Wee Willie Winkie......

Today during my daily visit to my lottie, I had a senior moment. It's a bit of a worry, but I'll share it with you because I reckon the ol' grey matter occasionally starts to get a bit dodgy for a few people my age and hopefully you'll be able to identify with such a daft act - please nod sympathetically otherwise. I always have loads of things swimming around in my head. Lists of stuff to do, people to see, things to cook,seeds to sow, weeding, the next meal to plan out etc,. So much so, I forgot to switch my slippers for my wellies and trudged happily and comfortably to my veg patch. What am I like? Oh well, at least my feet were kept warm. A real 'Wiltshire Wee Wilamena Winkie' - but without my nightcap and dressing gown! Now that would have worried me.

One thing I haven't forgotten is that the nights are closing in and there are just 102 days until that mad over indulgent date of December 25. I know....you're sitting there stunned at your PC thinking, 'why did she ever bring up that subject NOW, it's only September for goodness sake?' Like all Girl Guides....it's best to be prepared. By prepared I mean, all sorted out for nice little gifts that are homemade to give to your nearest and dearest for pressies that will show just how much you care.

So what to do? Edible presents are my favourite make. If you've got a glut of veg from your allotment or veg garden it's chutney and pickling time folks. Courgette chutney, green bean relish and date and apple chutney, all delicious and just ready in a couple of months for Yuletide. Make a batch of biscuits for cheese to go with them nearer the time and you've a gift and a half! (recipes coming soon)

Or how about a gift voucher entitling the bearer to a delicious home cooked nosh at your pad in January, when NOTHING is going on.(isn't January the dullest time of the year?) In fact, any kind of thing you can offer - even a house clean! Just the once mind....don't let your friends think this is an on going gift.


Now is the time to make fruit cakes too. Make small ones using tin cans as the cooking tin, store and feed with brandy every month. Then decorate a few days before Christmas. Time consuming....not really, compare that to trudging the streets or scanning the internet for gifts that people don't really need or will probably never use. Cake will always be eaten!

So, are you inspired to get cracking on something now, and avoid the worry later of giving a little something for the Season of Goodwill? Presents needn't be expensive electronic items, smellies that smell, well - SMELLY and gadgets the recipient will never lay their hands on. Small is beautiful and homemade is a joy to give and receive.

The wanderer returns...again.



So, eight months have gone by. Have I been sat here twiddling my thumbs? Nope, don't think so. It's been an exciting time in the Wilds of Wiltshire as I have been tending to my new baby. No....not the human kind - my new allotment.



We've been digging, sowing, weeding and growing, picking, freezing and pickling our harvests. At the beginning of the year we were given some land in our village for allotments, by the Parish Council. We sent some pleading letters last year to ask for some and the whinging paid off. It started with a grassy field and after a weekend of incredibly hard graft, we have 36 little plots, all taken and tended. It's been such a boost to the community and we've met people from the village we hadn't seen or spoken to before.



I go there most days to check out how things are coming along, de-caterpillar the greens, weed the areas and harvest the lastest delicious veg that is ready to pick, dig or cut. It's a great place to think about nothing but which weed I'm gonna dig up next.



Pests have been something that has been an on going chore to get rid of. Today it was the revenge of the caterpillars. Hundreds of the little blighters happily munching away on my hard work. This is quite amazing as we'd netted all of the greens. Butterflies are crafty insects and seem to crawl under nets or gently sit on top of them and deposit a couple of hundred eggs on one leaf that's just touching the net. Still it keeps us on the ball!



I'll be adding some of my latest receeeps here to show you that I haven't been snoozing on the sofa or lazing in the sun (ha ha ha - or should that be in my wetsuit) over the past few months.

Here's the link to The National Society Of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners.

http://www.nsalg.org.uk/

Taking the biscuit.....


Yep, it's biccie time again. You know me....I love a good biccie to go with a cuppa. I am having to be quite good with the ol' calorie intake at this time of year, but a treat never scuppered a diet in my world. Your body needs a little 'extra' sometimes and with all this cold weather, I'm sure a homemade 'norty' cookie once in a while never killed anyone. I'm living proof that it probably doesn't do much harm.

That alone, my kids always need something to scoff when they arrive in from school starving after a hard days graft of painting, reading, writing, playing out in the fresh air and really concentrating on 'maffs', as I call it. A young brain needs to be fed! Serious kitchen cupboard raiding happens at about 3.30 with calls of 'I'm hungry, what is there to eat? Well, you can't go wrong with a mum's own lovely made biscuit. I know what's gone into it and that makes me happy. OK enough of my nattering, here's another New Leaf favourite, laden with calories,wholemeal flour, sugar and oats. GREAT!



