With so many hedgerows around our home I decided that this year I'd make more of the fruits they have to offer.

Rose hips were in plentiful supply, so I spent a rather soggy afternoon gathering enough to make a good quantity of rose hip syrup.

I used the River Cottage recipe.

I collected 1kg of rosehips which produced almost 500ml of syrup. It was rather therapeutic whizzing them up in batches. I added 1.25 litres water, bought the mixture to the boil, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

I then strained the mixture through two layers of muslin (two layers to be sure to get rid of the little hairs), leaving this to sit for 30 minutes so all the juice drained through.

Next I added 325g sugar, and heated this slowly until all the sugar had dissolved. Once done, I decanted this gorgeous looking liquid into a swing top bottle. It'll keep for four months in the fridge, although I doubt it will last anywhere near that long.


For my first taste I added a glug to plain (soya) yogurt, and topped with apple chunks. Verdict: lovely!

Rose hips contain twenty times more vitamin C than oranges, so they can help ward off a cold in winter, a teaspoon daily is enough or you can mix it with water like a cordial. It makes a tasty refreshing drink - fruity and sweet.


The next morning I enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, replacing my usual maple syrup with rose hip. It gave a slightly tangy fruity taste, a nice change from the norm. Verdict: Delicious, I wanted seconds! I can see myself happily starting the day this way for a while.


I've found a lovely dairy free vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of rose hip syrup gave it a fruity twist. I added some blackberries that were a tiny bit sour, the syrup sweetened them just enough.



Apparently it's good with rice pudding too (one of my favourites) but I've yet to investigate a dairy free version. I could always make my own, and I can imagine the addition of rosehip syrup would be delicious. My porridge is also going to be rose hipped the next time I make it.

You can use it to sweeten and add flavour to tea but I love my teas exactly as they are (I gave up sweetening my tea when I found ants in the sugar bowl on a Brownie camp when I was about ten years old).

At this rate my bottle won't last nearly long enough, so I might just have to venture out again to gather more for a second batch. And when that's gone I'll look forward to making more next year, it can be my annual autumn sweet treat!

Have you made or tried rose hip syrup - how do you use it?

Today's BEDN prompt is Food Glorious Food!

Now, who doesn't have the song from Oliver going around their head?

When I hear the term I always think of comfort food, good hearty meals made in the colder seasons to warm you to your very soul (despite that fact the song was sung by hungry orphans).

When pondering what to cook for supper tonight I was reminded that Andy had never had dumplings. I'll say that again, Andy had never had dumplings! I had an inkling that he'd love them, so I cooked them this evening and because I felt kinda guilty about suet being not the most healthy of ingredients, I decided to make the meal vegetarian.

This took me to my friend's blog Bessie's Veggie Kitchen, to try her recipe for Veggie Stew with Herby Dumplings (recipe originally from Tesco Real Food, although my friend switched it up for the slow cooker). I knew I'd make this one day, I mean how can anyone go through life without sampling the delights of a dumpling?


I threw the veg in the slow cooker this morning and added the super-simple-to-make dumplings half an hour before we ate.

The verdict?

I loved it (although as a meat eater I have to admit that I think it would be improved with a few large chunks of beef). Eating this took me back to winter nights sat around our dining room table, hoping my Mum wouldn't make me eat all of the vegetables on my plate. Supper with a huge side order of nostalgia.

And what did Andy think?

"Can we just have dumplings next time pleeeeease?" As I type he's on the phone asking his Mum why he's never had dumplings before...

I think it's safe to say that the dumplings were a hit.

Ingredients

For the stew
1tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1tsp paprika
300g Quorn Pieces
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled, chopped
200g mushrooms, sliced (although I don't like mushrooms so I used a parsnip)
1 pint vegetable stock
1tbsp cornflour, blended to a paste with a little water
1 bouquet garni

For the dumplings
100g self raising flour
50g light vegetable suet
1tsp dried mixed herbs (I used parsley)
pinch salt
ground black pepper
75ml milk

Instructions

For the stew
In the morning put the onion and oil into the slow cooker (set to low) and stir
Add the paprika and Quorn pieces
Add the celery, carrots and mushrooms
Stir well and add the stock
When the stock starts bubbling, add the cornflour paste and the bouquet garni

For the dumplings
Make the dumplings by sieving the flour into a bowl, stir in the suet
Add the herbs, salt and pepper and mix to a smooth, elastic dough with the milk
Divide the mixture into 10-12 small pieces and roll into small balls

An hour before you want to eat, turn up to high

30mins before you want to eat, add the dumplings.


