Harlow Carr open day

Unfortunately it was raining on Saturday, when I went to the "Grow Your Own Veg" open day at the Yorkshire RHS site, and the thick (for a youngster like me ;-p ) snow on the ground rather obscured the point they were making about their raised bed patches, but it was still an interesting half-day out. I gave up in the early afternoon, despite two pairs of trousers, two fleeces, and various other bits of clothing!

I couldn't take too many photos due to the rain, but still, the garden was very pretty, especially the heathers:



More photos of snow tomorrow.

Whoops!

Didn't post yesterday. Ah well, it was quite a roll for me anyway :-)

My OH's flight back from Germany on Thursday was cancelled, so he had to take one to London instead, stop the night with a colleague, then make his way back to Leeds yesterday.

Today I went to Harlow Carr RHS gardens near Harrogate. There was an open day, to do with the TV show "Grow Your Own Veg", and it was quite interesting, though very cold and wet! Unfortunately you couldn't see much of their kitchen garden, due to the thick layer of snow, but there were lots of staff around for me to ask stupid questions at. Also, they were giving away "starter packs", which have a little advice, and packets of carrot, spinach, and tomato seeds.

Will post some photos of snow tomorrow :-D

Pasta (mostly)

It looks like my OH's flight (and therefore the camera) will be rather delayed due to the weather, so there may not be any photos today. Mind you, I now don't have to set off for a little longer, so maybe I will find something older in a bit.

Yesterday I had some friends over for dinner, and I decided to make a Tagliatelli, with Chicken, Bacon, and mushroom (chestnut ones in particular, much nicer than the "normal" button ones, try them!). I've not used my pasta maker since I appropriated it from my dad's house, and before then it had always been with my mum, who was generally in charge. I have to admit she was a little bit flighty, and would get a gadget, use it constantly for a few weeks, then put it away indefinately...

But every time I have made a lasagne, I have complained about how awkward it is to use the dried sheets, given that they are never the right size and shape for the dish you have. I kept saying that I would make fresh pasta when I ran out of dried stuff, and finally I have depleted the tagliatelli stock!

The recipe called for 400g of plain flour to 2 large eggs, and due to my inexperience, and having medium eggs instead of large, it was nearly a disaster. However, I eventually settled on about 500g flour to 4 medium eggs, and after I had put it through the machine a couple of times, it was looking good. You pass it through at least 8 times on the widest setting, folding it in half between passes, at which point you start narrowing the gaps between the rollers a little.

Gradually, your sheet of pasta gets unmanageably long, which generally makes it a good time to chop it in half! Once it is thinned enough, you can attach the bit that slices your pasta into strands. I had to cut the strands once I had sliced about half of each bit, then you take them over your arm, and hang them on something to dry a little. I forgot, but whilst processing one half of the mixture, you should cover the other half with a damp cloth, to stop it drying out. Fortunately, I was quick enough that it still behaved.

Once you have sliced it all comes the difficult bit, unless you have planned things well enough to be able to cook the pasta immediately! If you leave it to dry too long, it will snap instead of bending, so you can't get it in the pan without breaking, so you have to wind it up into little nests (like it is sold in the shops dried), but not so soon that it all sticks together!

Anyway, my pasta made it through the winding process unscathed, and happily waited for the guests to arrive. When they had, I cooked diced chicken and bacon in a wok (rather larger than the frying pan, which helps at the end), then added cream, black & red pepper, and (for authentic Italian flavour!) nutmeg. Simmering this a little makes the cream thicken just a little. After boiling the pasta for 3 minutes, you drain it, and stir into the wok. Serving, however, is an annoying job best left to others.

I also made a rhubarb pie with the rich pastry I had made and frozen the other day: really quick, just remember to add a little sugar to the rhubarb when you simmer it! The sweetened pastry really helps with the tartness too. I finally remembered to brush the top of the pie with a little beaten egg, so it was lovely and golden on top. Best enjoyed with custard. :-)

Tonight I have made a chilli, which we can reheat quickly whenever we get back in. Now there is real convenience food! However, I may have made it mostly out of fire, due to forgetting that Scotch Bonnet chillis are pretty hot. I much prefer the flavour of Bird's Eyes, so I don't use them often. Eating it may be a painful experience, though OH will probably approve.

First flowers of the new year

I love snowdrops, and I was very lucky that the previous owner of this house did too! However, this lovely bunch was in the park at the end of our road.



I was quite surprised to find that some of them are doubles! Extra frilly flowers.



Of course, Crocuses are also lovely things.



But Snowdrops are my favourite. :-)

Trees, upright and horizontal (with fungus)

Trees are impressive things, and this one is no exception.



Ok, my title wasn't quite right, as this is actually a stump, but it did used to be a tree. Impressively frilly fungus, I thought.



And here is a proper horizontal ex-tree, doing its part for the cycle of life, or whatever.



These bracket fungi look almost like pieces of agate, with all those strata.



I wanted to end on a more positive note (for the trees, anyway), so here is a very badly taken photo of a snowdrop, which accidentally turned out as a photo I quite like. I know, it is all at a funny angle, and my OH did try to explain the process of doing this correctly, but I still like it :-)

More photos from Roundhay park

The "Castle" in all it's glory, overlooking part of Waterloo lake.



Waterloo lake (it is actually a reservoir, completed in 1815, and named commemoratively for the battle earlier that year).



A different swan to the one in the above photo, which refused to come close enough for a good shot of it.



Barran's Fountain, very sadly not containing water, probably due to "health and safety"! A little silly due to the large lakes full of water you shouldn't really drink, but then I do see that putting it at waist height in a kind of bowl probably makes it more tempting to some people. Not having ducks in it may also change things!

I built a cold frame!

As it came in a kit, that is not massively impressive, but at any rate, when it was delivered this morning I finished clearing a patch for it to go on, and have just finished building it. It is outside our living room window, at the front of our house, as it is South facing.

Clearing the patch involved digging up a great many Cyclamen! I wanted to keep as many as possible, as they are beautiful plants, but this was pretty time consuming as there were rather a lot of "babies", tiny single-leaf plants that I doubt would survive being stored dry for a while like the larger bulbs.

I'm hesitant to put plants out in the frame tonight (thereby freeing up a little windowsill), as I'm not sure if it would still reach freezing inside, given how incredibly cold the last few nights have been. I'm going to place a bowl of water inside tonight, and so long as I remember to look at it before the sun has been on the frame for long, I can check for ice.

In a little while, I will be sorting out containers to sow Calabrese and Carrots. All my Cauliflower seeds (which I planted one week ago) have germinated, and I have lovely strong looking seedlings. Which is more than can be said for the onions! Never mind, it is all a learning curve. :-)