evening exploring

Look at all these poppies! We found them on Tuesday night when we went for a little drive into the South Downs near Falmer.

It's definitely worth popping up there if you live nearby. They look lovely by sunset.

 

things I like this May and June...

Columns (L-R):  1  •  2  •  3  •  4  •  5  •  6  •  7  •  8  •  9  •  10  •  11  •  12  •  13  •  14  •  15  •  16  •  17  •  18

A selection of recent Pinterest favourites.
An eclectic mix.

green fingers

Sorry for my absence. I've been spending a lot of time outdoors and have just arrived back from an early summer holiday. My gardening obsession is still in full force though.

Here are some recent botanical based images from our house and garden taken from my Instagram feed.



Planting out the beans on Ben's birthday // Pest control - collecting the snails for relocation.



African daisies (Osteospermum). I like their purple undersides // Love in the mist (Nigella) - we have these everywhere!



A new pot for a tiny succulent // Aloe vera (I've been meaning to get one of these for ages)



How the garden grows. Our veg patch before and after our holiday // Bringing the garden indoors - a mini bouquet.

Now that we have a lot of things planted outside the garden is looking nice and full. Unfortunately we have already lost our cucumber plants to those pesky snails, but the cabbage, courgettes and beans are growing nicely (despite being a little nibbled). And we have a lot of tomato plants on the go. Four different varieties!

We planted out some more seeds yesterday too. Some wildflowers have been scattered around the garden, and the Cima di Rapa and Cicoria I received in the secret seed swap have been potted and placed in the greenhouse.

I'll keep you posted on how things get on.

let's cook: tart tatin

We're on a roll!
I think that's the shortest amount of time between cooking challenges to date.

This time we made tart tatin - our choice of topping. My mum went for apple from this book by her namesake, and I chose to use some of the beetroot we got in our veg box this week.

Here are the outcomes...



My mum served her apple tart with custard and I've heard from my dad that it went down very well.

I followed this recipe from Simply Delicious which paired the tart with a goats cheese cream (my favourite!) The only difference in my method was that I used fresh beetroot so boiled it for about an hour first, before allowing to cool and removing the skin. Also, I didn't have an ovenproof frying pan so I transferred the beetroot to a shallow ovenproof dish before topping with pastry.

It was quite a simple recipe to follow with only a few ingredients, although I think the real test in this challenge was trying not to get myself and the kitchen completely covered in purple - and I succeeded, just.




It came out such a nice colour, and was lovely and caramelised, if a little rough around the edges.

Ben made up a delicious Ottolenghi salad to accompany the tart, and the goats cheese cream complimented the sweetness of the beetroot really well I think.

I will definitely be making this again if we get another big load of beetroot.



Now, to the scoring...

Ben gave me an 8/10 (not too shabby) - his main complaint being that he had to make the salad, and that it was beetroot alone. Although I think it was also partly due to the fact that I made him wait to eat it while I took some photos.

It turns out my dad likes tarts more than he likes dips so my mum was onto a winner. He gave it 9/10. Really good. Well done Mum!



Next time we'll be making gnocchi. As suggested by Rhian and Rosie.

I fear it's easy to get it wrong so it might be a tricky one.
Wish us luck!

vintage gardening

When we were visiting my parents a few weeks ago my mum offered us a rummage through some of her seeds to see if there was anything we fancied planting.

Little did we know that her seed collection dated back to the 60s!



Just look at these packets (from 1968/69). What they lack in freshness they definitely make up for in design. I might frame them.



My parents really need to have a sort out though. 40 year old seeds indeed.

Oh, and here are some pictures of Jerry, who had emerged from hibernation a few days before we arrived.

He looks a little grumpy. Over tired maybe?

crochet compendium

I've finished some more crochet squares for the collection.



The project was put on hold for a while because my wool was all packed away but now I'm getting back in the swing of things.

The fruit punch pattern is my favourite here.



One I'll definitely use again!

planting progress

I am well and truly obsessed by growing things at the moment. It's so satisfying to see the weekly progress of the plants we are growing, as well as adding new additions to our indoor and outdoor gardens.

I've been documenting some of the progress around here:



The biggest growth spurt has been with my avocado plant (pictured left). We potted our weird avocado sprouts back in February before we moved, and while there hadn't been much growth over the last couple of months, it suddenly kicked into action over the last couple of weeks.

