This is an indication of how bad the weather is. When I come in the back porch and find 3 pairs of keepers' wellies, I know even the guys had to concede to the wind and rain. A cup of tea will warm them up while they wait for the squall to pass through. I think they were grateful for the bread and butter pudding I made yesterday too!

Just after we dropped the trout off to the Puzeys, I drove home to find Danny the fisherman waiting to give us a fresh crab. His boat came in before this weather could catch them out at sea, but they had to leave some of their lobster traps set, and we hope they won't lose too many in the storm.

Lobsters are selling for 3 times the money that crabs are at the moment, so crabs are almost considered a by-catch. They are delicious nonetheless, and easy to prepare. The back of a hatchet is a great tool for breaking into the shell, and the pincers on the ends of the legs are perfect for removing meat. If I haven't said it before, a good hatchet is invaluable.

Aside from doing a few hours' work in the village cafe, I took the opportunity to do some 'inside jobs'. And although the house doesn't look much cleaner than when I started, I did manage to finish these jars of apple and cranberry chutney using a simple recipe I found online.

Chutneys are not a huge part of American cooking; the term is Anglo-Indian and refers to any condiment made from contrasting spices and vegetables to accompany a main meal. The British developed a taste for it from their 'involvement' with the Indian sub continent. Our palate tends to favour the fruit/sugar/vinegar recipes, which are also easy to store and use fruits we have gluts of like apples and green tomatoes. And it looks prettier in front of the window than the view outside does.

The chutney is forming part of our preparations for Christmas. I know it's still 3 months or so away but we're making a concentrated effort to cook a Christmas meal composed wholly from what we can put away this harvest season. Chutney needs a few months to 'improve' and allow the flavors to develop. Mike loves cold meats on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) and this will be a welcome addition, although until I shoot it or harvest it, I'm not yet sure what meat that will be!

I hope this storm doesn't blow the last of my cooking apples off the tree before the travelling cider press comes in a couple of weeks.

Feeding the Birds

I checked on new mother hen Gertie and her chick this morning. The chick looked very odd - large head, tiny body. I thought at first glance that it was a second chick, it looked so different than 48 hrs ago. See for yourself - compare it to the picture of the chick in Saturday's post. Nope, all the unhatched eggs were still there, it was the same chick.

I spoke to Mike about it. He thought it sounded like malnutrition. The chick, when first hatched, lives off the yolk sac which it absorbs into its abdomen as it hatches. We reasoned that the chick had drained these reserves and Gertie, who was too focused on hatching the other eggs, hadn't yet taken chick to the feed tray and taught it to eat. It was starving to death.

We had to intervene. Either we had to take the chick and raise it ourselves, or we needed to take the yet unhatched eggs away to push Gertie into caring for her chick. We decided to remove the eggs. Even as a first time mother, Gertie had a better chance than me of successfully raising her own offspring and teaching it how to be a chicken. It was motherhood or bust for her now.

I checked on the pair at regular intervals. I'm pleased to say that Gertie was taking charge of her little one, calling it to eat and dropping tidbits for it. There's a good chance for that chick. The eggs we removed all appear to be addled or infertile so it looks like we did the right thing.

As it was raining again this morning, I thought I would get on with chutney and preserve making. As I checked the cupboards for ingredients, I realised I had LOTS of out of date stuff in my pantry, but all things the birds like, so I figured I'd cook for them first. After all, they're going to need the extra energy now that the weather's turning. Here's a simple recipe for your wild birds:
Clean out your cupboards! Nuts, dried fruits, seeds, stale crackers and bread or cake crumbs.

Take some lard (UK) or empty that coffee can of grease (US) from your fridge. Warm it in a pan and add the dry matter.

Make sure it's pretty soupy - the fat holds it together. If it's too soupy you can always add more dry stuff later.

Save a few paper cups from your Starbucks. (I had these still in the cup holders in my car!)

Fill it with the mix and put it in the freezer overnight.

When it's set hard, cut off the paper cup

Pop it in your fat ball holder and hang it in a tree, sheltered from the rain if possible. If you haven't got a holder, just put a long piece of string doubled to make a loop into the mix before freezing it. Hey presto! -

After chores, Mike and I did a little fishing this evening at the pond by 'The Hill' pen. I picked some more blackberries and elderberries while he cast a spinner. He lost 2 trout, released 3 trout, and kept 1 trout for Mr & Mrs Puzey, our neighbors who raise organic beef. I guess fish is a nice change for them. We dropped off the fish, and sat on their stone wall as the sun set, exchanging fishcake recipes and discussing rabbit damage to Mr Puzey's crops.

You can guess by the look on my face that I'm not crazy about touching fish. I'll gut any mammal you like but fish freak me out. Look inside a trout's mouth - all those rows of backward-facing teeth. It's not quite 'Jaws' but it's still not somewhere I want to put my hand.

I never did make any chutney. Maybe tomorrow.

