*OCTOBER Classes:*
>
> *Keep those Crops! *
>
> How to pickle, freeze, and preserve your crops to keep them through the
> winter.
>
> Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
>
> Date/Time: October 6th, 13th,20th, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Cost: €50.00
>
>
>
> *Seed Saving Workshop. *
>
> How to collect, test, and store seeds, and why it’s so important. Includes a
> walk in Belvedere’s famous walled garden to spot and collect ripe seeds.
>
> Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar.
>
> Date/Time: 24th October, 10.30 am to 1.00pm. Cost: €25.00
>
>
>
> *Parent & Child Seed Saving Workshop. *
>
> Family fun with nature! Bring a grown-up helper, learn how to spot and save
> seeds, and bring some home with you to plant next Spring!
>
> Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar.
>
> Date/Time: 27th October, 2.00pm to 4.30pm. Cost €30.00 per child/adult pair.
>
> *NOVEMBER Classes*
>
> *Make (and Bake) it a Christmas to remember!*
>
> Have a simpler, saner, Christmas this year. Nothing says you care about
> someone quite like a hand-made gift – learn how to make and/or bake
> something to suit everyone on your list. Stress-relief Guaranteed!
>
> Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
>
> Date/Time: 5th November 10.00am to 5.00pm. Cost: €75.00
>
>
>
> *Here comes the Summer! (Eventually)*
>
> Gardening isn’t just for half the year – learn how to prepare your patch
> before and during Winter, to maximise crops and minimize necessary work next
> Spring.
>
> Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
>
> Date/Time: 17th November, 7.30pm to 9.30pm COST:€25
>
>
>
> *Make a big splash!*
>
> Luxuriate in your own cleverness – learn how to make bath bombs, scented
> oils, balms, and exfoliants using natural ingredients. All materials will be
> provided and you will take home a variety of products you will have made
> yourself.
>
> Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar
>
> Date/Time: 24th November, 10.30am to 1:00pm. COST:€35.00
>
> *The staff of life…*
>
> …never tasted so good! Fill your home with the aroma of fresh baked
> Sourdough and other Artisan breads, or make your own Pizzas from scratch. A
> 3-session course, held over a weekend.
>
> Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
>
> Date/Time: Friday 26th 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Saturday 27th 10.00am to 4.00pm,
> Sunday 28th 10.00am to 12.00pm. COST:€90.00
>
> *DECEMBER Classes *
>
> *Make a big splash! *See above- Nov 24th**
>
> Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
>
> Date/Time: 5th December, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Cost: €35.00
>
>
>
> *JANUARY 2010 Classes*
>
> *No Wheat? No Problem!*
>
> Learn how to bake your own delicious Wheat-free bread – like mixed grain
> no-knead bread (No wheat, no work – a no-brainer!), sourdough spelt, and a
> variety of non-yeast breads. A 2-session course, held over a weekend.
>
> Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
>
> Date/Time: Friday 8th, 7.30pm to 9.00pm. COST:€90.00
>
> *Grow Your Own Food.*
>
> Get back to basics with this 6-session course, to prepare for a bountiful
> harvest. Whether you have a garden or a window-box, there’s something here
> for you, even if you don’t know a trowel from a dibber. Cost: €120.00
>
> Starting January 16th at Belvedere, from 11.00am to 1.00pm,
>
> *or* January 19th at Mullingar Educate Together National School from 8.00pm
> to 10.00pm
October 6, 2009
Upcoming courses.
September 25, 2009
Beetroot Chutney
Beetroot Chutney
On of my buddies showed me a (tiny) jar of beetroot chutney that she bought somewhere exclusive in Wicklow for €5.99. Had a look at the ingredient list, and a taste and here’s what I came up with. To me it tastes as good, if not better – we’ll see what her discerning daughter decides…
1kg beetroot – peeled and chopped up into 5 mm cubes (no need to get out calipers, very small is fine)
750 g onions – chopped finely
500g eating apples – peeled, cored and chopped up into 5 mm cubes (see above)
40g ginger
400 ml malt vinegar (or whatever vinegar you have handy)
200g brown sugar
30 ml balsamic vinegar – optional
Chop beetroot, onions, and apples. Peel and finely chop the ginger (or grate it). Cook in the vinegar for 45 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the brown sugar and cook for at least another 45 minutes. I added the balsamic vinegar at this stage – it tasted like it needed it.
When the beetroot and onions are soft, and the mix is less runny and more like chutney, you’re done. Put it into scrupulously clean jars that you have heated – a judicious run of the dishwasher will see to both, and lid and label. Better kept for a month before eating like all chutneys -I’m guessing here, as this is my first time making beetroot chutney…
Labels: beetroot, chutney
September 17, 2009
Ginger and Marrow Chutney
Ginger and Marrow Chutney
Ingredients:
1.5 kg courgettes/marrows
250g chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
2 peeled, cored and chopped eating apples
600ml vinegar – white wine, cider, or a combination of the two.
