Glad tidings of comfort and joy

Happy new year everyone! I hope you have all had a joyful Christmas. It has been so long since my last entry that I have a lot of areas to cover, from the more sensitive topic of the turkeys to the more creative project of homemade cards and gifts. My photographs span the last month and show aspects of our traditional Norfolk Christmas.

 

 

My home is not very clean or tidy. This is mainly due to lots of children, two open fires and a solid fuel stove. Thick layers of coal dust mix with toys out of place, crayons, lego, a stinky dog, various rescue cats and me-trying to cook. At Christmas time, we always have a real Christmas tree from Salle estate, as well as boughs of holly cut from the hedgerows around our house. Being teachers, we never decorate until we break up from school, drawing a firm line between work and holiday. The final day of term is usually a half day. On my way home from work I pick up a tree and a bottle of port. The afternoon is always spent putting up the tree, playing carols on the radio and decorating the house. For me, this signifies the onset of close family time, cooking and full-on Christmassy feelings.

 

Fresh holly mixed with fairy lights and carols in the background.

 

 

For the first time, I have attempted lino cutting as a method for creating my own Christmas cards. In the past I have used mixed media and textiles so this was uncharted territory. Browsing the Internet, I settled on a few designs I felt I could make my own. The weird thing about cutting the lino is remembering to leave what you want and cut away what you don't. The whole pattern is the reverse of how you imagine it.

 Black against white and white against black proved to be the most effective colour scheme.

 

My most ambitious print was a thrush against a winter background. An R became my 'tag'.

 

This time of year is a time of plenty-thanks to my dad, a retired teacher, who has become a kind of professional beater. I can't remember when I became the person who was able to hang, pluck and gut the feathered bounty that feeds upon the crops and maize of our local fields. Certainly this wasn't me fifteen years ago. I have become a person who, with the responsibility of parenthood and country living, feels that we should all face up to the meat that we eat. I also don't say 'no' to anything free! Whilst the game and shooting industry in the countryside is often associated purely with the upper classes, this is far from the case. Local businesses, farm workers, retired folk, teenagers and local characters are represented in the shooting community. The meat that comes from the shoot is local, free range, traceable and 'farm to fork' in every sense of the term. Game meat is leaner, more flavoursome and more seasonal than any other meat at this time of the year. To me, a pheasant casserole is more 'right' than grilled chicken breasts, steamed fish or asparagus tart. I want my family to eat what is in season. It is the time for root vegetables and brassicas to accompany game birds. Mashed swede with butter and plenty of white pepper, roasted parsnips, turnip, shallots and swede marinated in rosemary and garlic deserve right of place with a pigeon carbonade. That's not to say salad is out of bounds. Homemade coleslaw utilises  seasonal winter cabbage, carrots and onions. Mixed with a good helping of mayonnaise and a little garlic and pepper, crunchy textures of raw vegetables cut through the richness of seasonal meat.

Yes, if you want it for free, you need to be prepared to pluck the birds and do a bit of GCSE biology to take out its innards. Before you know it, you will have neat cuts of meat that look like you bought them from the butcher's. If you can't face this and are prepared to spend 3 or 4 quid, you can buy game birds very cheaply and oven ready.

 

 

No white Christmas but snow drapes the sash windows. Simple crocheted snowflakes from an Attic24 pattern.

 

Nigella Lawson's Christmas Rocky Road definitely has a height restriction-adults only! Expensive ingredients but simple to make, this chocolate treat makes the perfect homemade gift for friends and relations. No baking, just stirring and chilling, finishing with a dusting of snowy icing sugar.You only need cut them into little chocolate bitesize pieces-therefore you get plenty for your money.

 Simply scrunch the pieces of rocky road into bundles of greaseproof paper and finish with a homemade gift tag and some silver ribbon.

I made a small star lino cut to utilise offcuts of card for gift tags.

 

Thanks to granny's clever shopping, my children always have beautiful advent calendars by http://www.phoenix-trading.co.uk/web/corp/?sortorder=1&itemsperpage=12&bid=0445d7181b581a7f034761ff2e0f2d93e1e5f5ea 

These three dimensional calendars are full of illustrative detail without a nasty cheap chocolate in sight.

As I mentioned before, we always have a real tree. The fragrant smell of the pine sap belongs to our family Christmases. And-I am one of those worthy, fussy types who genuinely believes if you want a Christmas tree, have a tree, not a combination of green plastic and wire that pretends to be a tree.

 

 Our decorations aren't matching colour schemes that compliment our curtains or armchairs. The tree, like many of my like-minded friends' trees, is full of mismatched, eclectic family memories. Homemade gifts from friends sit next to sparkly pine cones created by all of my children when they were at nursery school. Old 1940s decorations that were my nan's accompany wooden angels and soldiers collected on family holidays from times gone by. For me, the tree represents the family; past, present and future, not a preoccupation with expensive interior design.

 

 

 

 

Several years ago, I made this stuffed heart and star bunting to adorn the mantelpieces, fireplaces and beams. 

 

Finished with a button and some pretty ribbon, they come out every year to make the hearth more cosy and homespun. 

