Plums, plums and more plums!

I have been quite busy over the last year especially with the children! Although over the last few weeks I have been picking some fruit locally. So far I have made the following;

Blackberry and crab apple jelly

Plum jelly

Plum jam

Damson jam (12 jars!) and

Crab apple jelly

What's next I wonder probably more apple as my neighbour has said I can have the apples from his tree when they are ready, in exchange for a jar a jam and an apple pie, quite a fair trade I think!

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Jen has created a new blog, detailing here Crafting creations that she sells on ebay.

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A few photos

Peter, born 25th June 2010, on Ruby's 3rd birthday !

















This photo was taken on Sunday,
Peter is now 9 weeks old !

Its about time !!

So, its been nearly a year since the last post, and what a year its been. Having had a baby boy just 8 weeks ago, I decided it was time to gather some fruit. Firstly, it was plums, and then blackberries and elderberries.

I made two lots of plum jam with a mixture of locally picked plums. Having stoned the plums (not an easy job) I then put them in a large pan with about 4 tablespoons of water and boiled gently until the flesh was pulpy. I started with about 3lb fruit and then added 3lb of sugar. I gently heated the mix (stirring all the time) until the sugar had dissolved. I then increased the heat and boiled the fruit and sugar until setting point was reached (this took about 10 minutes). In the meantime, I had some clean jars and lids in the oven sterilizing.

I then potted the jam into the jars and sealed. This was yummy with the scones I made on Sunday.

Yet more chutney !

We had a last picking of green beans and there were a lot ! So I made some chutney as an alternative way of preserving them.

2lb runner beans
4 or 5 onions
1 1/2 lb brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tbsp english mustard powder
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 pints malt vinegar

Firstly, peel and chop the onions, then slice the beans and boil together with the onions in salted water until both the beans and onions are soft.

Drain the onions and beans well and put back into the saucepan with 1 1/4 pints of the vinegar and boil for about 15 mins.

Mix together the turmeric, mustard and cornflour with the remaining vinegar and then add to the beans and onions.

Boil for about 15 mins, allow to cool then pot into sterilized jars and seal.

Getting Saucy !

Sorry for the lack of updates of late - tomatoes, lovely juicy and ripe, but there are so many...... what to do with them. Well I have made some tomato sauce and this is how I did it;

1.5 kg of ripe tomatoes (I used a mixture of red and yellow)
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated
a large handful of basil, chopped
about a tablespoon of dried mixed herbs
salt and pepper
a pinch of dried ginger
200 ml red wine vinegar
70g soft brown sugar

Firstly cut the tomatoes in half and placed them in a large roasting tin with the onion, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and about 2 tsp of the sugar. Place them in the oven gas 5 /190 C / 375 F to roast for about an hour and a half, gently stirring half way through.

After about an hour and a half the tomatoes should be really soft with some colour to them. Leave them to cool slightly and then liquidise the mixture until smooth.

Place the smooth mix into a saucepan with the remaining sugar and the vinegar and slowly bring to the boil. Stir continually until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer gently until reduced and thick.

Pour your sauce into sterilised jars or bottles and then seal tightly.

This sauce should keep for about 6 months

I also made another version of this sauce but I added 2 or 3 chillies to the tomatoes before roasting, yummy and what a kick !

Right where are the chips ??

Another Cake

This recipe is for Sticky Marmalade Cake, a cake that I make regularly and it is so easy.

Ingredients:

225g self raising flour
175g caster sugar
175g butter or margarine
3 eggs
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp mixed spice
1/3 jar orange marmalade
1tsp baking powder


Firstly heat the oven gas 4 / 350 F / 180 C then line a loaf tin with baking parchment.

Next put all of the other ingredients (except 1 dessert spoon of the marmalade) into a bowl and mix together, this is easier with an electric whisk.

Once mixed, pour into your lined loaf tin and put in the oven for about 1 hour. Once cooked, cool for a few minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled then put the reserved marmalade into a small saucepan and heat gently until syrupy then brush the marmalade over the top of the cake to make a sticky topping. Lovely with a cup of tea.