I had that look in my eye. The slightly crazy one that says I am getting hangry, keep all hands away from the cage lest you lose a finger... Soothing words uttered in dulcet tones do not help this hungry/angry low blood sugar situation - well unless those words are 'here is some food to eat'. Nor does distraction - unless distraction is delivered as food. Are you catching on? Needless to say, I have learned over the years to never be without snacks. Nuts, apples, carrots - they float … [Read more...]
Sweet Chestnut Puree & How to Cook Chestnuts
You may have noticed that I've been receiving some slightly unusual produce recently. It seems that many early autumn fruits are somehow often overlooked in favour of more common ones like pears and apples and it comes as a bit of a surprise that such a wide variety of items are in-season this time of year. Don't get me wrong, I do love my pears and apples, but a bit of variation is good for the soul - and the belly! Speaking of variation I recently received a box of chestnuts and the game … [Read more...]
Lemon Curd – rules and bending the rules
Lemon Curd is one of those recipes that everyone has a spin - and an opinion - on. You should use whole eggs, you must only use egg yolks. You must adhere to x ratios of sugar to juice to make it very sweet, you must keep it tart. Use more butter, use less butter - mix it in before, mix it in at the end. Cook in a saucepan, cook over a double boiler. Strain the juice, strain the cooked curd. And on and on it goes. The versatility once made is as varied as the list of recipe options. Fill … [Read more...]
Whole Spelt Pie Crust
HEY, HEY YOU! I've recently updated this recipe over here -- you may want to pop over and use the new one instead! It's been refined over the past five years but I wanted to keep this one (instead of doing a 301 redirect for all you good blogger types) because I do think it's important to keep a record of where you've been. ~ JJ --------- I probably shouldn't start a pie crust post by telling you that I don't really like crust. Scandalous isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, and … [Read more...]
Weekend DIY – it’s hammer time
I've decided that I need something made out of wood to use for photographs. As the counter tops are old yellow plastic-y laminate, and the floors are unfortunate vinyl or carpet, and the dining table is almost black, and really really big cutting boards and butcher blocks are prohibitively expensive, I figured I'd just make what I wanted [of course I did]. Had a rough idea of what I was looking for and the answer came in the form of tongue and groove cypress pine floorboards - some how … [Read more...]