 

 

The fresh green hope of bowlfuls of hyacinth bulbs signify new year and the (slightly forced) need for spring and growth.

As with every year, I never know what colour they will end up.

 

Happy new year!

Talking Turkeys

For those of you who remember our day-old turkey chicks that we reared under lamps in July, you will be pleased to hear they enjoyed a summer with the free range of my parents' garden. Fresh air, grass beneath their feet, a high calorie diet of kitchen scraps and grower feed was arguably preferable to their intensively farmed, indoor-raised fate, had we not taken them in. Whilst they were always destined for our table, at least the meat has zero food miles and is ethically and humanely reared. This was reflected in the delicious, succulent meat. Rather than 'Farm to Fork,' this was 'Garden to Fork.'

 

Many of us, myself and my parents included, always find it difficult to say goodbye to animals that have been part of our lives, regardless of the fact that these are farm animals, bred for food. The important thing to remember is that they are not pets, and whilst their life was healthy and happy, they are food as much as any meat we find in a supermarket or local butcher shop. I would rather know my meat than detatch myself from it by buying cuts of intensively farmed meat in polystyrene trays from a supermarket. But that's just me.

 

 

See the next post for turkey leftover ideas.

Panfulls of partridges and the onset of winter

Half a dozen seared partridges resting on a bed of red cabbage
 and cider, waiting to be slow roasted.

From the beginning of October in England the game season starts. Firstly partridge (see above) and then the pheasants. Suddenly our household becomes tired of chicken, salads and Mediterranean fare. Now is the natural shift to casseroles, brassicas and root vegetables. Gravy becomes a staple sauce and root vegetables marry darker, more pungent meats.

Winter heat: spicy vinegar and a blazing woodburner

Just the other day, I had some white wine vinegar that I was using for another recipe. I was inspired to use the rest for some flavoured vinegar. It helps if you obsessively collect small glass bottles like me, but if you ever buy mini bottles of white wine, these receptacles are perfect for the cause. Simply pour in the vinegar and add sliced chillies and bay leaves. They make such pretty gifts and are the perfect accompaniment to a winter salad.

A row of pretty vinegar bottles, punctuated with chilli slices and bay leaves

A winter sunrise. A 7am view over Briston, Thurning, Wood Dalling and, in the very far distance, Heydon and Salle.

This time of year inspires indoor living, baking and crafts. At weekends I rarely feel inspired to depart the warmth of the kitchen. However weekday early mornings are stunningly ethereal; the perfect start to the working day.

Mushroom madness and other pleasures

A parasol protruding from the woodland floor

This autumn has been blessed with a plentiful harvest of mushrooms. There is something so exciting about picking the different varieties that grow in the hedgerows and woodlands near our house. With names like parasols, puffballs, shaggy inkcaps and blewits, they impart an air of magic for the enthusiastic fungus forager. Whilst caution is undoubtedly needed when eating wild mushrooms, finding varieties that you can collect with confidence and frying them in some butter and garlic is a treat we look forward to every year. Wild mushrooms are far superior in flavour than their cultivated 'button' relations and they look much prettier as well.

A basket of mixed wild mushrooms picked in the woods near our house

      

Young shaggy parasols before their caps are open

Parasols have been most plentiful over the last few weeks. They are best picked young, before or just after they have opened their caps (above right), as they can be prone to maggots; the trouble with the mushrooms that grow in the wild is that it's not just us that wants to eat them! Puffballs give a nice flavour to a mushroom omelette, but they often need peeling due to their tough skin. We also found our first blewits of the year a few days ago; this is a sure sign that the weather is becoming much colder and more damp, conditions enjoyed by these purply-blue wood mushrooms.

Fried with garlic on toasted homemade bread is by far the best use for smaller harvests. If you can collect a basketful of different varieties, then risotto, tart or casseroled with game birds or venison are our favoured recipes.

Basketfuls of early autumn bliss

Fall, fire and fruit

I do admire the way the Americans do autumn-or fall. All that pumpkin, turkey, Thanksgiving and quirky jumpers causes a little county/country envy. Anyway, post title aside, I have had a busy weekend with chillies, mustard and grapes.

Oh what should I do with this year's chilli harvest? I know, I'll try and make chilli jam like the wonderful and unmatchable Chillis Galore (http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/). I am such a fan of their range of chilli condiments and seek them out at food fairs and farmers markets. Whilst there is no way I could make a chilli jam or jelly as delicious and perfect as theirs, I do intend on making a rustic, spicy spread to slather on cheese sarnies and pork pies. 

To be completely honest, this wasn't easy. I blended my chillies with an onion, lots of garlic and a squeeze of lemon. I bought expensive Aspell cider vinegar and dissolved a kilo of jam sugar in it. I threw in the chilli mixture and brought it to a rapid boil. I really thought it had got the 'wobble' so I poured it into jars-only to realise it hadn't reached setting point. So annoying!! So I poured it all back into the pan and re-boiled. Second time lucky. Drawing on my jam making experience, I did the blob-on-a-cold-saucer wrinkle trick to great success.

