Fresh herbs

This stash of rosemary came from the communal garden on our estate. The fragrance is abundant. The sage on the other hand has been nurtured (& somewhat neglected previously) in my own garden. Since making soup, sage has become my go-to herb of choice. The saying ‘a little goes a long way’ is very much…

Kitchen garden

I’ve said it before, this summer has been dreadful for fresh veggies in our garden. We’ve bee so lucky to have had an abundance of produce in the last few years since I got my eldest daughter involved in the planting and picking. But this year so far, the beans went, the carrots weren’t much…

Chantenay carrots

This year our crop of beans hasn’t been too great; mix of unseasonable weather and either too much sun or a deluge of rain. But the tomatoes are on their way and now we have our first batch of chantenay carrots. Having never grown these or yellow courgettes, let’s see how the rest of summer…

Homegrown tomatoes

A few years back I started a little veggie patch in our new build home back garden. The tomatoes are small and green, but they’re on their way…

Roasted Italian garlic sweet potatoes

I tried these a few weeks ago with my brand new unused slicer… they weren’t so successful. Tonight I was determined to get them right. I didn’t par boil my sliced potatoes first, and used a small mixture of olive oil and extra virgin olive oil. I also used my homemade Italian seasoning.

Make your own seasoning

Made some homemade herb mixes the other day. Result: taco seasoning and a huge batch of dried rosemary thanks to the communal garden hedge. And I had all the ingredients for the seasoning so a refill shop ahead me.

Dried herbs

Herbs have gone wild in the garden from the rain/sun indecisiveness, so I have trimmed galore in preparation for drying them out, mixing them up and adding to various dishes.

Veggie storage

Veggie storage to the max! In my small bid to be more eco-friendly, bought some new colour-lidded Tupperware to house and freeze the contents of fridge. Diced celery for shepherd’s pie, sliced and diced red onion, sliced brown onion for all kinds of meal treats and diced, circle and stick carrots…

Marinara sauce

I’ve never been too adventorous on homemade Italian sauces. The store bought jar thing is just fine by me. But I’m now on day 2 of making homemade marinara sauce, tonight to accompany the ravioli for a late dinner… Fresh oregano from the garden, dried basil, 2 jars of tinned toms, 3 grated cloves of…

Mediterranean veggie tray

This is the sort of side meal that moves seamlessly across all seasons. Courgette, peppers, red onion, baby toms, splash of balsamic vinegar and a generous covering of good olive oil, this is getting your Med on (without the travel expense)…