Spring, spring, where are you???

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I started this blog on March 28, 2012 to help me keep track of my gardening jobs with some recipes and crafty bits thrown in. Then life took over at the end of summer and the blog went into a long winter sleep like a bear! Now the new gardening season is kicking in again and I’m back to blogging almost on the same date as last year – how funny is that?

This season I’m much better with sowing tomatoes, aubergines, peppers Soviet style, i.e. before the International Women’s Day – I don’t know why and how this tradition started, but for the last couple of years I was quite late with sowing these veggies and most of them didn’t have enough time to fully ripen in the English climate. Will see how they fare this time!

Some more jobs for March yet to be done:

-          Apply fertilizers before seeds are sown (seaweed, chicken manure, and fish, blood and bone meal)

-          Tend to strawberries (clear away dead leaves, apply liquid tomato feed and cover with cloches to stimulate them into flowering; when flowers appear, remove cloches on sunny days to allow insects to pollinate)

-          Finish winter-pruning blackcurrants (remove between a quarter and a third of the oldest stems by cutting them down to 2.5cm (1 in) above ground)

-          Sow indoors (aubergines, chillies, peppers, tomatoes, broad beans, peas, leeks, lettuces)

-          Sow outdoors (weather permitting – beans, onion sets, spring onions, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, radishes)

-          Sow flowers indoors and outdoors!!!

I am about 25% done with the schedule above, but hoping to be on track by the end of the month as the weather promises to improve by Easter (March 31st this year) and school holidays will provide some spare time to work on the garden – well, one can hope!!!

Seasonal recipes – Lazy Blueberry Turnovers / Ленивые булочки с голубикой

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Lazy Blueberry Turnovers

My blueberry turnovers on July 29, 2012

They are delicious and very easy to make and the children will enjoy making them, too.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

500g puff pastry

200g fresh blueberries

4 t sp sugar

4 t sp lemon juice

Lemon zest

1 egg for brushing

On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry into a sheet of 0.5cm thickness and cut into 8 squares. Into the centre of each square spoon 2 tablespoons of fresh blueberries, 0.5 teaspoons of sugar, 0.5 teaspoons of lemon juice and a little bit of lemon zest. Fold the squares diagonally in half and press edges to seal.

Place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment and brush the turnovers with egg. Pre-heat the oven to 180°С and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar and some cream.

(I only put some lemon zest into the filling, didn’t add any lemon juice, the turnovers came out very yummy anyway. Some recipes on the Internet advise to add some corn starch to the filling, probably to keep the juice from spilling out.)

 

Ленивые булочки с голубикой

Готовятся легко и быстро, можно приготовить с детишками, им будет интересно поучаствовать.

Ингредиенты:

500г теста

200г голубики

4 ч. л. сахара

4 ч.л. лимонного сока

Лимонная цедра

1 яйцо для смазки

Тесто раскатать в пласт толщиной 0.5 см и разрезать на 8 квадратов. В центр  каждого квадрата положить 2 ст.л. голубики, 0.5 ч.л. сахара, 0.5 ч.л. лимонного сока и немного лимонной цедры. Квадраты свернуть по диагонали с угла на угол, чтобы получились треугольные булочки и хорошо залепить края. Положить на противень, покрытый бумагой для выпечки, и смазать яйцом. Выпекать 30-35 минут в духовке, предварительно разогретой до 180°С. При подаче можно посыпать сахарной пудрой и полить сливками.

(Я положила только немного цедры, а лимонного сока не добавляла, всё равно получилось очень вкусно! Некоторые рецепты в Интернете советуют добавить немного крахмала к ягодам и сахару, наверно, чтобы сок сильно не вытекал.)

Давно забытый вкус – морковка по-корейски!

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Вот захотелось недавно морковки по-корейски. Захотелось и всё тут, начала искать рецепт, спрашивать друзей, родных и знакомых – безрезультатно. Оно и понятно, ведь спрашивала я русских, а они эту морковку по-корейски могут легко и быстро купить в магазине или на базаре, поэтому зачем им грузиться рецептом, когда проще купить?

