Happy Solstice

[shelli]

Whatever you are doing this weekend - I hope the midsummer sun shines on you all

the plastering is finished
the kitchen is fitted
the kitchen floor is now laid
the carpets are in all those rooms we are carpeting

I shall spend the weekend painting and cleaning - and will feel all the better for a bit of hard labour!

here is kitchen fit pic



note how he's fitted the units around the beam - he's Ace

Shelli x

NB had to enhance pic - it's not your eyes - no power on and dark room

 

[Penners]

So what time's dinner, then?

By the way, I don't eat cheese.

 

[Gervase]

Midsummer sun? :roll:
I wish. I'm just off to see if yesterday's render and hessian screening has survived the night, as it continues to widdle down here in West Wales.

 

[Moo]

Ditto in E. Anglia.
I'm bracing myself for a strawberry-picking stint on the allotment, dressed in woolly sweater, waterproof jacket and welly boots. I suspect it will be a question of brief forays between the showers and spending the rest of the time in The Shed listening to Radio 4.

 

[Pford75]

We have my parents visiting for the weekend....so we're off to Blickling Hall today......might hit the beach tomorrow (assuming the rain actually stops).

Moo - Do you have some sort of microclimate? My strawberries are still a long way from ripe :-(

 

[biffvernon]

Solstice was at 23.59 GMT last night. We had a dinner party in the yurt and a walk round the the field at the magic moment. A beautiful, still, clear night with a bright northern sky and full moon low on the southern hoizon. Off to Ecofest now.

 

[Nemesis]

It's a bit depressing really. Downhill all the way. We no sooner seem to have altered the clocks than the nights start drawing in.

 

[skier-hughes]

Moo - Do you have some sort of microclimate? My strawberries are still a long way from ripe :-(

Depends on your strawberries, we have
Honeoye an early which we've been eating for the past couple of weeks
Cambridge, mid season, still green
Alice mid-late just developing
Sophie very late flowering nearly

Graham

 

[Gervase]

Phew, render intact, and hessian screening holding back the weather.
Anyone dusted off their Christmas decorations yet? :wink:

 

[Moo]

Just back from the allotment with the trug full to overflowing with strawberries. Mine don't have fancy names; most of them are Merv's, the rest are known as Russell's.

 

[skier-hughes]

Phew, render intact, and hessian screening holding back the weather.
Anyone dusted off their Christmas decorations yet? :wink:

I was thinking about it

 

[Penners]

Will you all stop it, please?

Tomorrow the sun will come out and we'll all be complaining about the heat. It's going to be a glorious summer, there'll be a bright golden haze on the meadow, Andy Murray will win Wimbledon, Lewis Hamilton will be F1 World Champion, the price of petrol will fall dramatically and someone will come and buy my house.

Nurse... I've lost my pills again.

 

[Nemesis]

It's poured all day. But that's OK as a walk around Wallington gardens in the rain means it's empty of other folk. Not that we are anti-social or anything...


Christmas decorations? Never got round to putting them away...

 

[Moo]

Does anyone have a recipe for low-sugar strawberry jam?

 

[Nemesis]

One that won't keep for more than a week in the fridge?

http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/jams-preserve/make-jam-jelly-methods.php


http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/nigelslater/story/0,,2286406,00.html

 

[Penners]

Not sure about low sugar, but there are plenty of strawberry jam recipes at http://www.jamworld.co.uk/jamst.html

There's a low sugar stawberry jam recipe here http://www.splenda.co.uk/recipes/scones.html, but it uses Splenda instead. Not sure how you'd feel about that.

Or...

Diabetic Strawberry Jam
4 Cups strawberries (halved)
1/2 Cup concentrated white grape juice (simmered down from 1 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon rind (grated)
1 1/2 Tablespoons unflavoured gelatin
Place berries juices and lemon rind in saucepan.Mash berries slightly to release juice. heat to boiling. Sprinkle with unflavored geltatin. Remove from heat, skim and pack into hot jars with hot lids.
Cool to room temperature before freezing.

No personal guarantees on any of those. I'm a full-fat man myself (as is obvious to any casual observer).

 

[Moo]

Many, many thanks to both of you for that cornucopia of recipes and links.
All the latter are now stored in my Bookmarks folder, and I shall report back before the end of the week when I've made my very first batch of strawberry jam.
If the plants go on cropping as abundantly as they have for the last couple of weeks I should have a shelf full of jars for any passing PPUK person to sample.

xxx M

 

[Nemesis]

Do add lemon juice though - it sharpens the flavour, and aids the set.

If you use this and just don't use quite as much sugar it tastes wonderful:

http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/16/vals-recipe-for-strawberry-conserve/


Jars - I must throw some out. I find I can't (yes I know I'm a sad and sorry anall retentive with a jar fetish...) and now have so many...

The ones with lids which fit from Lakeland are the most useful.

 

[Penners]

Do add lemon juice though - it sharpens the flavour, and aids the set.

Yes, Mrs P. used to make a delicious strawberry soup until she learned that trick.

 

[Nemesis]

The preserve sugar you can now buy is good too. It's more expensive, but considering how expensive decent jam is it's not too much of an extravagance.

Scone recipes next?