Tere

OK, people, I screwed up. I was intending to make my friend who is coming to stay tomorrow some Estonian rye bread (that is about 40 wheat to 60 rye at least according to most recipes) but I realised this afternoon I was supposed to make a starter for 3 days then make the dough for three and then bake the thing. I think it's supposed to be pretty sour tasting. There is a less labour intensive version but it still relies on the 3 day starter and then takes a day and a half. He's coming tomorrow afternoon and is leaving Friday afternoon. I have put a starter on today using commercial yeast, rye flour and hot water as directed but it's definitely not going to have 3 days! Can anyone recommend any quick rye / wheat recipes I can bake in that time? Happy to use commercial yeast, in any case I think I have no choice. I can always use the proto starter as a slightly sour flavour component, but I just don't have the time it needs to fully mature. Is there anything else I can use to sourify the taste? I have sour cream, vinegar, citrus juices. I also have kummel / caraway which is a very Estonian bread spice. At a loss here, help? (FWIW, last year's attempt, when I mixed the rye 5 days before according to instructions, was to my mind a complete failure since it was stupidly heavy (and also 100% rye flour which it shouldn't have been) but he still liked it and took all the leftovers for fruit soup and all sorts of rye bread recipes. So he's flexible).

I will, however, disrecommend LG appliances because they appear to have no concept of "keep spares in for old models". My American style and expensive (£1300 IIRC) fridge freezer was only a week over 2 years old (and hence a week out of warranty) when a particularly stupid cleaner decided to clean the brushed stainless steel doors with a brillo pad. Got told £170 for door replacement which my agency for the cleaner happily paid, and then it was a year long saga involving several attempts at fitting dented doors that had clearly been rejected because there was nothing else available, a rubbish fitter who proceeded to break the handle which was the only thing intact on the damaged door, and the "customer complaints department" who, after a year, offered me the sum total of £50 in damages and refused to give me a refund (bearing in mind their repair guy had rendered the fridge completely damaged and they had completely failed to provide the repair I had paid for). All I can imagine is the Korean head office just don't keep things in stock. It got resolved because I have a LOT of LinkedIn contacts and I eventually emailed my tale of woe to the UK CEO, the UK head of customer operations, the UK head of Marketing and a few other senior people, and also got the consumer affairs lady from the Telegraph involved, at which point the senior people were mortified, said there was a 10 day SLA for customer service, not a year, and offered me a replacement fridge. Which is great and did resolve my issue, but I shouldn't have had to go to those kind of lengths to get there, and not everyone has the LinkedIn resources I do. I have bought LG products since (they do freesat enabled TVs which are unique in the market and they were perfect for my holidaycottages) but I have to regard them as disposable once the warranty runs out. I'd never buy a more expensive product from LG based on that experience.

No, I will confess we had "people" to do it. Our excellent and very patient landscape gardeners who are building our ornamental garden at the moment battled serious conditions in the autumn (6 weeks work and it rained every day bar two, and the base soil is clay and as full of rubble as you can see Phase 2 soil is) to get it done. We decided it was worth the expense. I'm really pleased with it. We had been thinking of redeveloping the back, but an acre of veggie plot is way more than we need, and this way we can do a relaxed Piet Oudulf style prairie planted garden which will be much less maintenance.

It's funny, I've never had an appliance go bang on me. Miele dishwasher and washer dryer, both no problems, Neff oven and hob ditto. The fake cheap baby Belling I was using as my sole cooker before the kitchen refurb, ditto. I never buy extended warranty - Miele comes with 5 years as standard and then I think I will just take my chances. Picked Zanussi for the holiday lets based on service recommends. Also no problems. I will go touch wood now

Konnyaku, the Japanese dieter's friend! Did you think they tasted of anything? I've never found them very tasty....

Our local wine distributor does a very nice Georgian red Saperavi which we occasionally get. Looking for the link I found this road trip on their blog which I thought was interesting. http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/blog/2015/01/12/why-georgia-why-the-wines-and-the-wherefores/

From the other day. Leftover roasted vegetables from the Lebanese Kitchen as posted in the dinner thread, water bath chicken ziplocced at 60 degrees for as long as I went raiding with my gaming clan (probably about 2 hours), lemon tahini dressing that was the start point for the lamb and tahini curry sauce in the dinner thread, and Tere's first salad TM

I'm still a bit shell shocked that I planted the flowers and veggies from seed about 6 weeks ago. Amazing to see how quickly things grow.

Oh hai, I am Tere and my photography skillz are still rubbish. But I tried out a couple of recipes from Salma Hage's The Lebanese Kitchen which I wanted to document. Lamb chops with tahini curry sauce and roasted vegetables. Was slightly annoying to make a lemon tahini sauce only to use a little bit and add some curry powder, but it ate well. And I now have some lemon tahini dressing The roasted veggies included aubergine (which I had forgotten to buy) and also included chickpeas, which I liked. Thought her instructions for paprika were a little scant and my paprika is old, so I added a bit more. Should have followed the recipe, but it was still tasty. Looks like a dog's dinner on the plate, but I still enjoyed it! Dinner from the weekend, Otter Farm's trout roasted with red onion and fennel, with new potatoes and Nigella's petits pois a la Francaise.

