Friday 29 June 2012

Foxgloves and Gooseberries




Over the weekend I shall be composing a post about the Pictish Symbol Stones, as Kath over at Hillside pricked up her ears when I mentioned them the other day and would like to learn more.

Anyway, today I am up to the gunnels in ripe gooseberries and have come on line to track down some interesting recipes.  I used to make a lovely hot-water pastry raised gooseberry and orange pie once upon a year, but it is rather a special occasion beasty, so I want some more down to earth recipes which turn a huge amount of gooseberries into something useful - jam springs to mind, as I used last year's for wine-making and am still waiting to drink it!

I have also got some oatmeal steeping in milk for a nice oatmeal plait, and that will be my first job of the day.  Everyone in our house loves home-made bread (especially my son) and now I am on the last day of my anti-biotics (though still struggling a bit) I am feeling bright enough to bake again.

In fact, the little booklet of bread recipes which was purchased in the early 70s (Woman's Realm book of 101 ways with Bread) for 60p is still the one I reach for first, over and above all the more expensive and upmarket bread books I have.  Every time I open it, I am taken back to my early bread-making experiments and the feeling of having discovered myself.  Apple Yeastcake.  Granny's Cinnamon Cake.  Orange Buckwheat Bread.  Orange Sunbread.  Savoury Herb Bread.  Sunflower Loaf.  Crumpets and Chelsea Buns. 

Oh, and the Foxgloves?  You'll have to wait until I drive back up the valley again, camera in hand, but where they have cleared woodland a couple of years back and opened up the steep hillside to the sun, there are absolutely ACRES of Foxgloves.  I have never seen them in such quantity and they are stunning, especially beside the little waterfall. 


7 comments:

  1. It`s a good year for foxgloves. A clearing full of them must be a sight to behold.

    Good to hear that you are feeling better. Enjoy your baking.

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  2. Great to hear your feeling better BB.

    A few weeks ago I made Apple & gooseberry jam and its delicious.

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  3. DW - well, better up to a point. I still have the infection, which the a-b's weren't effective against, and am now waiting test results. The foxgloves were heart-stoppingly beautiful.

    Linda - lovely to hear from you. Do you have a recipe for the apple and gooseberry jam please?

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  4. I shall look forward to that!
    I was thinking your house must smell divine on baking days :-D

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  5. Never thought of gooseberry and orange but I have a lot too so will give it a go.

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  6. So happy that I've found my way to your lovely writings via CAF blog...
    I've been contentedly reading along amid a few of your post. I'm a fellow lover of baking (bread especially ~ started in the early 70's ~ tho mind you I'm not a day over 40, lol)

    Grand pics and words here - for sure and certain I'll be back!

    Hope you continue to mend well - take care of yourself....

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  7. Gosh, how lovely it is to hear from New People on my blog. I hope you will all visit and comment regularly. I'm struggling a wee bit at the moment due to this chest infection, but hopefully will feel a bit more like my old self again soon and get back to walking. At the moment, it is Car Walks with the camera . . .

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