A busy day

It's been a busy day...  Baking and planting.  The planting doesn't really show - the Venus Flytrap seeds are tiny!

Venus Flytrap seeds - image courtesy of Hampshire Carnivorous Plants

So, I've planted them after standing the growing medium in the pots for 36 hours in rainwater as per the instructions.  

The growing medium after standing in rainwater

The seeds have been scattered across the serface - now comes the waiting game... The seeds can take anywhere from 10 days to several weeks to grow, and it's pot luck as to which variety of VFT I get.  Not that I mind - I love the challenge of growing the seeds...  

I seem to have the knack of getting awkward carnivorous plant seeds to grow... I can get Sarracenia seeds sprouting without problems - but I guess leaving them in the 'fridge for 6 months in damp sphagnum moss does the trick... I know it's a long term project, as these plants don't really mature for 4 / 5 years - but it's worth it.

As for the baking - three lots of biscuits.  Triple chocolate cookies, vanilla biscuits and sweet mix spice biscuits. 

Triple chocololate chip, Sweet mix spice and vanilla

They're easy to make, and I know what's in them, so there are no nasty nuts to worry about for me.  

Ah well, time to call this quits - I want to listen to my audiobook.

Back when I get chance...

Karen

It’s the time to make your play

Take the rose today

It’s the time to have your say

Take the whole bouquet

Have no regrets and don’t keep hanging on

Now all your yesterdays are gone

Danger - Mango chutney in progress

I've wanted to make Mango chutney for ages.  So, as I have some time off, I decided to make it.  And this time, I've taken photos of the process!

First, prepare the mangoes, onion, garlic, apples and peel the root ginger:

Then, in the preserving pan, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar:

Once it's dissolved, grate the root ginger into the sweetened vinegar and stir:

Then add everything else:

Then bring to the boil:

Once the mixture has begun to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour or until the liquid has evaporated and the chutney begins to thicken..

Still simmering.....

It's now been simmering for about 40 minutes...

Nearly time to jar it....

Now jared...

So all it needs to do is cool down so I can put lids on and label the chutney.

So now time to chill...

Back soon.

Karen 

Now I feel better

Thank you for the day

For the day

We'll last forever

Thank you for the day

For the day

It's finished....

Well, the relish is finished.  Now all I need to do is put it into a jar.

Finished red onion relish

No fancy jars for me - I prefer the Dowe Egbert coffee jars, as they are the right size (and heat up nicely in the oven).  Plus the tops seal really well...

And after all that, I got one and a bit jars of relish.

Finished relish in jars

So all I have to do now is the cleaning up. Great fun. Not.  But it's worth it.

Back when I have cleaned up.

Karen

Hold on, there's a new way a-coming
Looks like it's arriving tonight
There's no more hiding or running
There's no more walking on ice

Danger - Red Onion relish in progress..

Well, as my partner is at work, I decided to do something creative (and edible).

I'd been thinking about trying my hand at making chutney (pineapple chutney has already been made) and like a twit, forgot to take photos of the process.

So, I decided to make something else (and blog about it!). At least this time it's not as complicated as the chutney was (meaning less bad language during the preparation).  It's just four ingredients:

Red onion x 8

Caster sugar x 100g

Red wine vinegar x 100ml

Red wine x 100ml

Slice the onion, then cook it with the sugar until soft (the recipe I am using is from BBC good food app) and states that it should take about 10 min in a covered pan. (I personally gave it 20 min) them added the wine and the vinegar:

Red onion relish in production

This is still on the hob as I write this, as I am waiting for it to finish reducing and thickening up.

Further updates to follow

Karen

Hold on, there's a new way a-coming

Looks like it's arriving tonight

There's no more hiding or running

There's no more walking on ice