Today's experiment.

I thought I would bottle up some of the Damson Gin which has been sitting in the dark for over three months now.  The damsons were far too good to just throw away, so I have made some Damson Gin  Chutney

Here's what I did. 

First stoned the damsons,which were soft and luscious, weighted them ,added  the same amount of chopped onions,and two large cloves of garlic, then  put the onions and garlic in a sauté pan with some butter and olive oil ,and cooked them until they were transparent. 

I then then added the damsons, and enough sugar to make it sweet .but not too sweet. Poured in quarter of a bottle of red wine,and the rest of the damson gin that was left from the bottling. Stirred that around, added salt and pepper, a touch of chilli and a small star anise ,and let it simmer down till it was jammy , when I have bottled it to be ready for Christmas.

It has made three pots,which will be good to give away with  a bottle of the damson gin. That's 3 presents  done!   I made some lemon curd as well.

The perils of being one handed yet again!

Last night as well as preparing a chicken liver terrine, I made some strawberry jam,as there was half a punnet left from when my granddaughter stayed the night. 

250 Grammes of strawberries, the same of preserving sugar ,and the juice of half a lemon. Boiled the fruit up,it set well, and potted it . This morning I was  tightening the lid of the jar, when it slipped from my grasp, and  onto the floor, covering my shoe and halfway up my trouser leg. Of course most of it went onto the floor,so I have very little to show for all that effort.

 Luckily it didn't break,as broken glass and sticky jam would have been dreadful to clear up.

One of the many times that  I curse having had a stroke which  has left me with only one workable hand. 

Chicken liver terrine is now cooking. Will take a photo and give the recipe later.

Very busy morning.

As it's getting nearer to Christmas,I have been thinking about what to make .

So, I have already started some Damson Gin,which is in large jars ,waiting to be bottled nearer mid December, and I have done Marmalade Vodka  too. 

That  is so easy, just some homemade marmalade  in the vodka, about a tablespoon,shake it up weekly ,and leave till it has infused,and then strain it,and bottle it. If you were to buy it  ,the price is around £36.00!

Also this morning I have made a large batch of mincemeat for mince Pies. 

Dried fruit,with extra golden sultanas 2large grated apples, trying to peel them one handed  is no joke. A little brown sugar, the zest and juice of a lemon and an orange, plus some flaked almonds,and then some suet. Added to this is a good tablespoon of mixed spice,and a teaspoon of Cinnamon,.then 

finally 25 cl of Oloroso Sherry. 

 I am having a friend for lunch ,we will have potted Shrimps,which I do myself,with lemon zest, powdered mace, chilli pepper  and unsalted butter.   Then Barnsley chops,lamb chops which are double in size, with potatoes, and finely sliced  leeks and Courgettes cooked together.

Finally we shall have a plum and apple crumble , the topping done this morningand for which I forgot one ingredient when I was half  way through rubbing the butter into the flour! 

If nothing else, REMEMBER  TO HAVE ALL INGREDIENTS TO HAND BEGORE YOU START.

when you are messy with only one hand ,it's a nightmare,especially as I got my glasses covered with butter and flour. Thank goodness the phone didn't ring.-

 .

Here are the potted shrimps and a corner of the apple and plum crumble, I can't work out how to take 2pictures in sequence.

The lasagne! The aroma is totally gorgeous.

Today.

I have to go to Hospital for a MRI scan  to see how the tumour is progressing ( hopefully not growing  at all .) after almost a year of treatments, I am down to bi monthly visits ,which is far better  and they give me the medication via an injection ,rather then ditzy all day having an infusion through my veins.

When I return I have lunch to do for my two sons  who will then go off to watch Bristol City play football, at present they are top of  their league! 

We are having a Parma ham and porcini mushroom lasagne, which I prepared yesterday. 

I made a thick white sauce,and then loosened it with the water from the soaked dried porcini mushrooms,plus I used dried morelles   ,and wood ear mushrooms as well.

Then layer of lasagne, then some Parma ham, then grated cheese,( should have been pecorino ,but there wasn't say to be had,so I used Manchego and Parmesan instead. Build up the layers ,and finish with the grated cheese.  Will try and put up a picture providing it isn't wolfed down  too fast for  me to wrestle with the camera.

End of the month,and it seems I have done very little

Maybe it's because I have been giving all my energies to getting back as I was on 24 th September, when I fell and broke my foot. 

 This  has been a nightmare,as I have  had to employ carers again ,and move around the house 

in  the wheelchair.  However, after 5 weeks of bashing into the walls  ( newly decorated) and taking off  layers of paint, I am now walking very carefully with a stick again. The foot hurts a lot, but I am assured it will be less painful as time  goes  by.  I feel I am living on a snakes and ladders board!

When I manage something worth putting on the blog, I assure you all I will do it.

Wonderful vegetarian dish.

Of potato, brown mushrooms, spinach.

First I cut the potatoes to roughly the same size as the cut mushrooms, and boiled them for 10 minutes, then I drained them,added a little butter,and put in the mushrooms. After 5 minutes, I added the spinach, stirred it round till the spinach had wilted,and poured over a small bowlful of very creamy leek and potato soup.added some ground black pepper, and turned the whole mix until it was thoroughly coated in the sauce. It is out of focus ,sorry about that!

Absolutely delicious none the less.