Tuesday 8 December 2015

Bit Of This And That

First an update on Thelma and Connie
They are both starting to bulge and they are both becoming more friendly
and demanding wanting a digestive biscuit in the afternoon, pregnant goats have cravings too.
 
Now those cockles we got at the week end, BB was asking if we had to go out far for them, well there was a whole strip of them on the wet sand about 100 yds from the parking area, Pioneer Poppy I suppose they are just a small version of your clams.
After purging the for 24hrs Martin found a recipe he wanted to try and cooked them in cider and garlic they were served with pasta.

 
Now the sour dough starter I have been feeding it, keeping it warm
its doing everything it should be doing.
tomorrow is day six and it will be ready to use
I have a recipe picked out ready to give it a try.
 


The box of mushrooms, after having them with everything
I was going to dehydrate the ones left,
But I have two big storage jars of dehydrated mushrooms so I decided to can them instead.
 After washing they were chopped and popped into a pan of water brought to the boil for 5 mins,
then into the canning jars
and kept under 10lb pressure for 35 mins

there was only enough to pack 2x1pt jars, next time we get a box full I will can the lot, 
It always seems a shame that mushrooms cook down to next to nothing, you can have a big pan full and end up with such a small amount, still they will be a lovely addition to casseroles.
(word of warning only ever can commercial mushrooms never wild ones)
 
The fridge is looking fairly empty at the moment, as we are buying in so little fresh food if any, there is half a pack of pastry, milk butter, cooking chocolate orange juice, some open bottles of sauce and pickles, lard and that is about it.
I have a plan for the pastry tomorrow.
There is a bar of Galaxy that I plan to have while watching the Pottery Throw Down tonight :-)

 



 

 


 

10 comments:

  1. Looking forward to seeing your recipe. How many off spring do goats normally have? Will you be keeping them? Is one gender more viable than the other? Questions Questions. Ben Fogle milked a goat last night and ha to feed it a Digestive biscuit before it would allow him too.

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  2. Drat - missed Pottery Throwdown so I will have to catch it on iPlayer. That canner is a SERIOUS piece of kit! You will have to show me how it works.

    Ah, if you parked in the main car park at Llansteffan, I will assume you got them in the muddy bit of the beach - that used to be wonderful golden sand until some eejut on the Council decided to dredge the beach and pile it up at the far end, thus creating a muddy lagoon where there used to be a beach. The goats are looking well. I will make acquaintance with them when I come up as I've only seen them through the gaps in the barn so far.

    Good luck with the sourdough. Been there, done that, and won't bother again! (Mainly because I'm not that keen on sourdough bread.)

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  3. Hi, why should you not can wild mushrooms? I'm curious, I've never canned mushrooms only dried them or made the basic soup starter and then frozen it.

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    1. experts now warn not to can wild mushrooms, because some people picked poisonous mushrooms by mistake and canned them up. You only need one suspect one if you are not 100% sure leave alone.

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  4. I've been thinking about creating a sourdough starter as I love the taste and texture of sourdough, but when I look how long it takes to make it, it puts me off. I know it's not hands on for the vast majority of the time, but to get a loaf for dinner, I'd have to start at 5am every morning! Could you start it the night before?

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  5. I have picked cockles in the past, purged and cooked them but do not like them at all. The goats are looking good, as do all your livestock, good husbandry is everything. I am looking at canners, the cost of importing them is still very high. With all the interest in the skill in this country you would think they would be available here.

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  6. Awww, so is that Thelma or Connie sticking her head through the fence? She does look friendly.

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  7. Thelma and Connie are lovely :)

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  8. I hope that you enjoyed the chocolate and the throwdown! It was a great final wasn't it, they have made some beautiful and incredible things! xx

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  9. Ooo, I never thought about canning mushrooms. If I find them on sale at the grocery I usually dehydrate them.

    Loved the goat face pic. Food always wins friends!

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