Looking for Wild Fruit

So we have been rather busy of late and I wanted to share this with you. We have been gathering things growing wild from around our area for winter use. Not the easiest thing as we live in quite a built up area however we managed to find an abundance of blackberries and wild figs! 

The figs I made into muffins which I put into the freezer and will bake one each morning for Evie before she heads to school. 

The blackberries I have frozen into batches to use for winter crumbles and pies! Yum!! 

Mmmmmmonday Morning brunch

Monday mornings! most people hate them… I certainly did until recently when i have decided to take some time off work and spend time cooking and crafting for a little while. its been pretty bleak weather here but the sun decided to shine this morning and so we decided to have a little family brunch.

French toast
Bacon
Scrambled Eggs
Berries and locally farmed honey! Yum!

French toast is made in so many ways but here is my family recipe.

4 eggs beaten in a bowl with two heaped tablespoons of icing sugar and a splash of milk.
Soak the bread but not until its too soggy then fry it on a gentle heat until browned each side.

Serve!

Wineberry Jam Recipe!!

Wineberries!! Ever heard of them? I hadn't! But my mother in the UK has a massive glut of them! We decided on a warm summers afternoon to pick as many of the little sticky things and make a jam out of them to see us through the winter.

Evie loves red berries and so more went into her belly than in the tubs but by the end of the day we had plenty to work with.


The recipe I used is:

• 1kg Wine berries
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1kg bag jam sugar (the one with pectin added)

This is the same stable recipe I use for any of my jams

1. Before you start, sterilise your jars (see tip below) and put a plate in the freezer to chill. Tip half the raspberries into a preserving pan and add the lemon juice. Mash the berries to a pulp over the heat with a potato masher, then leave to cook for 5 mins. Tip the cooked berries into a sieve over a bowl, then once all of the juice has drained off, firmly work the pulp through the sieve with a wooden spoon until you are left with just the seeds.
2. Tip the juice and pulp back into the preserving pan and stir in the sugar. Heat gently, then add the remaining whole raspberries. Bring to the boil, then boil rapidly for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and drop a little jam onto the chilled plate. Now push your finger through it – it should wrinkle and look like jam. If it doesn’t, boil for 2 mins, then test again.
3. The top of the jam may look like it has sediment on it, but I find that if you stir it well as it cools, a little of this disappears. Pour into the jars and seal. It will keep unopened for a year, although the lovely bright colour will darken a little. Once open, keep in the fridge.

Now at breakfast times we get the jam out and Evie delightfully tells us that we made this at Grannies house! Wonderful! 

A little trip to Italy with the weevil

Had a wonderful little trip with Evie to visit her Papoon in Italy. We visited the stunning town of portofino and did a little bit of shell collecting :)

Urban Gypsy Chic

Just wanted to share these little pics of my little on in urban wilderness. I didn't take the shots, a dear friend did but I thought they we're share worthy as they are so beautiful! 

Eggs For Breakfast

Well, its december now and I am starting to get into the Christmas spirit! A little too early to put up the tree but I figured I would do something nice for my little one today.

Above are my festive eggs! No culinary skill needed!

My non-stick cookie cutters however.. were a let down and a nightmare to wash off afterwards no next time they will be greased prior

Very simple… heat a pan, crack in the eggs and viola! Fini! 

Evie loved them!

The Olive Harvest

 

 This weekend was a lovely weekend! Evie and I took a little trip into the French countryside to help my Brothers family in laws with their olive harvest. My parents had olive trees but sadly each year there would be an ussue with them and we never got to harvest them. 

Flopsie assisiting with the harvest

 

 Evie wasn't overly interested in helping until the end to be honest. She is still a little young and she preferred searching for the neighbors cat more than anything. However once Flopsie (Bunny) started to help out Evie soon got the hang of things and would march around telling everyone to be careful and not to stand on any fallen olives.

All the olives that we collected will be taken to the mill on December 6th and pressed for their precious oils. I did however bring home a large bag and shall be preserving them this evening so... next blog post will be about olives too :)

Yummy Oven Dried Cherry Tomatoes!

