Look what I picked today!

Yes it tasted as good as it looked!

Easy raspberry and strawberry jam recipe

Having just made this jam it makes you wonder why on earth we buy it ready made-it's so simple!

Take 1kg of mixed strawberries and raspberries I did about one third raspberries and two thirds strawberries. Wash, hull and cut in half if large. Place in a nice big pan with 800g of granulated sugar and the juice of a large lemon. Bring to the boil and let it bubble rapidly for a bout 15 mins till it reaches setting point(this is where you drop a little dribble of jam onto a plate-let it cool slightly then push it with your fingernail-it should ripple up slightly-if it doesn't it will be really runny).

While the jam is bubbling away you'll need to sterlize your jars. Wash them REALLY well then place them in a hot oven for 10 mins-this should kill off any nasty bacteria.

When its ready ladle the hot jam into a jug and pour it into the hot jars-place your jam pot lids over and seal-this bit can be tricky as everything is really hot.

Mine made 5 medium sized jars.

I've just had some of mine on toast for breakfast-it's gooooood.

My vegetable garden right now

Baked Salmon and asparagus recipe

This really is so simple, relatively healthy and utterly delicious.

Serves 4

Roast a couple of handfuls of baby potatoes in the oven at about 200c for 20 mins in olive oil. Pop in some trimmed asparagus and coat with the oil-cook for a further 10 mins.

Then add a handful of cherry tomatoes, a few pine nuts and 4 bits of salmon. top with  a few rashers of bacon or parma ham. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar - cook for a further 10 mins until the salmon is cooked through and the bacon crispy.

Scatter with basil leaves and serve.

Aubergines stuffed with lamb and Moorish spices

Cooked this last night, it was very tasty!


The original recipe was for the Aubergines only but Alfie doesn't like them - so I added a red pepper which he adores.


Serves 4


Heat the oven to 200c.


Slice 2 aubergines in half, score the flesh and drizzle with olive oil.


Slice a red pepper in halve, deseed and drizzle with oil.


Place on a baking tray and cook for about 30 mins. 


Meanwhile heat some olive oil in a pan and fry up 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1 chopped up red pepper,  1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp cinnamon, half tsp of ground nutmeg and 1 tsp paprika then add 500g of minced lamb. Fry till cooked then add 6 tbsp of passata,


Once the aubergines and peppers are cooked get them out of the oven and scoop out the flesh of the aubergine add this to the mince mix. Season well.


Place the meat mixture into the aubergines and peppers -then grate Manchego cheese over the top-bake for 10 minutes.

Strawberrylicious...

...warm, ripe, sweet strawberries what could be more wonderful for an after school feast.


I've put straw under the plants this year-and so far it's kept those horrid slugs away. They are also netted so my resident sparrows don't fill up on them either.


We are getting about 1 bowl of strawberries a day-just enough for the three of us to enjoy.

The best way to avoid e coli

ummm..... ghastly business e coli-not something you really want to come into contact with.
Apparantly greedy salad producers have used contaminated fertilizer (poo-human and animal) on their crops earlier than they should have done. Not really sure about the process involved but the poo needs to hang about for 2 years so that all the nasty stuff in it has - dispersed, rotted, evaporated????  Someone somewhere hasn't done this so here we are with a rampant bacteria in our salads.


.....so what to do...grow your own! There's still plenty of time. Get yourself a few packets of salad leaves and a couple of tomato and cucumber plants and get growing. Get them in your flower beds, build a nice little raised bed or get a grow bag or a few large pots - not only is it good for your health but good for your soul too.

*** Breaking news... it seems that a beansprout farm in North Germany could be the source of the outbreak. They don't use fertilisers-the beans are grown in water. Didn't know this but apparantly they are a 'high risk food'-particularly if they are eaten raw.