Windfalls

I finished mowing the lawn today - a job I loathe - and as a reward sat on the bench under the apple tree and drank a glass of beer. The tree isn't any great age. Its branches were so overgrown that I've been pruning it on a 3 year programme so as not to shock it into producing watershoots or too much growth at the expense of fruit. It doesn't get sprayed so the apples get scab and canker, but it doesn't affect their value to me in the kitchen. And the other animals that eat them certainly don't care about a few blemishes.



I was looking at the windfall apples that had dropped where I mowed and I started counting all the benefits we get from this lone bramley apple tree:


1) the best of the windfall apples for crumble - Mike's favorite - and for blackberry and apple jelly (the pectin in the apples is necessary to get the jelly to set)


2) the 2nd class windfalls I save in a bucket as a treat for a local farmer's pigs


3) The chickens take advantage of the flesh of any apples I accidentally mow over


4) Spud and Pip pick up any little or overlooked windfalls as toys to play with, a vital component to the 'Chase me' game they both love


5) When the Pomona travelling cider press comes to the village, I can pick the rest to press into apple juice and apple cider vinegar

And it's not just the fruit that's useful. Our young niece and nephew visited last weekend, and the tree is just the right size for climbing games. The bird seed feeders hang in its branches conveniently close to the hedge so the nervous little birds can feed near safety and any youngsters. I have a long string of white lights hung in the canopy and on the 1st of December I turn on the lights for Christmas and they look so beautiful highlighting the shape of the tree. And last but not least, I can sit on the bench under the tree enjoying a beer after mowing the lawn.

You don't have to give up your day job, move to the country, and buy a farm to feel self sufficient. You can get so much out of even a single tree. A windfall indeed.



Simple Apple & Blackberry Jelly recipe



Pick as many blackberries, or any sweet hedgerow berry, as you like. I fill an old cookie tin.

Pick 1/3 as much apple to go with the blackberries.



Wash both. Peel the apple and cut into chunks. Put it in a big heavy-bottomed pan and add water til it's just below the top layer of fruit (about 1/2")



Cook gently over low heat until all the fruit is soft (about 15min)



Put a big bowl under a jelly bag or muslin tied to the legs of an upside-down chair (elastic hairbands work great for attaching muslin to chairlegs). Pour cooked fruit into bag or muslin and let juice drip into the bowl beneath, about 2 hours. DON'T be tempted to squeeze fruit to extract last bits of juice (makes jelly cloudy).



Put extracted juice back into (cleaned) heavy-bottomed pan. Add 1 cup sugar for every cup of juice in the pan. Heat to a rolling boil. Skim off any schmutz that rises to the surface and discard.



Heat until jelly reaches setting point. I test this by putting a few drops on a plate and putting the plate in the freezer momentarily. Take it out, tip the plate and if the drops ball up and begin to gel then your jelly is ready to go into sterilised jars (If you're not sure how to sterilise jars, check the internet - there are SO many ways, so chose one that's convenient for you)



Pour jam into jars. Cool. Label. Store. Enjoy



n.b. - if your jam doesn't set hard enough, don't sweat it. It's still great warmed up on pancakes, crepes filled with vanilla ice cream, etc. Just tell people it's a blackberry coulis.

Feeding the Animals

I've been given my first beat to look after, temporarily, as Mike's underkeeper is on paternity leave. A beat is a huge pen full of pheasants. Looking after them involves keeping them in and fed, and predators out (and hungry).

There was a fox in my own garden around midnight last night, worrying my chickens. The chickens give a distress call which will wake me up from even a sound sleep, though I tend to keep an ear and the window open to make sure I can hear them if they need me. I will go to bed with the flashlight and a .22 rifle tonight.

Playing gamekeeper took up most of the day, but I found just enough time to prepare some hanks of wool for washing, and to make sure we were fed at least as well as the animals. I've got to find time to practice my breakmaking skills before Saturday when I will be entering a loaf of bread and a sponge cake in the 'Homecrafts' section of the Beaminster Summer Show. Summer shows and country fairs are a big part of the rural calendar. There are categories for everything from a carcase of your own home raised lamb to a jar of homemade honey to 'The Longest Runner Bean' - the latter being a prestigious and much sought after accolade. A lot of competitors take their entries very seriously, but some are like me and just participate to be a part of village life. Entering a cake is one thing; I wouldn't have the bravery (or secret fertiliser recipe) to compete against the hardcore bean-growing mafia.

This is what we had for dessert tonight, and it's one of Mike's favorites. Easier than pie, and you can make the crumble topping in big batches ahead of time and put it in the freezer. Great for dealing with September's glut of apples!

Apple Crumble Recipe

Peel 4-5 good sized apples and chop into rough cubes. Mix in a tsp of vanilla essence. Sprinkle with 1/3 c sugar if tart (cooking apples), less if sweet (dessert apples). Tip the apples into an oven ready pan and pat down.

In a separate bowl, mash together with your hands:

1 c flour

3/4 c light brown sugar

handful of Quaker oats

1/4 lb cold butter

until you have a crumbly mix. Throw in a big handful of chopped pecans to finish. Sprinkle this mix over the apples and bake at 325F about 40 minutes, or until crumbly topping is browned. Serve with ice cream or cream