Apricot Jam recipe

My fab friend Biddy has an apricot tree absolutely laden with apricots and luckily for me she doesn't like them! So I went and picked a huge bowl of them and made apricot jam. This is a nice easy jam to make. 


Wash the fruit, halve and stone. 
Use 1.250kg of sugar to 1,500kg of fruit. And 3 tbsp of lemon juice.


Place the fruit and a third of the sugar in a large pan and bring to the boil. When the fruit is soft add the rest of the sugar and the lemon juice.


Boil then simmer. When the jam has reached setting point pour into sterilised jars. I do mine by putting them in the oven for 10 mins. Seal the lids and leave to cool.


Eat with fresh croissants!

My guilty pleasure

There is something lurking in the garden I simply can't resist. Beetroot. The best thing of all though is a warm  beetroot and mayonnaise sandwhich on white bread-sounds disgusting doesn't it? Trust me it's heavenly!

Some lovely friends of mine asked me how to cook beetroot yesterday -so just in case you don't know here goes:

Pick your beetroot and shake off the excess mud, twist off the stalks (the bit the leaves are on) so you are left with the beet. Give them a good scrub then boil in a pan of water (the water must cover the beet). Depends on size but they take a while-maybe 30-40 mins-keep giving them a prod-when they are soft in the middle they are cooked. Take out of the pan-cool slightly then gently slice off the rooty bit and stalky bit then peel off the outer skin. 

I normally do about 4 in one go to last me a few days, they'll keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

My only wish is that I had grown a few more of them-they will all be gone in a few weeks time.

Oh one more thing-don't be alarmed if your wee goes pink!

Lemon drizzle cake recipe

This recipe comes from my lovely mum-it's one of the only cakes I've ever made successfully. It's absolutely delicious and everyone who is lucky enough to get their hands on a slice loves it!

Cake

110g butter

175g caster sugar

175g self raising flour

4 tbsp milk

2 large eggs-beaten

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Syrup

3 tbsp icing sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Pre heat oven to 180 c

Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper

Cream the fat and sugar then beat in the eggs, add the flour, lemon rind and milk-mix well (I bung all my ingredients into my food processor it whizz it round for a minute until its all mixed in beautifully)-easy!

Pop the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40-50 mins.

Once the cake is out of the oven - heat up the juice and sugar in a pan and when the cake is still warm pour the syrup over the cake.

Leave in the tin to cool then devour!

Pulling potatoes

Ah the joy of digging up the first potatoes-its like finding gold! Home grown potatoes have so much more flavour than shop bought ones-they seem to cook much quicker too... not sure why!

Looking forward to eating many more of these-think I'll dig out some tasty recipes using potatoes.

All that hard work is paying off

My garden is an abundance of wonderful things to eat at last. Seems a bit later than last year but now the sun is shining things are really ticking along.

I had a really tasty thinly sliced courgette drizzled with olive oil and scattered with mint for my lunch along with a juicy beetroot and a handul of salad leaves.


Doesn't get much healthier or fresher than that!


Followed by a handul of peas straight from the pod-so sweet!


Looking forward to the beans and tomatoes. 


Cucumbers are still tiny but will hopefully get going now - the greenhouse lost a pane of glass in the winter-this has now been replaced so no more cold draughts.


We have a new resident to join Sam the black bird. There's a real black bird who lives in the hedge is his most disgruntled by his presence and keeps dive bombing him.


He's a big stone frog from the car boot-looks very happy next to the birds water pool. He needs a name...........

Biddy's prize radish!

What can I say...there is no hope! 

Cheeky strawberry