Thursday, 9 September 2010

Sunny days in Cornwall

The last week of August was holiday time for us. We stayed in Cornwall & went on a few days out we also went down west near the Lizard for a few days.
I've lived here all my life yet never been to Mullion before these are of Mullion cove, a very pretty place.
Then on to Porth Leven another new to me place.

It had been stormy the night before & we'd had torrential rain but as you can see the sun came out as soon as we went away although the sea was rough!


The road to the Lizard.
Sunset at Lizard
The Lizard lighthouse
Kennack sands at 9 in the morning hence the fairly empty beach.


Making our way home we stopped off at Falmouth harbour and scoured the charity shops.
Because of the weather this boat had to detour to Padstow it's a replica of the Dawn Treader from the Chronicles of Narnia and was on a promotional tour.

Over to Summerleaze beach in Bude where L had fun making sand angels.
Ending with a day at Widemouth near Bude.

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

Courgette glut recipes

The courgettes on my allotment keep growing & growing we've now had 63 and have tried lots of different recipes so as not to get bored with them. Just in case the same happens next year I thought I'd post some of the recipes we like here as you can guarantee I won't be able to find them again!
Chocolate courgette cake
120g soft margarine, 125ml sunflower oil, 100g caster sugar, 200g soft brown sugar, 3 eggs, 130ml milk, 350 Pl flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 4 tblsp cocoa, 450g grated courgette, 1tsp vanilla essence.
Mix all together put into a 20x35cm tray & bake 35 to 45 minutes @ 190c
*******
Carrot & courgette muffins makes 24
315g caster sugar, 310 ml sunflower oil, 3 eggs, 275g strong white flour, 1 tblsp baking powder, 1tsp bicarb, 1 tblsp mixed spice, 250g grated courgette, 250g grated carrots, 50g sultanas.
Whisk sugar & oil together, add the eggs then everything else. Spoon into muffin cases & bake for 25 minutes @180c


Rustic courgette, pine nut & ricotta tart
2tbsp olive oil, 2 sliced courgettes, 250g tub ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, handful Basil, 1oz Parmesan,1 crushed garlic clove, 500g block puff pastry, handful pine nuts.
Fry courgettes in olive oil for 5 mins. In a bowl mix ricotta, eggs, basil, half Parmesan & the garlic. Roll out pastry to a rough round, transfer to baking tray. Spread the ricotta mix over leaving a 4cm border. Press the courgette slices into this then scatter pine nuts over & remaining Parmesan. Bring sides up a bit. Cook for 30 mins. 180C


Courgette & spinach tortelloni gratin serves 3-4
2 courgettes sliced into ribbons, 1 lge deseeded chopped red chilli 1x 250g pk ricotta spinach tortelloni, 1x 150g goats cheese, 175g young spinach, 2 tblsps fresh mint, handful basil, 275ml creme fraiche, 4tblsp parmesan, 3tblsp breadcrumbs
Cook the tortelloni in boiling water for 1minute then drain. Return to pan with the rest of the ingredients apart from the half the parmesan & the breadcrumbs. When hot tip into a gratin dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs & parmesan put under hot grill for 4 minutes.
******
Prawn & couscous salad
200g couscous, 3tblsp olive oil, 50g pine nuts, 2 crushed cloves garlic, 2 courgettes sliced, 1 diced pepper, 4 spring onions, 1 chilli chopped, 2tblsp chopped parsley, 1 tblsp basil, 1 tblsp mint, 500g prawns. Dressing - 2tblsp olive oil, 3 tblsp lemon juice, 1 tblsp Thai fish sauce, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 2 tblsp coriander.
Place couscous in bowl pour 400ml boiling water over & leave to stand for 10 mins. Heat oil in pan & cook pine nuts until golden then add teh garlic, courgettes, pepper, spring onions & chilli cook for 5 mins.Stir this through the couscous. Dressing - mix all ingredients together & pour over.
******
Courgette fritters
140g pl flour, 2 eggs, 175ml milk, 50g cheddar, some chives, 2 grated courgettes, l
Cook grated courgette in a dry frypan for 3 mins tip onto kitchen paper squeeze dry. Mix with the other ingredients. Oil a pan then cook ladle fuls of the batter for a couple of mins on each side until golden.
******
Cheesy baked courgettes
2 courgettes halved lengthways, 125g ricotta, 1 deseeded & chopped chilli, zest of 1 lemon, handful of chopped mint, parsley, basil, 4 tblsp breadcrumbs.
Scoop the seeds from the courgettes then place the courgettes on a tray. Mix ricotta, lemon zest, chilli & herbs. Pile this into the courgettes & top with the breadcrumbs. Bake 35 mins @180c

Courgette & spinach soup - will add this soon.
Tagliatelle with prawns, courgettes & chilli - will add this soon.
Also made vegetable lasagne, courgette chutney
Will edit this soon as I have to go & cook now tonight it's the turn of the marrow ;)

Friday, 23 July 2010

Summer time

Thank you for the cushion love on my last post, I did sell 9 of them that weekend & a couple more since. I will be selling online hopefully soon, I've set up a Folksy shop but that's as far as I've got. As well as our normal 3rd Saturday of the month Craft/Produce market we will also be having a market every Wednesday during August so I now have to have a cushion making frenzy as stocks are very low.

I was given this picture by a little girl who had bought a Lavender sachet off me, the fabric was a cat one, so cute!
Other than sewing we've been busy on the allotment everything is growing brilliantly this year, we've now picked 29 courgettes & haven't wasted any. I've started making preserves, not for sale just for the storecupboard, using courgettes, rhubarb & blackcurrants so far, it'll be marrow next.
We went to Eden to see the Summer flowers, which didn't disappoint.


We've been finding lots of creatures there's lots of grasshoppers & slo worms in the field and the chrysallis is just under the rim of the shed roof.
Obviously a lot of time is spent watching & talking to this pair :)
And we managed a bit of kite flying on the moors.

I happened to find some lovely Woods ware :)
and a few bits of rosey china.
So that's about it really a condensed 2 weeks, now I'm going to continue looking for courgette recipes, what a way to spend a Friday night!

Saturday, 3 July 2010

Cushions galore

This weekend I have 2 sales, one is this afternoon at the village church fete and on Sunday at a garden party in aid of Cancer Research. Hopefully I will sell some of these as they sure take up a lot of room.
This pair are already sold.
Tea party
Beach huts
Boat
Black hen
Spotty caravan
Jug of flowers
Rose cottage
Funky caravan
Cream hen
Owl on a branch
Beehive
Butterflies & flowers
Birdhouse
Have a good weekend, fingers crossed it stays sunny!