Foraging Fun!

I have been hanging out for Autumn, Autumn is wonderful, the weather, the leaves and the foraging, Blackberries, apples and rose hips being the major players.

Autumn officially began at the start of March but we have been having a prolonged heatwave which has the result of Tasmanians being surly and sweaty  first we realise that our antiperspirant doesn't cut it and then we all wear too much and the place smells like a cheap body spray whenever you have had a visitor (not my friends  mostly customers by the way  I am sure all my friends smell very sophisticated). So it's been too hot but we insisted on some good old fashioned foraging anyway. 
Proper foraging. 
Not buying from farm gates or door knocking nearby houses (both of which were called foraging on Masterchef!)but picking from the brambles ourselves. 

We found a good spot near the river and whilst baby slept peacefully in the (well ventilated and shaded) car we picked over four kilos of blackberries. Well that's what we weighed up, I am fairly sure we picked more because delightfully quirky four year old never had any in his bucket, seemed to spend most of his time getting caught on brambles and still ended up covered in berry juice so he must have eaten more than we saw!

As soon as we got home I had to start work on using them as they were so sweet and ripe and warm they were already softening. Proper fruit doesn't keep well. It should be processed into delicious things as soon as possible or eaten whilst still warm from the sun and fragrant and juicy. in an ideal world.

I used the Thermomix to make jam (so easy it's like cheating!), froze some mixed with some rapadura, made a blackberry slice based on Bill Granger's recipe here. I used a sweet shortcrust base from a Leon recipe... because I knew I liked it and I could make double quantities, rest it in the fridge, nip out for a quick beer with fabulous people and then use the pastry to make both the slice and a a crumple topped blackberry and apple pie (for dinner). because I forgot to mention we found and old apple tree and I used the apples in the pie.There were some creatures but I cut the creaturey bits out and did only used the good bits!

It was wonderful. I wonder what we will forage next...?

Productive times...

I have been feeling like I am being lazy and not making the most of things but when I take stock of what has been happening over the last couple of months I haven't been doing as badly as I thought I had. there has been foraging and growing and cooking and all sorts...
I have been picking blackberries and made jam and apple and blackberry crumble topped pie.
Foraged some elderberries and made elderberry cordial. I would post a recipe but it is a bit from here and a bit from there and no firm recipe. I did use honey and cloves as I wanted it to be a wee bit medicinal and hopefully ward off winter coughs and sniffles

I have started ordering seasonal local veg boxes again and due to having two large cauliflowers I have now tried my hand at making piccalilli. I am supposed to wait 5 weeks before eating ...5 weeks? Oh dear, patience is not my strong point at all. My recipe is based a bit on the hairy bikers and a bit on the River Cottage recipe, if it is good I shall claim it is my own and if it is terrible I shall blame Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall! Having the boxes is a great fun challenge, finding ways to use such lovely produce and have as little as possible go to waste. there are lots of leafy greens as well in this one.
The garden (being a courtyard really) has courgettes, chillis, volunteer pumpkins (seemingly ubiquitous and follow me around to every house I move too!) little tomatoes and we found some baby carrots today (gobbled very fast by two small boys!) as well as all our usual herbs. 
Today we planted purple sprouting broccoli (hopefully not too late) radishes (I think it is too hot but master 5 reaaaally wanted some) and some beetroot having rejuvenated the soil with some blood and bone, chicken manure and cow manure.
I am now attempting to rest a while as it is over 30 degrees C again. Oh and I must go check on the solar dehydrator  I have made from a silver lined insulated bag and see how the pears and apples are doing now.
OK, so writing it all down makes me feel better, throw in making a few loaves of bread, several kilos of yoghurt, some blogging on a major parenting site, eldest starting school (now that has mucked up my schedules!) and expecting baby number three in September ( I think the nausea is subsiding now) whilst still running the business things have been reasonably productive (and reproductive!) in their modest pootling along sort of way, sometimes taking stock of your life can be very beneficial!

Jammin'!

I am amazed when you Google about jam making (or even read in a Book!) the amount of complicated shenanigans that seem to be involved....you need a canner (!) you need special jars, you need a water bath, you need shop bought pectin...it is enough to put lazy folk like me off jam making for life.
I picked some more blackberries today (normally 250g every day or so) and made jam. (Please note I totally cocked it up when I decided to measure the capacity of my jars by measuring out cups of water- in the cup I had squeezed my lemon juice into so I threw a half a lemon in to the mix when it was cooking to add some more pectin.. worked a treat!)
The recipe I got from allotment.org.uk- I have tweaked it to be even more Dull Roar Philosophy


Je vous présente
The Dull Roar Jam Making Method
Collect any jars you have from vacuum sealed foods such as jams, pasta sauces etc, wash and store for another day..
Another day pull them out (two will do) and pop them in baby bottle steam steriliser in the usual fashion- set to go.
Bung 500g fruit and 2 cups sugar with 1/4 cup lemon juice in a large microwave proof bowl.
Set to go for 5 mins on high.
Stir when it beeps.
Set to go for 20 mins on high opening the door and looking at it fiercely occasionally to ensure it doesn't boil over in the microwave 'cos that is some sticky sticky mess. Also stir sometimes when you are looking at it fiercely.
I forgot to tell you to put a saucer in the freezer.. do that now.
test a bit of jam on the saucer to see if it will set- it normally sets much better than it does on the saucer.
let jam sit for 5 mins (or not- I don't, I am waaaay to impatient for that!)
Pour into the hot sterilised jars from baby bottle steriliser and slap the lids on, the vacuum seal button will pop itself down and seal it. Jars and jam need to be hot for this to work.
Makes about two cups/ two jars of very nice jam very easily.

I don't know if the jar lids wear out or how long they would keep, mine are in the fridge anyway and two pots of jam don't tend to last around here as the boys love it on bread with tahini.
There you go- no mystery- not much mess and no special equipment- takes me half an hour from go to whoa (a bit longer if I have to pick 500g blackberries first...!)
Go, and have fun and be no longer intimidated by condiments and spreads!