No blogging today just completely random photos.
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Mama Verdure: Harvest of the day
11 MarTomatoes are plentiful – I need to find a super quick and easy tomato relish recipe… Got any ideas?
Oh and PS the blog is lacking in content at the moment due to the fact that Daisy and family are staying with us in NZ. It seems foolish to be online talking about our lives in the few days we get together.
So I will rave about my tomatoes and if you do find any good old fashioned recipes please share!
- Zelda
Letter to Kate
26 Feb
When I finally got around to checking out the "controversial" pictures of The Duchess of Cambridge’s baby bump in Italian Magazine ‘Chi’ - I admit my first thought was; ‘She’s on HOLIDAY again?' Does the girl do nothing but jet to exotic locales and wander about the world’s oceans? My next thought was; ‘That's IT?’
There's no question of the weight of responsibility Kate bears bringing a baby into this world who is third in line to the throne - and having worked in entertainment journalism for many years, the allure of getting THAT winning pic of the royal bump is not lost on me.
Fantastic piece on the Duchess of Cambridge's baby bump...
Mama Verdure: Size matters! Stuff this Marrow?
5 Feb
Size does matter when you compare zucchinis to marrows! I’ve been trying to regularly harvest my zucchini’s weekly to encourage more growth. Somehow I missed the big beauty hiding under my artichoke.
Only recently discovered what the difference is between a zucchini (courgette – if you are french) and a marrow. If you don’t know there’s a straight forward explanation and mouth watering recipe from the kitchen hands stories blog or an alternative vege option on all recipes.
I ended up making my own vege recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 medium marrow
- 4 table spoons butter
- 1 onion
- 125g cottage cheese
- 2 table spoons cream cheese
- 200g mushrooms
- sprinkling of fresh thyme
- salt & pepper
-1 raw egg
- 50g breadcrumbs
- handful of baby spinach
Spilt marrow with a knife and scoop out seeds.
Sauté onions in flying pan with 2tbc butter. Preheat oven to 190 degrees.
Add mushrooms & spinach.
Take from heat and mix all ingredients (except butter).
Stuff marrow, smear butter on the outside of the marrow, wrap in tin foil and bake for 45minutes. (Larger ones will need up to 1.5 hours)
Slice and serve with neapolitan sauce, rice and or baked potatoes.
Mama Verdure: Garden Diary – Harvest of the Day
3 FebThis grapefruit tree just keeps on going! It’s been producing sweet juicy fruit for since we moved in over 10months ago.
Broad beans get boiled up and served with butter and a bit of salt and pepper… and I’m not sure yet what to do with this massive marrow?
Any ideas?
Mama Verdure: Plum Berry Jam
24 Jan
Over the last few weeks weve been blessed by an abundance of plums from our own tree and generous neighbors. While reading Robyn Paterson’s book Tips from your Nana became insipred to trial the easy jam recipe.
Plum Berry Jam
1.5 cups of chopped plums
.25 cup of chopped strawberries
.25 cup of chopped blueberries
1 whole chopped lemon
2 cups of sugar (next time I’ll use 1 cup as I found it a bit too sweet for me)
The lemon adds a fragrant zesty quality which I admire about this variation. Both the strawberries and blueberries compliment the rich plums.
I will definitely make some again soon!
If one more woman bitches about the size of her body...
11 Jan
I am going to lose it completely.
Some of you read Kristen Lamb, who writes a blog about writing. It's extremely popular and usually very helpful. But her latest post was a digression -- an extended piece about being a size 10/12 and why she feels fat:
I am healthy, have beautiful skin and hair. I have enough energy to power a small city and am never sick, but I am still a size 10-12 and 170 pounds.
Whining about weight ignores and demeans the many incredible gifts we enjoy every single day.
Mama Verdure: Garden Diary – January Blooms
4 Jan
Thankfully my verdant garden has not been set back by the Christmas storms, heat waves and gale force winds. It’s still full of bright flourishing pink, blue and orange hues. For me January is all about hydrangeas, vibrant florals and fruit trees.
In November I let Zadie sew her own marigold and cornflower seeds. Interestingly all the seeds I planted died a terrible death and all that she saturated in mud then churned with her hands planted somehow have survived and thrived.
The grapefruit tree is still producing an abundance of fruit, I am relishing in having freshly squeezed juice every morning. In a few more days I will be able to start reaping the rewards from our plumb tree. My veges however are in desperate need of TLC. Sadly my weekends for January are already full with kids birthday parties and wedding duties. I will have to add my veges to my guilty list of constant neglect – I am already grieving over the unlawful fatality of my worm farm.
What keeps me going is my obsession with filling our house with hydrangeas. I love their variation in colour – they are the perfect perennial. If I had my way, every payday would include a new hydrangea. The look stunning in an old vintage bottle or a tin can they make an exquisite chic bouquet.
It doesn’t matter how busy or broke you are – if you have a house full of fresh flowers and can indulge in some freshly squeezed juice you will always feel a little bit luxurious!
- Zelda
Friday list: 4 January 2013
3 Jan
Today I'm going to borrow a trailer from a lovely person down the road and then roam around our property putting piles of weeds and cut-down branches in it. Since December we've been doing little bits on the garden so it's now time for some of the detritus to head to the green waste at the dump. Of course this will also mean I have to weed the side garden, which is super overgrown and also trim the lavender.
Love this recycled chair!
