Winter Solstice...

So I really just wanted to let you know that the light is on it’s way; both literally and emotionally/physically. That causes for a celebration me thinks!

So amidst the chaos of all the last minute prepping for Friday taking place; try to take a little time today to celebrate the day that our oldies understood the importance of acknowledging – knowing that each year, this cycle of birth, death and rebirth took place; and that after every period of cold and darkness, the sun does indeed return.
Have a lovely, wintry day, and a happy winter solstice....Yule......festive holiday whatever that brings for you and yours.

"Yule, is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half.   Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day.  Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb.  Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider."

Whatever you are doing.....have a wonderful time my lovelies.....xxx

 

 

Autumn apples

We've not had a recipe for a while so as we've got more apples around that we can shake a stick at thought we'd have
Apple and butternut squash soup.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
4 cups apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 quart chicken stock
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper
½ cup walnut halves
4 ounces goat cheese, sliced in ¼ -inch rounds

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent about 3 minutes. Add the squash, apples, carrots, stock, and cinnamon and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer until the vegetables are soft when pierced with a fork, 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Ladle the vegetables and half of the broth into a blender or food processor. Puree until very smooth. Return soup to the pot and stir in the remaining broth, one ladleful at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. Season well with salt and pepper.

3. To serve, place a few walnuts in the center of a soup bowl. Shingle 2 slices of goat cheese on top of the walnuts and ladle the soup around the goat cheese. The idea is to have the goat cheese visible atop the soup. (Hint: it may be easier to ladle the soup into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour from there.)

Chunky bread and eat by the fire :)

Serves 6

ALSO............Baked apples!

Shrooms!

Another yummy something to try......

Wild Mushroom Stroganoff

When selecting fresh mushrooms, choose dry, firm ones, which are not too dark and wet, as these will add a greyish tinge to the sauce. Dried wild mushrooms make a good substitute, but need soaking in hot water for 2 –3 hours before use.Serves 4 (80 kcals / 1.3g fat per serving)

Preparation time – 10 minutes

Cooking time – 10 minutes

Ingredients
2-3 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
150ml (1/4 pint) vegetable stock
1 tablespoon plain flour
450g (1lb) mixed fresh wild mushrooms eg. Oyster, ceps or shiitake
2-3 sprigs fresh lemon or common thyme
1 wine glass white wine
2 teaspoons mild Dijon mustard
300ml (1/2 pint) virtually fat-free fromage frais
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh flat leaf parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
paprika to garnish

Method

Preheat a non-stick frying pan. Dry-fry the shallots and garlic for a few minutes until soft. Add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable stock to the pan and sprinkle the flour over. Stir well, ‘cooking out’ the flour for 1 minute

Add the mushrooms and thyme, seasoning with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Gradually stir in the remaining stock and white wine. Add the Dijon mustard and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the fromage frais and parsley. Check the seasoning and serve immediately, dusted with a little paprika, with some plain boiled rice.

All Aboard...

MM,MM,MM, love, love, all the texture and colours of autumn, moody Sky's, great sunsets/sunrises and wrapping up and going berrying for the making of various fruit treats, leaves everywhere, bonfires, baked potatoes and Tomato soup..........I COULD go on like that all day.....but I won't....

This weekend saw us with Friends at Swanage wandering along the beach all wrapped up and skimming stones followed some time at the steam gala, big steam engines roaring up and down the line to Corfe castle and back carrying Pullman carriages in which you can sit supping a glass of something bubbly , lots of other various running stock,  watching the world go by .....and a very civilized day turned into a fun filled evening of wandering up the pier, fish and chips with sea view and a string of pubs with Rock bands on and a 2AM run along the beach.......finishing Sunday with a trip to Stour head on the way home to wander round the house and gardens with the trees beginning to change colours and little folly's everywhere.... My kind of weekend!

The bits that shake rattle and roll....

The day was peppered with trips on various trains and various drinkypoos!

 Loved walking along the coast

 Thanks to the people that made it great!...love you lots x

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A place to deposit thoughts, ramblings, photography, recipes from the garden and hedgerows to talk about things that amaze the eye, excite and bewilder the mind, Art, old folk tales, poems, stories, Music... who knows where this will lead.........I'm sure Sir Bertie will put in the odd apprentice or two, he is my big black cat that never stops amazing me with the ridiculous things he does.....

Blackberry and apple cobbler...

As the blackberry bush is now full to the brim, get yourself out and fill your boots, and bowls and any other container you see fit, one of  tastiest free delights from our hedgerows...happy picking! 

Ingredients 

Serves: 6 

• For the fruit
• 700g blackberries
• 700g cooking apples (or use dessert apples and reduce the amount of sugar to about 4 tbsp)
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp melted butter

• For the topping
• 150g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 60g butter
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 120ml buttermilk (or fresh milk with 1/2 a tbsp lemon juice)

Method
Prep:30min  ›  Cook:40min  ›  Ready in:1hr10min 

1. Peel, core and roughly chop the apples and mix with the blackberries, sugar, melted butter and flour. Place in a 22x33cm ovenproof dish.
2. For topping, sift flour and baking powder together. Rub in butter until mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar and buttermilk.
3. Drop spoonfuls of the topping mixture on to the fruit; it doesn't have to be completely covered.
4. Bake at 190 C / Gas 5 for about 30-40 minutes or until fruit is soft and topping is risen and golden.