I really am thinking of summer now and continuing our favourite preserve theme. This is a tomato and cucumber relish. It is very zingy and fresh tasting. But, as it isn’t cooked for as long as a chutney or pickle it will only keep for three months. I don’t have any left and am missing this very grown-up relish. If you have an oversupply of tomatoes why not make yourself some Bloody Mary Relish? I can’t wait to replenish our supplies. Ingredients for Bloody Mary Relish 1.4kg ripe tomatoes, skinned & chopped 1 large cucumber or 2-3 ridge cucumbers, peeled, […]
Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil (Rain or Shine)
As I know its summer elsewhere I thought I’d put some of our favourite summer preserving recipes on the site. So while I dream of future harvests those in the Southern Hemisphere can get preserving now! I’m not jealous at all… Sun-dried tomatoes are gorgeous but really expensive and sun-blush tomatoes are even worse – just a daft name for a ‘not so dry’ sun-dried tomato! I wish I’d thought of that marketing gimmick – they’re even more expensive! Much as I really love sun-dried tomatoes (with tagliatelle and prawns – drool) I will not pay for them. If you […]
Reduce Food Waste – Week One
Last week I confirmed that Family Dirty Boots would be jumping on the ‘reduce food waste‘ bandwagon. I am going to be perfectly honest and admit I’m really surprised how much food we have in the house, but don’t consume ourselves.. Compared to our previous city life our food wastage is tiny. All that we don’t eat goes into dogs, cats, hens or the compost heap. Cooked bones are the only food item we send to landfill and even those are boiled down for stock first. However, when you actually start taking note of all the little bits and bobs […]
Simple Water Saving Tips
Since living with no water supply we’ve become somewhat expert in the ways of saving and recycling water. With the warming of the world and the increase in remote living I guess water usage is an important topic for a lot of people out there too. We haven’t got a sophisticated rainwater harvesting system but we do collect enough to keep ourselves supplied for up to eight months of the year. Which, considering the climate and our water use on the huerto, I think is pretty good. We harvest rainwater from the house and sheds. Our roofs all run to […]
Making the Most of the Vegetable Plot
I often hear vegetable growing enthusiasts bemoaning the small size of their carrots or cabbages. Later they will be disappointed at the short season of their cauliflowers – failing to eat them before the curds start to open out and flower truly. This is why it pays to be greedy in your veggie garden. Start to eat things as soon as they are edible. One, small, perfectly formed cauliflower a week for a few months, can bring much more enjoyment and sustainability to your life than two weeks getting bored of continual cauli consumption. Particularly when the produce is past […]
Food Waste Reduction Bandwagon!
One of my beliefs with trying to attain a more self sufficient life is that we cannot waste ANY food. With that in mind, plus my naturally thrifty, greedy nature I’ve been making more of an effort of late to reduce our food wastage. We are pretty good. All our food waste except cooked bones gets either fed to hens, dogs, cat or the compost heap. However I think I should be making more of an effort for there to be less available for the animals. With this in mind I’m jumping on the Food Waste Reduction Challenge Bandwagon. Crunchy […]
Preserves (Canning) – Basics Part 3 – Ingredients
Right then, continuing the ‘Preserves – Basics’ theme. This is some information that you need to know about the ingredients you’ll be using. Fruit and Vegetables These must be in good condition before you preserve them. So disgard anything spoilt, over-ripe or rotten. You don’t want to introduce any moulds or fungus into the product before you even start the preserving process. Beware of coatings to commercially produced fruit. Wax coatings on citrus and other fruit should be scrubbed off or peeled. Pickling is a good way to use up any under-ripe overly firm items. Green tomatoes are a traditional […]