Phew!

Hello! I feel awful that it’s taken me so long to get round to writing this – I’ve not really wanted to go near my computer…

The thesis was finally submitted on Tuesday morning after some last-minute hiccups! Hurrah! I’ve been a walking zombie since then, and I was straight back to work on Wednesday morning.

I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ for all the supportive messages I have received over the last few weeks, I’ve really appreciated them. So, here’s a list of everyone I want to say a special ‘thank you’ to, it’s in no particular order. I’m pretty sure I’ve included everyone, but if you’ve been missed off, just let me know!

5 Star Foodie

Oyster Food and Culture

Laura at The Spiced Life 

The Cottage Small Holder

Giz and Pyschgrad at Equal Opportunity Kitchen

Julia at A Slice of Cherry Pie

Suzie at Essentially Healthy Food

Lucy at Teen Baker

Jules at Domestic Goddess in Training

Claire at Purely Food

Blagger

Mr and Mrs Dirty Boots at A Self Sufficient Life

Healthy.Delicious

Holler at Tinned Tomatoes

Femin Susan at Vegetable Art

Louise at A View from Carmine Superiore (you won’t believe how many time I looked at your picture of ‘the devil’s in the detail’!)

Gastroanthropology

Christelle at Easy Does It

Ivy at Kopiaste and BloggerAid (thank you for your patience concerning the recipe!)

 

Talking (or writing) of BloggerAid, most of my time since submitting the thesis (between sleeping and working) has been spent finalising my recipe for the BloggerAid Recipe Book, admittedly submitted somewhat belatedly!        

Mint Chocolate Rice Pudding

Here’s a picture to whet your appetite, but if you want to know the secret of the recipe you’ll have to buy the recipe book!!! All the profits from the sale of the recipe book go to the World Food Programme’s project, School Meals:

“Among the poor, there is often not enough food at home, and most schools in developing countries lack canteens or cafeterias. School meals are a good way to channel vital nourishment to poor children. Having a full stomach also helps them to concentrate better on their lessons. In countries where school attendance is low, the promise of at least one nutritious meal each day boosts enrolment and promotes regular attendance. Parents are motivated to send their children to school instead of keeping them at home to work or care for siblings. In the poorest parts of the world, a school feeding programme can double primary school enrolment in one year. Among the key beneficiaries are girls, who otherwise may never be given the opportunity to learn” (http://www.wfp.org/school-meals).

It’s a great project to support, and from some of the other photo’s posted on other people’s blogs, it promises to hold some wonderful recipes. So, if anyone’s thinking of Christmas presents already… I think the aim is to have it available Nov/Dec-time. Watch this space, or take a peek at the BloggerAid website for further updates.

I’m off now to go and start catching-up on all of your recent blog posts, get some sleep and then heading to the farmers’ market in the morning. I can’t wait!

‘Smoke flavoured reformed ham with added water’

Number of days until submission of PhD: 3

Stress levels: ‘Hard crack’ and rising to ‘caramel’.

I need to write my conclusion. It shouldn’t be a particularly hard piece to write, but writer’s block has hit. Of all the times…

So, as a tactic to get my writing flowing again, I thought that I would spend 15 minutes writing a quick post. I’ve missed writing my blog the last couple of days, in a strange way it has really helped me with writing the thesis.

Since the weekend I’ve effectively been banned from the kitchen. I miss it. However, it is nice having someone to provide every meal for me at the moment, I really appreciate it.

Before I was banned from the kitchen, in need of a quick lunch last week and with me having forgotten to make any bread, I rummaged through the freezer and pulled out a pizza. Great! Then I read the label. How can a description of ‘Smoke flavoured reformed ham with added water’, sound appetising to anyone? I suppose it saves having to check the ingredients on the back of the box.

Why on earth had we bought the pizza? We obviously didn’t read the label, but then I’m not sure how long it had been in the freezer for!

Faced with this pizza for lunch, with no other quick alternative, I set about chiselling off the the ham, adding some local bacon from the fridge and a few scraps of Cumbrian cheese. It was lovely. But this will be our last shop-bought pizza. From now on (once I’ve finished the PhD and I’m allowed back in the kitchen) we’ll be making our own.

The next time I write a post, the PhD will be handed in and I will have my life back (hopefully). I can’t quite imagine what that will feel like!

…back to the conclusion.

An addition to the family…

Number of days until submission of PhD: 7

Stress levels: On a sugar thermometer, about, ‘hard ball’ and rising. I think my posts may well begin to dry-up over the next week.