The leaves are getting visibly bigger by the day and it seems to be enjoying it's sunny spot on the kitchen windowsill. I still have faith that Ben's will get going at some point too - although it still looks like it did back in February. Perhaps a little greener?

On the right above is a Money Plant I was given about 10 years ago by Derek's sister Grace. It's been living with my mum for a while, but she insisted I take it home with me last time I visited. It's grown massively since I was given it as a little cutting, but unfortunately it's got a bit out of control and has grown too tall for it's own good and was struggling to stand upright in the pot.

I decided to take some cuttings to try and grow some mini versions, which I can tend to as they grow.



I've taken a couple of cuttings, and placed one in soil and one in water to see how they get on. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of propagation, Ben has been trying his hand at it too, and is currently trying regrow some celery and pak choi from the bases of old ones. You can see the celery on the right in the image below.



Since this photo was taken some mini stalks have begun shooting up from the base - so it looks like it's working! Our friend Beth told us about this technique, and she's well on her way to some new celery already.

I'm intrigued to know what else can be propagated like this, and how successful it is. Has anyone tried anything similar?

Talking of new shoots, my Italian cucumbers that I got in the seed swap are beginning to grow. Good news!



And that's not all, my little Chuppon is also going strong, and the mint plant is starting to grow from his backpack.



Look at him grow!

There'll be more plant updates soon I am sure.
I really like growing things.

heathland

Some photos from a recent stroll around Frensham pond.
A funny sort of landscape.

things I like this March and April...

Columns (L-R):  1  •  2  •  3  •  4  •  5  •  6  •  7  •  8  •  9  •  10  •  11  •  12  •  13  •  14  •  15  •  16

Some spring favourites from Pinterest.
All the colours!

let's cook: dips and dippers

Cooking challenge time again! This time we decided to venture into dips.

The aim was to produce two different dips, as well as something to dip into them. I was a bit tardy on this one (the house move got in the way a bit) and my mum made hers ages ago but I finally got round to it yesterday. It was nice to spend some time baking in our new kitchen.

My mum chose to make a black olive tapenade and some houmous, accompanied by cheese straws, as pictured below.



She had never had tapenade before, and wasn't sure what it was meant to look or taste like so I think she did pretty well. The cheese straws look tasty too!

I also chose a black olive tapenade as one of my dips. Luckily, I found this perfect tapenade recipe on the Guardian website so I think I was onto a winner from the beginning.



It came out really well. Super strong flavours!

I also made this artichoke and lemon dip from a recipe found on BBC goodfood.



I think this one was my favourite. It's full of winners: artichoke hearts, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic. Mmmm....

It was good for the challenge element that we decided to make dippers I think, as dips do not really require that much effort. Just a bit of blending. I decided to try and make some grissini as an accompaniment.



I found a recipe here which I used as a base, but wanted to try some different things out, so experimented with adding rosemary from the garden to some of the batch, and salt and black pepper to others.

I also tried out some different sizes, and tried twisting some into spirals. I think they came out fairly well. I had to bake them in about 4 different batches (due to limited baking tray space) so there is some inconsistency in colour and texture - they are all a bit wonky when you see them together. Or should I say rustic?



I think this was one of my favourite cooking challenges to date though, and it was timed just right for a nice spring evening snack.



Now to the scoring...

Unfortunately my mum only had my fussy dad as a judge, who refused to try the houmous or the tapenade as he "doesn't like dips" so she had to do her own judging. She gave the houmous 9/10, and the olive tapenade a 6/10 as it wasn't as smooth as she had hoped.

My dad helped scoff the cheese straws though and he gave them 9/10. The only negative was that they were possibly slightly on the crumbly side for dipping.

Ben was very kind and gave my dips and dippers full marks. Emily and Beth tried them today too and they agreed. Thanks guys!

I would maybe knock a mark off for garlic overload, but I'd definitely make them again.



Next time we will be attempting Tart Tatin. I'm excited about this one!
Hopefully my mum can find a better judge...

Postcard club

I recently joined in over at the Postcard Club. Here's my first swap with Ed Cheverton.

He sent me a collage play card, and I sent him a paper collage illustration of my favourite houseplant.

If anyone else wants to do a swap with me then do let me know - I really love sending and receiving nice things in the post!

Orangutan

Some more drawing practice.

Ben and I have been watching the new Planet of the Apes films and I've fallen in love with Maurice the orangutan.