Im alive

Im reading your posts, commenting in my head, laughing and nodding and rejoicing in the historic and civilised first step towards better health care in the US. Just in recovery mode. I HAVE made crackfudge...twice. I went to rescue a loaded electrical powerboard from a fountain of wee, and viola! burnt sugar!(or was that supposed to be i rescued a person and their fountain of wee from a loaded powerboard...?) but i was determined to make the bloody stuff after the cardaMOM adventure. Ive gardened, planted seeds, survived an election and business start-up etc and am now in recovery mode as I take stock of all that has been over the last month or so and prepare to head back to work after 2 and a half weeks 'holiday', a subjective term. See you soon.

PS. MAKE THE FUDGE. Use your fave fudge recipe (if you have one-i didnt, never made fudge before so ended up with a crystaline one due to low fat:high sugar ratio) if not use one with heaps of cream and fat as this one wasnt creamy enough by far. The combination of cardamon, salt and roast almond is well, moreish to say the least!

carrot and citrus wine

A few months back The Gnomes came to visit to make some wine. We decided on carrot and citrus wine (we had lots of citrus- lemon, orange, grapefruit) We picked and peeled and chopped and boiled and stirred. Then we poured carrot and citrus peel and juice and sugar and regular baking yeast into a big plastic bucket and left it stewing awhile. Then we decanted and drained off the must into another bucket and left it to ferment a month or so.


We tasted, checked the alcohol content, added a little more sugar and left it to ferment again.

When fermentation had slowed right down and the water seal in the bung/ airlock wasn't gurgling anymore we racked it; drained the wine from the sludge that settled at the bottom.



Near finishing time, we checked the clarity, added some gelatine to aid it clearing, and racked it again.



So, yesterday, two months after we first chopped boiled and stirred, the Gnomes returned and we bottled up the wine. A dozen each thereabouts. We reckon it packs quite a punch.



We sampled a little; its very good, spirit-like its so punchy, no hint of carrot and the bloke reckons 'it tastes a bit like Christmas'.

The Gnomes also guided me in a trimming and carving session on a huge hunk of beef. I now have lots of meals of thin schnitzel, a fillet for christmas, some steaks and chunks for curry or mince. What a rare treat! I even got invited to a 'pluckin' party'! Like minds is all Im saying. Stay tuned for that post.


The boybeans got a sweet little thing goin' on with Veggie Gnome. Must be all the berries...

A little bit of inspiration

If you're after some, check out Jessica Watsons blog, live from wherever she may be, sailing her way around the world in an attempt to be the youngest solo circumnavigator. I have to admit to being a little swayed by my own prejudice (none of it remotely rational, ick, but then that's prejudice...) and all the negative publicity following her notorious 'first day at sea' accident with a 52,000 tonne tanker -oops- in her pretty pink 34" (and dont we Aussies just love a tall poppy?), but really what better publicity? But after reading her blog, shes a pretty amazing level headed 16 year old who can pen a decent piece (whatever that may mean in this keyboard world). Good on her for following her dreams and believing in herself at such a bloody young age. For all the nay-saying, I never begrudged her the fact that she is out there doing something active, following her passions and believing in herself in such an amazingly self reliant way. Incredible. And I find the thought of setting sail on our planned world trip with five of us, daunting??? And thinking about MY 15 year old even suggesting such an adventure...pfft! Its a really interesting read to follow the thoughts of a 16 year old girl alone at sea and incredibly expansive to connect with another pace of life. While Im on the topic of new blogs, please send me your current favourite blog read. In the market for adding to my blog roll without all the surfing ( no T.I.M.E) as we all have blogger block I need to fill in the gaps people!

sweet beetroot pillows

or marshmallows! Made for the bonfire burning at The Mad Gnomes. I'm not really a sweet loving person, my buds tending toward the savoury and if it is sweet, then i like it not very. So marshmallows, being, well pure sugar with some egg white, aren't really my cup of tea. I mostly made them for the kids, to show them the difference between mass produced stuff you get from the shops and home made (not that I'd ever tried a home made marshmallow before, but I just went ahead, used experience, and assumed!) Funny thing was, there were no kids at home to a) help and watch and b) to try the damn things! but I like doing stuff I haven't done before so it was in interesting experience, learning the nature of hot sugar syrup and egg white and whipping. The recipe is courtesy of River Cottages' Mr. Whittingstall.

