Monday, November 23

An allotment free week

I haven't really much to report this week. We haven't been out and about nor have we been to the allotment. Although we generally do a little work when we visit the plot, the main trigger for heading there, at this time of year, is the need to replenish our vegetable stocks. Last week we had already brought home everything we needed or used vegetables in our winter stores.

Although, last week, we had some sunny spells, we also had drizzly rain and wind. It was also quite cold so all in all, other than local walks with Ruby, we haven't been encouraged to be out for extended periods. Even when the weather is dry, after all the rain, everywhere in the garden and on the allotment is wet and soggy. There's no immediate rush to get things done, so we have contented ourselves with staying at home and doing indoor things. Martyn's learning to drive a train. Fortunately, for all concerned, it's not a real one as he has crashed a couple of times. It's a computer simulation but very realistic.
We've also been busy working on a website that we manage for someone we know who has a small travel services business. His main income is generated by airport transfers so he is one of the people hit hard by Corvid restrictions.
I managed to get my photography fix by mooching around the garden searching for possible subjects.
Some things were tenaciously hanging on whilst others were impatiently preparing for next year. No doubt hoping like us for a better year to come.
Amongst other things I've been trawling the internet for more recipe ideas. I gather together recipes that I like the sound of into an electronic database.
Just over three years ago we stopped eating red meat and any processed foods so many of the recipes are based around vegetables and poultry. We eat fish too but tend to keep fish dishes plainer.
Each week I make at least one large bowl of coleslaw which makes good use of all our fresh cabbages.


I used some of our leeks, potato, carrot and frozen green beans in a vegetable gratin.
I can't track down the recipe that this was based on but, basically, you can use a mix of any vegetables you fancy. The vegetables are cooked and added to a cheesy sauce. The mixture is then topped with a mix of breadcrumbs and some grated cheese, then baked in the oven. To our homegrown vegetables I added some chestnut mushrooms and courgette and I used Gruyere cheese.
Finally some potato, onion and carrot went into a green Thai curry with vegetables based on this recipe. I used vegetable stock instead of a tin of broth. I also bought the green Thai paste and sprinkled the curry with sweet red pepper rather than chilli pepper

There’s no harvest pictures this week so I thought I'd include some photos of Ruby instead.

Two of Ruby's favourite things are having her tummy rubbed ...
... and playing with her squeaky ball.

Finally, I hope everyone is still keeping safe and well. At least last week brought some hopeful news as various Covid vaccines seem to be showing real promise.

I don't qualify for inclusion on Dave's blog for his harvest Monday theme, this week as we didn't do any harvesting but I'll still be popping over to see what other people have managed to gather in.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

18 comments:

  1. You are so organized! The recipes I save are over the place. I am going to try to duplicate it. Big learning curve coming up, I'm not familiar with using a database.
    I don't use processed products but rarely. Never have. That Minimalist Baker web site you recommended is a good one. I would like to recommend a recipe I tried this week. It uses a yam, but I think a winter squash would work fine. It's from Ina Garten's micro Thanksgiving https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/chipotle-smashed-sweet-potatoes-1
    Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes. I used one potato and left out the dairy products. Next time I will add cubed cooked seasonally appropriate vegetables as a topping.
    That last photo of Ruby is a winner. What an expression.

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  2. I use MS One Note for my database and take screen grabs to insert into the database. I can then browse through as I am deciding on the week's menus. It's quite easy to use. I looked at your recommendation - is it very spicy as we tend not to use chillies and I think maple syrup is used more widely in the US. I think I would leave out the cream too.
    They say dogs don't have expressions but I think that is from someone who has never had a dog. She was preparing to drop the ball over the back of the sofa and then run round to retrieve it - that is if no-one else will join in the game.

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    1. Regional cooking is so very interesting. Long time residents of the Southwest US tend to grow old on chili-the-dish and chile-the-vegetable. Maple sugar which is found in northeast US and adjoining Canada shows the origin of the recipe writer. We would use brown sugar. Curry houses and fish-and-chips shops are practically non-existent here. I had my first curry at Star of Bombay in Notting Hill when I was in my fifties.

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  3. I love coleslaw, could eat it by the bucket! Good vegetarian dishes should leave a meat eater not realising there wasn't any meat on their plate! Happy recipe hunting.

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    1. We don’t miss the red meat, Deborah. If anything we have more varied meals now than we ever did.

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  4. I wish I was more experimental with our food choices. I could do without red meat. My husband would feel like something was missing from dinner. Your sweet Ruby is always an uplifting sight to see. She looks so intense in that last picture, full of fun. I had a cousin that drove a train for a living. He did it for years. There are train tracks all around our town. It is said that 80+/- go through town every day. We live a short 1.5miles from one set of tracks. At night I can sometimes hear the trains going through town. They have to blow their horn at each intersection with a street...that is a lot of tooting.

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    1. Martyn used to be like your husband, Lisa but now he says that he doesn’t miss red meat at all. Martyn’s uncle was a train driver and like many little boys he wanted to be one. This is the nearest he’s got. Ruby is always full of mischief

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  5. I like the idea of collecting those favourite recipes on a data base Sue. We have not eliminated red meat entirely from our diets but are eating very little of it. Funnily enough we had a quorn based shepherd's pie last night with a sweet potato topping. There was enough left over for a light lunch today 😄 More encouraging news yesterday on the vaccine front.

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    1. I just hope that I don’t lose the whole thing, Anna. We started by just cutting back and then decided to cut it out completely. We’ve never tried Quorn , I use pulses and quinoa as protein and we still eat fish, poultry and dairy. We did try dairy free cheese but weren’t impressed. Yes the vaccine news seems to keep getting better.

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  6. I'm another coleslaw fan, absolutely love it and yours looks delicious. I like to grate kohl rabi into a coleslaw for a change, tastes very similar to cabbage.

    Ruby is a sweetheart! Karen :)

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    1. I’ve had grated kohlrabi on ours too. Karen but we only grew one or two roots. Ruby thinks everyone she meets loves her.

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  7. I am amazed at all the flowers you were able to find at this time of year. The news about Covid vaccines does look good. They are still working out the details on who and when, but we are in the high-risk category based on age, so hopefully it will be sooner rather than later for us.

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    1. We too should be amongst the first to be vaccinated, Dave.

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  8. Those recipes look great, looking at all your dishes has me feeling hungry. I loved your photos, you do have a lot in bloom. I'm smiling re Martyn crashing his train!xxx

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    1. I wouldn’t want, Martyn to drive a real train, Dina. That would be no laughing matter!

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  9. Nice way to organize recipes. That is one of the reasons I made a family cookbook, so I could find my recipes. Sound like you are dug in for the winter. Stay warm and safe.

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    1. We’re hoping that we may be able to do some gardening before spring, Bonnie.

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  10. I do love to collect recipes, Sue.I watch cooking more often on TV or YouTube. I think chef Jamie Oliver has a lot of interesting vegetable recipes.
    Your Ruby is a cute one.

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