I cannot unfreeze them! Sooooo, I've made up a lovely witches potion in a spray bottle. It works a treat. Here's the potion mixture; Quite a lot of full-on vodka, the remains of the cleaning fluid in the spray bottle and a tadge of water. Please note the vodka should be the main ingredient. Not my kinda cocktail btw, but super-dooper on the windscreen...

N.B. Don't blame me if you're pulled over and breathalised.... I know vodka's not supposed to smell on the breath but the cillit-bang might pong a bit!





Have you ever tried to get your blog listed on Technorati?..... gosh .......  H9HYE2N5BQYX is all I can say!

Hockey, Hic! and Helping Chicks......

Gosh, the 8yo was amazing at the hockey-stuff... streaked off down the pitch twice and scored both times! In the end they won 3:1.

Last night the Ginger and Chili Beef Stew was lush and this morning the coffee morning went well. Sadly there was only six of us in attendance but this did mean I was able to offer a tiny tipple of my bright pink Plum Vodka.... just to warm the ladies up you understand! It was met with approval I'm pleased to say.

Talking of warming, Whitely seems to have given up with the other five eggs now that she has birthed Archie Archer..... see video footage....

Therefore I am going to try to hatch them; after all they must be close to hatching having been sat on for 21 days. I am not going to sit on them - no - thanks for asking! I've popped them in a Diet Coke box (not blatant advertising honestly!) which is very like a cat carrier when you look at it. They are sitting on the ledge above the log burner which is where I warm our wine..... It may not work, but it's surely worth a try.

In case you are interested, here's the beef stew recipe...... none left for picture I'm afraid!

Saute onion, garlic, carrot and whole button mushrooms in pan with oil. Then add v.lazy chillies and finely chopped fresh ginger. Add seasoning (salt, pepper, chopped rosemary) Put everything into slow cooker on high. Deglaze pan with veg stock (or cube)and red wine and add to slow cooker also.
Put cubed stewing beef in seasoned flour in a freezer bag then brown meat in a pan with heated cooking oil. Add meat to slow cooker.

Cover with water and after an hour turn to low setting.

Cook for 7 hours and serve with rice or warm naan bread and mango chutney.

Preservation on the Reservation

All around us there are signs that the summer is retreating; neighbours are coating outbuildings with dark weather-wearing paint, bales of hay are being wrapped, containing summer aromas in airtight bags.

Taking note that the harvest cannot last forever, I've been busy too. I've frozen kilos of blackberries, runner beans and tried to do the same with the peas. Unfortunately we had an infestation of 5yo and 7yo homo sapiens and the peas didn't make it!! There are enough potatoes to last for several months and the cooking apples are looking good.

I found a lovely book in the library, The Preserving Book by Lynda Brown and I have been steadily working my way through some of the recipes as well as going it alone!



So far I've made two types of plum vodka. I particularly like the one where I stoned and halved the fruit and brought the plums, sugar and vodka to a boil before pouring into a sterile jar to sit for three months. This vodka is a wonderful pink colour. I'm going to find little elegant bottles to decant the liquor into and gift them at Christmas.

Then I made Beetroot Relish, which is stunningly good, even before it has matured. Yum.

Next I made Plum, Rum and Chilli Jam.... (yes we did have a bit of a bumper plum crop!) Truthfully I over cooked it a bit and so it's more akin to a condiment for turkey than a soft jam for toast, so I labeled it accordingly. I wrote

Plum, Rum and Chilli Jam. Also good with foul.

All would have been fine if I hadn't passed a pot to the neighbours who asked whether I was calling their food into question. Oh well only 35 labels to amend... so glad I lovingly drew those plums on every.single.label. in my spare time!

I'm tempted by pickling next, inspired by my friend @ natural selection, all that's holding me back is my spelling.... Wish me luck.