But anyway, we’ve been looking after a cat who belongs/ed to the sister of a friend. In theory it was just supposed to be for January while she was away. But time has gone on and we’ve become quite attached to him.

She has since decided that her circumstances at the moment are not ideal for a cat. As we live in open countryside where he can come and go as he pleases, she’s asked if we would keep him. Of course we will!

The only problem throughout his whole stay with us has been his name.

Apparently he was originally called ‘Madame Butterfly’ – then they found out he was a boy.

He came to us being called Noodle. But this has been changed, shortened (and lengthened) numerous times to: apple strudel, poodle, pooh (this is what I call him), knoodle, noo, even google, smut (this is what our neighbour calls him because of his ‘dirty’ black nose), doodle, chicken noodle, Mr P. Noodle (as in Pot) and Casper. Casper was the name of our cat who went missing and was sadly found dead last year. Sometimes old habits linger. Noodle will never replace Casper, but he has certainly made a place for himself in our hearts already.

Welcome Pooh! I hope you enjoy your life with us! 

Local beer – from 50m away (literally)

Number of days until submission of PhD: Still 9

Stress levels: well, chilled (this is a temporary state I can assure you).

Mmmmm. Sitting outside in the courtyard basking in the spring sun, editing part of a chapter, glorious. Then our neighbours peered over the gate and after chatting for a bit they told us to ‘grab a jug, and we’ll get some beer’. We came out with two jugs.

Our neighbours rent their barn (which is literally behind our ‘barn’) to a micro-brewery, and well, I have to say it’s rather good beer!

Perhaps it’s not the best thing to be drinking right now, with the rest of a chapter still to finish this evening, but maybe it will help the creative juices flow!

Where do ideas come from?

Do you ever find yourself writing something which you never realised that you thought?

I’ve just had a really productive 16 or 17 hours (admittedly with a night’s sleep in between) where not only have I upped my word count considerably, but new ideas came to the fore. Suddenly parts which were unclear and slightly unfocused, are now structured and peppered with new and fresh insights (or a least I think so).

If only every day could be like that…

Sunshine and seeds

I had a slight set-back with the PhD yesterday. Hopefully not major, but enough to send me into a spiral of stress! By the late afternoon I was a bit calmer and in desperate need of a break and a fix of some all-too-rare sunshine. I was also aware that it was a prime time to plant tomatoes and aubergines; and I just happened to have some seeds waiting earnestly on the kitchen table…

All the seeds that I have chosen this year are supposed to be fine to grow in pots and tubs, perfect for the courtyard. The next hurdle is not growing tons of everything, that is usually easier said than done for me. A couple of years ago I grew so many tomato and pepper plants that I turned our conservatory into a jungle – I wasn’t very popular that summer!

In an attempt to keep a check on how much I’m growing, I decided that rather than plant the seeds in seed trays I would plant them in plastic bottles. This idea came from MrBrownThumb, it is ingenious! It’s cheap and it means that I can restrict my sowing!

I cut three 2-litre drinks bottles in half horizontally. Then I heated the tip of a fondu fork and used this to melt holes in the bottom for drainage. You could use tweezers or a long nail instead. I put the compost and seeds in the bottom half of the bottle, just like in a seed tray, but the seed were placed on a slightly greater depth of soil (about 8 cm). Gave the seeds some water and popped the top-half of the bottle back on. I cut a vertical slit in the top of the bottle so that I could squeeze it slightly and get it to sit just inside the bottom half. I thought this would be better that trying to balance it on top.

Next to the chitting-potatoes on my window sill I now have three little mini propogators! One containing Gartenperle tomatoes, one with Baby Rosanna aubergines and one housing King Richard leeks. I hope that they work! I’m not so sure about the leeks, looking at the calendar I perhaps should have left these a day or so before planting them. If they don’t work, I can always blame the moon!

British Pie Week - Steak and Mushroom Pie (therapy)

It's British Pie Week (2nd-8th March)!

It would be a sacrilege to let this pass without acknowledging it. And what a great excuse to make a pie on a wet, miserable and cold day.

Also, pie-making seems to have been designed to fit with my fifteen-minute breaks (almost)!

Here's my recipe for Steak and Mushroom (with a little bit of Ale) Pie, the filling is made up from things that I happened to have in the cupboard/freezer and doesn't follow a particular recipe. I hope it works! The pastry on the other hand follows Delia's recipe, which is tried and tested.