300g brown sugar
up to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger – about 3 thumbs – depending on how much you like ginger.
175 g raisins or sultanas
Method:
Before you start make sure that you have lots of clean jars with lids. Put them on an ovenproof tray. You will want to heat them a little before you put the chutney into them.
Peel, deseed, and chop marrow.
Place in a pan with everything except the sugar and raisins, and simmer for 30 mins.
If you haven’t chopped everything up really small, now is the time to spot the big bits and make them smaller.
Add the sugar and raisins – and keep simmering. Now that the sugar is in, burning or sticking to the pan is more likely, so keep stirring regularly. Cook for 30-60 minutes more until it’s thick.
Meanwhile, put the jars into the oven, and turn it on fairly low.
When you’re happy that the chutney is thick enough, put it into the jars, and put the lids on them. Label and date.
The chutney will taste better if you wait a month before opening and eating it – store in a cool dark place. so it will be perfect for Christmas presents for your lucky friends!
August 26, 2009
Meatloaf
Meatloaf
This might seem like a strange summer recipe, but it’s a great match for the onions and shallots which are being harvested at the minute.
Recipe is for 2 meatloaves, you can halve it, but it’s as much work to make 2 as one and if your beef is fresh, you can freeze one for later use – or just have it in the fridge for sandwiches.
1.5 kg minced beef (I use my brother’s organic beef)
2 onions, finely choppd
2 shallots finely chopped
100 g porrige oats
10g salt
Freshly ground black pepper
100g tomato puree
2 cream crackers, crumbled up
2 large free range eggs
Optional: one of the following
1 clove garlic, rosemary, basil, parsley.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Beat the eggs. Mix everything in a big bowl. Use your hands to mix and squish it together.
Put into 2 loaf tins, and bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. Stick a knife int the middle to make sure there are no bloody bits. Eat hot or cold. Good with almost anything!
Note: If you don’t have shallots, it’s no big deal. If you are adding salt, pepper, herbs to taste, mix it on, and then put a teaspoonful into a pan, and cook it for a minute or so – then you can taste to see if you have enough seasoning.
This recipe also works well for meatballs, which I bake on a cookie sheet in the oven.
August 11, 2009
Jam and Chutney making
Jam and Chutney making
This month’s course is Jam and Chutney making – both on the one day – you can do either or both. I’m very excited to share these skills – especially the chutney – you can make a wide variety of chutneys, once you follow some simple steps, and you will have a great addition to your savoury dishes, and a lovely home made gift.
We’ll be making Strawberry Jam in the morning – my mother – who is an award winning Jam maker, will be doing most of the teaching, she’s the expert. If you have ever had home made strawberry jam, it’s so much better than the shop variety. And you can work with the strawberries which are not so beautiful, so you can buy cheaper fruit from the growers.
Here are the details:
Make your own Jam August 15th 10:00am, to 12:30pm: €35
Make your own Chutney August 15th 2:00pm, to 4:30pm: €35
One course + Lunch: €45, or both courses + Lunch: €75
Location – Mullingar Educate Together National School (Opposite the ‘Rathgowan’ housing development on the ‘C-Link’ road – 3rd roundabout after the hospital from the Castlepollard side, 2nd roundabout from the Ballymahon side).
To book your place, email me – annambrowne@gmail.com
Just to note what is doing well in the garden at the minute, and what we are enjoying at the table.
Potatoes: Lots dug, and waiting to be used, lots more still in pots.
Courgettes: Producing steadily, but not in glut amounts. The round ones are especially good.
Squash – a few uchiki kuri, a crookneck, Anna Hubbard.
Runner beans: Keeping on top of them so far.
Dwarf French: Sharing with the slugs
Lettuce: Bitter and running to seed
Beetroot: Lovely and big – leaves yummy, roots mostly going into chocolate brownies
Onions: mostly harvested, eating lots
Shallotts: I have 1kg in a string bag for storage – don’t think they will last too long, though.
Tomatoes:Lots of green ones – just a few ripening.
White turnips – pulled some today for my mother – await her verdict. I fancy them pickled….
Artichokes are still producing a bit, but the novelty has worn off. We are letting a few flower for the beautiful colour, and maybe the seeds will be viable.
Blueberries ripeing, and a few raspberies.
A little sunshine would go a long way…I suspect I might have a glut of something then…
My strategy on the onions and shallotts is to eat away at them,and have leeks and bunching onions for when they are all gone.
I’m trying not to buy any fruit or veg – so that part of the fridge is strangely empty. I think I’ll have to crack and buy some carrots – they are miserable this year.