Friday 12 April 2013

I'm back

Hello everyone,

The wanderer has returned and somehow, although I have been away for a month, it is still cold! I've had to put the heating on this morning, partly because the house has been empty for a long time, but mostly because there is such a chill in the air. however, it hasn't gone below freezing and isn't forecast to either.

The good news is that all my seedlings and plants have survived, just about. The longest they were left unattended was a fortnight as I popped home for Easter and my home style seedling irrigation system - a washing up bowl full of water in the bath with a large wet towel draped across the bath with all the seed trays on it, one end in the washing up bowl - worked a treat, maybe a little too well as everything was very damp.

All the seedlings, with the exception of the aqualegia and cosmos, have germinated, which seems something of a miracle considering how cold it must have been indoors here and the bigger plants that I left in my mothers care are all ok she says, although desperate for potting on.

The garden, if not a picture, is at least pleasant. The daffodils are going to burst forth imminently everything is budding, but all the clematis look dead! Last time I saw them they were budding forth and then the snow came and all the buds are dried husks now. I hope they may come back, but I am concerned about them. Also one of my azaleas looks decidedly unhappy.

I was staying with lovely friends who made my time away a joy and from them, I have learnt new recipes, 2 of which I have tried already and one of which will be started today. I have never had great success with home made hummous, but the one they made me was so delicious that I tried again last night with much greater success. I think the problem with my old attempts has been that they have lacked flavour so their  coriander and lemon hummous has changed this and it was absolutely delicious. Had that for my tea last night.
This morning I made tzatziki, another simple dish, but one that I have never actually tried to make before. Since I got my yoghurt maker for Christmas from my sister I always have a surplus of yoghurt so this is a perfect solution for using some of it up each time I make some.

The recipe that I am curious to try today is to make a sourdough starter. I was fascinated by how my friends nurtured this pot of slimy beige liquid, but one taste of their delicious home made sourdough bread was enough to convince me to give it a go. If nothing else, it will be fun, so today I will make my sourdough starter, I think it takes about a week, but I will play it by ear.

All good, cheap, easy things to make today then.

Oh, and I had a spot of good financial news while I was away, so I treated myself, finally, to a new freezer, yes, a brand spanking new one, which will be delivered tomorrow. Mine is absolutely about to give up the ghost and I am terrified of losing all my food stores if it suddenly stops working (also I am rather concerned about it blowing up or setting on fire or something, it ices on the outside now as well as the inside and all around the electrics is solid frozen ice, can't be good). It is not often I actually get something completely new, so I am like a kid at Christmas.

Well, I am glad to be home for 3 and a half weeks and will finally catch up with all of your blogs over the next few days.

No pictures today I'm afraid, but I will remedy that next time.

25 comments:

  1. Welcome back! Paul Hollywood on his bread programme did a sourdough starter but it seemed very long winded and needed to be kept growing all the time. As much as I love sourdough, wouldn't want to make it every time. I found what might be a better recipe on the back of my flour packet so will give it a go. Once you take some of it to make it, it stays in the fridge with just the very occasional feed.

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  2. Welcome back Dan. It has been very cold in Lancashire while you've been away. My clematis plants are way behind, and I thought one that I planted was dead when I looked at it a couple of days ago - there's a tiny bud right near the bottom though, so there may be some hope. If nothing happens with yours I would hard prune it - you would have nothing to lose and it may prompt some growth.

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  3. First time to your blog and so liked your posts I will visit again!

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  4. Good to have you back save and sound. Enjoy experimenting with food!

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  5. Let us know how the sourdough starter goes. I have found a suitable large glass jar and have been meaning to start one. I agree that sourdough bread is delicious. :)

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  6. Hi, welcome back (I have been a lurker), please post about your sourdough starter when you have tried it, I have been putting off trying to do one for the first time.

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  7. Welcome back, Dan.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  8. welcome back I cant wait to see your garden and your seedlings.

    I love hummus and tzatziki. I could eat meze all day. if you don't make your own yogurt and only have very thin yoghurt strain it in a cloth. leave it to hang over a bowl. I love really thick tzatziki how they have it in Greece. Nigh on spicy with the amount of garlic they add to it. Squeeze your grate cucumber more than you think it needs, you can do that buy adding a pinch of salt. and I have found dried mint is acceptable if you cant grow it (mine always goes funny, when growing, I think it has a lot to do with the local cat population). with warm crusty bread broken in to chunks.

    I can feel the sun going down on my face whilst thinking about that. Yum yum nom nom

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  9. Welcome back, Dan - looking forward to seeing how the plants are doing. If you've got a basic hummus recipe that works, try roasting some red peppers and blend these in - utterly yummy!

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  10. Its great that you are back Dan. You are way ahead of me, I havent sown anything yet, it has been far too cold. Hopefully I might get some sown this weekend, the weather is to perk up isnt it? I hope you are going to show us some photos of your garden soon, cant wait to see how its coming on.

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  11. Hi Dan! Glad to hear the plants are surviving! That freezer sounds a bit scary! :-S

    Please could you share the hummus recipe? I'd love to have a go!

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  12. lovely to read that you are back again!i too would love that Recipe for the hummus!Carol.

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  13. Welcoem back - bet it's good to be home. I'd also like the lemon and coriander hummous recipe! :-) Sounds great. Ingenious trick with the seedlings in the bath - must remember that one. :-)

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  14. Yay, looking forward to more posts from you, you inspire me!

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  15. Yay, looking forward to more posts from you, you inspire me!

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    Replies
    1. Welcome to the blog, Wow, you seem to have read everything - it must have taken you ages!

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  17. Hi. Welcome back. The same thing happened to my clematis and now it looks dead.

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  18. Glad to find that you're back blogging again. I came across your blog two or three weeks ago, either through Frugal Queen or Going Gently, and enjoyed reading right back to the beginning.

    Looking forward to more of the same, especially the sourdough starter!

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  19. I'm just off to make some olive oil bread for our tea - it's fab for mega bacon sarnies! Looking forward to hearing more about your sourdough.

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  20. Welcome back! I am so glad your friends made your stay away easier.
    Lemon & coriander houmous.....nom nom nom!

    Enjoy your new freezer. I am sure it will be so much more efficient to run as well so perhaps your electricity bill will come down as well to boot!

    Take care, good to have you back. x

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  21. Glad you're back, missed your blog.x

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  22. such a clever plant watering system! I'm glad you had a good time away, your new recipes sound very good and a new freezer will be wonderful!

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  23. Thanks for the comments everyone, it is good to be back and good to be home.
    Hummous recipe now added for those who wanted it.

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