Saturday 27th October 2012 – 'Golden Light' (301/366)

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I'm adding this 366 photo to The Gallery under the theme of Autumn for two reasons.

1) I've posted oodles of photos that could be used for the theme, and don't want to repost photos that I've already used.

2) To me, this photo symbolises everything about Autumn that I love: the warm sunlight, long shadows, woolly hats and crisp, golden leaves being frollicked in.

Country Kid: Autumn Leaves

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I am sat here trying to recover from a gargantuam walk. "Let's nip up to town?" says I.

Problem is that once you've got to town (which is only a ten minute walk away), it's incredibly easy to nip to the park because it's only a few hundred yards from the town centre. It's a lovely, meandering, Victorian park. And it meanders down to the beach. Which is absolutely brilliant and we all love walking along the pier and plopping pebbles in the sea. There's just one problem with walking down to the beach…

…you have to come back up again!

However, as it is a beautiful day with an azure sky, wispy clouds and a warming Autumn sun, it was a really enjoyable walk along some of the very affluent areas of our seaside, Victorian town. One of the best bits about our town is the plethora of tree-lined avenues, giving an abundance of leaves. After the dry weather this week they were fantastically crunchy and inviting for a three year old little boy.

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coombe mill

Sunday 23rd September 2012 – 'Conker Hunting' (267/366)

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It has been wet and windy today, but we've all had headaches all day long so we donned wellies and macs (or a bright red shiny suit in The Boy's case) and went conker hunting. My theory was that most children wouldn't have been out because it was foul but the wind would have blown them down. I was partly correct as the opened conker cases showed us.

12 From '11

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This past year has been a whirl-wind of fun and chaos and all thanks to eleven little letters contained in four words:

The Boy and Me

Not only is this site a place with photos and reviews and competitions, but it's also our lives: the lives of my son, my husband and me. It's been a year of change and adjustment, fun and games, tears and therapy. There are people who read my blog, who comment and have become friends in real life, which is something that I would never have imagined when I penned my first tentative post. Thank you to everyone who reads about my little corner of the world, I really appreciate every single read and comment.

Here's my 2011!

January

The start of the year saw me pondering the loss of the technology in our home.

February

I confessed one of my deepest darkest secrets to anyone who wanted to read it. Oh the shame, my cheeks are still burning!

March

We decided that the cold was for wimps and got busy with a few meters of plastic tubing and a watering can.

April

An egg-citing trail around the garden lead to much consumption of cocoa.

May

Finally, 17 years after completing my GCSEs, I gained an 'ology!

June

The Boy celebrated his 2nd birthday.

July

With the sun beating down on us on one of the hottest weekends of the Summer, we decided to spend it going to a chocolate factory, meeting other bloggers and going on safari!

August

Toilet humour was the order of the day as one of the most stressful and confining experiences of my life began!

September

We discovered the wonders of wellies.

October

With random heatwaves and bouts of frostiness, we met a CBeebies hero.

November

My baby became a little boy as testosterone kicked in, in an astounding and upsetting way.

December

The celebrations for Christmas started with a big weekend party.

What one event would you pick to sum up your 2011?

Apple Preserves

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Several months ago, my mum put a condiment on the dinner table which was gorgeous. It was an apple and mint jelly. Was it for pork, was it for lamb? Did it matter? I'm vegetarian so whatever it was originally meant for was never going to be something that I would consume. Nonetheless it was delicious with salads and baby boiled new potatoes smothered in butter and black pepper.

I've tried to find it, to no avail. Then when the 'chutney chums' (i.e. The Crazy Kitchen, me and Mummy Mishaps) started talking about all things preserving a few weeks ago, I thought I'd give it a go.

Apple and Mint Jelly

Makes: 2 jam jars

Ingredients:

  • 1kg apples, peeled and cored
  • 1 litre water
  • 30g fresh mint, chopped
  • 500g caster sugar
  1. Add the apples and 2 tablespoons of water to a large saucepan, cook for twenty minutes over low to medium heat. Spoon the mixture into a large sieve with a sterilised muslin (I used one of The Boy's unused muslins sterilised with a steaming hot iron) and let the juice drain into a bowl. (Try to leave for 3 hours, I didn't have that amount of time so I left it for 2 hours).
  2. Add the mint and 1 litre of water to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
  3. Pour in the strained apple juice and add sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and and simmer gently for 1 hour+, stirring constantly. (The original recipe said 40 minutes, I ended up simmering it away for an hour and a half before it reached setting point).
  4. Pour into sterilized jars, cover with damp cellophane covers (which will tighten as they dry, creating an air-tight seal) and leave to cool. Store in a dark, cool cupboard. They should have a best before of a year from sealing.

My recipe has been adapted from one on AllRecipes.co.uk. I also found this site most helpful when I was trying to work out if it had reached setting point.

The big question of what to do with all that left over apple arose. So I made some Spiced Apple Chutney!

Ingredients:

Makes 2 jam jars

  • 225g onions (chopped)
  • 900g apples (cored & chopped)
  • 110g sultanas or raisins
  • 15g ground coriander
  • 15g paprika
  • 15g salt
  • 15g each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
  • 340 granulated sugar
  • 425ml white wine vinegar
  1. Put all the ingredients into a heavy pan.
  2. Slowly bring to the boil until all the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Simmer for 1½-2 hours, stirring from time-time to stop the chutney from sticking.
  4. Take the lid off to reduce down for further thirty minutes or so.
  5. When it is very thick and a spoon drawn across it leaves a channel which doesn't immediately fill with liquid, the chutney is ready to transfer to the jars.
  6. While still hot, turn into sterilised jars, use wax discs and damp cellophane to seal. Allow to cool.
  7. Store in a cool, dark cupboard for two-three months before eating. Can be kept for up to twelve months sealed.
 
 

I adapted this recipe from one on the BBC Good Food Guide.

Tips:

  • Sterilise jars and utensils in the dishwasher.
  • Use wax discs and cellophane film lids as lids from jars can corrode effecting the chutney. Also it has to be put in piping hot for the dimple on the lid to suction down or it's not sterile.
  • Sterilise the muslin with a hot iron.
  • When fastening the fabric cover, hold it in place with an elastic band first. If you are one of those genetically-modified humans who have four hands, and can therefore hold the fabric in place and wrap the raffia around, don't bother, you'll be fine. Once the raffia is wrapped around, remove the elastic band.