First break (15 mins)
Filling ingredients:
1 small red onion, chopped
2tbs olive oil
400gr local stewing steak tossed in 1tbs of well-seasoned flour
200gr local mushrooms
A small handful of porcini mushrooms
1/2 tsp thyme (dried) or a couple of fresh sprigs
2 tbs mushroom ketchup
75ml port (all that was left in the bottle)
1 beef stock cube
1 can Guinness.

Start by putting the oven to preheat (170 degrees). In an ovenproof dish (I used a small-ish Le Creuset) heat the oil then add the onion. Cook the onion until its soft. Add the steak, mushrooms and thyme and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the liquid (port, mushroom ketchup and Guinness) along with the stock cube. Bring to the boil, then cover and place in the oven. Return to work and enjoy the smell of it bubbling away...

Second break (15 mins)
After an hour give the meat a stir and then make the pastry. I followed Delia's recipe, but I used all butter (as I didn't have any lard) and I doubled the quantities to make sure that I had enough. If there's some left over it will always keep. Put in the fridge to rest. Then remove the lid from the meat for the last 45 mins to allow the liquid to thicken.

I've been getting quite stressed this evening about how much I still have to do for the PhD. Sometimes I'm fine and other times it completely overwhelms me. But, standing there rubbing the butter into the flour was really quite therapeutic. I think that allowing myself the pleasure of cooking (in rationed amounts) is really helping me to keep calm about it all. At least at the moment it is.

Third break (10 mins)
After 30 -40 mins (I know, it's not an hour) take the meat out of the oven and leave to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, take the pastry from the fridge, cut it in half and roll out the first half so that it will cover a pie plate. I just use an enamel plate with a slight lip which I brought from a kitchen shop last year, but I've seen them in camping shops too.
Spray the plate with some olive oil (we have a pump and spray bottle - you can get them from Lakeland) to stop it sticking.
Then, use a palette knife to get the pastry onto the rolling pin , it makes it easier to transfer the pastry to the plate.
Cut-off anyexcess and brush the very edge with egg.
Put some of the filling in the the centre, I've just realised that the filling will easily make two pies, so put the remainder in a tub for the freezer.
Roll out the other half of the pastry and place on top.
Trim the excess pastry.
Go round the edge of the pie pressing the back of a fork into the pastry to seal it. Then brush the top with egg, prod it with a fork three or four times and pop it in the oven at 190 degrees for 45-50 mins. I have an awful electric oven at the moment which is generally quite slow to cook things, so you may find it cooks more quickly than this in your own oven.

Verdict?
If anyone has any improvements, let me know!

Last minute marmalade

I've set myself a new routine. I work for an hour and then take a 15 minute break. I was finding that working for 12-14 hours a day wasn't particularly productive, so I'm trying to work for concentrated short spells with programmed breaks. We'll see how it goes.

Today's breaks have been taken up with marmalade making!

A shopping trip to the local grocers on Saturday provided me with some of their reduced Seville oranges, only 50p for a kilo bag. Bargain. A bag for now and a bag for the freezer.

Now every B&B needs a plentiful supply of homemade marmalade, even though we don't actually have a B&B yet, there's nothing like being preparing for it!

First 15 min slot. This was spent quartering 1kg of Seville oranges and removing the pips into a jelly bag. The most effective way I've found of doing this is to place a jelly bag over a small bowl (to collect the juice) and then cut-out any strong white pith from the centre of the orange segments (and put this in the jelly bag too). This allows you to see the pips and easily scrape them out with a sharp knife.

Second slot (only about 5-10 mins). Blitz the oranges in a magimix in two batches. I just use a normal blade and this gives a fairly thick-cut marmalade. But the slice blade (2 mm) can be used to get a lovely fine-cut marmalade. Cut two lemons in half, remove the pips and add these to the other pips in the jelly bag. Put the chopped oranges, along with the jelly bag (tied-up with string), the juice from the bowl below the jelly bag and the juice from the two lemons into a preserving pan. Add 4 pints of water. Put on to gently simmer for two hours. Put two saucers or side plates into the freezer. And then time to make a cup of tea...

(The citrusy smell of the simmering oranges is making the whole house fill with an aroma akin to that of an orangery. I'm sure it's helping to inspire my writing.)

Third slot (two-in-one). Preheat the oven to 140 degrees and rinse out some jam jars in warm soapy water. This batch made: two Le Parfait jars (1x0.5 l, 1x0.75), an empty Peanut butter jar (340g Whole Earth) an empty mayonnaise jar (600g Hellmans) and another small jam jar.

