Blackboard List

I am not generally a list person. But today I thought I would give it a go as I am pretty much an aesthetically relaxed procrastinator so I thought it would help.

Plus crossing things off is quite satisfying.

I had been meaning to make up some cherry ice-cream for a while. I had bought some cooking cherries locally and froze what I hadn’t used.  My parents bought us an ice-cream maker for Christmas! (I think they were playing favourites here as I do like ice-cream, but Jeff has an addiction)

I made a traditional vanilla ice-cream base recipe and then just poured the pureed cherries in.

The final colour turned out pretty fabulous!!

It taste tested up really well 🙂 But it has to freeze overnight to be ‘proper ice-cream’ (waiting – waiting – I wonder if its ok to have ice-cream for breakfast?)

It was a beautiful day outside and I couldn’t let that sunshine go to waste without putting a couple of loads of laundry through –

It was a good excuse to get out of the kitchen a few times and soak up the sun.

I got into those windfall apples and rescued what I could. Even the dodgy apples still have plenty of good bits to use. We have codling moth unfortunately that we haven’t got under control yet. At least they mostly burrow to the core so they are easy to cut out.  This one was a bit more manky looking –

But I still got plenty out of it –

It was hard eyeing off the blue skies out the kitchen window, I wanted to be in the garden, but I knew the tomatoes were going feral, so I had to sort them out too.

I used a good amount in a slow cooked meal. I thawed out some stewing steak last night and added a couple of onions and a mix of beef stock, mustard powder and a liberal helping of my plum-Worcestershire sauce. (one of those make-it-up-as-you-go-along dishes!) I know these recipes call for browning the meat & onions first, but I am a huge fan of not adding to the workload or dishes – so, into the pot altogether at once!

It worked out really tasty, which is lucky because it is going to be dinner tomorrow night too.

The rest of the tomatoes got sorted – either chopped and frozen or given to the chickens. I did not even glance at the tomato plants when I was in the garden!! I don’t want to know what’s ready to pick until tomorrow or the next day!!

Eventually I made my way down to the beach, but there was less kelp than yesterday.

I was strong and stayed away from the shells

Funny thing was, as I was walking up the beach picking up lumps of kelp I could hear a conversation coming up behind me. I thought… that’s nice. Friends out for a stroll on the beach. Ha – one woman on a phone. She walked all the way along the beach above and back and she was still on the phone! I felt a little sorry for her. I guess I love it that I completely unplug when I leave the house.  I see a walk on the beach as a way to unwind and just be with a friend or your own thoughts for a change, rather than organising those busy lives of ours!!

Anyway – I found it easy to fill two bags with kelp. There is a lot of grassy seaweed on the Wynyard beaches which makes fantastic mulch. (But there are a couple of girls coming to stay in April and that is a perfect job to get them to help me with -saving that task up for later)

I was a bit naughty and put the bags in the car 🙂

If you live by the sea and are allowed to collect kelp – this is how I make my ‘kelp juice’

Then your vegetables can grow big and strong –

Recipes below if you are interested!

Have a great day!

 

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

300ml milk

pinch salt

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (or 5cm piece vanilla bean)

1 egg, beaten

250ml cream

Combine milk, salt, sugar, vanilla into saucepan – cook over medium heat until nearly boiling.

Gradually stir half the milk into the egg – stirring

Add all back into the pot and cook over low heat until mixture thickens slightly.

Refrigerate  – chill well.

Mix cream in with wisk and pour into ice-cream maker to  do its thing.

(This is where I added in the cherry mixture. Raspberry is next on my list!)

 

Mostly Made Up Slow Cooked Beef recipe.

1 kilo stewing steak – cut into chunks and coated in flour

600gms chopped tomato

two thickly sliced onions

Broth: Mix:

1 cup beef stock

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

Mix all together, splash more Worcestershire Sauce in and add some garlic salt.

All into oven at 100 deg. C (or slow cooker if you have one)

I did this one for about 4-5 hours and thickened at the end with a bit of cornflour, served with rice.

PS 😀 😀