Easton Eden

A Boxing Day hoar frost, a lovely long walk in the gathering dusk, returning, cold, to the pub.

setting the stage

Friends for an impromptu Christmas Eve soiree meant a bit of tearing round, tidying and making the house feel cosy, festive and welcoming. Our True Grace log fire scented candle in the hallway, a feast of breads, cheeses and home made preserves on the table, just add wine and friends.

I decorated with two large church candles in hurricane lamps, a wooden serving platter from Baileys, recycled glass drops from Refound Objects on twigs in an old Calvados bottle from The Hambledon and vintage crates from Over The Garden Wall.

edible presents

Good things to cook and give away...

Pfeffernusse

Spiced marzipan biscuits, glazed in icing. Mix two eggs and 230g of soft brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of marzipan. In a separate bowl sift 250g of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 2 teaspoons of mixed spice, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, kneading it into a dough and rest in the fridge for an hour. Divide into 30 or 40 walnut sized balls, place on parchment lined baking trays and cook for 12 mins at 180 degrees. Cool on a rack, then dip completely in icing mixture (400g icing sugar, 3 egg whites and a slosh of kirsch), dry on rack then return to the cooling oven for 5 mins to set.

Crystallized orange & lemon peel

Score the skins of 4 unwaxed oranges and lemons, peel away and remove the pith, then blanch in boiling water for 4 mins, repeated 3 times. Create a syrup of 500 ml or water and 500g of caster sugar, bring to the boil and then add the peel and simmer for 2 hours. Put the peel on a rack to cool, then dip in caster sugar and leave to crystallize.

Strawberry Jam

Same as usual (see June), but it's proved to be very popular with boys of the family, so I made some more.

white winter hymnal

A few weeks ago I posted about planting up paperwhites and hyacinths, and wanted to show the fruits of my labours. The paperwhites are blooming and fill the house with a gorgeous scent. The hyacinths are just starting out, but the roots are good and strong, so they should do well. One failed to sprout, so I'll replace it and stagger the blossoms throughout the winters, which is no bad thing. A second lot of paperwhites need to get planted now as the current ones should see us through Christmas and the new year, but not the dim days of January...

Handmade Christmas

Because we live in a very old house, it feels wrong to put up shiny plastic decorations. A medieval cottage feels like it needs warm, natural, slightly rubbish handmade bits of christmassy business. Plus, it makes you feel a bit more festive, which is essential as I am far from full with the spirit of the season.

Strings of popcorn are an American tradition that I haven't tried out before. The corn was popped and threaded, with a needle into long strings which hang from the tree in lieu of tinsel. Do not do as I did and sew them in the dark, or your thumbs will not thank you.

I made an orange pomander with cloves pushed into the skin last year, but this year thought that three tied together would look pretty. I used a ribbon from Refound Objects that comes spooled on a lovely metal bobbin.

And finally, I have a brilliant willow wreath that I bought about a decade ago, which has stood me in very good stead. A simple bunch of mistletoe tucked into the the branches looks nice and doesn't cost an arm and a leg like most wreaths.

Paperwhite Remembrance

Just a year ago I eagerly followed Elspeth Thompson's instructions for forcing paperwhite narcissi indoors in time for Christmas. I was inspired by her description of the delicate flowers filling the house with scent in the darkening days of winter. Sadly Elspeth died earlier this year and as I prepare the paperwhites again this year, my happiness at the ritual is touched by sadness. I had the pleasure of meeting her once and found her to be beautifully handsome and fiercely bright. She had an unaffected Bloomsbury style and I had a girl crush of huge proportions. She had a huge effect on me and I am sure her family and friends feel her loss dreadfully.

I returned to her gorgeous book, Homemade to remind myself of what to do. I am growing my bulbs in an old bundt cake tin, filled halfway with pebbles. Last year my mistake was to try to pack the pebbles round the bulb, but they're better off sitting straight on top, so you can get more bulbs in and grow a bigger and better display. I plan to fill another bowl in two weeks time to extend the growing period. Apparently a slosh of vodka or gin is a good way of arresting their development if they get too leggy, which sounds like a good plan as long as you keep the ratio of one for the pot, two for the indoor gardener.