Believe me, this jam has superb flavour. VERY hot but with a lovely lemony, garlicky flavour. I intend on giving this as Christmas presents for my spicy-palated friends. 

Needless to say, I eventually got my chilli jam to setting point and set about making labels and lid covers. I think these will make lovely Christmas presents. 

Now on to the next homemade condiment of the day: piccalilli. From my conversations with friends and colleagues, I have come to the conclusion that there is an element of the Marmite effect with piccalilli. You will either love it or loath it. We love it. Smeared in cheese or ham sandwiches or spooned over a Bray's pork pie, piccalilli has a reserved space on our pantry shelves.

The whole house smelled seasonally of vinegar as we spooned the Norwich-based, Coleman's Mustard, vinegary, turmeric-laced sauce over our combination of homegrown veg. Pickles are the perfect way of using up cauliflowers, lumpy cucumbers and onions that didn't grow very large. 

Having recommissioned our old Kilner jars with new lids and seals, these pretty receptacles  were the perfect containers to adorn our pantry shelves. 

An excess of piccalilli liquid inspired me to chuck in a load of dried chillies in an attempt to replicate a Jamaican-style hot mustard sauce.

From hot to sweet. We planted some vines to scramble over the barns three years ago and this is the first year they have done anything. Whilst there are probably only just enough to make a gallon of real wine, I feel really proud. The dusty purple fruits look beautiful against the golden green leaves. I love the way that spiders move in and make a home in the most stunning of locations!

Little Miss DB foraged this bowl of grapey, tomatoey, raspberry delights. This receptacle of juiciness lasted little more than half an hour. She is quite the little hungry survivor!

Rosehips bejewel the hedgerows at this time of year. They can be turned into all manner of produce, namely jellies and wine. Yesterday we threw handfuls of chopped hips into a bucket of apple wine for colour and a vanilla flavour.

It is a fiery fall so far and we haven't even celebrated Halloween or Bonfire Night. The evenings are drawing in, we are starting to chop firewood and stew is on the stove. Time to start thinking about crochet projects, homemade Christmas gifts and winter curtains.

The promise of autumn

I have been in denial for weeks about our shift towards autumn; I'm still wearing my Birkenstocks and summer dresses and refusing to give in to the dreaded tights. That said, we have had a log fire for the last five evenings in a row and I am the first to complain each morning at work about the distinct nippiness in the air! 

When I do finally relent to the seasonal change and pull my jumpers and boots out of the cupboard, I will admit that this is my favourite time of year. Autumn is never a disappointment. It does what it says on the tin: it will rain, there will be mud, bonfire smoke will prevail in the air and the house will get colder. All of this will be accompanied by the most stunning Norfolk skies, where the sun is low and turns everything warm and golden. The hedgerows are laden with free food to be turned into jam, wine and pickles, and the garden continues to provide us with gluts of late summer vegetables. 

Our late summer vegetables look so pretty in the trug that it seems a shame to chop them up. However, rainbow carrots, golden beetroot and stripy courgettes brighten up evening meals as well as provide flavour and nutrition.

Our espalier peach tree was laden with fruit this year

Considering the size of the tree, we harvested at least twenty sweet and juicy peaches, proving that such fruits can be grown successfully in an English garden.

Little Miss DB can often be found amongst the raspberry canes stuffing these sweet ruby fruits in her mouth like a hungry blackbird. 

Autumn means MUSHROOMS! I gleaned a small basket of mushrooms on my Sunday dog walk that provided enough for an omelette. I found three of our trusted varieties: Shaggy Inkcaps (see above), Stump Puffballs and The Prince. The Prince is fairly rare, but we've been picking them from the same spot for years. They have a wonderful almondy flavour and grow quite large without being attacked by worms or slugs. 

Stump Puffballs have a lovely flavour and texture equal to the Common Puffball. They just don't get very big. Shaggy Inkcaps need to be gathered young before they go dark and disintigrate into an inky mass!

We know The Prince well but you have to be careful not to confuse them with Panthercaps which would make you very poorly!

In my view, a basketful of wild mushrooms need only to be gently fried in good butter, garlic and sea salt and served with homemade bread. Because my basket was not exactly overflowing, I added three beaten eggs and turned it into a delicate mushroom omelette with some grated parmesan on top.

A trip to the Cake and Bake Show at Earl's Court over the weekend inspired my son and I to try making a few different breads. This white plait was flavoured with rosemary, brushed with egg yolk and sprinkled with sea salt. We ate it with tomatoes drenched in olive oil, garlic and fresh basil. 

My son also made his granny and grandad a loaf of wholemeal spelt bread to show off his new-found bakery skills. I love this note he wrote on the paper bag containing his fresh bread-even better is the random capitalisation!!

On the left is my light rye loaf and on the right, my son's wholemeal spelt. His rose better than mine!

Dahlias in autumnal shades, pinched from my dad's allotment! I also love my new olive -adorned tablecloth given to me today by my parents for feeding their chickens and watering their tomatoes while they were in Italy. They also presented us with a huge slab of Parmesan, a whole salami, spaghetti spice, dried porcinis and rich Italian coffee. It was a pleasure!!

Autumn holds so much promise. I'll keep you posted!