These are so yummy and really easy to make!

As many cherry tomatoes as you want to use.. Halved and placed inner side up on a baking tray. Add together in a jar...

Several good glugs if olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
Teaspoon of oregano
Teaspoon of dried basil
Teaspoon of salt
2 chopped chilis.

Put the lid on and give a good shake.

Spoon onto tomatoes and put into oven on 60• for a good four hours until they are cooked how you like them.

Put I to a jar and keep in fridge.

I love these with feta on toast! Yummy!!!

Sorry for absence

Hmmm... How many times must I say sorry for leaving my blog alone...

Well... This is the last time. I've been super busy with lots of family things. I break up, a new job and a complete house move. My inspiration levels have been low but finally I am feeling back to myself and I am letting the creative waves flow through me again! Lots of things to come. Mainly in the kitchen! See you soon!

Christmas!

Just a couple of pics to show you from the festive period! Lots of things to write about but not so much time. Will report soon :)

Baked Camembert with Garlic and Rosemary

Winter is drawing in and that means its time to eat lots of cheese!

This little snack to share is so simple.

Pre heat the oven to 150. Cut the top of the rind on the wheel of cheese off and add some garlic, salt, rosemary and olive oil. Bake until all gooey and serve with toast or fresh baguette! Yummy!

I also like to use cranberry jelly :)

The final crop!

So these are my babies! Finally autumn has arrived and the fruits of my garden are ready for harvest. The pumpkin sadly did not do so well but thankfully my mothers did not grow at all so a new pair of hunter wellies are mine!

Thé squash however I am happy about and I've already made a nice risotto which I shall post the recipe for in the next few days :)

Halloween Cookies

Hey everyone! Just wanted to show you these pictures of the cookies I baked for Halloween this year.

Quality of photos are not great as my phone is a little dated but here they are anyway :)

Chillies!!

Been so so busy recently so Im sorry there has not been much posting. Things are getting cold here and things in the garden are nearly at a stand still so i will be devoting much more time to this starting this week.

Just wanted to show you what I have been harvesting this week! Very proud and will be making some yummy things with these shrotly :)

Recipe Books

Hi all! Just a quick one to show you these... I've been meaning to find a good way of storing my recipes as I have so many magazine cut outs and printed sheets lying around the place.

I found this material online ages ago and couldn't think what to do with it but finally decided on a decent project. Something I can keep for myself for once as it makes me sad when I finish some fabric and have kept nothing back for myself.

So one of these is for a friend and the other myself do I will be busy at some point filling it :)

Skull Beads

Been making these little skull beads this week following my obsession with Mexican Sugar Skulls. Im not entirely sure what I will do with them yet but Im thinking earrings. 

They are made with polymer clay which you bake in the oven. These pictured are yet to be baked and once they are I am going to paint them :)

Felt sushi

Ive made these little felt california rolls for Evie to play with. She is still a little bit young to be using chopsticks but I think its a good way for her to be introduced to new foods and learn about how different countries use cutlery etc. Its also a great way for her to practice hand and eye coordination.

They are really simple to make as well :)

Crochet Goodies

Ok, so I didn't actually make these :)

I ordered them from etsy because I think they are the cutest little things and I just really wanted to have them. Im not even sure what I am going to do with them yet but Im thinking children's headbands and dress embellishments 

Summer sundowners

Just wanted to share with you a couple of snaps from a dinner we hosted in the garden the other day... I love the rustic look and adored using the hay bales and tree stumps as stools and benches.

The evening actually ended up being a great deal larger than planned as the neighbors heard the music and all came up to join us :)

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Pumpkin Update

This my friends is my second child!!! I love her as if she were my own... This is my champion pumpkin! 

Last year my mother and I had a competition to see who could win biggest pumpkin, I won but only because mum didn't get any... last years was a pathetic orange sized thing...

This year however I am on a roll!! Sadly out of six plants this is the only one which has fruited but non the less it has a fruit so I am doing everything in my power to make it a record breaker... (family anyway)