Baked Stuffed Pumpkin

Here's an idea from a column in today's Independent (by co-incidence called From Garden to Plate - should I sue, do you think?!) ...

Baked Stuffed Pumpkin

Cut off the lid of a small pumpkin, scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut out the flesh, dice and keep to one side. Chop three leeks and fry gently in some olive oil together with some garlic and tumeric for about 10 minutes. Add the pumkin flesh and continue to cook gently until soft. Cook some long grain rice and drain. Skin, seed and chop 3 tomatoes and toast some cashew nuts under the grill. Add the drained rice to the pumpkin mixture, and stir in the tomatoes and cashews and some grated cheese. Spoon the mixture back into the pumpkin shell, replace the lid and bake at 180 degrees C for 90 minutes, until the pumpkin is softened and the skin turning colour. Serve in wedges.

I'm not sure when to try it ...

Rock Formation

The layering of the rocks here is amazing, creating the perfect fire place on the beach!

Stoke Beach

I love the coast round here, but this is an area I hadn't explored before. It is rugged and remote, yet only a short drive East of Plymouth.

Welcome to the family

DD2 has wanted another pet for ages ... we have cats, and won't on principle have pets that need to live in cages. But eventually DH relented and we welcomed three goldfish home for DD2's birthday. It's taken a while to get used to looking after them, but DD2 is very faithful in her duties, feeding them regularly, and helping to clean them out when necessary. Wasn't it good of them to line up for a photograph!

Crownhill Fort - Offficers' Quarters

Crownhill Fort

The next day was an open day at Crownhill Fort. Built in 1872, it retains many of the features of that period, overlayed with it's varied usage since. It was 'withdrawn from service' in 1986 and purchased by the Landmark Trust. It is a spectacular venue for a picnic, not least because of the extensive underground tunnels to explore, and the gun emplacements to climb!

The Folly

A while ago now (we've had problems with our internet connections ... ) we crossed the water to Mount Edgecombe. We parked at the top and walked down the hill through the extensive grounds. This is the view across to Plymouth from the Folly with Drake's Island in the centre and Jenny Cliff to the right.

Brown Betty

One of the consequences of using the breadmaker, is that I often have little bits of slightly stale bread left, so I crumb them in the food processor and freeze them ... I use them for bread pudding, home-made stuffing, treacle tart and to coat chicken nuggets ...

(There's little point putting them out for the birds ... the cats soon show up, and one of them eats the crumbs himself!)

I also came across this recipe recently:

BROWN BETTY

* 4 medium apples, sliced
* 1 cup bread crumbs
* 3 tablespoons butter (melted)
* 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 3 to 4 tablespoons fruit juice

PREPARATION:
Mix bread crumbs, butter, lemon or orange peel, sugar, and cinnamon. Place half of the sliced apples in a buttered baking dish. Cover with half of the bread crumb mixture. Add remaining apple slices and cover with remaining crumb mixture. Moisten with fruit juice. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold with cream, whipped topping, or ice cream.

As it's the time of year for apples, it's quite a seasonal discovery.

Vegetable Box Scheme - September

As often happens at this time of year, our organic veg box often duplicates what we grow ourselves. We're happy to pass round the bounty, but I can't quite bring myself to pass on veg that I can freeze for another time. However, I have had another good year with the runner beans, and sure enough we had more in the box yesterday ...

One thing I don't grow, although I've tried in the past, is sweetcorn. In season, it is so inexpensive to buy and the cobs are much bigger than any I've ever grown. Everyone likes them, so when we found some in the box yesterday, I faced a moral dilemma - there just weren't enough to go round. Finally, I gave into temptation and cooked and ate them all by myself for lunch!

As last time, a substitution turned up trumps. The box was supposed to contain chard ... and I have plenty already ... but instead I had a bag of spinach. For some reason, I have never grown it successfully, and when I do have a plant or two I tend to pick the leaves young and use them in salads, so to have a bagful was a wonderful bounty.

By contrast ...

