Little House by the Railway Line

2009 Goals

Learn to make yoghurt
Pickle walnuts
~~Make marmalade~~
Perfect my granola bar recipe
Grow green beans to eat
~~Grow spinach~~
Grow peppers and winter squash
Save seeds from peppers and winter squash
Knit lots of dishcloths
Finish my hidden stars quilt
Make napkin rings
Finish cardigan back
Learn how to do water-bath-canning
Knit a pair of socks

Preserved this Year

February: Marmalade, 10 1/2 standard jars, 2 tiny jars
February: Blatjang chutney, 6 jars
March: Caramelised onion chutney, 6 jars
June: Elderflower cordial, 5 jars
June: Strawberry Jam, 7 standard jars, 3 tiny jars
June: Elderflower cordial, 4 1/2 jars (2nd batch)

Projects in Progress/ Planned

Navy and pink lap quilt
Hidden stars bed quilt
Sampler cardigan
Amish Alphabet Cross-Stitch
Knitted scrap blanket
Planned: summer blouse and skirt

Scripture Memorised this Year

Psalm 8
Psalm 103
Romans 12
Romans 13

New Year's Day Dinner 2009

16:40, Wednesday 7 January 2009 .. Posted in In the Kitchen .. 0 comments .. Link

My other big cooking event over the Christmas period was rabbit pie. I'd thought about doing one for many years, but never had the opportunity.

(When I was a student, I remember the butcher in the indoor market in Durham used to sell rabbits, and one of my housemates and I used to wonder about buying one and doing a pie for lunch. We were halted in this by a third housemate who declared it to be an awful idea, to eat a rabbit, so it never happened. She was a little crazy, that girl - quite happy to chop up chicken embryos in the laboratory, but totally disgusted by the process of pulling all the leftover meat off a chicken carcass after we'd all - including her - eaten it for lunch.)

Anyway, I bought a rabbit a couple of months ago, thinking it was a good opportunity, and shoved it in my mum's freezer till I could find a good time to cook it. We didn't think it was worth doing something like that just for two people, so were waiting for some guest to serve it to - we checked they didn't object to eating rabbit first, of course!

Eventually we did it on New Year's Day. We invited a couple of friends from church round for a walk (very cold, and very very muddy - one of those walks where you pick up clay on your boots as you cross the field, and have to stop every few paces when your feet are too heavy, to kick the mud off), then played silly card games while the dinner cooked. Rabbit pie, with roasted turnips and parsnips, chestnut-and-cranberry-stuffed-onions, cabbage and peas, followed by apple and blackberry crumble and custard. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and we had enough leftovers to have the same meal again (for two people rather than four) the following day.

About Me

Hello! I'm Jo, I'm 26 and I live in a small house in England with my husband. I work full time in an office, and in my spare time I help out with Sunday school and the church youth group. When I have time, I enjoy reading, cookery and crafts, and I'm trying to learn about the garden.

Links

The Cotton Patch
Sew and So
The World's Healthiest Foods
Daily Bread
Bible Gateway
E-Sword
The National Trust