Rescue mission

In spite of my best efforts to keep the tomato plants constantly hydrated by watering them twice a day, the huge deluge of rain we had on Tuesday led to vast quantities of my cherished fruit to split. And when I say deluge, I can confidently say Tuesday morning's cycle to work was the wettest yet. Fortunately my waterproof trousers and jacket are just that - waterproof - but I may as well have place my hands, feet and head in a bucket of water before stepping into the office!

However, back to the tomatoes.  For those not familiar with growing them, a sudden heavy watering can result in the fruits growing with such speed that they split their skins. Normally it happens to the ripe fruit since the unripe skins tend to be tougher, but not this time. I came home from work to find large quantities of split fruit - both red and green.

A sorry sight

Fortunately some survived

They are still edible but ideally need to be consumed the same day so, on Tuesday evening I set about trying to salvage the ripe fruits.  With around 2kg there were far more than I fancied eating for dinner and they are all cherry tomatoes, so I really couldn't face removing their skins to make a sauce.  I therefore consulted various recipes for dried tomatoes and ended up taking what I hoped was the best bits of each under the circumstances (it was already past 7pm and this wasn't going to be something I was going to be staying up all night to complete).

Each tomato was cut in half and the seeds scooped out. Normally I'd have cut them all through the middle (the equivalent of the Equator if they were the Earth) but I just went wherever the split was.  As I did each one, I placed it cut side down on a couple of layers of kitchen paper so that as much juice drained away as possible. I then turned them all cut side up and sprinkled them with a little salt and some dried oregano. They were then turned back the other way and placed onto cooling racks (the sort you use to cool cakes, biscuits, scones etc. on).

Delia Smith recommends gas mark 1/2 (80C) with the door wedged open with a skewer, leaving them for 6-8 hours. However, this would have made them ready at about 4am and I wasn't leaving anything in a lit oven whilst I slept for fear of burning the house down, and particularly because I wasn't confident that my old oven would actually stay alight at such a low level. It has no half mark on the dial so for all I knew I could have just been gassing the tomatoes along with everyone else in the house! However, she is clear that you are trying to dry the fruit, not cook it.

By complete contrast Nigella Lawson suggests putting them into an oven heated to gas mark 7 (220C), turning the oven off immediately and leaving them overnight. However, she doesn't remove the seeds and places them cut side up and adds sugar and olive oil as well as salt and thyme. I have tried this method before and ended up repeating the process twice since they were far from dried or even 'sunblush' as she suggests.

In the end I opted for something in between. I put them in the oven at gas mark 1 with the door open a teeny-tiny bit for about 1.5 hours but then closed the door and turned the oven off as I retired to bed. In the morning they were a lovely consistency -  not the sun dried tomato consistency that you would buy in a shop but drier than the sun blush variety you may get as antipasti from a deli counter.

I crammed as many as I could into a sterilised jar and then covered them with olive oil. I added a circle of greaseproof paper to stop any from poking above the level of the oil and I'm hoping they will keep for a few months. I had a few left over, which I've not put in oil. They are in the fridge and think will make a nice addition to a risotto I'm making tonight.

You may be hoping that this is the end of the story but my next task was to do something with the unripe tomatoes that had split. The obvious answer was Green Tomato Chutney, but with another 2kg of fruit this is double the quantity I normally have that refuse to ripen at the end of the season - and double the quantity in the recipe I use. As a result, I am currently looking at two vast vats of chutney slowly cooking on the stove top and I have scoured every corner of the kitchen for empty jam jars.

The recipe is from Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course which is, unfortunately, not available on-line. So, in brief:

1.1kg green tomatoes, washed
1.1kg cooking apples, cored and quartered
900g onions, peeled and quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled
450g raisins or sultanas
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp salt
2 level dessertspoons ground ginger
625g soft brown sugar
25g pickling spice
1.75 litres malt vinegar

Chop the tomatoes, apples, onions, garlic and raisins in a food processor, tipping them into a large saucepan as you go. Add the spices, sugar and vinegar and tie the pickling spice in a square of muslin and dangle it into the pan. Next, heat slowly, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, and then bring to simmering point. Remove any scum and then simmer very gently for about 3.5 hours uncovered.

I have to say I struggle to keep it simmering whilst not letting it stick to the bottom of the pan, so I tend to watch it like a hawk, with very regular bouts of stirring. This can mean that it takes a bit longer. You want it to reduce and thicken so that your spoon leaves a trail when you stir it. It will thicken further in the jar as it cools.

