Cold November Days

The weather has turned now here in England, the north wind is definitely blowing.

How bare the land looks around our village as the last of the sugar beet is harvested & taken away.

Life at the cottage has been full with jobs this week, there is always much to do before Winter sets in.

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I made cinnamon flop for breakfast.

It is an old Amish recipe from a book I have for many years.

They are very easy to make & very much enjoyed.

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I have been cooking pumpkins.

Pumpkin Butter.

I have been making this for a few years now, the children love it especially on hot buttered English muffins.

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The pumpkin butter ready for potting up.

The smell was wonderful, so warm & seasonal.

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The last of the canning finished for the year.

It always feels so good to see all that your garden has produced for you over the year.

I do not can a large amount but enough for us to enjoy the fruits of our labour for a year.

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Canning shelves in our pantry.

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Pumpkin Loaves.

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Some of the pumpkin went in to bread, two to eat & two for the freezer.

This is a recipe I was kindly giving by a friend 10 years ago that lives in Massachusetts.

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Our beautiful cherry tree is such a beautiful colour this time of year.

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Remember remember the 5th of November.

Bonfire night.

This is how a nearby village celebrates the anniversary of the Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the houses of parliament.

It is a very family affair and all the funds raised goes to the upkeep of the little playground.

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It was so cold, we were glad when the bonfire got going.

The twins in their crocheted scarves I made last year.

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Sidney enjoying his chips.

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Mary enjoying the fireworks.

The girls were so happy watching the fireworks.

We had such a special evening but it was so good to get home & get some warmth in to our toes.

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I finished reading The Cottage Diaries & found it a very enjoyable book that again I didn't want to end.

Now I am reading Larkrise to Candleford.

I have watched the television series & was enchanted by the stories & sets so when I saw this old edition in the old book shop in town I couldn't resist.

This copy is full of pretty country prints which lets you picture times from a bygone era.

I am really enjoying this book & how Flora describes all the little details of a time long ago just before machines came in to the countryside. She captured the countryside before traditions & a way of life disappeared.

This is a book you can disappear into & imagine yourself there in the cottages she describes in so much detail.

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One of the old country prints in the book.

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Rice Pudding.

This is such a simple dessert, we had it with home made canned rhubarb.

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Today it is Remembrance Day, a time to remember our fallen & the families who have lost a loved one. We are going down to the War Memorial Hospital in town to remember those soldiers & read some of the poppy's laid in remembrance.

Keep warm.

Fondly Michelle

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Warm Days & Chutney.

We have had an unseasonably warm October in our little part of the world, so we have been spending time cleaning up the garden ready for Winter.

I love to admire the outside bare beauty of our countryside this time of year.

Our wonderful holly trees are abundant with berries turning from orange to red, perfect for our little birds & Christmas decorating.

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These were the last of our pears, now they are in some chutney I made & also the fruit bowl.

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Garden Chutney.

We emptied the greenhouse of the last of the tomatoes & picked the last pears, rhubarb & apples to make chutney for Christmas.

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The first batch was made with tomatoes & rhubarb.

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The rhubarb always makes a smooth chutney ideal for sandwiches.

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The second batch was made with tomatoes, apples & pears.

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I do love the jewel colours this combination made.

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This made a colourful chunky chutney to go with cold meat.

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The jars cooling ready for the pantry shelves.

It feels so good to use up everything in the garden & to not waste a thing.

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Fruit Chutney Recipe.

2 medium onions

3 lb of mixed fruit { pears, apples, rhubarb,tomatoes, plums }

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of spice

1 teaspoon of dry mustard

1 lb of brown sugar

4 oz of chopped dried dates

1 pint of malt vinegar

Chop up the fruit & onion & place in a jam pan with everything else.

Bring to the boil & then simmer until the chutney goes thick, around 3/4 of an hour.

Keep stirring so it does not stick to the pan.

I always test by dragging my wooden spoon along the bottom of the pan to see if it is thick enough.

Pot in to clean jars & top with plastic coated lids or old glass kilner lids.

This recipe gets better the longer you leave it.

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The hens enjoying the twins sunflower heads.

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A little rabbit enjoying food in the ground with little robin red breast next to him.

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I made some pinwheels again & tried cheese & chutney from last year this time.

It is such a good way to use up last years canned goods & find nice combinations for Christmas.

We will have all eight children here with partners too this Christmas so I will have to find easy things to cook.

