Recipes

Changing Seasons

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The nights are getting colder, the frosts are beginning and now the summer produce that just didn’t want to shut down, is doing so!  While I’ll be sad to see the end of the zucchinis, beans, basil and even tomatoes, I must admit, I’ve been waiting in the wings to prepare the soil for more plantings…

I’d been wanting to bring in the last of the basil for pesto, and it having survived the first frost, didn’t wait any longer.  After the icy beginning to a frosty day, the sun shone brightly, so it was perfect for grabbing the snips, a large basket, and heading down to the patch!  I worked from one planting to the next, and when I’d finished, I couldn’t help but take a pic of the loaded basket sitting in the sunshine.

The last of the basil for the season.

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Tomatoes from the Garden

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It’s tomato season!

Tomatoes in the Garden – Costoluto Genovese
Tomatoes

I must admit that when it comes to growing tomatoes, I am a little obsessed!  I always plant the seeds of way too many varieties (this year, I think, between 20 and 30) then I have to find the space, and the time, to plant them!  The last of the plants went in around a month ago, and are doing nicely.  Those that were planted in November and December are fruiting well,  and keeping us well supplied.

San Marzano – Planted in January
San Marzano – Planted in January

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A “Beautifully Blended Family” Christmas

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I’m not quite sure why time seems to get away from me, but it does!

The lead up to Christmas was, as I recently said to someone, frantic!  There were cooking classes/knowledge sharing sessions to deliver throughout the region, cooking for a local café to be done, trips to Melbourne for family gatherings, an unexpected medical issue, hampers to prepare and get into the post for family up north, gifts to purchase and our preparations for our contributions to the Christmas Day Family Feast!

This year in the Christmas hamper I included a few new items, coffee liqueur, flavour bombs/simmer pot pouches and a new biscuit (cookie).  The coffee liqueur was a recipe given to me by a host at a B&B in central France, the flavour bombs/simmer pot pouches were made up of my dehydrated citrus, some spices and a little candied ginger (I think that I will dehydrate ginger for them in future), and the new biscuit is based on a commercially available biscuit available here in Aus, but made using a recipe from my mum’s recipe book.

Goodies packaged ready to boxed up and posted off…
Christmas baking…
Mulled Wine Simmer Pot Bags
Butternut Chocolate Cream Biscuits

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Violets and Memories

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I was wandering around the garden in the first week of August, something I rarely find time for any more, which saddens me, as I love my garden and I love being outdoors.

As I rounded the corner, past the spring bulb bed, trying to ignore the weeds, my attention was immediately drawn to a dark space where there was a carpet of flowering violets, and a few snowflakes in bloom as well.  Memories of my late mum, our family home, and my childhood came flooding back, and the snowflakes brought memories of my Gran.  Let me share a little of my memories with you.

Snow Flake in the Garden
Violets in the garden
Violet in the garden
Snow Flake in the Garden

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