Пришлось побродить по Интернету. Но, как говорится, нет худа без добра, и заодно с рецептами морковки по-корейски я нашла 2 потрясающих русских сайта с рецептами блюд, вкус которых давно забыла, а благодаря этим сайтам наверняка скоро приготовлю и вспомню – ура! Вот некоторые рецепты, которые мне хочется приготовить в самом ближайшем будущем – оладьи из кабачков (надеюсь, что кабачков у меня в этом году много нарастёт!), пирожное «Картошка» (помните такие?!!), Салат «Мимоза» (рыбные консервы первым слоем, а потом слоями на тёрочке овощи разные, яйца и майонез), ну и конечно же селёдка под шубой и винегрет!

Адреса сайтов, где можно найти вышеназванные рецепты и много много других вкусностей здесь:

http://gotovim-doma.ru/

и

http://forum.say7.info/

 

Ну а сейчас рецепты морковки по-корейски и пара вариаций на тему:

1.  Морковка по-корейски №1

500г моркови

500г лука

100мл растительного масла

1 ч л уксуса 70%

1 ст л сахара

3-4 зубчика чеснока

Красный острый молотый перец

Кориандр

Соль

 

Морковь натереть длинной соломкой (лучше на специальной тёрке для морковки по-корейски). Посолить, перемешать и дать постоять 20-30 мин, потом отжать.

В морковь добавить сахар, красный перец (0.5 ч л) и перемешать.

Лук крупно нарезать, обжарить в растительном масле до тёмно-золотистого цвета. Лук убрать (и не использовать), масло убрать с огня, немного остудить и добавить уксус. Горячим маслом залить морковь и перемешать.

Добавить выдавленный через чеснокодавку чеснок и кориандр.

Всё хорошо перемешать и поставить в холодильник на 2-3 помариновать.

 

2.       Морковка по-корейски №2

Морковь 500г

Лук 1 шт

Чеснок 2-3 зубчика

Растительное масло 50-60мл

Уксус 1.5-2 ст л

Кориандр 1\4 ч л

Красный острый молотый перец

Чёрный молотый перец

Сахар, соль – по щепотке

 

Морковь нарезать соломкой, чеснок продавить в чеснокодавке, сухие семена кориандра подавить широкой стороной ножа на доске. Морковь посыпать кориандром, красным и чёрным молотым перцем, солью, сахаром, добавить чеснок.

Луковицу мелко нарезать и зажарить до золотисто-коричневого цвета. Лук удалить из сковороды и не использовать. Горячим маслом полить морковь с чесноком и специями и хорошо перемешать.

Добавить уксус и перемешать.

Хорошо охладить в холодильнике.

 

3.       Морковка по-корейски №3

На 1 кг моркови:

1 ст л уксуса 70%

2 ст л сахара

1 ст л соли

1 ст л соевого соуса

1\2 ст л кориандра

Перец чили молотый на вкус

 

4.       Картошка по-корейски

В этом рецепте морковку заменяют на картошку.

Сырой картофель натереть на тёрке или нарезать брусочками, промыть водой 2 раза.

Картофель положить в сито и в сите опустить в кипящую воду, и как только вода закипит, картофель сразу вынуть.

Дать стечь воде и добавить все те же специи, что и для морковки по-корейски.

В конце можно добавить мелко нарезанное мяско, которое жарят отдельно на сковороде с маслом и мелко нарезанным луком.

 

5.       Салат с морковкой по-корейски и печенью

500г печени

300г морковки по-корейски

150г лука

Растительное масло, соль, майонез

 

Обжарить лук на растительном масле, добавить печень, посолить, жарить до готовности (приблизительно 5-7 минут), дать остыть.

Смешать печень и морковку по-корейски и заправить майонезом.

Variety is a spice of life…

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Parsnips "Duchess" interplanted with onions on July 17, 2012

Every year I try to grow one or two cultivars that are new to me, that I have never grown before. Last year these were parsnips and a single courgette plant, this year they are broad beans and turnips.

Parsnips were a great success, so this year I interplanted them between onions. Onions were planted in November and then parsnips sown in between the onion rows in spring. As parsnips take a long time to germinate, at least I know where they are supposed to come up one day. When the onions are harvested, parsnips will have the space to grow – biodynamic approach is brilliant!

