Abandoned Ship & Tea Pot Roses

Well, hello there! Hope you are still speaking to me after a very lengthy and unexplained abandoned ship! I hate it when blogs I follow do that, so I really am super-sorry! 

My summer actually ended up being a completely mental meltdown of work, mostly away from home. Think living out of suit cases, flights here and there, working endless hours, not getting much sleep and general delirium! I really had hoped to keep up with posts but with barely even being able to keep up with husband and home it just wasn't possible.

On my return to Friendly Cottage I can confirm that all is really well and good here though. The only sad thing is that I'm only here for a week before heading off again. So, we'll just have to see how I go on with that one! 

Anyhow, thank you so much for your messages of concern, continued comments and I see lots of new followers too. Some pretty tea pot roses as a peace offering?!

Homemade Elderflower Cordial

Yay, it's that time of year again that our gorgeous Elder tree blooms heavily with hundreds of fragrant flower heads.  Elderflower cordial makes a really refreshing drink. Use enough cordial to sparkling or soda water to taste and with plenty of ice and some mint sprigs if you fancy too. It is also delicious with a swig of gin or vodka or added to bubbly. Also use the cordial to make jellies, sorbet or ice-cream or use it to sweeten gooseberries or rhubarb. When our friends were here with us last week we got the kids to help out making our first batch of the summer. Here's what we did...

Makes about 2.75L 

(you will need enough stopper or screw topped bottles to take this amount)

2kg caster or granulated sugar

1.2L water

about 40-50 freshly picked elderflower heads

3 unwaxed lemons

75g citric acid*

- Stir the sugar and water together well in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Bring very slowly to the boil stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. 

- Meanwhile, gently rinse the elderflower heads to get rid of any bugs and pick off any leaves or brown flowers. Place the flowers in a really large bowl or bucket.
- Using a peeler or small knife to shave a few pieces of zest from each of the lemons and stir them through the sugar syrup. Thickly slice the lemons and scatter them over the flower heads.
- Stir the citric acid into the sugar syrup until dissolved and then carefully pour the mixture over the flowers and lemon slices. Stir everything together to make sure it is well immersed. Cover and leave in a cool dry place to soak for 24 hours.
- After this time, you are ready to finish and bottle. It's important to sterilise the storage bottles (to avoid any nasty growths) so wash them in hot water and then dry them out in a low oven (about 170C) for about 15 minutes (or alternatively, run them through a hot dishwasher without powder).
- Strain the soaking flowers through a very fine sieve lined with a piece of clean muslin, j-cloth or coffee filter into a large jug. Squeeze out as much of the syrup as possible from the flowers (but not so much the lemon slices) so as not to waste a drop!
- Then the easiest way to bottle the cordial is though a funnel. Then pop the lids on tightly and store in a cool dry place for a few months (although some people say up to a year - just keep a check out for any fur!). It can be frozen too but perhaps use smaller bottles so you can defrost a little at a time and use plastic instead of glass bottles (leaving a good gap from the top to allow for expansion on freezing). Once opened it should be stored in the fridge.


* The citric acid in the recipe helps preserve the cordial. It can be bought in pharmacies or health food stores (but you might have to search a few as not all stores sell it - it is said to be used by junkies also!). Read the label carefully as it can cause irritation to the skin if not handled correctly. A bottle of cordial is an ideal gift to give to friends. 

Garden Glory

Painted in Cuprinol's 'Seagrass' (& the trim in 'Pale Jasmine ') from their Garden Shades collection

Hurrah, we have a garden at last! We have grass and a path and all sorts of crazy things like that. It has been a long slog and to be honest the boy has done most of the hard graft out there (thankfully he loves it). There were days battling brambles, getting the tree under some sort of control, digging deep for unrulely roots and unearthing everything from bed springs to bones. Lots and lots of bones. We're hoping those of nothing more sinister than animals. 

The stages our poor garden has been through over the last few years

So, Mart is now a happy man to see nice new grass growing at last. No more mud slides for us. It's the simple things in life eh? Now, for the planting planning for the ultimate garden glory....