When you are happy with the consistency, fill your prepared and sterilised jam jars, filling as full as possible. The above recipe makes about eight 450g jars. Having doubled the recipe to cope with my glut of split green tomatoes, I've ended up with 19 jars of varying sizes. Let's just hope the remaining tomatoes don't split AND manage to ripen or we could be completely over-run with chutney by the end of October!

Home Alone

Having been abandoned by everyone (except the cat) for the weekend, I was imagining a very productive time and had what I thought was a lovely list of projects to keep me occupied. However, by mid-afternoon today I felt more like the Macaulay Culkin character from the 1990 film Home Alone than I really care to admit.

Me, mid-afternoon

Last summer I had fallen in love with some fabric but didn't buy it immediately and, when I did go back to get some, it had sold out. So, when I spotted it back in stock this summer I just had to buy it. I had originally envisioned a simple summer skirt but I ended up making two using other fabric last year, and my recent vintage shopping trip resulted in three more, so I really didn't need another. I stood at the shop counter clutching the roll whilst buying 25cm strips of other fabrics for my blanket project (see blog from 26 July 2014) and was just going to get the same of this but changed my mind at the last minute asking for 1 metre.  Definitely not enough for a skirt but certainly enough for a simple summer top or tote bag.

The much-coveted fabric

To be honest, I'm so enjoying making the applique blankets (and have had a commission for one!), that I was itching to use some of it to make another bird blanket. However, I thought the sensible thing to do was to make the 'main' thing with the fabric and then use the leftovers for the applique birds, since they can be cut out of the smallest of off-cuts. So, today's project was to make a 'simple' summer top using my much-loved car fabric.  I had searched and searched for a pattern and ended up buying a dress pattern that I thought I could just cut off at hip level. This is the one I chose - a bit '60s perhaps? Clearly the vintage thing still has a hold on me!

Since I only had a metre and the fabric isn't that wide, I felt the sleeveless one would be the achievable option, both in terms of simplicity and the material I had.

How wrong I was! Yes, the pattern clearly states that it is 'easy' and I suppose it is.  No complicated techniques; and the fabric is cotton, so no slippery satin or silk and no stretchy jersey. So, simple yes, but oh-so-fiddly and time-consuming!

Also, having (how can I put this) a larger than 'average' cup-size, the fit didn't turn out to be great for the front.  I ended up having to add in two extra darts to take out the volumes of fabric I was left with. Fine if I was about 4 months pregnant, but I'm not!  This involved lots of trying on whilst it was still half pinned together, resulting in much stabbing of myself with half of the pins whilst the other half dropped out onto the floor. And don't even then ask about having to pin yourself into something to get a good fit - even in the Sewing Bee they get the contestants to buddy up to help with fitting and, as I said, the only 'buddy' I had was the cat! She may be able to open the fridge by herself but certainly can't do much else of use (in spite of D trying to train her to fetch him bottles of cider from the fridge once she's got the door open).

To finish it off the simple (see, used that word again) sleeveless armholes needed facing and my facing just didn't want to stretch enough to allow the stated 2.5cm wide turn-under so, after much frustration, I had to trim it to about 1cm.

Anyway, I finally finished it at 6pm and went straight to pour myself a glass of wine.  I'm not sure if in relief or the fact that I felt in need of fortification - perhaps the latter. It certainly wasn't celebration but hopefully the sense of achievement will kick in at some point?! So, here's the finished article.

Front

Back

On a more positive note, I did manage to mend one of my reflective fabric cycle clips, so should be able to cycle to work next week without danger of my trouser hem getting caught in the chain; and I replaced the two hook and bar fastenings on my grey linen trousers (see blog of 20 July 2014) with a huge button that I'm confident won't undo itself every time I sit down!

This evening I get to watch whatever I want on TV whilst blanket stitching my way around my latest blanket, so the future is looking positive. And I do have a lovely new top, although the frustration of the construction it is still making it seem less than lovely right now.  However, tomorrow is another day and, as a complete bonus, it's a bank holiday so perhaps I'll get to do another of my projects. Happy days indeed!

Unwinding on a Friday night

This week has been full of excitement in the office and my to-do list for next week is looking like a mountain - albeit an exciting mountain that I'm just itching to climb. However, to reach the summit a restful weekend is required and what better way to unwind than to make chutney? Lots of chopping and then some relaxing stirring to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan as the heat works its magic.

So that's just how I spent my Friday evening, whilst mentally going through my plan of action and formulating ideas for next week.  And look...

A productive evening

The song Ten Green Bottles springs to mind (which probably tells you more about how my mind works than it is safe to divulge) but really it's ten red jam jars and I'm desperately hoping they don't fall off any walls or shelves!