I am also forcing hyacinths in some lovely Sarah Raven vases, following Elspeth's reminder to leave a good 5 mm between the water and the base of the bulb. Last year I was not so faithful and one or two rotted. The roots will seek the water out and I'm keeping everything crossed that they'll grow well this year and fill the cottage with colour and perfume. I've gone for L'Innocence, a sweet, white flower that will look clean and pure.

leaf it out

Time to rake up the masses of leaves that have fallen from the walnut tree. In less than a week great flotillas of them have sailed down and covered the garden. We're putting them into leaf mould sacks, so next year we'll have a lovely mulch for the veg patch. Summer has passed, autumn is here, winter is on the horizon - time to hunker down.

Pumpkinky

The annual pumpkin whittling night, getting bigger and better.

Need to start planning for next year.

playing ketchup

Made Saint Jamie's tomato ketchup with our ripe, red and rotund tomatoes that have taken an age to grow. It was so nice to preserve something that has been so long in the growing, the only trouble is, I bloody love Heinz Tomato Ketchup, so as nice as it is, I think it's going to last an awfully long time...

Picklethon

Making pickles is real a pleasure; I love all cooking, but preserving feels like weird and wonderful chemistry. It's nice to make something in the kitchen that has longevity and it feels like you're doing justice to things that you've tended for months in the garden.

This weekend's project was two lots of pickled vegetable; first a big jar of plain, pickled shallots and second a startling ochre Piccalilli, made from a veg patch cocktail of courgettes, cucumbers, shallots and cauliflower.

Piccalilli

100g of salt

Half a head of cauliflower

50g courgette

half a cucumber

1 small onion

5 shallots

First, I poured a liter of boiled water over the salt and dissolved it, then added all the veg chopped to cm squares and placed a plate over the top, keeping the veggies submerged for 24 hours.

The following day I boiled up 175ml of pickling vinegar with 75g of caster sugar and a clove of garlic crushed with half a teaspoon of coriander seeds, before adding the veg (strained and patted dry) and simmering for 10 mins.

Then I mixed 1 and a half tbsp of plain flour with 1 of mustard powder, a desert spoon of turmeric, a sprinkle of chopped, dried chilli and a tsp of ground ginger. Then I whisked in 175ml of cider vinegar and simmered the lot, adding in the earlier vinegar solution slowly until it turned to a thick and rich gold sauce. I added the veg and decanted into sterilised jars.

Pickled Shallots

100g salt

500g shallots

375ml of pickling malt

50g brown sugar

1/2 tsp of peppercorns

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 cloves of

Dried chilli flakes

Mulled spice bag

1 bay leaf.

As with the piccalilli, prepare the shallots and then put in brine solution of 1 litre of boiled water and salt and leave over night, weighed under by a plate. The following day, heat up the vinegar, sugar and spices in a stainless steel pan. I used mulling spices to give a wintery taste when the pickles are ready to eat in November. Leave the heated vinegar to cool for two hours, drain and pat the shallots dry, place in a large kilner jar and pour over the vinegar with the bayleaf and a few peppercorns. Leave both pickles for at least two months, if you can resist.

Vase Attacks

I bought a beautiful, firey orange vase at last week's Easton fete, which I'm using for the last few sweetpeas and it looks lovely. It takes pride of place next to my Catalog Living style stack o' books, which includes a copy of Oxymoron, a beautiful limited edition graphic book by my friends, Tom and Paul, otherwise known as design whizzkids Johnny Toaster.

Last of the summer's vines

The veg patch is looking a bit forlorn; the beans are done and the courgettes are dwindling, but other plants have finally reached a full and fecund ripeness. Cue the cauliflower and turks turban squash parade! There's also the last few scented sweetpeas to pick, they've been beautiful and I plan to grow lots more next year. We're also making good use of our lovely cooking apple tree, from crumbles to pies.