nineteenth - how to make rhubarb cordial

Hello sweet peas,

I hope you've had a gorgeous day.

I was going to write about something different tonight, but then we made rhubarb cordial from that crate-ful we picked yesterday and now I can't think of anything else.

So just in case you find yourself with a clump or a bunch of rhubarb and your family are as sick of rhubarb cakes as mine are, I thought you might like to make some cordial yourself. 

As with most of the recipes I post here, this one is more of a guide than an exact science. 

Here's how we made it;

Gather

• a bunch of rhubarb  - we used 1.5kg
• a couple of lemons
• some sugar
• a couple of sterilised bottles

Make

• roughly chop your rhubarb into small pieces and pour into a saucepan
• add the zest of one lemon
• pour about a litre of water into the rhubarb 
• cook the rhubarb on low heat until it gets soft and mushy. stir it often to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan and add more water if it feels like it is
• set aside to cool for a bit
• strain rhubarb mush through a muslin cloth over a big bowl until most of the liquid has dripped through. we left it overnight
• pour the beautiful pink rhubarb juice back into a saucepan and cook over a low heat.
• compost the mush
• add the juice of two lemons 
• slowly add sugar to your taste. i think we used half a cup in the end or maybe a little bit more
• once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and allow to cool a bit
• strain the liquid and pour into bottles
• make some cute labels and then you're done

Next time we make it I might cook the liquid for longer and reduce it into more of a syrup, but today we were making it up as we went along and were eager to get to the taste test bit of the process.

Late this afternoon, after the heat had finally broken, we sat outside in the garden and sampled our cordial. The girls drank theirs with icy cold water and we added vodka, a wedge of lime and some ice.  It was gorgeous. Exactly the tangy but sweet taste of summer that I'd hoped for.

Cheers!

And thanks you guys for the book recommendations. I'm excited to have so many to choose from.


Big smooches,

Kate
xoxox

eighteenth

Just a quick one tonight because it's 9.44pm and we've just come in from organising tomorrow's chook move and I'm exhausted.

So let's do four photos with four short explanations and finish with a question for you. Sound good? Let's go!

Photo one is of a crate of rhubarb we picked while we were fencing off a part of the south orchard for the chooks to move into tomorrow. And on Wednesday they will be joined by four sheep. shEEP!  Did I tell you we're getting sheep? I'm so excited. Finally the beginning of the Daylesford Organics wool project is becoming a reality. I'll introduce you to them once they're here.

And the rhubarb? Well so far I've cooked it until it's mushy with some lemon rind and now it's straining through muslin. Tomorrow I'll make it into cordial.

I'm thinking tomorrow evening after a hot day on the farm we'll be sitting back drinking glasses of rhubarb cordial with a splash of vodka, lots of ice and a squeeze of lime. Oh yeah!

Photo two is of my broccoli seedlings poking their first leaves out of the soil. Funny how farmers and the fashion industry have working a season ahead in common. Hopefully these babies will be big and strong by the time the big chill kicks in and feed us all through the icy cold months.

Photo three is of the blackberries I picked this morning when I got up really early because I have finished my book and don't know what to read next. We ate some on our muesli for breakfast and the rest went into Sophie's Blackberry and Chocolate loaf. It was a huge hit after dinner at our house and felt like just the thing to celebrate our Indi's welcome home.

Photo four is of the apricot jam I made a few days ago being slathered on bread in the garden the yesterday when we had to have an impromptu picnic because our house was too school holidays messy to venture into. I love summer. And I'm happy to report that with all hands on deck we managed to get the house in order that afternoon and it didn't even take that long. But any excuse for a picnic hey.


So there are my four. And now what I'd love from you dear reader is some book suggestions. Last night I finished The Natural Way Of Things by Charlotte Wood. It is disturbing and haunting and at times it feels like a nightmare, but it is also incredibly fearless and beautiful and brilliantly written. I can't stop thinking about it. If I'd had the time I would have gobbled it up in one session, but I couldn't, and in the end I found myself limiting myself to a few pages at a time in an attempt to slow down the inevitable end. I loved it. I loved it so much that I'm scared the next books I read will feel inferior and crappy.

So please help me with your most loved book suggestions, I'll be so grateful for something good to read at night and first thing in the morning.


I hope you're in the middle of a book you are loving, it's the best feeling isn't it.

Ciao, ciao!


Kate

xoxo


ps happy birthday mogus xoxo

snapshot of now

I feel like I have a thousand things to tell you. There's so much going on my mind, in my heart and in my life. This morning after I took the girls to school, tidied the house and took part in a lovely girl's photography project, I sat down and started this blog three times.

I have three incomplete blog drafts sitting in my post list and now this is my fourth.

