Weekend + food

I kicked off the weekend with some apple pie baking. I'd had some wild apples sitting around for weeks that I couldn't bear to waste. So I made up a sweet shortcrust pastry and cooked up the apples with sugar, cinnamon quills and vanilla extract. To the last pie I added some leftover frozen berries from the freezer.

 On Sunday we headed out for a dirt road drive and ended up at the local monthly market. I bought some lemons and plums. Home grown lemons are a rarity in our area. The plums I thought I would turn into some jam. My previous experience with jam was a batch of cherry jam at christmas 2008. It was really so easy though and actually a little fun... don't you love that type of cooking? If you haven't tried jam I urge you to give it a go. From 1kg of fruit I made six jars of jam. Fun and frugal.

Do you remember those quinces? Well, here are a few of them cooked into Quince Jelly. Which, by the way, takes a lot of fruit and makes a small amount of jelly. Now I know why the CWA charges so much for these jellies. Here they are in all their red glory.

Quince Jelly

1.5kg quinces

1kg sugar

juice 1 lemon

strip of lemon rind

7 cups water

Place washed quinces whole in large saucepan with sugar, lemon juice, rind and water. Bring to the boil, stirring often. Boil gently for two hours, remove lemon rind and quinces. 

Pour into sterilized jars and seal. 

I used a water bath method afterwards. Rhonda from Down to Earth has written a good post here about this method.

Adapted from A Year in a Bottle by Sally Wise.

Labels were from here. Other cute one's available here.

Hope yours was a good weekend.

I love old houses

There is just something about old houses, is there not? Particularly old, neglected ones, that have evidence that someone once cared for and tended to them. There is much beauty in worn floorboards, peeling paint and faded walls. And neglected old gardens.

  

Well, we could dream for a few minutes that we lived here... I dream of one day living in an old farmhouse.

The quince tree

A few doors down there is a vacant old house. We'd previously spotted a quince tree there so we gathered our bags and basket and headed down for a spot of quince picking.

It looks like I may be doing a little preserving this weekend...

This week...

Autumn has well and truly arrived..and is most welcome in my opinion. There has been a little baking, daily bread and a baked dinner (Daniel, second generation Italian declares baked dinners his favourite... and made me take a photo for the blog despite my dislike of using flash!).  Some unpacking and then washing of woolens. Doing a few rows of knitting here and there. Secretly watching what those kid's are getting up to outside.

It has also been the first week of school holidays, which has been lovely in some ways...and a little challenging in others.

Have a lovely Friday.

A table runner of sorts

We have this dining table, that has served us well over the past few years, but of which I've never been terribly fond of.  I'm still dreaming of that farmhouse table that I'm yet to find.

But meanwhile, to brighten up the existing table, I quickly sewed up this assortment of yellow fabrics from my stash...vintage sheeting, old tablecloth and scraps. I have never done any actual quilting. I've cut  and sewn fabrics together in a patchwork kind of way. So that is what I've kind of done here. There was no measuring or tracing and I couldn't find my scissors, so used kitchen scissors instead (oh dear) . Then I thought..let's practice some quilting patterns. So it was all quite rough with trial and error. But, at the same time, it does brighten up the space. Which is the main thing, isn't it?

Books...

I saw this book when it came out, and for some reason or other, did not even give it a flick through in the book store. I'm not sure why because I own Donna Hay's Modern Classics 1 and refer to it often. Perhaps I mistakenly put it in the "trendy" category. I was surprised to see it in my local library and decided to borrow it, despite the potential back ache from lugging it to the car  (this, plus other books and baby sling!)

I was taken aback by the amazing photography... so stylish, in a cozy vintage picnic and farmhouse kind of way. And yet the majority of the recipes seem quite approachable and look absolutely delicious. Being a cold climate kind of girl, my favourite parts were the Autumn and Winter seasons. Seasons is divided into the four seasons and focuses on the available produce.

The other night I made the cinnamon fritters, which were very easy and contained simple ingredients. They were quite yummy and were gobbled up rather quickly by all.

 

Can you tell I have a sweet tooth?

This next book, is one you may have seen. It seems to be doing the blog rounds right now. I have to admit, though, that i haven't tried any of the projects yet. But it does look lovely and the instructions look very thorough.

I thought I might kick off with the simple mittens above. We certainly are starting to feel that cold..so perhaps sooner rather than later. Will keep you posted!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Nooks and crannies

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.