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Our dear friends & the twins Godparents had a three week trip to New England.

They brought us back some wonderful gifts, the calendar brought back fond memories of our trip to Old Sturbridge Village 12 years ago.

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I harvested our hydrangea's, they dry so quick in our kitchen with the warm wood stove.

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We still have an abundance of apples in the garden so I made a pudding with them & also some plums from the freezer.

One tree is still laden with beautiful apples which turn red as the season changes.

It was delicious served warm with cream.

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Thank you dear friends for all your kind words, I really enjoy your comments.

Fondly Michelle

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Simple Cottage Day's

The weather has turned now & Summer is a distant memory.

We have had a wet week here in Lincolnshire & have spent some beautiful days inside baking & doing crafts.

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I have a love of old pieces of furniture.

This is the hand carved top of a wall cupboard in our parlour dated 1640.

I would love to know the journey these pieces have taken.

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Dried Honesty from the garden.

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This is the only original window we have left in the cottage with some of the old hand blown glass in it.

It is hard to see but one piece has been initialled & has the name of our village on it.

Even writing on glass they had such beautiful writing.

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Pumpkin ready to make pumpkin butter.

We will enjoy it's beauty for a week or two first.

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The area beside the inglenook fireplace.

Antique bonnets & aprons hanging.

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I love our old stick back chair, George does too as it sits next to the range.

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Two little boys sleeping in the kitchen.

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Bobby bless him he does love to sleep.

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The Ewe's are back in the field behind the hens.

They make such a gentle noise when I am hanging out the washing on these wonderfully breezy days.

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Our bare graceful old walnut tree in the morning sun.

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I used some of the lovely stone ground flour we bought at the Lode water mill to make some pastry for pies.

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The pastry turned out very crumbly using the flour so decided to make two rustic apple pies with it as we still have so many apples.

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They turned out lovely & tasted good too.

 I sprinkled demerera sugar on top.

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Kitty fancied a plait loaf for her lunch.

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George really likes to curl up in the rug hooking basket.

Since finishing my jumper I am back to rug hooking.

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Chocolate brownies.

This is a simple recipe that the children love.

 

Put all the ingredients into a bowl & mix for 2 to 3 minutes.

 

1 1/2 cups of plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups of white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil or melted margarine

4 eggs

1 cup of chocolate chips if desired

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

 

Bake in greased tin for 30 minutes at 350 f

 

I do change the recipe sometimes by adding dried fruit instead of chocolate chips.

 

Cool & cut.

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The twins made little harvest mice from fir cones they found in the garden.

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These beautiful old fir trees line the back of the garden between us & the grave yard.

The girls so love to gather the fir cones.

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Thank you dear readers for all your kind words.

If there is anything you would like to see in a future post please let me know.

 

Fondly Michelle

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Autumn Day's

 

Everything is changing so fast as Autumn takes a hold, the air has a damp chill in the mornings & I have been getting the cottage ready for the cold dark days ahead. The wind has a howl to it & makes a beautiful sound coming down the chimney.  I do love these days in front of the fire & just enjoying home.

How the garden has changed in the last couple of weeks.
The beautiful morning sun rising up over the cottage.

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George playing in my rug hooking basket.

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Cold Tea Cake.

I have never made this before & as we all love tea bread I thought I would try it.

I found the recipe in a 1980's Cook book called Farmhouse Cookery.

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It turned out wonderfully & I will make it again & again.

It was so soft & the fruit with being boiled was very juicy.

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I finished my jumper this week , it was my first time at knitting a vintage pattern & am very pleased with how it turned out.

I started knitting a couple of years ago & have so much to learn.

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I used three 1940's navy buttons that I found in an antiques centre.

There is a simple double crochet around the neck.

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The girls chose some pretty fabric for me to make them new dresses. They really enjoy going to the fabric shop & seeing all the prints.

I have used this pattern a few times now, it is simple which is wonderful with having to make two.

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Saturday was a family fun day run by our little group of churches, the theme was harvest & planting.

We all had a lovely morning filled with bread making, seed pictures, planting cress & making a large scarecrow.

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Daisy helping Kitty to make a small scarecrow.

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Concentrating on their seed pictures.

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Stuffing the large scarecrow.

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It was lovely to gather with dear friends & celebrate all things harvest.

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Thank you kind friends for all your beautiful comments, I enjoy reading them so much.

Fondly Michelle

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