Marshmallows
Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp cornflour
• A little vegetable oil for oiling the tin and knife
• 1 small, raw, peeled beetroot
• 25g gelatine powder (about 2 sachets, but check the packet)
• 500g granulated sugar
• 2 egg whites

Method:

1. Sift the icing sugar and cornflour together into a small bowl.
2. Rub a shallow cake tin of about 20x20cm with a few drops of vegetable oil and shake a little of the icing sugar mixture around the tin to coat the base and sides.
3. Grate the beetroot into a small bowl and pour over 125ml of nearly boiling water and leave to infuse for 30 seconds. Strain the pink, nearly boiling water into a bowl and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Stir until all of the gelatine has dissolved.
4. Put the sugar into a medium-sized saucepan with 250ml of water. Warm over a low heat, stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved, then place a sugar thermometer in the pan and raise the heat, allowing the mixture to boil fiercely without stirring until the thermometer reads 122C. Remove from the heat and pour the beetroot/gelatine mixture into the hot sugar syrup, stirring until everything is well blended.


5. Pour the egg whites into the large bowl of a mixer and beat until stiff. With the mixer going at a low speed, slowly pour in the sugar mixture in a steady, gentle trickle. After you’ve added all of the syrup, leave the machine to carry on beating until the mixture turns really thick and bulky but is still pourable – when you lift up the beater, it should leave a ribbon trail of the mixture on the surface which takes a few seconds to sink back down into the mix.
6. Pour the marshmallow into the prepared tin. Leave to set in a cool place (do not refrigerate) for an hour or two.
7. Dust a chopping board with the rest of the cornflour and icing sugar mixture. Coat a knife with a little oil. Carefully ease the marshmallow out of the tin onto the board, helping it out where necessary with the knife.

Make sure all of the surfaces of the marshmallow are entirely dusted with the icing sugar mixture. Cut the marshmallows into squares, oiling and dusting the knife as needed. Store in an airtight tin lined with baking parchment.


Sticky, uber-soft, fluffy, rubbery buggers they are. No way they'd stay on a stick for toasting. More like a quick pick up and toss in the mouth before you either squash it completely or it drips through your fingers. They are incredibly,FANTASTICALLY ...flubbery ! They taste like, umm, sugar with a touch of earth.

*B2's verdict upon return: they taste like weeds! S'mores here we come!

do you hide your blogging?

this question has been on my mind for a while and Ive basically been wondering if Im abnormal. I do not tell people outright that I have a blog. I may say that 'I blog' but thats vague; it can be taken a passive and not an active statement. i generally dont say I have a blog and here's the address. I dont invite my close others in. I have over time become comfortable with the Bloke reading it but thats taken a while, he didnt know about it for ages. Its an interesting thing this 'hiding' from close friends and family. Why? Is it the idea that we can be seen differently? that we may present a face unknown to those who believed they knew? Is it an essential shyness, an insecurity? Im not really too sure. Im getting better at disclosing it. Are you an overt or a covert blogger? Im curious.

i was thinking...

thinking that all your comments on yesterdays post were so great that I could post bits of my thesis here every day we could get this damn Thing done together! Whaddaya reckon?

time to purge

I think this is going to be a vomit post- you know the ones, they just spill out, no real theme or rhyme or reason, no plan. Its either that or no post at all, and that just bugs me no end, so goddamit, Im posting! It could turn into a whinge post too, about how tired I feel which also makes me not want to post (i know, just dont do it! but well I must be a bit OCD or something, else just a control freak coz i want to write but cant put two coherent thoughts together really, so lets just see where this ends up..) Well now that Ive started its surprisingly alieviated some pressure, of what we're still not sure, right?. Im cooking, just not posting about my storms, not entirely sure why, but mostly it just seems like just our bloody dinner and who the hell would be interested in the tortilla, the pide or the bio-burger? Im still gardening and its the same gig; who the hell cares that the leaves are being munched off the tomato plants by unidentified leaf munchers who leave bare stems in their wake? or the cucumbers Ive planted out, who gives a hoot? I suppose my creative mojo has just been subsumed. Kids, house, garden, paid work, clubs, volunteer work, PhD. Have found myself frequently wondering how people manage big families? Crrr-azy busy!

