Christmas Ham

Posted on December 23, 2015 | Leave a comment

We normally cook something for cold meat sandwiches just before Christmas. It might be brisket, or a pâté, or, as this year, a ham. I’ve just had a “carver’s perk” from this one, which is a particularly delicious mild cure.

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Eat your heart out, Ben Truman

Posted on December 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

There’s no doubt that Beersmith software allied to the Grainfather brewing system allows the home brewer huge freedom to experiment. I’ve been moving to hoppier and hoppier brews recently, including the use of particularly highly flavoured American hops.

bentruman-2Be careful what you wish for. This time I think that I’ve overdone it. Even the iconic Ben Truman wouldn’t want that many hops in his beer!
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Back to lovely coffee again

Posted on November 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

My ability to make coffee has been in slow decline. On my day I can still do it well – the grind just so, the dose well-judged, the tamp exact, and the water temperature beautifully in the low to mid 90s. And my nice Gaggia Classic was fully capable. I’m not blaming the tools, but the operator. In recent times I’ve found myself buying cheaper coffee rather than “waste” the good stuff on an indifferent brew.

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So with some trepidation, and a certain amount of regret, I chopped in the Gaggia Classic and replaced it with a Gaggia Titanium bean-to-cup machine.
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We went to Blackmoor Apple Day

Posted on November 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

I’ve forgotten how long ago it was when we first went to the Blackmoor Apple Day. We’d bought soft fruit plants and later apple trees from Blackmoor Nurseries, and got to know about the apple tasting in that way.

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Excalibur 4900 Dehydrator

Posted on October 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

I’ve thought about this in previous years, but not taken the plunge until now. We always have an excess of allotment produce which we find difficult to store. We fill the freezers and make jam and pickles, but we don’t bottle or can our produce, and we don’t dehydrate. It was the crates of apples that made my mind up. They’ll keep until Christmas, but not much beyond that.

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Not only can you dry apple slices, but you can also make “fruit leathers”, which I’m betting are going to go down a storm with the grandchildren.
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We won superb Blackacre Farm eggs!

Posted on October 8, 2015 | Leave a comment

I entered a competition run by the very excellent Blackacre Farm, producers of fine free-range eggs. And won!

The prize was a very generous six dozen “Waddling Free” duck eggs.

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Stoate’s Mill Sourdough

Posted on October 3, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve just taken six lovely sourdough loaves out of the oven, made with Stoate’s Mill organic strong white and rye flours. They smell and look delectable.

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I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to try one, though!
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Stoates Mill Flour

Posted on September 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

On our way back from River Cottage, we called in to the excellent Stoate’s Mill near Shaftesbury to buy some of their organic bread flour.

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River Cottage: Shoreline Fishing Course

Posted on September 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

It’s always a joy and a pleasure to attend a River Cottage course, and this one had come up as a special offer. It would have been rude not to. It’s been a while since I did any shore fishing, so that clinched it.

For the first time, Jean didn’t join me on the course, but instead opted to explore the local area. That was OK, but as you’ll see, caused me pangs of guilt later in the day.

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Allotment harvest: sweetcorn

Posted on September 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

Working an allotment sorts the “glass half empty” folk from the “glass half full” ones. Every year some crops fail or are disappointing. Every year some things succeed brilliantly.

This year, one of the crops that has given us a great harvest is sweetcorn. Here’s last night’s supper, picked just a couple of hours before:

Sweetcorn 001a
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