... our strawberries are fruiting for a second time this summer! They are quite early fruiters (don't know what variety ... we found a plant in our garden two houses ago and have propagated all our plants from that one forerunner) with an exceptionally full, sweet taste. We cut them back in July and noticed recently that they were in flower. Yesterday we each had a ripe strawberry fresh from the patch!

I don't know how many more will ripen, but I love the suprises you find in a garden!

The Eden Project #2

I love it when the sunflowers are in season ...


The outdoor biome is just as fascinating as the temperate and tropical biomes ... the range of plants and the various artefacts and displays are wonderful.

The Eden Project

We visit Eden three or four times a year, and I love the glimpses it gives into lives very unlike our own.

A glimpse through into the temperate biome

The fig tree

Our fig tree is covered in immature figs, but I fear that unless we have a long, hot autumn, they will not ripen this year. The earliest figs ripen about now, and we've had a few each, but I've read that those which don't ripen this year, will ripen earlier next year: however, they don't seem to over-winter terribly well.

DH found this scripture in his reading today:

The LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten. (Jeremiah 24:1,2)

Seems like we aren't the only people to have this problem!

Lentil 'burgers'

Bring 8oz green (continental) lentils to the boil in enough water to cover, with a stock cube if desired. Cook for 30mins.

Meanwhile, finely chop one onion, one carrot and a stick of celery (I use a food processor) and soften in 1 tablespoon oil. Add 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin and corainder, and a crushed garlic clove. Cook for a further minute. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

Crumb 3 slices of bread (wholemeal or white or both!).

Beat one egg.

Chop a large handful of fresh parsley.

Mash the lentils and combine all the ingredients. Shape into small balls , roll in seasoned flour and flatten slightly, then gently fry in oil until golden brown on the outside.

Serve with chips or jacket potato and salad. Makes 18-20 small burgers. You could, of course, make them sausage shaped!

Medieval Times

We recently visited Buckland Abbey (NT) for their medieval weekend, set in 1471. I was taken by this simple display of reproduction games and drinking vessels from the period ... by contrast, we have been without our broadband connection for some 10 days and found it very frustrating ... life was once so straightforward!

Navy Day

We've often been to the dockyard open days in Plymouth, but never before to the Navy Day.


We had a lovely day, touring three ships, watching the air display, and generally walking round all the sights.

The pumpkin patch

Our courgette that turned out to be a pumpkin has given us 7 good sized fruits. Two are booked for lanterns for All Saints, one has been used already (I roasted half and made a curried parsnip soup with the other half) , one has been given away ...


We don't like pumpkin pie ...

Roast Chicken

Following last week's success, this Sunday I roasted the chicken in the microwave ... 10 mins on high, turn it over, 10 mins on high ... leave to stand for 20 minutes (well, it was closer to 40 by the time I was ready for it) ... and it was lovely, cooked through and still moist. The only thing lacking was a crispy, golden skin, but I suppose I could put it in the oven to finish?

Bread Machine

I don't bake bread in my machine, but use it to make the dough. Then I knock it back and shape it, and rise it again in flexible silicon bread tins or moulds before baking it in the oven. It's a little more work, but the bread is much lighter, and there are no holes where the paddles were!

I've experimented with various recipes, and have settled on a base recipe for both white and wholemeal bread. But this Easter I made hot cross buns for the first time, and we liked them so much I now make the dough regularly – sometimes shaping it into buns, but sometimes into a loaf.

All bread machines are different, but to your normal amounts of flour and water add (in whatever order is appropriate for your machine) ...

2oz melted butter
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dried milk powder
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 tablespoon castor sugar (optional)
½ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1¼ teaspoons quick yeast
4 oz sultanas

Shape, rise and bake at gas 5 for 15-20 minutes before turning over to finish for a further 5 minutes (because of the sugar it will burn easily, so take care).

Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon sugar until melted. While the bread/buns are still hot, glaze with the milk.

(Don't glaze them if you intend to freeze them.)

Squash

It's the season for squash – and we especially love spaghetti squash – peeled and sliced into rings, cooked in the steamer, shredded and served with butter and pepper or with a cheese sauce.