The 'holy crap B1 is dating a bloke' saga continues. The heats gone out if it (at my end only!) Shame. Was hoping for some incompatible fizzle. But we're all still talking, being honest and telling it like it is around here and we have noticed that she has grown and met our expectations with her usual amazingness and loads of responsibility, so i am really appreciative of her management of most of the stuff thats come up and out of this situation. Every now and then she shows her age and I just want to slam my adult trump card down on the table and say ' see, its too hot! get out of the kitchen' or 'you wanna play being a grown up, this is what you have to deal with' but mostly I manage the demon. She tells me stuff, I respond, we debate and we move through. Its all good, well as good as it can be when you've got shit like this going on. We still havent met, Ive tried but apparently he's concerned about his hair... A spin off issue has been appropriately guiding her little sister through the matter. Not easy when they talk to each other and Im the bad guy. Im hoping for a rewarding parenting moment in 15 years time.

The garden grows, problems get solved, we love and laugh, we clean and tidy and sweep and wash, work gets done and time passes.

The Thing moves on.
It should be a great Christmas.

was I being dramatic?

...just a bit. But i took your advice yesterday and today and it feels good. I overcame a huge theoretical hurdle that i have been avoiding for oh, just a few years and didnt feel so bad about missing out on the gardening. I did get out and water a few new seedlings, planted out some radiccio and tomatoes that were getting ahead and generally hung out with the boybean in between storming my way through a chapter.I have to say, this outlook on a sunny day can get me sitting in front of my laptop anytime...
Somehow, in between, we managed a leisurely afternoon tea with the Gnomes who were visiting for the first racking of the 'TRMG' carrot and citrus wine we are making as a joint venture and somehow, the leftover waffles that B2 made for breakfast (doh! she made a recipe for 6 when only 2 were at home to potentially eat waffles) morphed into a waffle, redcurrant and orange 'bread and butter' pudding to share. We are hoping the wine is ready for Christmas consumption. So far, so good.

Just call me Molly Malone

My love of free food, wild food, foraged food, happy food is well known to you who read this Blog. Its something deep within me, a wonderful a sense of connection with nature, the environment, with the continium that is 'My Life'. I love it. One thing I look forward to each year is the start of Cockle season; November 1 here in South Australia. Over the past few years, cockle sizes have been diminishing and a shorter cockle season for the professionals last year was ordered in the hope of boosting both size and numbers of this years harvests. Im looking forward to seeing the impact of this shorter season.

I go 'hunting' cockles at Middleton, 'Cockle beach', where the Cockle train passes by with its puffing and choo-choo'ing, it makes for a lovely day. I thought, why look forward to this wonderful beginning with just my family? Is anyone interested in a Blog Cockle hunt sometime in November? I thought we could meet at the beach on a nice sunny day, 'hunt' cockles and then head back to 'our' beach house for some homemade fettucine alla Vongole or Chorizo and Vongole paella and then make our ways back to our respective city homes, beachy, salty, sandy and happy with a bucket or two of freshly collected cockles.

duck and porcini ragu with papardelle

To celebrate the coming for dinner of a Perth based blog comrade, laurajane from Loving the Question a life from a midwifes perspective and our first face to face meeting, someting delicious was a definite. I had two ducks in the freezer so i knew it was time to get creative with one of them. Both purchased for a song at $5 each, free ranged and in need of a new home. Mine. Im detecting a very strong theme in my culinary choices these days; whole small wild and game animals are making their way to our table and into our pantry with increasing frequency. Im starting to dream of shotguns and wide open spaces and a pig or two! Its worrying my husband.

So, never having jointed a whole duck before, i loaded up the trusty laptop, pulled up a Youtube clip and away i went, rewinding every so often to get it right. Easy peasy was the ducky. le viola! two legs, two wings, two breasts, one neck, lots of extra skin and an empty carcass. Not difficult at all, you just have to have a sharp knife and keep it close to the bone and cartilage. Usually the pluck is packaged up inside, but this ducky was pluck empty!

Jen from found in translation had suggested this recipe and the blog post was so funny and tickled my fancy that i had to have 'a bit of that'. The recipe called for duck breast but a ragu is always so nice, tender and rich that i chose to use the legs and one breast for this dish as confit duck legs arent really an option as theyre not my thing. But duck stock, rendered duck fat for treaty potatoes and a proscuitto style cured duck breast used up all that remained. Duck breast is happily hanging with the salami, stock in freezer and fat in glass in the fridge. More on that in another post. I opted to ditch the gnocci for a silkier lighter parpadelle and after trying a reconstituted saffron milk cap from my stash, porcini was definitely the way to go. My saffron milk caps dried well and have great flavour but reconstitute into inner sole so do only for flavour, not food. Any ideas why?
I picked up laurajane from the airport, foul weather had kept her in the plane on the tarmac for an hour after landing, poor thing. Welcome to Adelaide! When released, we headed straight for the Central market as my ducky morning didnt leave me any time for home made papardelle. Its weird how guilty i feel about buying things like pasta now. Pasta in bag, we headed home for an evening of conversation and some kid chaos.