The lovely people at Riverford had sent beetroot in my veg box two weeks running so I had enough for a serious batch of this sweet yet tangy loveliness. I tweaked the recipe to accommodate what I had available but the original is from A Green Guide to Traditional Country Foods by Henrietta Green via the Sainsbury's Magazine.  

Here's my recipe:

Beetroot Chutney

850g beetroot, peeled and coarsely grated

450g onions, finely chopped

700g Bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

225g sultanas

225g dried cranberries

1.1litres malt vinegar

850g granulated sugar

2tsp ground ginger

Put all the ingredients into a large, heavy-based, stainless steel pan and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, for 1.5hours or until everything is soft and the chutney is thick but still juicy. Pour into sterilised jam jars and seal. Leave to cool.

Makes about 2.75kg

I came down to the kitchen this morning to the lovely sight of ten jewel-coloured jars that just needed the finishing touch of a label (akin to the icing on the cake). I'd had a wonderful night's sleep which I'm convinced is because I had put all my thoughts in order whilst making chutney the night before. What a wonderful start to the weekend!

I'm also pleased to report that last week's scones were a triumph!  My fellow crafters were very complimentary of the plain scones and I really enjoyed the gluten-free ones - surprisingly light for wheat-free.  Mind you, our hostess pulled out all the stops with the presentation so maybe we were all just eating with our eyes?!

A feast for the eyes as well as the stomach!

The rest of the weekend I'm going to be sewing.  I have finally been able to track down the fabric I need to make a birthday present for my friend.  Her birthday was ten days ago and, if she hadn't moved to Italy earlier this year, I would have had to abandon the project in favour of an alternative (probably not hand made). However, we will be seeing each other in September so I have been granted a reprieve so that it can be hand-delivered (as well as hand made!)  Anyway, it was third time lucky for finding the fabric in stock so I'm finally all set.

Traditional and Vintage

So, what I failed to mention last week is that when I photographed the artwork on the shop windows, I was actually on my first ever vintage clothes shopping expedition. Having been inspired by the Channel 4 series This Old Thing, my friend J and I decided we'd give it a go. Suffice to say, 3 shops and 2 visits to the cash point later we stumbled home laden with wonderful things having had the best day out ever!

We threw ourselves into the activity (and came close to getting thrown out of one shop for our exuberance!), picking out anything that we liked the colour of, and tried EVERYTHING on - no matter how 'ridiculous' we thought it looked on the hanger. We both even tried on dresses that we had originally picked out to show each other how awful we thought they were - and each ended up buying them!

Anyway, a number of our purchases require a few minor (or not so minor) alterations and, lo and behold, this weekend is craft club, so we are going to be tackling them this afternoon with the rest of the clan to advise - and hopefully ooh and ahh at what we think are fabulous outfits!

I'll do my best to post some photographs of the end results, but in the meantime I need to sort out my contribution to the afternoon's refreshments. This month I'm sharing responsibility for the 'something sweet'.  Since it's summer and we are both taking our vintage garments to alter, we thought we'd go quite traditional.  I'm therefore in charge of scones and J is in charge of clotted cream and jam. Well, being Cornish I thought she'd know all there is to know about clotted cream, and I'm gluten-free so thought I should bear the responsibility for sourcing gluten-free scones.

Anyway, yesterday I realised that I have never actually made scones before - but to prove that an old dog can learn new tricks I set about giving it a go.  I started with the 'normal' batch following what I hoped would be a fail-safe recipe from Delia Smith and in no time at all I had these little beauties...

Delia's Plain Scones

And whilst they were in the oven, I knocked up some gluten-free ones using a recipe I found on the Doves Farm website.

Dove's Farm's Gluten-free Scones

I have to say I'm pleased with the appearance of both batches but I guess the proof of the scones will be in the eating.  I will therefore report back on the verdict of my fellow crafters, hopefully along with some picks of the vintage outfits in my next post.

Redevelopment revisited

In my last post I talked about some artwork I'd seen at Christmas on some disused shop windows. The shops had been closed and were awaiting redevelopment.  The redevelopment has since begun so most of the windows are now behind contractors hoardings (and probably long gone). However, I was passing by today and spotted that three of the shops were outside the hoardings and still featured the vinyl graphics.

Not quite able to believe my luck, I quickly took some photos with my phone so that I could share them here. I hope you like them as much as I do.

There was even a window that explained the art project and artist behind the work. So, thank you Bex Glover, Blink Giant Media and Broadmead Business Improvement District for the inspiration and brightening up my shopping trips!