Quick July Update.

It has been so busy here lately, we have had three birthdays and an anniversary, I have had two assignments to do and my eldest daughter has spread her wings and moved away from home. On top of all this it has been two months now since my cat went missing and my blog had it's first anniversary, which I missed. So posts here have not been very frequent, just the odd celebration post but we have been doing things... honestly.

At the start of the summer we made the most wonderfully tasting elderflower cordial, it kept us going for a while and the children loved it so much. The taste of this will forever remind me of the start of summer, my daughter affectionately named it 'flower juice'. Details of how this was made is on my husband's blog. He has also started off some more wine, last year we made some amazing wines, I'm hoping he can recreate these again this year. He has written about the wine in the post after the one above in case you fancy a read.

The allotment and the vegetables that we grow in the garden have really taken off, in fact last year I thought I had a glut of courgettes but that was nothing compared to this year! Everything I have cooked has included courgette and I do mean everything... courgettes are coming out of our ears. Of course I have made more courgette relish as seen in the above photograph, only this time I made a double batch of the one from last year. This year the relish tastes even better which is good as I may be forced to make another batch.

Must introduce you to one of our newest family members, this is one of our giant African land snails, we have had them for a few weeks now and they have amazed us with their antics and have doubled in size. My daughter loves snails and is constantly watching them as they bury themselves and munch their food... very loudly. We also have some stick insect eggs, my son is avidly waiting for them to hatch so that he can study them, as well as the pupating caterpillars. We will keep you informed of progress in the mini zoo.

You may have noticed the two blog awards in the side bar, I was given these at the end of June and I still haven't got around to thanking those responsible and passing them on. Watch this space though I will get to them shortly and everything else I may have missed out.

Courgette Relish

Still trying to find something to make with your excess courgettes?

We decided to be a little more organized and make relish this year, but all the recipes we found either contained something we didn't like or had enough ingredients to feed a small army. So we just tweaked lots of different recipes to fit our needs. We made it with courgette, red onion and pepper and fresh sweetcorn as my husband loves sweetcorn relish. It looked a lovely colour when we started.

The children have really been enjoying all the harvesting, working out new recipes to try and then seeing if they work. The cooking smells from the kitchen have been amazing too. This one was quite successful and I have been having trouble keeping it to mature (one jar completely gone already).

This is the finished relish, still kept it's lovely colour too.

    I love cooking when everyone is in the kitchen helping, even the littlest  ones,(who make lots of mess) it makes the end product a real family concoction, where everyone has had a little input into making the recipe work. The best bit is ... my son has declared it the best relish EVER!

Recipe for the courgette relish.

-750g grated courgette and 1 finely chopped medium red onion.

put in a bowl, sprinkle with salt (about 3tbsps), cover and leave overnight.
 in the morning drain, rinse and put in a large pan along with;

 -a chopped red pepper and the sweetcorn removed from a cob (recipe could easily take 2 cobs though).

-about 325ml of cider vinegar, a large pinch of cayenne and a tbsp each of mustard powder, turmeric and cornflour.

-500g sugar.

bring to the boil and then simmer for about 45 mins until relish has reduced and thickened and put into your sterilized jars (about 2-3 depending on size).

you might want to add some of your favourite things instead of ours if you prefer, then just enjoy.

Can one have too many courgettes?

       Well, it's that time of year again when the courgettes from our plants just keep on coming and everyone you meet gives you some more. I'm constantly thinking about what to make with them so they are not wasted... something new... that my courgette avoiding children may eat. This year I'm planning to make a courgette relish, courgette bread and I've even got a recipe for courgette cupcakes that I may consider, but while I was laying awake in the early hours of this morning ( yes, courgette induced insomnia) I thought I would try adding courgettes to something the children loved... cheese scones.

    
    I just used my usual cheese scone recipe and added grated courgette and amazingly all the children loved them and so did we. I recommend adding courgette to your own usual recipe for a slight change, especially if you have fussy children like mine who don't like too much change. They didn't mind when I added herbs to the recipe last week, that's what gave me the idea of trying to add the courgette too.


     In case you don't have a usual recipe here is my much simplified recipe;
8oz self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2oz butter. Rub these together in a bowl. Add your chosen flavoring to taste approximately 2-3oz (more if you prefer).

   I doubled the ingredients for a larger batch, I put in a grated courgette and the cheese. Add enough milk gradually to bring the mixture together in a firm scone consistency probably about 1/4 pint. roll out shape or cut, I always add a quick brush of milk and a little cheese to the top to give it a crispy cheese topping. cook on 200C for about 15-20 mins. There you go, something simple, everyone knows how to make and the children ate them... definitely a bonus.