Anyhow, I don't have an 'after' photo to show you yet as the weather has been so grim out there. So for now I've posted a photo of our newly painted shed which is down the bottom of the garden tucked just under the tree. I love it! I was inspired by beach huts (one day, *dreams*) and love how this colour combination turned out. If only inside was a dream world of stripy deck chairs, hanging seashells and floppy hats. 

P.S. Are those elderflowers I see bloomed on the tree? I feel some cordial coming on...

strawberry basket

Sorry I haven't been around for what seems like ages recently - I was actually without my laptop limb as the charger cable stopped working. I freaked out at first but (as I still have internet use on my PC, albeit at a desk rather than slouching on the sofa) amazingly I survived!

Anyhow, I've been up to lots of things. Here is one project...I bought this (what i think is a magazine rack) in an auction recently with plans to use it as a strawberry hanging basket. I decided to spray paint it first as it had a funny mottled finish as you can see here and to help stop it from rusting...













I picked up the spray paint in B&Q - it's in sage green - very similar to the original colour but it gave a really lovely finish and was really easy to use. It was a pretty windy day when I did it (outside to avoid turning everything in the house green!) so it dried pretty quickly too...













I then lined it with (a small bag of) fresh moss which I bought here. I made sure to put the pretty green stuff to the front and any browner bits inside or to the back.

I made sure my strawberry plants were well watered and left them to drain for a bit...

And then finally I planted them - I half-filled the space with multi-purpose soil, removed the plants from their pots and sat them inside before filling around with more soil, packing it fairly well. I split one of the plants in two and poked them out the sides too - we'll see what happens there! Finally, I gave the whole thing a good water with some tomato feed diluted in there.

Just need mart to screw it onto the wall for me now!

Homemade Elderflower Cordial

So the sun seems to be gone (hopefully only temporarily!) but luckily I made the most of the last rays yesterday by gathering elderflowers from our garden tree to make cordial. The elder tree is a bit of a crazy grower so we are constantly cutting it back (you probably know it, it grows all over the place in hedgegrows, on wasteland and in the countryside etc). We gave it a really good haircut last weekend and then I dreamt about how many pleasant days we're going to have sitting under it once the garden is finally sorted out (whenever that may be..).

Apparently the Elder tree is known as a medicine chest - the flowers, leaves and berries cure all sorts of things from colds and flus to asthma, painful joints and headaches! Actually the tree is said to have a spirit called an Elder Mother, (I'm loving this legend already!) with many powers including protecting the land from negative energy and lightning attacks (!). Apparently we should show great respect for the Elder Mother and ask permission before picking the flowers and berries and cutting branches. Oops...we didnt realise this until recently but Im sure she appreciated all the trimmings to keep her looking good. Anyhow...onto the cordial...

HOMEMADE ELDER MOTHERS ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL

The elder tree flowers for about 6 weeks between May & July. The flower heads are best picked on a really sunny day when they are all open. Only pick the bright flowery heads that are laced with pollen (obviously not great if you suffer from hay-fever, so beware!). It's advisable not to pick from a tree that is beside a traffic polluted road for obvious reasons. Please remember to be careful when climbing up a ladder or wall! The citric acid in the recipe helps preserve the cordial. It can be bought in pharmacies or health food stores (but you might have to search a few as not all stores sell it - it is said to be used by junkies also!). Read the label carefully as it can cause irritation to the skin if not handled correctly. I used those gorgeous French Lemonade bottles which we had leftover to store the cordial. And remember..don't forget to ask the Elder Mother for permission to pick her flowers!

**Click here for 2010's Elderflower Cordial story**

Makes about 2.75L
(you will need enough stopper or screw topped bottles to take this amount)

2kg caster or granulated sugar
1.2L water
about 40-50 freshly picked elderflower heads
3 unwaxed lemons
75g citric acid

Stir the sugar and water together well in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Bring very slowly to the boil stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

While that is heating up, gently rinse the elderflower heads to get rid of any bugs and pick off any leaves or brown flowers. Place the flowers in a really large bowl, or even better a bucket (in fact I use a clean cool box).

Remembering to keep an eye on and stir the sugar mixture still, shave a few pieces of zest off the lemons with a peeler or small knife. Thickly slice the lemons and scatter them over the flower heads.

