I love my allotment – if only I could spend more time there (and I could spend a lot of time there given half the chance but needs must). However having an allotment gives me the opportunity to grow lots of different things and (try) to learn from my mistakes. So as and when I do something I think is interesting, if only to me, I write about it and those notes, you can find below.
Homemade Elderflower Cordial
Each June I look at the blooming Elderflowers and think I really should have a go at making some Elderflower cordial and then promptly forget. However this time around I was with it and so set about making Elderflower cordial which is a doddle and knocks the spots off any shop bought stuff...
Making a Mexican Lasagne with the last of the sweetcorn
Well it was back from the allotment with the last of the sweetcorn which to be honest wasn't looking its best so what to do with it? After getting out the recipe books and flicking through we hit on Nigella's Mexican inspired lasagne and wow it is really good and so easy...
Potato on pizza is a match made in heaven
We were looking for something different to do with the last of the new potatoes when a recipe that used potatoes as pizza topping floated into vision. Potatoes... on top of pizza... really who on earth would come up with that? Ah, of course those wonderful people who invented pizza! So if you like pizza then you really must try Pizza con Patate...
What on earth can you do with a Cauliflower in the height of summer?
It was going to be a seriously hot day and a quick spin around the allotment to sort the watering resulted in a neighbour offering us a lovely cauliflower because... they had lots spare... as you do... in July. Ask most people what they would do with a cauli at anytime and I am sure it is going to involve cheese or being boiled to within an inch of its life as a side veg. So in the height summer this might be a challenge, fortunately there is a wonderful charred cauliflower, lemon, caper and orzo recipe that might make you think differently...
Gooseberry and Elderflower Muffins
That sharp sour crunch of the first gooseberries of the year from the allotment is now a distant memory (ah, a shame) however as the gooseberry season starts to draw to a close there is still time to do something just a bit different, thanks to Delia Smith, with the last of the fruits and you won't be disappointed...