The pasta was really really good and relatively simple. The ragu was rich, and sweet and surprisingly not too fatty. Expatriate kitchen was right. "Nothing with duck fat, red wine, porcini and butter could be too bad!" We followed up with a Jamie Oliver baked pear recipe in an orange walnut vanilla syrup served with toasted walnut marscapone. I took this pic mid prep in the afternoon, by desert time all camera activities were long forgotten. Not surprisingly i was totally cactus by half eleven after a full and interesting day. Blog meet ups are always so fun and laura jane was exactly as i had imagined her. Full of life and light and a very generous soul. This is the very special wild woman brooch she made for me, 'Marina'. Hand made and hand dyed felt in my favourite colours, beading and stitching. Isn't she a stunner? Dinner pales in comparison.

oh my

isnt the internet interesting? Can someone please explain how one gets from a post on a yoga massage in a Bali to being referenced on this site?

more feckin' food

I could post about about the glorious day in the sun yesterday, playing with the bean in his sandpit for the first time, involved in the moment, watching the bean have endless fun redistributing sand everywhere but in the pit; underneath the deck now lies half the contents. We watched the Bloke finish the last bit of the studio floor too, finally (but hey, Im not building the damn thing so technically I cant really bitch about the timing)but its not very riveting for others and i didnt take any pics. It was great to be outside again in good weather. Winter's a bitch and its hailing now.
Last nights Weekend Carnivore Finale was Baked Wild Bunny with Pancetta and Olives.
I had a mildly hard time portioning the thing. Not used to bunny physiology so had to do a lot of 'intuitive' knife work (You Tube helped) ahhh, technology in the kitchen. The front legs freaked me a bit, rotating free like flippers; no joint, just a shoulder blade. Little thing looked a bit sad all splayed out on the board; I just had to do a little bit of mindbending dissasociating. I took a rather 'interesting pic of the bunny before i worked out how to make a skinned rabbit look less terrifying. Portioned, I olive oiled it all up and covered with thyme, rosemary, garlic, salt and two small fresh (from the freezer) chopped chilli, some fresh picked whole baby purple dragon carrots and then layered on some more meat! some local, biodynamic naturally cured pancetta. .
I bunged that in the oven for 20 minutes, then removed and added a cup of white wine and a good handfull of black olives and and baked again until cooked. Served this up with a homegrown trio of baked King Edwards (my new favourite potato) with rocksalt, balsamic glazed bulls blood beets and sauteed kale with Mad Gnome garlic. I left the kale in the pan too long and crisped it up quite a bit, shattering between the teeth type crispy. Got me thinking that on purpose deep fried kale could be worthwhile or tempura kale. Anyone tried this?
Meanwhile i put the rib carcass of the bunny in a pot with some of my freezer collection of celery tops, coriander roots etc and herbs. I just keep adding to this collection whenever i have 'stock bits' but am not making stock. I recommend keeping a freezer bag of 'stock bits' as it makes spontaneous stock making not only a breeze but possible.
We gnawed our way through this finger licking feast with the rest of the wine. Never having eaten rabbit before outside a pie, i was impressed with the flavour. We will definitely be adding bunny to the list. This dish was full of flavour but a litle on the dry side. Rabbit cacciatore or Essex Fried Rabbit Jamie Oliver style, next.

We then settled down for some more homegrown downsizing and foraging fun ala Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall style with a limoncello (almost that time of the year again folks). Lights went out at 1am. One whole series down and umm. endless more to go! Thanks Gnomes. Maybe this afternoon I will get around to fixing my header pic; its been bugging me for weeks but havent had the time nor inclination to fix it.

afternoon delight

Sunday afternoon visitors are a great treat for me, especially during the winter months. It means a compulsory but welcomed stint in the kitchen and a fire on early. Pretty close to heaven. The kids love it too; a sense of ease and timelessness, everyone leisurely enjoying their own pace and interests together downstairs in the warmth. The Mad Gnomes dropped in, kindly proffering the prize i won, The Silver Spoon, in their Gnome competition (decorated with a homegrown head of garlic!)
What a prize! Described as Italy's best selling cookbook for over fifty years and the bible of authentic Italian cooking, I was pretty stoked at winning such a tome! Befitting a delicious biscuit to serve with drinks dont you think?