Picture update from the weekend: Mint plants in and looking healthy. They aren't too overshadowed by the deck above them so I think they will be fine. Even the sickly one at the end is sprouting new growth. Herb "hedge" is also doing well. Sticks are down now to stop kitty "gardening". Some courgette or squash have sprouted. I am not entirely sure whether the other things are the other sort of courgette or squash, or weeds, lol. Hopefully they will reveal their true nature soon Flower bed looking happy. I suppose I should thin the cornflowers and nigella. Nasturtiums and sunflowers (the edibles) are doing well. Basil has just sprouted, tarragon is a dead loss, parsley, dill and coriander all very happy. Mixed salad leaves and rocket have lots of little black beetles but I am picking them off for now. I don't mind sharing. Oriental tree spinach growing well (probably also needs thinning). Broccoli rabe close to harvest. Swiss chard coming on. Two of the cornichon plants have germinated. Raab almost ready Beans and peas and salsify and carrots and leets oh my! All doing well. Oka plant has the weirdest stalk imaginable. Most of the rhubarb is doing well apart from one pot where all four crowns aren't happy. Will try replanting them when phase 2 of the veg bed is done. All of these are intended to be planted out in phase 2. Asparagus bed also performed well, only one crown failed in the end. Fruit cage getting there. Sweet chestnut also growing visibly, will be potted on shortly. Strawberries! Current state of phase 2. Raised beds will go here too. The soil is dreadful so it's really the best bet. Room for some cold frames too. The far end will be a micro orchard. All mulched with gravel again. Tomato plants are just starting. Should really grow much earlier next year I suspect. Or buy seedlings from the garden centre. For four plants that's probably just as good. Tere's first salad grown by her own fair hand

I've eaten insects, again in Thailand - deep fried scorpion and crickets. They were tasty! Reminded me a bit of the Chinese crispy "seaweed" (that I think is cabbage) somehow. Good crunch. Honeyed bee larvae in Matsumoto were a bit more challenging, the soggy texture was a bit offputting.

When I was in Thailand in November 2002 we went to visit a hill tribe somewhere north of Chiang Mai, right in the middle of nowhere. They wove for a living (amazing scarves) and all around the place were little very fat puppies being plumped up for some special dish for New Year. At least they had the run of the place and seemed to be treated well before heading for the pot.

You could also think of your Mexican chorizo as spicy sausagement and make a stuffing for a roast chicken with a Mexican twist?

Good Yorkshire pudding action there, ElsieD!

If life gives you lemons....

Glad you are safe, Shelby.

Snagged the first two full size Honeye strawberries today. Delicious. Read hubby the riot act about if I tell him that there are ripe alpine strawberries available and he ignores this strong hint, they are fair game Three small lines of salad is apparently too much salad! I need to get into the side salad with every meal vibe. I see getting some bottles and vinaigrette in my future I'll grab the camera and do a progress report this weekend. I am genuinely shocked as to how quickly things have come on. I think it's 5 weeks since sowing...

Candied / glace kumquats are also amazing. I've never made them, but savoured the heck out of the bag I picked up in the south of France a few years back

BonVivant's post made me think a lot about sanma https://shizuokagourmet.com/japanese-seasonal-fish-sanmamackerel-pike/

First try at Kamado Joe pizza - cheating heinously with pre-bought Italian style thin bases, but still worth the effort. 5 mins for the first was not enough, 2 mins on the second and burnt. More learning to do clearly. Simple pepperoni and good buffalo mozzarella with chunky passata. Simple Margherita with all the basil. Salad leaves from the garden with caesar or ponzu dressing. No photos as we inhaled it

Japan is amazing for a foodie. I miss it sometimes. I'm in the love shirako camp, too - I like the hot stone bowl / rice / shirako treatment. "Very good for your husband" I got told by one of our regular haunts

I've made elderberry curd before, that was nice if a bit runny. They are nice in a sauce with something like venison. I reckon they might be good in a sorbet - in fact I have some elderberry puree in the freezer I might try that with. They make good wine apparently although I've never tried making it. Flower wise elderberry cordial is easy and very nice - and again they are supposed to make a good champagne style wine. I've made left over elderberry cordial into still wine before and then freeze concentrated it to make a liqueur. Last week I had a lemon balm creme brulee with sharp elderflower jelly and dried elderflowers and that was delicious.

our wild elderberries are just flowering, as a touch point. Don't be worried if it takes time to get its stride - I have an ornamental red elder in my hot border and it's just getting its mojo after about 3 years. And then you have choices - flowers or fruit? I steal flowers from the local train station to keep my fruit but more is probably better if you are actually having to grow the things. They are tough and unforgiving though - mine survive -15 to -20 degrees C comfortably.

I don't think this would be far off. I have gravitas, and I wouldn't want much more on the sides with my fat little legs to avoid skewing the setting when I sat down. But I think this would be OK. (I have a cheap and cheerful polycotton tablecloth for coffee mornings, a lovely inherited Irish linen set for special occasions, and good quality placemats for everything else. Take a guess as to what actually gets used :D)

Finally we had rain last night, and the veggie plot has gone bananas. Basil is finally sprouting! \o/ My reward for weeding was the first two of the Alpine strawberries.