In the kitchen.........chilli garlic sauce and marrow chutney

 

 

"A great way to use up marrows or courgettes when they have grown too big for their boots"

 

 

Out of the kitchen this week.....chilli garlic sauce and marrow chutney.

The jalapeno chilli's are from the garden and the garlic from a friends crop - blitzed in the food processor with salt and pepper added.  Bottled and topped with vinegar and ready to use.

And for the chutney - I was pleased to be able to make use of our very first marrow. 

Marrow chutney

You will need:

1.35kg marrow
salt
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3 shallots, chopped
225g sultanas
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
450g dark brown soft sugar
375ml vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ Tsp crushed chillies (less if desired)
 

Method:

 

Place the peeled, seeded and cubed marrow into a non-reactive bowl and sprinkle generously with salt. Cover and let sit overnight.
Drain marrow, rinse thoroughly and place into a large pot. Add remaining ingredients and slowly bring to the boil.
Lower the heat and gently simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until thick, stirring occasionally.
Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal immediately.

 

What's cooking in your kitchen?

The giant marrow

 

 

Tom and I were out in the garden late this afternoon, harvesting the last of the summer vegetables.  The winter plantings will be put in this week.

 

We found this giant marrow in our overgrown vegetable garden!

 

Also harvested were lots of jalapeno chilli's, a few green peppers and one lonely courgette.

 

The celery is still going strong.

 

So lovely readers, do you have any great recipes using the humble marrow?  I don't want it to go to waste.

 

I'm thinking of using the jalapeno chilli's for a hot hot sauce or maybe a chutney.

 

Any ideas or great recipes for using up our marrow and jalapeno chilli's would be greatly appreciated.  Am off to see what Uncle Google has to say.

 

Hope your weekend has been a good one xo

 

 

 

 

Weekending..........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend I've...........

 

Started my retro quilt.  I have been collecting and cutting retro sheets and Fat Quarters.  I have a favourite blue flower sheet which will be my backing.  Tonight I plan on pinning and sometime this week I will start to everything together.  Can't wait to show you my progress.

 

Enjoyed dinner out with friends Friday night for cocktails and fresh seafood.  The very best of combinations I think.

 

My amazing friend Leigh gave me a Crown Lynn Swan.  She always gives me such beautiful gifts.  And this completes my set of 3.

 

Bell and I had a girls morning in town, cold drinks and warm pastries.

 

I op shopped and found pink Pyrex and retro spice canisters and salt and pepper shakers.

 

Our school gala was on Saturday afternoon, the boys had a great time and loaded up on sugary treats, as you do.

 

Reading old cookbooks, loving a particular one from the early 1980's.

 

And later on Mr H and I enjoyed a quiet night in.

 

Sunday we stayed in PJ's till noon.  I did a bit of gardening and then spent the rest of the afternoon building Lego with Tom.  I think I have earned my Lego Degree by now.

 

A laid back weekend after a busy week.  Even working "just part time" makes my weekdays full, not to mention the constant picking up and dropping off of children for kindy, school, swimming, appointments and errands.  I really look forward to my weekends.  There hasn't been a lot of time for blogging or visiting favourite blogs, but with the cooler months just around the corner I expect that will change when we start to spend more time indoors.

 

Have a great week! xo

 

 

 

 

Sunday brunch......Zucchini Fritters

I was up early this morning with the boys, not too early, about 7am which is really good for us.  Usually they are up are ready to go before 6am - so this morning I felt like I had a bit of a sleep in.

I put a couple of loads of washing on then made a pot of coffee, followed by bacon and egg muffins.

After breakfast Mr H took the boys out for a run around at the park.  I got to finish the weeding and tidying up in the garden, did a quick tidy inside the house and then I put some music on and went to work or grating zucchinis and potatoes for a late brunch.

The zucchinis are growing great guns in my vegetable garden at the moment.  I have also had them for dinner during the week, baked with cottage cheese, tomatoes, herbs and more cheese.  Delicious!

To make the fritters I grated a couple of zucchini, a few potatoes and then chopped up onion, garlic, threw in some salt and pepper, olive oil, chilli powder, mixed herbs, a couple of eggs, cup of flour, tea spoon of baking powder, splash of milk and a handful of grated cheese.  Mixed well and then fried until golden brown.

I served them on sliced ciabatta bread and topped with roughly chopped Roma tomatoes - both of which Mr H bought at the market yesterday.  A salad would have been a great alternative to serve them with.

Sunday tends to be all about leftovers or anything that needs to be used quickly - its amazing what you can throw together to make a meal.  It is a really good way of using the last bits of things that would normally go to waste.

  I hope your weekend has been a good one?  Have a great week!

The garden share collective......February

 

 

 

Here is my garden update for February as part of the Garden Share Collective.  Thank you for all the advice regarding my unruly tomatoes.  You can see in the photos above that they have now been tamed, cropped and staked.  The three tomato plants are producing lots of sweet cherry toms......the smell stays on your hands after picking them, just delicious.

The capsicums are plentiful, as are the chillies - a branch or two have succumbed to either small children or animals (no one is owning up) - so I picked the small chillies off the broken branches, bagged them up and put them in the freezer for winter cooking.  The ones that are still going strong on the plants are growing to a really good size.  Pretty pleased about these.

The zucchini (courgette - is it the same thing?) plant is enormous!  If I had known that they get so big I would have planted it somewhere with more space around it.  I'm constantly learning things about growing vegetables all.  I love zucchini grated into salads and will be making up a batch of fritters with them too.

My celery are growing well, now they are no longer hidden away under the tomato vines.  I now have space for more plantings - I just need to decide on what to put in.  Any suggestions?

One thing that I can't seem to grow is broccoli and cauliflower.  The leaves grow but the heads NEVER form.  Does anyone know why this would be happening?  We eat a lot of broccoli so it would be great if it is something I could produce in my garden.  The guinea pigs however are benefiting and enjoying the green crunchy leaves.

Growing in the garden I have:

Tomatoes
Capsicum - red/orange/yellow
Chillies
Zucchini
Celery

Jobs to do:

Start another herb garden
Decide what to plant next
Weeding and soil turning
Netting over crops (I still haven't done this)
Extend the vegetable garden (remove some of the compost and clippings, turn soil and lay down manure) - this is my long term plan.

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."



 

Today.....just a bit of this and that

 

 

 

 

 

Roses from Mr H - two bunches - pink and cream - the others are in a jar on the dining room table.

 

Devouring books - two this month, one I had started sometime last year but never finished.

 

I love reading cook books in bed at night.

 

And channelling my inner crochet goddess....I know she is in there!

 

Lunch box treats - making prune and coconut balls - 500g of prunes in the food processor, roll in coconut, set and store in the fridge.  George loves these.

 

I tried Kimberley's Chocolate Weetbix Slice - with sprinkles.  Delicious.  The kids enjoyed this for afternoon tea - the rest has been hidden away in the baking tins, sliced and ready to go into lunch boxes tomorrow.

 

Pottering about in the garden today - the fairy garden is looks sweet with the "Lorax Trufulla Trees" sprouting.

 

Lots of washing folded....and put away - my least favourite task.

 

Harvesting in the vegetable garden.  I'm Googling Zucchini Fritters.  Any suggestions?

 

A walk round the waterfront this morning and a swim followed by homemade fish tacos for lunch.  Early night for me tonight.  Feeling zonked!

 

Have a great week! xo