Planting, Dyeing, Baking, Knitting etc...

This little flower pot used to be filled with spinach and various bulbs, I thought a change would be nice so we planted the pot with two different varieties of lavender, I think Charlie approves... (Photo taken with Instagram)

Now for some early morning baking with Kye...

I just used a simple butter biscuit recipe and we made 1 kg of dough into plenty of little shapes. I decided to bake in bulk and freeze into rolls whatever was left, but we baked it all. I have plenty for our family and have given some away as gifts already... I love to eat a biscuit with my tea don't you?

That onion dye bath dyed up quite a few skeins of wool, this is the last one drying, it is a super wash Merino and I am going to knit a cowl with it.

Can you spot the colour variations, the skein on the right was done in an exhaust onion bath, that's why it's so light, I am really happy with the colour.

I knitted up Henry the Camel over the weekend, thank you all so much for the name suggestions. We have called him Henry because when Richard was travelling through Egypt quite a few years ago, he bought a beautiful wooden, carved camel and named him'Henry'. This time spent overseas was a special time in his life and I wanted to honour that, so 'Henry' he is.

Henry will also be available in the E-Book, 'Knitted Animals from Africa' that will be published soon. Just a hippo and I think a snake to go and please I am open to suggestions, if there is an African animal you would like to see in the book, please post your suggestions in the comments for me:)

Enjoy your week!
Linda

PS If you haven't entered the wonderful Armadillo Dreams giveaway yet, it is still open.

 

January?

I am still finding it hard to believe that we are in January 2012! It is amazing though, isn't it? The year is new and holds so much promise and happy expectation. I really do feel that this year is going to be a good one. I am definitely going to spend much more time in the veggie and herb gardens and try to grow as much of our own food as possible. How wonderful it is to cook with one's own produce and know where it has come from and that it has no harmful chemicals on it.

This is also going to be the year that I finally learn to crochet, I have tried a few projects, small ones and then after a few weeks, I forget all about the stitches and once again this beautiful art become a mystery to me. So I am really going to try my best to follow through and crochet something worthwhile and stick with it, because I do love it so...

As for the six of us here, there has been baking, cupcake icing, planting, drying of oranges for kindling and rose petal drying going on here. I also discovered a new type of tomato growing in our veggie garden, I don't remember planting it and can't wait to see how it turns out.

Hope you are having a lovely day where you are.

Sandy after a swim, she has also collected her toys...

Orange kindling and rose petals drying in the kitchen...

A wonderful tomato discovery, please do tell if you know what variety this is:)

Tuesday

Today has been a lovely, easy day. We built a quick reed fence to stop the chickens from flying over the wall to the back garden. This is where the dogs live and for some reason the chickens try their best to reach this part of our property. I am so relieved the fence is up and they are all safe and sound in the front garden now.

We are also having heavy rains tonight, it's actually wonderful, don't mention this to Richard, it has been raining for a few days now and he hasn't been able to ride his bike, so he isn't too thrilled about all the rain, (my poor love). Jenna and I made a delicious Jamie Oliver pasta recipe for dinner. It's off of his Jamie Oliver Food Guide App, amazing and well worth it!

I also picked some Canary Yellow Spinach and cooked it up stalks and all with some coarse salt, pepper and fresh cream, yum! Can you believe how yellow those stalks are, just love it. These were from some heirloom veggie seeds I planted a few months ago.

Well, I'm off to bake a chocolate cake for my dad's 83rd birthday tomorrow.
What have you been doing today?

Chinese Cabbage Oven Veggie Chips

Thank you all for your well wishes! You are so kind and thoughtful:) I adore this space, where I can come and write my thoughts and feelings, where I connect with the most wonderful people from all over, each day.... Thank you:) I am feeling a lot better today, the sun is shining and I can feel that Spring is approaching too, which is just wonderful!

I thought I would try and make some Chinese cabbage veggie oven chips, I was a little sceptical at first, BUT let me tell you, they are just SO tasty and crispy. I know this is true because Richard walked into the kitchen after I had just made the first batch, looked at what I was making and looked a little concerned. Green leaves on a baking tray coming out of the oven??? Then he tasted them and well.... let's just say, I had to make a whole new batch:) He ate them all, loved them so... need I say more?? (They taste good)...

I used:

Chinese Cabbage

Olive oil

Have It Herbal Kitchen / Table Salt (seriously THE best herbal salt I have ever tasted!!)

These are so easy to make.
Tear up the cabbage into little pieces, pour some olive oil over them, grind some herbal salt over them and mix to ensure they are all lightly covered with oil and salt.

Space the pieces on a baking tray and pop into the oven on medium heat for about 10 minutes or so. You need to keep an eye on them as they can also burn easily too:) I am sure you could make these in your dehydrator too, it would just take a bit longer.

The finished delights! You must give it a try, you won't be sorry:) I am going to give beetroot chips a try next, wish me luck:)
xo
Linda (from a not too freezing, slightly warmer winter than usual, South Africa:)

Canning Tomato Relish

We have had such a wonderful crop of tomatoes this season so far, my kitchen windowsill is packed with ripening tomatoes and there are still plenty growing in the veggie patch. Today we made our first batch of tomato relish that is about to go into the freezer. I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude to be able to walk out into our veggie garden, pick our homegrown produce and prepare it for a meal. I love that we are reaching a new level of self-sufficiency, it makes my heart smile...

The Relish:
1 basket, full of ripe tomatoes.
Soak them in boiling water, let the water cool, remove the skins and gently squeeze your tomatoes so that the seeds fall out. Squeeze them over a sieve so you can save as much juice as possible. Once I left the seeds in, and oh my goodness, they made the sauce so sour! (Live and learn:)
I slowly heated the tomatoes and added a generous amount of crushed garlic, a handfull of chopped basil leaves, salt, black pepper and some Balsamic vinegar.
I let it cook for a while and adjusted my ingredients according to taste.

Sterilised my bottling jars and added my tomato relish and popped them in the freezer.
I feel like such a farmergirl now, I just love it!
This is a great book for preserving, Putting Food By.

(A few readers have asked what camera I use, it is a Cannon Power Shot SX10IS)

Have a wonderful day xo