But I think this one will work because just before I sat down to write it, I spent a few minutes walking around snapping photos of things that tell the story of me now. Twelve photos that represent a bit of a snap shot of my life at the moment (minus the girls of course because they are at school). So I think instead of being overwhelmed with details I'm going to write a sentence or two to go with each photo and that'll be that.

Simple, right?!

OK, let's do this.

HARVESTING - rhubarb. There is just so much rhubarb right now. I cut and tied this bunch to give to a friend this morning but forgot. I think I'll make a cake for the girls for afternoon tea now instead.

I'm a little bit obsessed with tying things up with string at the moment. Somehow the winding and the tying make every package just that little bit prettier, don't you think?

READING - These two books. Finished one and a hundred pages left of the other. Possibly two of the best books I have ever read. I'm trying my hardest to slow down and make the last pages last longer but it's impossible. I only hope the next book I pick up is as good.

MISSING - salt. About a month ago my grandfather was told he had to cut salt right out of his diet. My grandfather and I have always shared a deep love of the salty. We were the type of people who added salt to a dish before even tasting it. If you were looking for the salt shaker at a meal time you could always be certain it was next to one of us. When he was told to cut salt out for health reasons I was devastated for him. It actually made me cry. And then I decided to cut salt from my diet too.

I haven't added salt to a dish for a month. I miss salt like crazy.

WAITING - for rocket. And for all the veggies that are sitting still in the icy cold ground waiting for the winter equinox and the days to get longer so they can put on some growth and feed my hunger for salads.

CROCHETING - well I'm not actually crocheting anything right now, but I do need to darn in the ends of my May motifs, photograph them and write up a blog post about #MotifDayMay before it turns into July.

KNITTING - woolly slippers. I love that Miss Pepper chose odd colours for hers. I love that she sleeps with them on the shelf next to her bed and I love that she took them to school today to wear them in class. Miss Jazzy's are next.

LOVING - my farmer boy's new house rule that every member of this family must pick and eat at least one carrot a day, everyday. Yay!

CARRYING - chunky wool and fat knitting needles in a cute basket wherever I go.

SEWING - right now I really should be outside helping farmer Bren prune the apple orchard but instead I'm alternating between writing this blog and sewing leaves. But firstly it really is just too cold outside. And secondly, I've got this space in my new craft area that I just painted white that I think needs to be surrounded by a leaf wreath. Hopefully the reality looks as pretty as it does in my mind. Hopefully also, it warms up a couple of degrees in the next little while and I can get a couple of hours of pruning in before pick up.

WEARING - great quality, wool socks for the first time in my life and marvelling at the difference they make in terms of comfort and warmth. Until now I have always been too mean to spend much money on socks, but all that has changed from now on. Wow!!

I would really like to learn how to knit socks this winter. If you have an in-the-round, snugly fitting, simple sock pattern, I'd love the link.



COOKING - spinach and kale and all things green and leafy in every meal. It makes me feel like a better Mum when I know my girls are eating such garden goodness.

MARVELLING -  at the fact that you can cook haloumi in your sandwich press. I know!! I had no idea you could do it either. Indi saw it on a blog somewhere, told me, we tried it and it works. I can't believe I spent so many years frying it in oil, splattering my kitchen with oil, and burning myself with flying bits of splattering oil. This past week we've enjoying the squishy, melty cheese without the hassle of the big cleanup. So great!

OPENING - the pages of Zoe Phillip's new book The Time of Our Lives. It is such a gorgeous book and I think the photo she took of farmer Bren and Bingo Maremma might just be one of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen.

OK, that's me all caught up now.
How about you? What are you harvesting, reading, missing, waiting, crocheting, knitting, loving, carrying, sewing, wearing, cooking, marvelling and opening?
Care to share?

Big love

xx

winter's rhubarb

An icy cold and wet winter's morning.

Four layers of clothing and water proofs on top.

A knife each and a few black crates.

The rhubarb harvest.

A visit from my Mum. Some help snipping from Miss Jazzy.

Long red stalks. Lots of talk of the future. A growing pile of leaves that are poisonous.

Some photos. Some posing. Some silliness.

A few glorious rays of sunshine.

A taste and a realisation that rhubarb is only good when cooked. Yuk!

Freezing cold fingers working quickly, snip, snip, snip.

A couple of crates filled. 

And then up to the house to weigh out the bundles and tie them up with string. A few of my favourite things.

To market, to farmer's market in the morning. With apples and beetroot and rhubarb.

And then home again, home again to make crumble. Delish.

I hope your weekend is wonderful.

And delicious.

Have you got something fun planned?
Have you got a fave way to eat the rhubarb?
Do tell.

Bye xx