Busy Bee

Well I for one have certainly been a busy bee over the last couple of weeks, explaining the lack of posting and commenting going on.

All of a sudden all of the plums and courgettes and beans and carrots and raspberries and pretty much everything else are ready and not just waiting, but demanding to be picked and eaten/cooked/preserved.

So I've been trotting back and forth to the garden and allotment with basketfuls of produce, being eyed suspiciously by people in the street. First up were the courgettes, which I made into delicious soup, with some parmesan and stock.

Next was the mammoth and seemingly never ending task of picking plums. James' parents have four plum trees but no time to do anything with them. So we have been picking and jam-making and selling them. Incidentally I one first prize in the jam class at the village show, which was hilarious as it was pretty much the first time I had made jam on my own, and there were about 10 other entries from the local doyennes (is that the right word?) of preserving.

We are also in plentiful supply of other vegetables, and are eating them roasted with herbs

from the garden and plenty of oil almost every day.

I had a brief but unsuccessful foray into cordial making. I had seen a recipe for lavender cordial here and thought I'd try it out. I ended up not with the glossy, orange nectar that the photo shows, but some grey-purple liquid (not syrupy) that tasted like lavender, but not like cordial. BUT this was all me and not the recipe, because I left it in the pan once it had boiled because I didn't have a bottle on hand. So I think it ended up stewing and going yucky. Must do better.

As mentioned previously, I have also been super busy getting things together for our stall at the Bath Vintage and Antiques fair this Sunday (Green Park Station if anyone is in the area). I will do a post about all the beauties I have found and things I have made separately because I think people reading this will lose the will to live otherwise. Anyway, I had been fabric shopping to Phasepatch and bought some lovely fabric. (Their website only shows their patchwork fabric but they sell a lot of other cottons and things as well in the shop, and the couple who own the shop are the nicest people ever, and I just love it!) Totally should have ironed these fabrics before I took the pictures but hey ho.

Last but not least I went to watch James and his friend Matt play cricket in Bathampton. It was a lovely afternoon, I took my camera (but not my knitting, definitely would have if I knew how long the game was going to go on) and took a few pictures. I was a long way away so they're a little blurry.

All in all a lovely couple of weeks!

Hello, my name's Helen and I'm a courgette-a-holic.

After a bit of browsing yesterday, I found a recipe for curried courgette soup. It was on a really beautiful blog, and I copied and pasted it, closed the web page, and it was lost forever. So if this was your recipe, I give you the credit and apologize for my clumsiness! I could happily eat courgettes every day, but I think James would get a little bored.

Curried Zucchini Soup with Coconut Milk

adapted from Great Food Fast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 1/2 pounds zucchini (I used 3 medium-sized), sliced thick

1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

4 cups stock (the original recipe just calls for water)

2/3 cup coconut milk

toasted almonds for garnish

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and curry powder and continue to cook, stirring constantly until fragrant (another minute).

2. Add the zucchini, potato and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender (15-20 minutes).

3. Add coconut milk. Puree with immersion blender or in batches in blender until very smooth and velvety. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Seasoning depends on stock and potency and freshness of curry powder (my soup needed very little seasoning).

This will be on my table tonight, as apparently courgettes can grow in one day. Amazing.

I have also found a pattern for a skirt that I'd like to make, I'm imagining it in a mossy-green thick cotton. Alas, it's an American pattern, so more searching is required for an English counterpart. I hate shipping.

One last thing, I am (as mentioned in yesterday's post) thinking about Christmas gifts already. One idea I had came from a bit of inspiration from Linen and Roses, where Fiona's sister made her a beautifully embroidered framed initial for her birthday. I thought this sort of thing would be ideal done on little purses or cloth bags, and managed to find some pretty templates for monogrammed letters, which I can embroider with flowers.

That's all for today, camera and photos coming soon I promise!