Melting Moments (from my ancient tatty Cranks recipe book)


Butter or margarine 150g
Raw brown sugar 75g
Vanilla essence 1/2tsp or a sachet of vanilla sugar if you are luck enough to have one from France!
Beaten egg 1 tablespoon (I didn't use this)
100% Wholemeal flour 100g
Porridge oats 25g
Extra porridge oats to coat.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla essence. If you are using a sachet of vanilla sugar, just put it in with the butter and other sugar. Work in the flour and oats. Form into balls the size of a walnut, and coat with the rolled oats. (Place them on a plate and roll the cookie balls in it. Flatten slightly and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 15 -20 mins until golden at Gas Mark 4, 350F or 180C. Cool slightly before transferring to a cooling tray.




Voila, delicious biscuits all ready and waiting for the cookie monsters to arrive home!

Hopeless of Wiltshire Returns.....

Actually I am downing myself here...I have nothing to be ashamed about. REALLY. Do you wanna know what I've been doing, do ya, do ya?




I've been living it up downshifter stylie. It's kind of good that I haven't been here to report my greening upiness over the past few months. I think it's sort of encouraging that I haven't been tapping out my waffle, but out and about doing STUFF!

Life in the New Leaf household has been one of cooking, eating, sniffing out the latest bargains. (aren't we all) and enjoying everyday as it comes.




One of my latest 'find's' was an organic farm not five miles from me who do a veggie box delivery. I can't believe I have missed out on them for all this time since I 've been here.

'SO?' I hear you say. Well, this farm only delivers what it grows seasonally. How fab is that? Real food, local as you like and I'd say pretty darn good. At the moment they are providing cabbages, onions, swede, rocket, parsley, carrots, spuds, the most excellent shallots ever, parsnips and kale. It all tastes divine, is delivered as fresh as you like and to top it all they do CHICKENS! Organic, freerange chooks that cook up a treat and are to die for. (actually, they've died for our dinner - sorry chickens, but you taste great)


I can't praise these guys/gals at the farm more highly for a service that's fantastic.

I didn't get my cabbage this week, you want to know why? They didn't forget.....it was due to the incredble frosts we've had and they couldn't get the beggars out of the ground. It's only life...I'll live. I'll miss the beauts this week, that they send me on a regular basis, but lets see what the weather holds for us and I may get lucky with the next delivery!

I've also been scurrying around building a new work from home business, baking for England (and my family) and sorting out all the necessary stuff for our new allotments that we've wangled out of the Parish Council. More on that SOON!

Getting meself into a right pickle....



I know, I know....it's a sham, I've not written anything for ages. This is because I've been busy....yeah you know that word quite well, I'm sure. It's been a nice sort of busy though. Not the stress bunny kind of stuff. It's been looking after my lot, visiting my mum in France and making all the nice things that I do, when I am at home for my gannets to eat. Most recently, I've had the land of the giants to sort out at the lottie. It's that courgettey time of year when those little (or rather huge) monster veg grow tenfold by night. It's not that I even looked after them. I treated them really badly, but still they came up trumps and made us many a meal....yeah, there's some stashed in the freezer too. The other day, I had to do something about the three humungous courgettes sitting outside on my garden table. They'd been there a week or two with me having the best intentions of making them into chutney. Well their time had come and they got the chop. I've made some great Courgette Chutney from a recipe of Hugh Fernley Whittingstalls ('The Hairy One' as he's affectionately known in my little circle of HFW fans) Goodness, I'd love to get a brush through those locks and spruce him up a little on the barnet front. So thanks to him, I now have a mass of jam jars in my cupboard full of the most delicious pickle, sitting there maturing until the festive season and beyond. Watch out friends....it's your xmas pressie. I may even chuck in a chunk of cheese for goodwill!

OK Here's the recipe courtesy of our friend in Dorset.

Hugh Fernley Whittingstall's Courgette Glutney

1kg courgettes chopped up into small pieces, peel them if they are 'bigguns'.

1kg red or green tomatoes, scalded, skinned and roughly chopped.

(the first lot I made had fresh red toms, but in desperation and lack of any fresh ones I chucked in two tins of chopped peeled toms. Shhh...don't say a word.)