Chocolate Wheaties

90gm butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup wheatgerm
3/4 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 white self-raising flour
90g dark chocolate

Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, beat well. Add coconut and wheatgerm and flours. Roll teaspoonfulls into balls and squash with a fork. Bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minuites. Dip in melted chocolate. Refridgerate to set on a wire rack. Eat.

a house called nut and some eco stuff

A bit of link love this morning. I have discovered a wonderful blog all the way from Finland A House called Nut is a wonderful exploration of life by a couple living in a house called 'nut' in the forests of Finland. She blogs about making, foraging, wilderness, growing...all the good stuff and has a great photographic eye. Her tutorials are great too; her bangle wristwarmers got me all yarn excited. Another great blog that I susbscribe too on another forum is Inhabitat: its a green 'design' weblog , "devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future". It throws up some really cutting edge ideas and designs and is an exciting and interesting read covering areas of architecture, interiors, products, technology, energy and the arts. A more local newsletter i subscribe to is ecoconnect , a small Aussie business (located in Brissie) who specialise in communicating, educating and engaging creatively about science, natural resource management and the environment. Their newsletter is a great source of eco ideas. Oh, and a fresh new blog by an Adelaide landscape architecht with an eco passion often sidelined by great food who has a new blog all her own My Feet Move Forwards. Check 'em out.

a little help from my friends

Now we're home, Im back to banging on about the impending business venture. Im at a point where decisions about certain things need to be made and Im going to be shameless and ask all you readers out there for some help again. I need to understand how someone, other than me, would go about searching online for some produce bags to use at markets or to replace the plastic ones for fruit and veg you find in the supermarkets. If you were going to do a search online for some bags like this, what key search terms would you use?

its a small, small world

Ive been meaning to do this cross post for a while. Its just a simple lovely story about how blogging can shrink the world and generate connections and enhance community where you never thought they'd exist. I 'found' Kale for Sale via One Green Generation last year sometime and loved her clarity of prose and her subtle humour, and of course her eco-interest and wonderful photos. I've been visiting ever since. So here's a lovely post written by her that brought tears to my eyes. The giveaway is over, Im sorry. Do read it, it speaks volumes about how blogging can potentially have a huge impact in our lives.

my crowded hour[s]

Ive been mad crazy busy at work lately preparing to go on 3 weeks leave. Today is my last day at work and I have just crossed off the last project on my list. Jesus that felt good. Celebrated with a Kit Kat (shhh) and a cup off tea. Goin' craaaaaazy i know! I'm hours ahead of schedule and I can feel a stress release headache coming on. Mid-winter school holidays here I come! Not too sure about internet access where we are staying, i do recall something about wifi... will post if and when I can. Totally looking forward to weeks with the kids and the bloke, sun, a good book or five and some drafted webpage ideas. Any suggestions on that front?

a bit a me 'n' a bit a you

Blogging is a great way to connect, but it can be a little one sided at times. One writes about whats on the mind, whats important and at the end of that there lies some hope that you get some dialogue going, some feedback, some input. A conversation of sorts. As much as we all may say we do it for ourselves, it wouldnt be public if we didnt want some exchange.

Sometimes i feel like im talking to myself, other times i feel part of some delicious secret squirrel business; only we know whats going on. Sometimes Ive really wanted to know more about everyone out there but have failed to work it out. Sometimes asking questions is the only way to do it but the two way bit here online is such an organic thing and if it feels forced, its gonna flop. Thats the tricky part about blogging, that even if youre not blogging out of 'obligation';for others, sometimes you want to write but through lack of processing time it just doesnt make it to readable. Sometimes Im just so overwhelmed, awash with so many things all whizzing around that I cannot make a straight line out of a tangle of thoughts. Sometime insecurity sets in and you think oh crap, that was shit. how embarrassing, then you go oh well...and keep going, keep posting because it really is a means to ones own end, whatever that may be. I have been blogging way longer than I ever thought i would. Its magic and i keep meaning to read more, do some research into the social contructs around blogging coz i need some language for my motivations and the emotions attached to belonging to such a community. Is it really all about having a voice, being heard?