Day 3 of Blog Every Day In November with Rosalilium

I didn't think I'd be doing another Soup Sunday quite so soon but I was really keen to try the vegan creamy white bean soup from Bessie's Veggie Food.

Ingredients (serves 4)
- oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp chopped basil
- 1½ tsp dried sage
- 3½ cups low salt vegetable stock
- 3 cups white beans (cooked or canned)
- 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- ½ cup raw cashews
- ½ cup water
- 5 cups shredded kale
- Salt & Pepper

Instructions
- Soak cashews in water for 6-8 hours. Drain, rinse and set aside until ready to make the soup.
- Heat some oil in a large saucepan & Sauté onions and garlic
- Add the basil, sage, salt, stock, beans, and tomatoes.
- Simmer, covered, for about 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the soaked cashews and water in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add the cashew cream and kale to the soup and mix to combine.
- Cover and turn the heat off. Let it sit for about five minutes.
- And enjoy!

I somehow remembered to soak the cashews when I got home at 1am this morning so I was good to for an early lunch today.

The recipe calls for chopped onion, and being a bit of  a wuss, I hate onion induced eye sting. My eyes don't tend to water but they do sting like a nothing else! My way around this is to use my Pampered Chef chopper. I love this gadget. I can get a finely chopped onion in no time and all the evil onion vapours are contained.

This one was quite expensive (I just looked it up online and it's £35.50 - I don't remember it being that much!!) but I had tried a cheaper version and it was utterly useless.

The recipe measures everything in cups, which I find a little annoying. I prefer a weight measurement myself - how can you get the correct amount of sundried tomatoes with a measuring cup? And surely it's easier to say 1 litre of water instead of 4 cups?


Overall, I liked this, it has a really nice flavour. I would've liked it a little creamier but then considering the creaminess came from nuts it's pretty good.

I served it with a pile of buttered toast soldiers. Delicious!

Feel free to point me in the direction of any good soup recipes.

(Day 15 of blogging everyday for 40 days)

With the weather taking a decidedly autumnal turn I've been preparing heating up soups for my lunch. But I fancied having a go at making some of my own.

I've shared some recipes from Bessie's Veggie Food before (here/here, in fact the mexican lasagne has just gone on my meal plan for next week). On a recent visit to the site, I found a recipe for Miso Soup.

As with any soup, I like to enjoy it with a crusty roll, or a cheese sandwich, to dunk.

Ingredients
4 cups low salt vegetable stock (1 litre)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp ginger, freshly grated
1 tbsp thinly sliced red chilli pepper (optional)
3 tbsp miso paste
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
a handful of cubed tofu (optional)
another 2 handfuls of chopped veg. e.g. carrots, asparagus or broccoli spears


Instructions
Place the vegetable stock, ginger, garlic, chilli pepper, and spring onion in a medium pot over high heat. Bring to the boil, uncovered, then reduce to a simmer.

Put the miso paste into a small bowl, and add a little of the stock to it. Use a fork to mash the paste into the stock, then add to the soup pot. Do not allow the broth to return to a boil!

Add the tofu (if using) and veg to the pot. Allow them to heat through for a few minutes so the vegetables cook just slightly.


Verdict? 
Nice! Every bit as good as the one I normally buy (Wakame Miso Soup). Granted this takes longer than squeezing the paste out of a packet and adding boiling water, but it's nice to be able to add veg to your liking.

What would I do differently?
I'd use red chilli pepper. Tesco substituted mine for Mirabella peppers, which had a nice flavour but no heat.

I'd leave out the broccoli, I added this just to finish it off but actually I much prefer the kale (or spring greens) and would've liked more of it. Thinly sliced leeks would be nice too.

I wouldn't use these Kallo stock cubes again. These ones took so long to dissolve, much longer than any I've used before.


What about the ginger?
I ordered fresh root ginger and had no idea how much to buy. I ended up with about four times as much as I needed (a common problem when shopping online). I Googled to see if I could use ground ginger instead only to discover that 'the two are not really interchangeable.'


All in all it was worth the extra effort and I'll be making this again - and not just because I want to use up all of that ginger!

As for Bessie's Veggie Food, I have every intention of trying the cherry choc chip ice cream recipe, but I might wait until cherries are in season again.

I also really like the sound of this vegan creamy white bean soup, so this will be my next recipe to try. I've already gathered together the ingredients.

