What type of cheese....?

Ok, so I'm minding my own business and I get a text from the cellist. This is unexpected. We are going through the 'I'm independent' phase, she's neither old enough to vote, leave home, marry, drive to the scool bus or anything else. But we are embracing her independence. Modern parenting I think they call it.

Anyhow, cautious, I read 'can I make dinner' - any non believers, I'll take a photo if you like. No lift, no money, a heartfelt plea to make food. I am extraordinarily suspicious. Thinking the worst, I reply, firstly, what you thinking making. This has to inform the response, I love her, but to be fair, dinner is dinner. If she's thinking chocolate spread on toast, frankly, I'm not a fan. The why bit also got me puzzled.

Thankfully I was assured 'food' would be pasta, bacon, tomato, red onion and cinnamon. She's mutated a Jamie Oliver recipe using tuna (she hates tuna) and so she's substituted this for bacon. I'm rather chuffed, cooking, plus innovation that's my girl. But, to be fair this girl likes to eat. the 'why' was unanswered. Funny how we love food and love to share and cook together, we've that in common and for that I'm very thankful, many a grand chat happens over cooking. 

Over the chopping, mixing, tasting and stirring, the why became apparent. She's an exam tomorrow, she's nervous, she wanted to keep her mind off it and destress. She like me, thought nice food, company and a bit of chat would sort it. What a clever lass. I was assistant chef tonight. Watched as she fathomed scaling up the recipe (her own version), got everything going to be ready altogether. All the time consulting her 'journal', it would seem she wrote her version of it down the first time she made it.

Hats off cellist, it tasted amazing. Cinnamon and pasta sauce, I'd never have figured it. She toddler off later, quite happy.

A hearty good luck tomorrow. Independent teenagers cook,to destress, how exciting.

As for me, Mr F in Norway tonight for work (waves across to Norway). Whilst he's been awayI've been pottering about (for that read manically cleaning) inbetween being fed.

Thinking norweigan delights, I bought some Jarlsberg today. Had some for supper. Well I tried, ended up burning it so badly it was inedible. Never try cook and manically clean. Unhappy me, happy hens, they've got it's nutty wonderfulness cooking away in the slow cooker, inedible for humans.

Moral of the story. Teach your children to cook, later on when you're distracted and burn the cheese on toast, you're sure not to starve. Or cleaning is bad for Jarslberg, or what ever type of cheese consumption, is another viewpoint.

In real life I was really chuffed like me she wanted to cook and chat and take her mind off something she was nervous about. And, to be fair she's not a bad little cook either.

The joy of jam......and daisies

I utterly love daisies. Beautiful, simple, perfect.

Took this lovely photo of a daisy today on a garden visit, how beautiful are daisies, they are my favourite flower I think they are perfect. And, talking of beautiful, almost perfect things, Mr Flowers, arrived back, somewhat earlier than anticipated up to the windswept homestead, catching me with the wholesale catalogue in hand, lolling on the sofa, looking at fruit trees. Its hard core fun here, what can I tell you! Well, when the weathers the way its been over the last wee while, arm chair gardening is as good as it gets 'til the polytunnel is up. In the mean time, I'm fantasy gardening, pad of paper in hand, catalogues out, plan of tunnel on paper and thinking how I'll select fruit and then veg for the tunnel, where it won't matter if the wind blows hard, I can still garden.

We're planning on feeding ourselves from that covered garden and we're going to do that for utterly everything fruit and veg wise we like to eat. Well almost everything, lets face facts, I doubt a banana will grow well with us, (although they do grow in Iceland in their geo-thermal greenhouses) I doubt I'll manage to grow a coffee tree, nor a cocoa tree in time to produce those products before I'm very old. And, dear reader, let me tell you I'm already *quite* old. Therefore the plan to enhance the wish for an almost pure 'Orkney diet' is to try and grow everything we possibly can and reduce the shop bought fruit and veg as much as is practical. Without going insane and being deprived of coffee and bananas and chocolate - we'll buy what we can't grow. Well thats the plan, up here in the frozen north, a good life garden, under cover in a polytunnel to attempt to grow more things than we could in our climate and for longer.

Jam, scruffy but tasty. Local real food doesn't have to be perfect, to taste gorgeous.

For feeding ourselves from the garden, we've managed more this year than last year, which is progress. We've even made jam this year from home grown fruit and from local foraged fruit. Thus far four types (about 5-6 jars of each) lurk in the cupboards. These are not perfect text book, magazine pretty jams, just jam in recycled jars, often with scruffy labels or their contents written on in garden pen, on the lid, lifes often a bit rushed and just cos we cant do it perfectly, doesn't mean we can't do it all the same. The contents of the jars is what's important and having a go - lifes not perfect, if your jam jar is a bit scruffy, as long as its clean, who cares? As, to be fair lifes not perfect, and neither, it would appear, is the audience here. My family are a bit fickle, to say the least. With this in mind, thus far I've managed to make 4 types of jam [strawberry, bramble, raspberry, elderberry) or 5 if you count chilli jam I made for me, (the ficklest of all). Basic recipe is one pound of fruit to one pound of sugar, or one pint of fruity liquid to one pound of sugar, boil gently until a set is achieved.

I've said previously the family are, quite rightly, my feircest critics. We've a family of jam lovers, except me (the ficklest of all, I don't have a sweet tooth), I do like spicy though, therefore I've made myself 5 jars of chilli 'jam' for adding to savoury dishes. Whilst the rest of them all have their favourites, strawberry jam is usually dismissed in this house due to 'lumps' (fruit) this is a bit of a pity as its a quite easy fruit to grow here - HA foiled them this year I've blitzed the strawberry jam and now its got the same texture as raspberry, lump free. One hurdle over come.  Aside the 'lumpy fruitness' of my normal jam, now blitzed by hand held processor in to zero pulpdome, the jam most craved here is raspberry. Its a firm favourite of Mr F, who's opinon is, 'why eat other jam if you can eat raspberry'. I think he needs to broaden his horizons, lifes going to be a bit boring if we only ever grow raspberries! Therefore he's open to new things, just as well eh? We had the great jam taste test today..........

