Tere

Not consumed yet, but my hubby got given some omiyage by some Japanese colleagues returning from a home visit, and I am sure it will feature at some point. It's matcha (powdered green tea) Kit Kat. Knowing the rarity that I want something sweet, they will probably live in the fridge for the next year or so! I find it quite amusing that it's marketed as "otona no amasa" (adult taste sweetness). I have some very nice matcha teabags that are marketed for babies somewhere!

They are all from the same plant, yeah. I think the taste is pretty nice and definitely creamy is a good descriptor for the flesh. I am guilty of leaving them on the plant too long sometimes, really I should pick everything small to make the yield more manageable!

I don't regularly buy wine, apart from the odd bottle of cheap supermarket rose for everyday summer drinking when we've run out! More serious everyday drinking wines come as regular boxes, we have a mixed white case from Tanners (http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/) and a mixed Wine without Fuss case from the Wine Society (http://www.thewinesociety.com/) which is a fantastic deal if you live in the UK (it's a co-operative society and you pay a one off membership fee to join, but we made that back in the first case we bought from them). Both have very good selections. We also occasionally buy from Yapp Bros ( https://www.yapp.co.uk ) and our most recent natural wine purchase was from ( http://www.lescaves.co.uk/lescaves-home ) which has some very interesting wines on their list. I'm itching to try some of the Georgian wines. More serious wines generally come from ( http://www.markhaisma.co.uk/ ). We've been buying off his list for a few years so get a decent amount of choice.

The courgettes came from a mystery freebie seed pack from the community garden, so I have no idea what they are, but I do agree they are very pretty. The blue flowers are cornflowers, and yes, they are edible, although those were just there to freshen up a vase. And yeah, I grow rainbow chard.

Sunday dinner from last week, poussin roasted in zaatar with peas and broad beans from the garden. Dinner from Friday night, organic lamb steaks cooked for 90 mins at 60 degrees in the waterbath, then blowtorched. Served with simple ratatouille and a yogurt / tahini / jack in the hedge / lemon juice dressing I will definitely be making again, as it was so simple and there were no leftovers to fettle. I'd do the steaks at a slightly lower temperature next time, but happy with it as a first attempt. This was after a sneaky bottle of interesting natural Prosecco.... We'd just had a case of random natural wines delivered Actually very nice indeed.

Couple of recent pickings from the garden, Some of the courgette got made into a pseudo ratatouille I'm about to post on the dinner thread, some got baked with lemon zest and olive oil for a family dinner at the weekend.

Keep it coming! I love the advice to eat your excess

I'm just considering a couple of recipes and they seem to suggest between 24 and 48 hours in brine to soften the flavour anyway. Gonna try the actual pickling tomorrow since today got away with me!

I grew tree spinach this year (http://www.seedaholic.com/spinach-mexican-tree-spinach.html). It was banned from the garden for being too "furry" to eat, more furry than spinach, not because of any poisonous or invasive quality. Shame, as the shoots really are an impressive pink

From the briefest of skims these people seem to think they are unlovely fresh. http://growingfruit.org/t/does-anyone-like-goji-berries/908/2. Cheap dryer or low oven for the benefits? It reminds me a bit of my response to amelanchier (juneberries).

Could you chutney with them? Can you describe the flavour profile?

It was a serious suggestion. Goji has a sweet / tart profile as I understand it and those things are very tasty! It's essentially toffee (notapples) with a bit of sesame if liked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanghulu ? I am biased because I thought that this was fresh goji berries until @liuzhou educated me

ice cube tray portions are amazing. I have a lot of Things TM in ice cube tray portions - jack in the hedge, duck / goose fat, caramelised onions... elderberry puree is definitely up there. Great in a roast beef gravy too!

I also admire your industry. Elderberries are fiddly. A fork can be helpful to get the berries off the umbrels but I generally pick by hand. I am sure you know this, but don't pick any that are still green. They aren't human friendly. In fact certainly in the UK elderberries should be cooked before eating (http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/native-trees/elder/). I generally err on the side of caution because unripe ones aren't tasty anyway

So much earlier than me! Mine won't be ripe for at least a month, maybe more like 2. Elderberries are a main component in my generic hedgerow jelly aka all the foraging pickings made into a jelly. I made a huge batch this spring from a freezer excavation though so I won't be making that. I might pick a few to make a puree, then freeze it in ice cube bags. It's an excellent addition to something which is happy with a fruity gravy e.g. venison.

OK, folks, I am bamboozled by the tonne of resources out there, and will freely admit I am not the best breadmaker. I just don't have the knack. I would like to use whey in my bread, having just discovered home made ricotta. With the last batch I tried a Paul Hollywood basic bloomer recipe twice and both times it turned out decidedly dwarven. What are your utterly failproof preferably no knead bread recipes that might take to using whey? Think really foolproof

Wow, that's a bargain along the lines of my local pub (which I will try to foodblog at some point, but I will need to hide the camera because these people have not grasped the concept of the internet yet :D)

More homemade ricotta a la Instant Pot yesterday. I threw away the whey this time as I have no freezer space / need for bread / it was a heavy cooking weekend but I guess I should probably post on the Bread thread for ideas as to completely foolproof recipes using whey. Hubby's bread was better but still semi-dwarven.

This sounds wonderful. I know zero about Newfoundland food!

ooh, looks interesting! Thanks

It's too soggy for pictures but the garden is still giving. Mum and stepdad visited today and she took an enormous bunch of cornflowers home with her. My next door neighbour dropped by and left with broad beans and runner beans. Broad beans with the roast last night, today we had cod wrapped in spinach beet and parsley from the garden baked in parma ham, courgette from the garden with olive oil, lemon zest, the juice of the lemon and lots of salt and pepper (a revelation), and plenty of runner beans. The blackberries aren't technically part of the veggy garden but they are coming. So are my lingonberries! I've harvested the nasturtiums as a small green and black caterpillar (cabbage white?) had descended. Luckily they don't like the seeds, which I am going to pickle as poor man's capers. Sunflowers are coming. Cornichons also harvested as they were less successful apart from a mutant one which is 5 inches long! I also have a few raspberries and gooseberries which is great for a first year crop We have masses of tomato flowers but only a couple of green fruits at the mo. We will see if they ripen. If not, tomato chutney I guess? I see picking french beans and runner beans for the freezer in my future

That would work I think. I had a quite savoury dessert years ago at the Bilderberg Garden Hotel in Amsterdam that involved a tomato and black olive sorbet. Both were good. That was also the meal that introduced me to how delicious properly cooked fresh pasta is.

It's not me, although I'm still up for doing a blog. My issue is I eat in a very boring manner sometimes when hubby is away during the week (lots of similar looking salad due to 5 and 2 as well). Maybe at Christmas when he will be home and we generally end up going off on a trip just after Christmas and stuffing ourselves wherever we go?

Tried sous-vide lamb for the first time on Friday (pics to come) and 60 degrees was a bit too much. Nice to get the corroboration.