Now you need to check the peel is soft. There's nothing worse than chewy marmalade. Do this by taking a piece of peel out of the pan and pressing the back of a fork against it. It should fall apart quite easily. When it is soft, remove the jelly bag, and add 2kg of preserving sugar and 200 grams of dark brown muscovado sugar, stirring all the time. (If you want a light orange marmalade then leave out the brown sugar.) Raise the temperature and bring the liquid to the boil for about 15-20 mins. Put the empty jam jars in the oven. I put a sugar thermometer in at this stage so I can check when it is getting close to a set at 105 degrees. At this point I then check for a set with the 'wrinkle test' by putting a small amount of the marmalade on one of the saucers from the freezer, let it cool for a while and then gently push the surface to see if it wrinkles. If not, carry on heating and try again a couple of minutes later. Put the saucer back in the freezer. I usually find I need to do this four or five times!

When it wrinkles, remove any white scum that has formed on top. I then add 100ml of whisky, but this optional, you could just put it straight into jars at this stage. The marmalade will bubble furiously when you add the whisky (I think it's burning-off the alcohol). Then leave it for 15 mins before removing the jars from the oven and using a jam funnel fill the jars.

Voila!

(Admittedly, the last slot took longer than 30 mins, but I did miss a break whilst it was boiling away.)

Homeless...?

Our landlord has the Barn up for sale. Not officially as it's not advertised anywhere. The agents are just to mention it to people if they're interested in a property of this size (four houses of various sizes - we live in one of them). We all thought that it probably wouldn't sell at the moment (a bit like our house which is still up for sale) but there's someone coming to look round next week. Eek! That means having to tidy up as well deal with the possibility of having to move all our clobber, again.

No progress on the PhD today as I've been at work. My last day for a whole month. It seems strange that next time I walk in to the building the PhD will submitted. And it'll be April Fool's Day. Doesn't really bode well, does it?!

I can't wait....

Impatience. It's something I've always suffered from.

I suppose I should explain a little bit about the site. I have a BIG deadline for a long-term piece of research (my PhD) which is due for submission on the 31st March. In theory, every waking moment should be spent trying to meet this deadline and not planning my life, which starts again from the 1st April. I started it in 2004 and it has been trailing around behind me now for four and a bit long years.

But that is not the reason for Springtime. There is an ideal which we are trying to achieve. We have our house on the market to sell and we are renting a lovely place in the Lake District, the Barn. The house has been on the market for about 8 months now, I know, it's the worst time to try to do something like this. I'm getting a little impatient for the ideal, as it includes us having our own cottage in the lakes with one or two spare bedrooms so we can offer bed and breakfast and a little bit of land for a proper vegetable patch and some chickens. Springtime is my record of ideas, preparation and thoughts about/for our ideal; and hopefully at some point this year, the realisation of our dream.

The Barn is great but it doesn't really have a garden, just a flower bed in the shade of the house and a shared courtyard. The other day while I was dreaming about growing our own vegetables again I decided that actually it's a bit silly to put life on hold until 1st April. So, I started to research what grows well in pots! Now I'm just waiting for my seeds and seed potatoes to arrive. Again, the impatience is kicking in...

I just saw a man with a PDA wandering around outside and my hopes were raised that it was a delivery man with my seeds who was having problems finding the Barn. Anxious to get outside before he left, I quickly pulled my shoes on and grabbed my car keys to make it look like I desperately needed something from my car, but actually I was just going to see if he needed directions (ideally to the Barn to deliver my seeds). And then I saw his van: E-On. Oh well, my patience needs to be stretched a little further.

...back to the PhD.

The clash of the new and the old

“There are times to cultivate and create, when you nurture your world and give birth to new ideas and ventures. There are times of flourishing and abundance, when life feels in full bloom, energized and expanding. And there are times of fruition, when things come to an end. They have reached their climax and must be harvested before they begin to fade. And finally of course, there are times that are cold, and cutting and empty, times when the spring of new beginnings seems like a distant dream. Those rhythms in life are natural events. They weave into one another as day follows night, bringing, not messages of hope and fear, but messages of how things are.” Chogyam Trungpa

How very true.

That's exactly how I feel at the moment.

As one stale, old and tired piece of my life draws to a close I can't wait for the new flourish of the next phase. At the moment they seem to overlap somewhat, making my emotions roller-coaster around between dramatic highs and lows.