Courgette "Defender F1" in July 2012

Little baby courgettes last year from my single courgette plant were so good, that this year I have more of them. I bought the seeds of courgette Defender F1 (a long green type) and also squash Sunburst (a yellow round type) and grown them all from seed myself. Courgette plants look much more ornamental in my “forest garden” border in comparison to squash plants, but the slugs love courgette plants much much more than squashes, so more lines of defence are needed to protect courgettes. This year I planted the seedlings outside through pot noodles pots (with bottoms cut out first) and then put some sharp gravel stones around and then Slug Bait pellets (suitable for organic gardening). Slug pellets need to be replaced regularly especially in this rainy weather that we are having this summer.

Young broad beans with potatoes, bacon and mint

One new crop for me this year has been broad beans which I sowed direct in November. They came up beautifully and were a joy to look at in late winter and early spring. I had to cover them with fleece a few times when frosts were forecasted. We tried the very young broad beans with pods in stir fries, and then larger ones, podded, in pies, stews and by themselves with sauce or butter. Surprisingly I liked their taste, so I will plant some more this coming autumn. The variety I’ve been growing is Aquadulce Claudia, very good for autumn sowing. They did get aphid infestation at the end of June, so pinching the tops off helped a bit. Then they got bean rust, so on July 15th I cleared them and now have some space to fill.

Turnips "Snowball" harvested on July 15, 2012

Another new vegetable I’ve been growing this year is a turnip. I bought seeds of the Snowball variety and sown them indoors in March. I kept the seedlings in a mini greenhouse in the conservatory, but we had a few weeks of sunny weather then, so they got scorched a few times and didn’t survive in the end. So I had to sow another batch on April 18th and then the seedlings were planted outside on May 20th. I also interplanted them between the rows of onions and they have been doing great so far. The turnips themselves look beautiful, very white and round. We tried them in a chicken and potato/turnip pies (pasty type ones), and they tasted lovely. As I thought they might taste a bit bitter, I made the filling with half young Charlotte potatoes (also from our garden) and half turnips, but as the turnips were so young, they were not bitter at all, so I could have done the pasties with just turnips!

Chicken, potato and turnip pasties

Now the challenge is to find more recipes of what to do with turnips apart from grating them raw into salads, and adding them to pies! So if you know a great turnip recipe, please share it in the Comments below!

Polymer Top Tips for Beginners

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Year of the Dragon earrings by Small Wonder Jewellery in 3 colours

Thinking about trying polymer clay, but not really sure what you need and how to go about it? Well, the good news is that you don’t need too many things for starters!

Get a light smooth ceramic tile (or a glass plate) as your working surface and some clay! Start with Fimo Soft and get a few colours, don’t bother mixing them at this stage (unless you really want to!). Work with black and white first (always a good classical combination) and then gradually add other colours, e.g. grey, silver, red and/or gold. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve with only 3 or 4 colours!

Dawn Chorus Beads by Emma Ralph

If you feel like exploring polymer further, you might also invest in a good pasta machine, an acrylic roller, some needle tool and some cutters. Everything you use with polymer clay, keep for polymer clay use only!

Here are 5 top tips from Emma Ralph (taken from Making Jewellery magazine, Issue 43, Summer 2012):

  • Ceramic tiles make great work surfaces – you can also put them straight into the oven, baking your work in place on the tile without disturbing it.
  • Mica Pigment Powders such as Perfect Pearls and Cosmic Shimmer add beautiful metallic shimmer to polymer clay. Brush the dry powders over unbaked clay and varnish after baking to make the colours really pop!
  • Thin card folded concertina-style makes a good baking rack for beads. Lay the beads in the folds or suspend them over the top, threaded on wooden toothpicks.
  • Always use an oven thermometer to ensure you bake your projects at the right temperature – the dials on ovens are often inaccurate.
  • If you don’t want to use your kitchen oven for baking, halogen ovens are affordable and maintain the set temperature more steadily that conventional table-top ovens.

Aurora beads by Emma Ralph

There is so much more on Emma’s website – http://www.ejrbeads.co.uk/ – lots of information, gallery of her work, tutorials, shop, shows and events. Emma also started a forum devoted to all things polymer – http://www.polyclay.co.uk/ – where you can find the answers to your existing questions and ask the new ones.

So what are you waiting for? Go on, play with polymer! You know you want it!