Megan Palmer

Dark chocolate and orange zest in chili con carne

There are at least 3 jars of home made chutney in our fridge at the moment - a green tomato & apple; an apricot chutney and a plum chutney, not to mention a jar of piccalilli and store bought branston pickle.

I've never water bathed my chutneys, they get put into clean jars that have been heated in the oven and when they have cooled, I pour wax over the top which prevents the lids getting corroded by the vinegar. The chutney often shrinks as its stored and the wax layer also helps to stop the chutney drying out and/or oxidising.

They keep indefinitely at room temperature but once opened, I do refrigerate them.

Just checked and it's a nectarine and apple chutney, not plum😉

Edited to add another photo

I put lavender in the chicken's nesting boxes.

Freshly cut stems are great for making lavender wands to hang in the wardrobe.

They're a bit fiddly to make but the smell is wonderful.

Lucille Harling wrote: My question is: how do I ferment already pickled sushi ginger?  Here is my method thus far: I bought a jar of already pickled sushi ginger.

Why you wish to ferment your sushi ginger?

The ginger is already pickled in vinegar and washing it may increase the chance of introducing bacteria to the kombucha liquid.

If you want to make lacto fermented ginger, it might be preferable to start with fresh finely sliced ginger and ferment it from scratch in brine.

When I make sauerkraut I add slices of fresh garlic and finely julienned ginger between layers of cabbage. If you have a batch of sauerkraut going, you could bury a layer of finely sliced ginger to your sauerkraut.

Lacto fermented daikon radishes are really tasty as are cucumbers - I usually sprinkle salt over the vegetables to draw out excess liquid and sliced ginger could be added to the brine for a natural ferment.

I can’t help with the temperature probe question, however old and what brand is your oven?

Would it be worthwhile trying to get the thermostat replaced?

Have you checked the seals - if they are loose, your oven could be losing heat.

Spare parts may still available for your oven.

An old fashioned custom amongst Chinese people was that we never visited anyone’s home without bringing a small gift, usually food - fruit, home baking, preserves etc.

My nephews who are both in their early 20’s will always bring a gift when they come to visit, usually food or drink, even if it’s just a bar of good chocolate, wine or assorted cheeses.

As children, we were taught to always greet elders when we met them, even in our own home. It was the height of bad manners to not verbally greet a person when they entered a room.

Even if they weren’t related, we always called elders by a title - aunty, uncle, grandma, grandpa.

It irritates me no end when I go into a store and the assistants don’t acknowledge our presence. Perhaps it bothers me more than others due to my cultural upbringing.

Here in the southern hemisphere, it's seville orange season again.

Have you considered adding chilis to your apple butter?

I made several batches of crab apple jelly with chilis and posted photos in this thread

https://permies.com/t/193513/tamarillo-jam#1609010

We served the jelly with cheese and cold meats. It was great with pork chops too.

Stewed apples are a softer consistency than apple butter but I think that chilis could also be good in either.

Seville oranges are in season here so making marmalade at the moment, grated Seville orange zest is really good added to cooked apples.

I find it easier to measure fruit by weight rather than volume - it allows for different sizes of fruit.

For jams and jellies, I prefer batches of no more than 1.5 kg - setting is more consistent. Larger batches are for chutneys or stewed apples when I often use up to 3 kg fruit - too much takes too long to reduce.

The added ingredients such as dried dates; raisins etc can add another kg.  

I jot down the spice combos and number of spoons by weight of fruit and whether the fruit was under or over ripe so that I can adjust the ratio of sugar.

We prefer to err on the side of too little sugar - water bathing ensures that the preserves store safely.

Tereza Okava wrote: whatcha all putting this cheese sauce on?

Steamed cauliflower florets smothered in a very cheesy roux made with sharp cheddar and baked in the oven until golden brown on top. An essential side vegetable for roast dinners in our household.

Fish pies with chunks of firm white fish, smoked fish, prawns or whatever seafood that you fancy are combined in a light roux with grated cheese and mustard powder, baked in the oven with a mashed potato topping.

Here in NZ lactose free cheese and milk is widely available in supermarkets.

Like Christopher and Timothy, we often use Gruyère in our sauces and there’s always an assortment of various types of cheese in our fridge.

I love adding blueberries to banana cake.

Our pup Beau loves eating them fresh.

https://youtube.com/shorts/h4lygqFYtKM?si=Om4kdmUPnmIbM0Jb