So i have a request for all you who read Taurus Rising, can you answer me a question please. It is this. If you think back to the past year or so and look at your own habits and choices, what would you say has been one of the most, or a few of the most significant things you have changed about the way you live, on any level, that you feel really pleased with, accomplished or proud. Oh, and why do you blog? I think i just need to find out a bit more about you.

Blogging Moments

Its the small things that count..well and the people, the relationship.
Having a blog, embracing it and all the wonderful varied folk who drop by and read it is one of those wonderful post-modern, novel, strange, and all other adjectives you can think of which encompass contemporary life. I have had many situations occour over the last few months where i have had to stand back from a moment, a comment, a circumstance due to my blogging habit, take a breath and go 'yeah, this is my life and i like it and i like blogging'. Explaining blogging relationships to a non blogger is sometimes really tricky.

Meeting up with bloggers, swapping stories, stuff, know what each other has been up to, travelling away from home and wondering if a blogging comrade wants to meet up too, running into readers who recognise you from your blog and introducing themselves 'yes, we know each other, quite well, but not really'.

Its the 'not really' that interests me on an intellectual level and Ive been thinking about this alot recently, as my tradiional friendship group has morphed over the years into something new. As professionals were all doing our own thing, moving where lifes opportunities take us, no longer stationary and available all at once, like we all used to be.

Additionally, at work Im all academic; the teacher, the researcher, dragging around a speciality, a credibility, an international reputation. Online, Im just Kel, my publications and letters and position dont matter. I am my most fundamental passions here; cooking, growing, conscious living, writing, loving, family and having relationship based on all these things. What counts is what i reveal; my life and thoughts and expereince. Its a whole other world. And yes, Ive been thinking about changing professions! LOL

What i find intriguing is the 'depth' which one exposes in a blog, what I expose in a blog.I suppose its just like writing or reading letters. Revealing.

I think what i am getting at is that it's a new frontier (new to those who take it up) requiring a new cognition and emotion to support it. People know you, yet they dont, yet they do! You know them, yet you dont, yet you do! Its a weird one to reconcile. Maybe its just me? Knowing, friendship, how is it defined? As you like it I believe.

Well , Im loving the new connections, the commnuity Im building, the exploration, the sharing, the novelty, the frontier. The way i get to share in such a 3D way; pictorialy, referentially, descriptively. Its such a wholistic communication in some ways. As a medium, its brilliant. Thanks for sharing. Im appreciating the relationship we have, you and me, every so often. I value your time, your comments, your experiences and Im loving this part of my journey. Who else would be interested in fungi Ive found, recipes I've discovered, dramas I've had and insights experienced, but friends of many kinds?

I am looking forward to seeing how my blogging fares over time, where it will be in 10 years time...where I will be in 10 years time...where we will be in 10 years time...how sustainable is 'it'?

Seasonal cooking

We're all pretty aware that we 'should' be eating seasonally but if youre anything like me you're not getting seasonal chow at a loca vore restaurant every day. You're doing it at home, pretty much everyday, working out how to make another piece of pumpkin or those greens interesting. Seasonal consumption assumes purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts and therefore implicates doing something with the stuff. It also assumes you know what is seasonal; an art of discernment which i think is probably lost on everyone who doesnt grow their own food; most are pretty out of touch with what produce in the shops is actually in season. I think the farmers market phenomenon helps incredibly with seasonal eating- if its not in the market it aint being grown! but if you're stuck in the supermarkets...

Good food, interesting food and healthy food as well as using seasonal stuff is my general kitchen aim but when faced with a glut of a few staple foods it gets pretty tricky to do new and interesting things that are also easy. Not another baked veg!!So my challenge to myself this next week or two is to do a few new meals using seasonal vegetables -ones that home growers and farmers market goers will probably have too much of (or can easily get) and are in serious need of some new ideas on how to use them, and post them.

They will be vegetarian which means healthier due to lower fat content, higher in fibre and much much lower in energy expenditure as they will be based around a local seasonal veg. as the main ingredient. Aim: to use up your glut!

I have however been fantasising about a warming beef ragu served on homemade fettucine *sigh*, roast chicken stuffed with lemon and herbs (sheesh-possibly i will do something with a free range organic bird).

Stay tuned.