Any good soup recipes you can recommend?

(Day 8 of blogging everyday for 40 days)

One of the things on my Summer List was to make my own ice cream. And here it is.
I found a no churn recipe on the BBC website and it appealed to my lazy cooking nature. It was super simple to make, it's basically some whisking, and folding, and finding a suitable container to freeze it in.

Apparently you can 'over whisk'. Who knew? I didn't (over whisk or know).

This recipe only had four ingredients - eggs, cream, caster sugar and vanilla extract. I don't know why but I thought there would be more to it than that.

I used vanilla extract 'with seeds', the vanilla alternative to the juicy bits in OJ. I think this gave a very authentic look to my ice cream. I did this on purpose obviously. Ahem.



And I have to say it was pretty bloody delicious!

I have visions of being introduced at parties like this, 'this is Hazel, she's a graphic designer and she makes the most wonderful ice cream'

;)

When joining Lucy for Awesome Autumn, my goals were few and simple.

Forage for sloes and make some gin
I found the sloes, I found the recipe, I found a demijohn (albeit dusty and covered in cobwebs). This happened people, this totally happened. I've since been told that the finished product is much nicer if left for a year, and I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm going to be patient and wait...


Go to the beach
This didn't happen. I'm not sure where the time went.

Decorate the side entrance and hallway
Done! Almost. I still have the woodwork to sand and gloss, but as we're so close to Christmas, and I'm hoping for an electric sander, I'm going to wait and see what Santa brings.


Carve a pumpkin or two
Fail. Halloween seemed to completely pass me by, honestly it came and went before I realised the pumpkins were on sale.

Watch a creepy film on Halloween
Fail, see above. However I did watch my favourite Christmas film - The Holiday. Twice.

Bake something
I've got three apple crumbles under my belt (literally!) and this cherry cake. The recipe comes from Bessie's Veggie Kitchen. I've cooked recipes from this blog before - here and here - and it turns out that the blogger behind it is a friend of mine. Someone I've known since I was 14. I'd been following her Pinterest boards for ages without even realising. Small world.



Resist the urge to buy new scarves and wear all the ones I own!
Loved this mini challenge and succeeded in not buying any new ones. Scarves are something I wear all year round but they feature heavily at this time of year. I wore almost all of my collection and selected a few to go to chairty. I received three for my birthday at the end of August, one of which was awesome (and huge), but, I'm told, not as big as one Lenny Kravitz has.


Read 3 books
To help towards my goal of 12 before my next birthday. I read A Cup of Tea by Amy Ephron, which is my chosen book for Alex's A Blogging Good Read. And then I started The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, which is where it all started to go wrong.

Something happened in the book, something that I didn't want to happen. It was awful, I saw it coming but still hoped that it wouldn't actually happen. It did. And when it did, I threw the book across the room and there it still sits. I sobbed and I haven't picked another book since.

The book was recommended to me by my best friend. When she read the awful thing, she was on a plane and sobbed just like I did. But she read on and tells me I should do the same, but I need to make my peace with it first. Despite this I'm impressed that a book can make me react in such a forceful manner - if nothing else that's pretty spectacular writing.

Walk in the woods
I live a two minute walk away from woods and yet didn't make it there for an autumnal stroll. Shame. On . Me.

Meet friends for coffee
This was really about just seeing more of my favourite people. And I'm pleased to say that I did. Time spent with friends is always a pleasure, even if it's for a quick lunchtime coffee. This is something I'm definitely going to keep up, it's all to easy to let time go by.


I'll be taking part in Lucy's Wonderful Winter too, hopefully I'll do better.

How was your Autumn? What are you looking forward to this winter?

Love

I didn't posted much at all last month, what with one thing and another I just didn't find the time. November was a busy one. I'm still forging ahead with my 4-4-4 Challenge. Although daily photos have fallen by the wayside, I'm enjoying it. I'll update you on that in another post.

I've been decorating and it's been hard work! The side hallway is the only area we I hadn't decorated yet and I'd been putting it off, although it's a small area, I knew it would take ages to do. The amount of cleaning, sanding, filling, sanding, filling and prep I've had to do it unreal.

Many years of neglect and bad decorating had to be rectified. I'm happy to say the ceilings are painted, colour (green) is on the walls, the new lights are up and the new flooring chosen but I still have to rub down the woodwork and paint it. I hate gloss painting and I've run out of steam. Total DIY fatigue. I'm giving myself a few days off before going at it again, I don't want to rush it and ruin it at this late stage...