1kg cooking or eating apples, peeled and diced

500g onions, peeled and diced

500g sultanas or raisins

500g light brown sugar

750ml white-wine or cider vinegar, made up to 1 litre with water

1-3 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

For the spice bag

1 thumb-sized nugget of fresh or dried ginger, roughly chopped

12 cloves

12 black peppercorns

1 (generous) tsp coriander seeds

A few blades of mace (I didn't have any of these!)

Put the vegetables and fruit in a large, heavy-based pan with the sultanas or raisins, sugar, vinegar and water, chilli flakes and salt.

Make up the spice bag by tying all the spices in a square of muslin or cotton. Add the spice bag to the pan, pushing it into the middle.

Heat the mixture gently, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 hours, uncovered, stirring regularly to ensure it does not burn on the bottom of the pan. The chutney is ready when it is rich, thick and reduced, and parts to reveal the base of the pan when a wooden spoon is dragged through it. If it starts to dry out before this stage is reached, add a little boiling water.

Pot up the chutney while still warm (but not boiling hot) in sterilised jars with plastic-coated screw-top lids (essential to stop the vinegar interacting with the metal). Leave to mature for at least two weeks - ideally two months - before serving.' ·

I have to say the first lot of chutney I made has been broken into already and it tasted wonderful with a chunk of freshly made bread and a lump of tasty cheddar. I have made wholemeal biscuits for cheese, which are ace with this pickle, but I'll save that recipe for another time.

Wot A Waste....

Hello, I'm back shortly to report this.

A good friend sent me this link about food wastage in this country. Not to mention all the packaging! This is food recyling at it's best....well I think it is.

Here

It's quite amazing just how much the supermarkets throw out, why don't they at least give it to their staff? Just get them to sign a disclaimer if they are so paranoid about poisoning someone! This just shows what a wasteful society we are. I'd certainly take it home with me if I worked there - probably by the car load! Or at the very least give it to homeless shelters to make a quick delicious meal for someone who really needed it. Most of the food chucked out in the above film was out of date on that very day. Just how many of us use food out of date? I certainly do and no one died in my household!

This has to be the story of the year for me!

Right...you listening out there? The Book Of Rubbish Ideas will be published by the beginning of September written by my great friend Tracey Smith

I say great...she really is.

Even better (biggin' meself up here people)......I'm in it.

Self promotion? A very small yes and an even bigger NO. The book is a revelation. Read it and be totally inspired. You don't have to be so green it hurts, but it will give you some great advice on how to green up your life and all that surrounds you. You don't' have to be a purist.....you don't have to go all the way....just do your 'bit' and feel better for you, your life, your family and ultimately the PLANET!

Tracey has worked so hard over the last few months to share all her incredible knowledge on downshifting and sustainable living that she's experienced and learnt over a number of years. You'll be inspired by her feel good ideas and gentle process into Eco living. It's written in a witty, intelligent and easy to follow way...you'll be reading it all day, all the way through, without stopping for a cake and coffee in between. Yeah....it's that good.

You can pre-order the Book Of Rubbish Ideas HERE.

And if you'd like to WIN a dedicated signed copy watch this space.....I have one up for grabs very soon!

Thought I'd left the planet?.............dream on!

I know, I know....a whole month without a sniff of New Leaf posting her usual drivvel on being a green bird etc. Well, I've been busy!


And you've been muttering......just how busy have you been bird?

See.....I've been growing stuff on my lottie and keeping a loving eye on it too. I have the most amazing courgette plants churning out veg like no tomorrow. Just 8 plants giving it their all to provide us with lots of produce and many interesting meals.

With that in mind I am going to share a nice little soup recipe made from left overs and courgettes - of course.

This is totally delicious, light and perfect for using many 'zchetties'. Have a soup party and invite everyone in your neighbourhood!

Basic recipe:

Onions chopped
Courgettes chopped
Red peppers also ....chopped
Veg stock
Water
A couple of potatoes...yep chopped
Fresh herbs cut and ready to sprinkle on your creation.

By saying basic, I mean use yer loaf on the amounts of each ingredient. I am a 'handful' cook. A handful of this and a handful of that, but an onion or two chopped, 4 chopped courgettes, one red pepper, two tsps of veg stock powder, two med spuds peeled and chopped, a pint and a half of water, salt and pepper to taste.

Fry chopped onions in butter/olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients, cook until tender and whizz up with a hand blender. Snip up a mixture of herbs - parsley, coriander, rocket, chives and add to your soup bowl. Serve with freshly baked bread and butter.

You can't go wrong!