Take the dissolved sugar mixture off the heat and stir in the pieces of lemon zest and then the citric acid to dissolve. Carefully pour the sugar syrup over the flowers and lemon slices and stir everything together to make sure it is immersed. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a cool dry place to soak for 24 hours.

After this time, you are ready to finish and bottle. It's important to sterilise the storage bottles (to avoid any nasty growths) so wash them in hot water and then dry them out in a low oven (about 170C) for about 15 minutes (or alternatively, run them through a hot dishwasher without powder).

Strain the soaking flowers through a very fine sieve lined with a piece of clean muslin, j-cloth or coffee filter into a large jug. Squeeze out as much of the syrup as possible from the flowers (but not so much the lemon slices) so as not to waste a drop!

Then the easiest way to bottle the cordial is though a funnel. Pop the lids on tightly and store in a cool dry place for a few months (although some people say up to a year - just keep a check out for any fur!). It can be frozen too but perhaps use smaller bottles so you can defrost a little at a time and use plastic instead of glass bottles (leaving a good gap from the top to allow for expansion on freezing). Once opened it should be stored in the fridge.

Use the cordial as a refreshing drink obviously - use enough cordial to sparkling or soda water to taste and with plenty of ice and some mint sprigs if you fancy too. It is also delicious with a swig of gin or vodka or added to bubbly. Also use the cordial to make jellies, sorbet or ice-cream. Use it to sweeten gooseberries or rhubarb in cooking too.

These are ideal to give as gifts to friends. Pretty the bottles up by sticking fun labels on, covering the tops with fabric or paper and then wrap with colourful ribbons.

Next, I'm thinking elderflower champagne and then elderberry wine in the autumn....

sizzling summer days

I hope you have been enjoying every last sun soaked second of this bank holiday weekend - how amazing are those clear blue skys?! No doubt the word Barbeque has passed your lips and hopefully a sizzling sausage or two also! Here are some BBQ's that have caught my eye recently...

Thanks to Harry for the photoshop help i.e. doing it!

1.Portable Weber 'Smokey Joe' BBQ from Meadows & Byrne
2.Marks & Spencers kettle BBQ

3.Portable BBQ from Divertimenti

4 Bodums portable BBQ from Divertimenti

5.Gas 'Genesis' BBQ from weber

lazy dreamy days

Well, I have been really bad at posting lately, the irony being that I have more time on my hands than I'm used to, as the really hectic workload has thankfully eased off. I pieced myself back together by checking into rehab for a couple of quiet days on my own (utter fluffy-robed bliss!) and since then have continued the theme of staring into the clouds, watching flutterbys and day dreaming!

I'm totally loving these new found sunny days, having forgotten that we do sometimes get to enjoy nice weather here! Martin and I spent a few hours down the end of the garden (i use the term loosely...more like jungle!) last weekend, clearing out more weeds and dead wood. It has reignited my search for my dream garden shed. Here are some pictures from my ideas book....

Rabbit Food Ratatouille

My friend (and work colleague) Harry Weir is an amazing gardener. Each time I go to his studio I love to sit on the window sill and look down on his ever changing urban garden. It's gorgeous and if our garden ends up anything like his I would be very happy. Besides this though he also manages to head home to Monaghan every weekend to tend to his other (massive) garden where he grows fruit, veg, herbs and keeps hens (all for his stall at the farmers market in Castleleslie on sundays). Anyhow, this week he brought me back an amazing box of organic veg - all knobbly and mishappen, just like they should be.

Here is a recipe for the first thing we made from the box of delights - there is no way it will taste the same with offerings from tescos though! We had it with a yummy char-grilled fillet steak and some of Harry's spuds, simply boiled.

RATATOUILLE TO RELISH

Serves 2 of us but maybe 4 of you!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 large knobbly courgette, diced
300g mix of funny shaped yellow and red cherry tomatoes
1 large red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 mishappen green pepper, sliced
good glug of red wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and soften the onion and garlic for a few minutes before adding the courgette. Saute for a further 3-4 minutes and then toss the cherry tomatoes in, allowing them to soften for a few minutes, crushing them a little.

2. Next, add the red chilli, green pepper and red wine and leave to simmer down gently for 6-8 minutes. Season to taste and get in there quick before it's all gone!

Now just the small task of working our way through a huge bunch of carrots, beetroots and a prize pumpkin!