• Free tomato powder

    Published On: August 30, 2023Categories: Growing Food, Preserves

    At this time of year I am processing lots of tomatoes grown in the garden.  I roast them and take the skins off before making them into passata or bolognaise sauce.  I hate waste and [...]

  • Piccalilli

    Published On: August 18, 2023Categories: Preserves, Recipes

    This is the favourite pickle of Mr S.    The origins of this pickle are in south east Asia. One of the first recorded recipes for making this in the UK was written by Mrs [...]

  • Apple and Blackberry jam.

    Published On: August 17, 2023Categories: Foraging For Food, Preserves, Recipes

    It is that time of year again when I am busy preserving foraged food and things from the garden.  When ever I cook black berries (brambles) I usually mix them with foraged apples to stretch [...]

  • Cucumber fridge pickles

    Published On: August 9, 2023Categories: Preserves, Recipes

    Mr S had some cucumber pickles at a restaurant and loved them and so we decided to make some of our own.  We have plenty of cucumbers growing outside in the garden (I didn't use [...]

  • Rhubarb and ginger jam

    Published On: July 29, 2023Categories: Preserves, Recipes

    Rhubarb is almost ending in my garden at the moment.  I tend not to pick it after the end of July, (unless there is absolutely loads still growing), to preserve the energy of the plant [...]

  • Why I still preserve food for winter

    Published On: July 26, 2023Categories: Preserves, Saving money on food

    One of my older pals who popped in when I was making pickles the other day, and picking and freezing berries, said that she didn’t know why I bothered preserving these items of food for [...]

  • Elderflower and Lemon Curd

    Published On: June 12, 2023Categories: Foraging For Food, Preserves, Recipes

    I am always looking for more ways to consume elderflower as it is full of goodness and is a free medicinal and nutritious resource.  Nature provides every thing we need, if we would only use [...]

  • Wild garlic pesto

    Published On: April 11, 2023Categories: Preserves, Recipes

    April is the start of the food season for me, and when I start filling my pantry and freezer again from things grown or foraged.  I am lucky as wild garlic grows in abundance near [...]

  • Pickled wild garlic buds.

    Published On: April 5, 2023Categories: Foraging For Food, Preserves, Recipes

    My aim is to be more organised for next winter and make sure that we have enough preserved food for the 'hunger gap' that occurs between us eating most of my crops (usually by the [...]

  • Sweet Chilli Sauce

    Published On: February 23, 2023Categories: Preserves, Recipes

    One way that we like to preserve some of our chilli harvest is to make sweet chilli sauce.  We use it a lot.  It is nice in wraps with salad and chicken, we put some [...]

  • Lemon (or orange, or almond, or vanilla) Extract

    Published On: February 2, 2023Categories: Baking, Preserves

    I am striving all the time to buy less and less from the supermarket.  We use extract to flavour ice cream, icing and sometimes in cakes.  This is an easy recipe to make.  I have [...]

  • Lemon Curd for Hampers

    Published On: December 21, 2022Categories: Frugal Festivities, Preserves, Recipes

    I have sometimes found myself a couple of days before Christmas and I find myself without enough preserves for my hampers. This is a quick and easy alternative to spending hours making jam and you [...]

  • WILD GARLIC

    Published On: October 11, 2022Categories: Foraging For Food, Preserves, Recipes

    WILD GARLIC The woods are full of wild garlic near me and so we picked some whilst on our daily walk.  If you intend to pick some make sure you pick away from the paths [...]

  • CIDER VINEGAR

    Published On: September 29, 2022Categories: Preserves

    I made my apple compote for the week from some foraged apples this morning and so thought that I would make some apple cider vinegar. RECIPE Cores and apple peels from 6 to 10 apples [...]