Moon-gazing

This post is just a collection of pictures of the Moon, which was looking very bright in the the clear sky...

If you look closely at this one, you can see the Man in the Moon's face...

OK, yes, that last one is enhanced a bit! A Moonrise becomes a Sunset, maybe?

Later...

Decanting the Sloe Gin

I have decanted my Sloe Gin...

I used a paper coffee-filter in a kitchen funnel to strain the Gin and remove the tiny particles of fruit.

You could use a piece of muslin or a clean J-cloth to do this, but the coffee-filter does a better job - as long as you have the patience. The Gin passes through it very slowly - mine took a couple of hours.

End result: a lovely deep-coloured, tangy brew. Very much the colour of Burgundy Wine.

After filtering the Gin, it's best to taste it (seriously!), and adjust the sweetness to suit.

If it is too dry you can add more sugar at this stage. I didn't add any to mine, because we like it quite dry.

Best served with some salty nibbles, like pretzels or smoked almonds.

Do you think I'll I be able to resist starting it until Christmas week???

[P.S. If you want to see my post about making the Sloe Gin, click this link]

Callicarpa in the spotlight

This time last year I was seriously thinking of getting rid of my Callicarpa bush/tree altogether. It had put on a rather lacklustre performance in the berry department, and the branches just seemed straggly and uninteresting. In the end, I compromised. I cut away large portions of the bush (being charitable, I think this could be described as "hard pruning") and gave it a second chance. What a good job I did! This year it has been really spectacular, producing a huge mass of purple berries, which show up really well now that the leaves have fallen.

The berries are even more stunning in close-up:

And the twigs are already beginning to show signs of new growth, ready for next year:

Looks as if the hard pruning has restored the vigour of this plant in no uncertain terms!

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P.S. Nothing to do with Callicarpa, but continuing the poached egg theme from yesterday... Some people obviously have trouble poaching eggs. I suggest you acquire a set of Fusionbrands "Poachpods". You'll never again suffer from the wandering whites! Highly recommended. (Google the term "poachpod" if you need more info.)

My Saturday lunch

Jane was away in London at a competitors' club meeting on Saturday, so "while the cat is away, the mouse shall play", as they say.  I love spinach, but Jane dislikes it, so when she is away I often cook some for my lunch. A favourite combination of mine is to put an egg with the spinach:

It started like this - I picked a bowlful of leaves of Perpetual Spinach and Swiss Chard - an unusual treat at this time of the year because by December they have normally been hit by severe frost.

I removed the stalks and kept only the green leaves. The Chard stalks are of course edible, but I decided on this occasion to omit them.

I cooked the leaves over a low heat, using only tiny bit of water, until they had wilted into a soft mass. I then squeezed them thoroughly with the back of a wooden spoon and placed them on top of a piece of buttered toast. Meanwhile I had been poaching an egg, which I arranged on top of the spinach. Some sea salt, a few grinds of black pepper, a sprinkle of Parmesan shavings and Voilà...

Quick and easy to prepare, and utterly delicious!

Of course not only would Jane say that the spinach was horrible, but also that the egg was too "dippy"! --

"Vive là différence!", I say.



More fungi

Over the last few days a rash of little brown mushrooms has appeared on a couple of my raised beds. I expect they are very common and completely boring to those people who know a lot about fungi. I don't, so the appearance of things like this always gives me a little bit of a thrill.



I think that those three are all of the same type, at different stages of their lives, but then again I could easily be wrong. With fungi, a variation of one feature can make a big difference.

Meanwhile, in another part of the garden, the Earth Star fungi are slowly dessicating. They have reached the stage where they look like old leather.

The lighter-coloured sac in the middle - with the "navel" - is still soft, but the outer bits are dry.

I've done my bit to help propagate this species, by puffing some of the spores out of the "navels" onto the surrounding area, so I'll be interested to see if I get lots of them next year.

Unseasonal?

Will the weather please make up its mind when Winter is going to happen? My bulbs are coming up already, only a few weeks after being planted.

Crocuses

They are going to get a shock if we do get some "proper" Winter weather...

The "Autumn Bliss" raspberries are still continuing to produce a few fruits too. Normally by this time of the year I have cut down the canes, but I keep leaving them a little longer.

"Autumn Bliss" - 3 December

The Oxalis "Burgundy Wine" is also sprouting strongly. It had died right down, with no leaves visible, but a new batch has appeared. The foliage is not frost-hardy, so this batch is doomed to have a very brief life, surely?

Oxalis "Burgundy Wine"

Even the Coreopsis "Early Sunrise", which I firmly associate with July and August, is still producing more flowers.

There are lots of little seedlings coming up in the soil where the Calendulas were. I'd like them to survive over the Winter, but I don't expect they will.



Calendula seed, sprouting in December


P.S. Since I wrote this I have seen how rough the weather has been in Scotland, so I suppose Winter HAS arrived in some parts of the UK.



Carrots, Cardamoms and Crackers

I'm doing this post as an entry for the Christmas Carrot Competition at lovethegarden.com

The brief is to post a recipe showcasing the Carrot, so here goes...

My recipe is for a Spicy Carrot and Cardamom dip, served with Oregano and Sesame Crackers.

This recipe is a really easy-to-make one, using just 5 ingredients - Carrots, Shallots, Olive oil, Cardamom pods and Cumin.

It produces a lovely spicy, warming dip, perfect for this time of year. It makes a great starter for a Middle Eastern meal, but it's also perfect as a component of a Christmas party spread.

We had ours with home-made Oregano and Sesame crackers, made to a recipe for Lavosh by Annabel Langbein. They are beautifully savoury, making a great foil to the sweet spicy carrot dip, not to mention being a really convenient shape for scooping up dips!

Here's the recipe:-

Carrot, Cumin and Cardamom dip, with Oregano and Sesame crackers

Ingredients

350g carrots

2 torpedo shallots, very finely chopped
3 tsp light olive oil
6 cardmoms, seeds only
½ tsp ground cumin
Seasoning

Method
Peel and slice the carrots and boil until very tender. Drain, reserving liquid.

Heat 2 tsp of the olive oil and cook the shallots gently until soft but not browned. Add to carrots. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil until very hot and quickly fry the spices for a few seconds until the cumin darkens and the spices are fragrant. Add to the carrots and shallots.

Blend to a purée using a stick blender, gradually adding a little of the reserved cooking water to give a dipping consistency. Adjust seasoning and allow to cool before serving.

(Serves 4 as a starter. Double it for a party dip to serve 8 -10)

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P.S. Thinking about this, I have concluded that Carrots go well with most ingredients that begin with the letter 'C' - cumin, cardamom, crackers, coriander, chives, chervil, chipotle chilli, cheese, chocolate, (chocolate?? - now we're getting silly!)