It's all starting to feel very Christmassy. Andy had a rare afternoon off recently, so we hopped on a train to London to see the poppies. I know the interwebs has been awash with images such as these but I can't help but share mine too. And it's my blog, so I can.



Feeling uncharacteristically sociable, we also went to see Noel Fielding at our local theatre in the same week. Whilst walking to the venue, we overheard two young girls in front of us talking. One said 'I think this might be a little bit weird', the other replied "yeah, I think it could be'. We got a fit of giggles, I'm not sure they really had a grasp on who they were about to see. Weird doesn't even really begin to cover it.

I think we've used up our social life quota for now, going out 3 times in one month is unheard of. I feel some hibernation coming on.


I'm loving Autumn. The sloe gin is well underway. I've been baking - mostly apple crumble - and enjoying nights in by the fire under a blanket (that's more like it). My patchwork quilt has taken a back seat, I'm sure I'll get back into it soon, I can hear it calling. I bought some cute fabric at a craft fayre recently (did I mention I'd been to the NEC Birmingham for that? No? oh it's good, great if you like crafts of any kind), so I'm keen to get it cut out and sewn in. I'll be able to point at it and say 'that's from our road trip to the NEC'.


I have an 'Andy one' on the quilt as well. When Andy ruined one of his work shirts (which happens to them all eventually) I nicked it before he could throw it out. I washed it, cut it up and had it sewn in place before he got home from work. I think he's secretly quite pleased to be part of it.

Oh, I also made these festive Cornflake Wreaths (as mentioned in my previous post). I say 'made', I mean I tried to make them. It was a massive fail. Despite following the recipe and instructions to the letter, they didn't turn the gorgeous festive green the picture depicted, nor did they bond together.


What I ended up with was a sticky mess of slightly greenish coloured cornflakes, that tasted more like food colouring than anything else, on account of using a whole bottle to try to get them to even remotely resemble green. Oh well.

Wow, that ended up being a bit of a ramble. What have you been up to?

Love

After the yumminess of Bessie's Mexican Veggie Lasagne I decided to try another of her recipes - Slow Cooker Quorn Chilli. I love using my slow cooker, with all the hard work done at the beginning of the day, having a meal cooked and ready at supper time, with no more effort required than removing the lid and serving, seems like such a treat!


This is equally as delicious as the lasagne and would be perfect served with crusty rolls and perhaps sprinkled with a little cheese and a dollop of sour cream (I'll definitely be adding both next time I make this). This time around I had wholemeal rice and coleslaw.

The recipe cooks enough for 4-6 people depending on the size of their appetites. We ate this over two days, with Andy eating it for lunch as well, so it's budget friendly!

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Love

I've had this recipe for Mexican (Veggie) Lasagne on my Nums nums (why did I choose to call it that?) Pinterest board for longer than I can remember. So when I saw that the #BEDM prompt for May 5th was 'Let's be Mexican', I thought this would be the perfect time to try it out. But of course I didn't get organised in time and ended up cooking it last night, but better late than never...

It's delicious!


The recipe comes from Bessie's Veggie Food and is really simple and easy to make. I used kidney beans in a chilli sauce for added flavour and, I don't know if I was supposed to do this but, I finished the layering with tortillas topped with cheese, which made for a lovely crispy topping.


The worst part was having to let it 'rest' after cooking for 10 minutes before we could dig in, it smelled divine and totally worth the wait. Served with a salad and black olives it made a nice change from our usual meat suppers. Next I'm going to try the slow cooker Quorn Chilli, which looks ridiculously easy to make.

Today's prompt is 'Out of the comfort zone' and this is kinda out of mine. My first ever food post got no comments. Not one *tumbleweed*... so I've always been weary of posting recipes (and yes that is a hint for you to go back an comment on it).

Love

A first for me but this was so nice I had to share...

A little while ago I reviewed a book for The Modern Girls Guide, it was a sewing book - Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross - but within it's pages nestled an intriguing little recipe for a salad that sounded rather delicious - Peach and Basil.


As the name suggested it has peaches, basil (I used some from my greenhouse) and mozzarella (I'm baffled as to why that isn't mentioned in the name) with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The result? A taste sensation! It's really refreshing and was so nice I had it two days in a row.

The recipe suggests serving them in towers but I just popped it all in a bowl and dug in - when eating lunch alone presentation isn't really a high priority.

Recipe from Weekend Sewing.