Left to right (top) strawberry, bramble (unset) jams
then, raspberry jam, elderflower jelly.

All jams/jellies had a good texture although the bramble didn't set too well, better luck next year.....The strawberry is loved by the cellist who's warned me not to make too much as she'll get sick of it. Righto, got me orders there. Bramble jam is well accepted, although its runnieness noted, not much good for a decent piece (scottish word for a sandwich). Again, noted. The elderberry jelly has been viewed with trepidation, the cordial so well recieved earlier in the season, could the jelly of the berry be any good? I think the texture of it and the colour is stunning, it set well and aside a rather purple pair of hands for a day when dealing with it and a purple tea towel from straining it, I think its worth the bother. Its got a big thumbs up from me certainly, I think I'll use it alot in cooking, although it would be lovely on a scone. Its a taste not unlike brambles, but hints of elderflowers. Darn site easier to pick as well! I'll be trying that again.

Mr Flowers however, whilst receptive to all these new treats, has given the double thumbs up to the raspberry jam. He's just too much of a fan of it to see past it. Lucky for me raspberries do grow well here! I'll have to ration the rotation of the jam otherwise I can see the reds going before the others!

When not eating a jammy piece, raspberry of course, Mr Flowers enjoys playing one of his several guitars, scoffing my lovely home made elderflower cordial and having recently had a quite serious mountiain biking injury (bust shoulder) in Canada, isn't out on any of his bikes at all at the moment. All the more time to eat jammy pieces he informs me. Better make sure I get a good selection of raspberries for the polytunnel garden hadn't I? I read a brilliant article about autumn fruiting types I quite like to grow as they are less fussy than the normal ones. And for how to make the harvest even better, I got brilliant information from a great blog (thank you) about seasonal food and growing 'My Tiny Plot'.....Here why don't you pop over and check it out if you like.

Ps, we've reached the heady heights of 99 followers - I'd never have thought that possible and I'd like to say a big thank you for popping by, every one of you. x Jam all round I say!

The great McMuffin swindle..........................

This years sage helps out with the McMuffin swindle.........its drying nicely, our years supply from one plant.

It's one of those days here - sideways (hail) and rain, windy and I just want FOOD, lots of it. I raked around the fridge this am for the last of the breakfast grub I have incase of such cold/wet/windy day emergencies when a bowl of cereal just doesn't cut it. Toast will just not do - my food has to be more substantial in weather like this!! There are a few things I miss about any kind of food chain/fast food money guzzling enterprise. Thankfully our nearest fast food joint that anyone would recognise internationally is over 120 miles away. Good distance as far as I'm concerned, alot of times we manage to save spending our money on junk food without much effort. We've really no choice and I prefer it that way!

I do have a guilty secret though - (not sure that I want to share it - but in the manner of why buy it when you can make it yourself - I'll hang my head in shame and share with you) here goes ................I do love McMuffin sandwiches with the egg, pork sausage and the plastic cheese - I know I shouldn't but I really do. Anyway, having recently read 'Frugal for dummies', one of the tips in there was to make 'breakfast' food for on the go and keep it handy to stave off any impulse spending. So I was inspired to try and make these McMuffin thingmy's for brekkie and keep them in the fridge/freezer for an easy brekkie treat occassionally on work days.  I had to scratch my head a bit for the ingredients:

Muffins I can get here - and buy them up when I see them reduced - simples!

Plastic cheese whist not great food, easy to buy in value pack in the local supermarket - cheap and cheerful - ticked that box!

Eggs - well we have alot of those - that bit was easy - thank you hens!!

Pork sausage pattie - now this was a bit harder............and required investigation.....

Pork pattie - pork and herb - pan fried

Good old MR GOOGLE to the rescue - you can get almost any information online and it would seem even the ingredients of a McMuffin online and the main recipe for the sausage part.  After a couple of attempts at ingredients (pork mince and sage thats it) and technique (making meatball shapes out of the mince/sage and squishing them wiht the palm of your hand til very flat works a treat) fry quickly in a hot pan and stack in a tupperware Voila - the ingredients for the McMuffins at a fraction of a cost.

Pork mince* £2-3 for 250g makes about 10-15 flat sausages (don't often see it reduced but if we do we buy it and stock up)

Muffins - full price 80p for 8 - reduced can be as little as 10p a pack

Eggs - free from home - sliced up boiled ones work a treat on these muffins

Pack of very plastic cheese - 49p for 10 slices

Herb sage - free from home enough dried now for the winter

*you can make them without the mince or with quorn mince for a veggie option

I assembled some of them to try the best way to keep them for brekkies when we're not home - greaseproof paper worked a treat - and helped keep them moist when heated up. Otherwise we keep the ingredients ready to go in the fridge or freezer and make them up as we want.

20p a sausage probably sounds a bit much but they are lovely and homemade

10p for a full price muffin - 1-5p for a reduced one
4.9p for a slice of cheese

The McMuffin assembly line..................................yum yum

OK so at worst its 35p for a lovely meaty meal in a muffin - can't remember how much they are in real life - but if I've done my sums properly then the shop bought ones which don't taste as good are a swindle!!!

Homemade McMuffins ready for the freezer

There you have the great McMuffin swindle - no packaging, no corporate nightmare, very cheap and frugal - deliciously home made - perfect!