That looks like a good idea Dove - altogether sweeter and crunchier than a chutney and I'm pretty sure my mother used to buy a jar of something very similar back in the 70's. Think I'll give it a go. I can give the neighbour a jar and (if it turns out ok) I'll have a recipe ready for next autumn
Thank You
Have you considered a lovely big bowl of Hot and Sour soup or a laksa with extra chilli? I'm a great believer in the powers of that chilli / ginger / garlic / citrus combo for blasting out a cold.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
ive been thinking about something like that, but at the moment OH is home until Thursdsy so the menu is his concern while Im on the sofa. supper todsy will be slow roasted pork belly with caramelised onions and apples, roast potatoes and buttered Savoy cabbageso I'm not going to complain
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I expect you could make green chilli jam if you used unripe toms and green chillies. Here's my recipe i case you want to adapt it:-
Sweet chili jam with garlic and ginger
225g chilli peppers or less or more depending on taste 400g red/bell pepper - cleaned, deseeded and roughly chopped 600g onion - chopped 400g tin chopped tomatoes 1.5kg sugar 750ml cider vinegar 50g ginger 1 head garlic - cloves peeled 1 tbs sea salt
Add the cleaned and prepared chillies, peppers, onions, garlic and ginger to a large pan with the vinegar and salt and blend with a hand blender (or in an electric blender before putting in the pan if you don't have one) until well mixed together - keep your eyes out of the way as any splashes would be very painful!
Add the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and bring to a rolling boil for about 45-60 minutes until thickened and the wooden spoon leaves a trail when stirred in the bottom on the pan. Skim off any 'scum' that rises to the surface.
Pot and seal.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Where we are, there is a wood to one side of us. Rolf used to call it the wild wood. About 5 acres of old undisturbed trees, an old orchard the length of my garden, a paddock, the big house, a gate house and a little bungalow. Mrs N had burglars who tied her and the housekeeper up, and she told me many years ago, that when Rolf died, she would sell up and move to London to be with her son and grandson. The council designated it all as building land, subject to preservation orders on some of the trees. The access at the top of my garden is an access road in to the new estate, and another one further round is for the exit road. So the wood will be sold, cleared and an estate put on it. There is already a load of new builds that wrap around it. I will probably have seven houses the length of my garden that will overlook me. I lose all the privacy and all the animals that come into my garden will lose their habitat. So I will also sell up, take the money and run. Either the developer will take the top of my garden(building plot size) or we sell it separately as a building plot for a bungalow or two. The estate agent has says that we will sell the two houses a lot quicker with less garden, and the top half of the garden is two building plots. the gardens run 225ft from my back door to the top fence, sloping up from the house. I have always known I will need a bungalow for my arthritic knees, so a bungalow with some flat land is what we will be looking for.
I think myself lucky to have had 25 years here, but now is a good time to move on, while I still have the energy to do a new garden.
Fairy; we offer educational camps to youth groups. They get a guided tour learning about the history of the emergency services, then practical workshops, learn how to perform cpr so they have the skills a huge meal, fun and games, and (for the braver ones) tales of the ghosts that reside in the building.
It's fun. Hard work but fun.
Dove: considering we provide hearty meals it is definately cheaper than a baby sitter.
Obelixx - sweet chilli jam sounds mouth-wateringly yum.
Topbird - the whole duvet and bed-sharing thing must cause anxiety across the country! You can get duvets with a different tog rating each side for the hot and cold bedfellows. I have settled on a super-king duvet on a king bed but liked the separate duvets scenario when we went to Austria.
When I was a child, I always wondered why my one set of Grandparents had twin beds and the other had separate bedrooms... now I understand that this is the gradual evolution of the realisation that sharing bedding is often impractical and undesirable. Add to the mix: snoring, heartburn, cramp, coughing, little visitors (with 2 or 4 legs) plus different alarm clock wake times and you have yourself a great case for 'separating' !
How horrible for your neighbour,fidget. Humans are lousy sometimes.I can understand why she would want to go now that she's on her own.
It's sad, but you're right to do it now. Also sad to think of all the wildlife having their habitat removed, but perhaps new residents will carry on the good work by encouraging some into their new gardens, and enjoy everything that the outdoors offers - right on the doorstep.
You can only hope. Ever the optimist, me.....
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Good luck to you Fidget. We have moved because we knew we didn't want to be managing the Belgian house when we were 80. Surrounded by agricultural land so no chance of being built around but the house and garden were just too much for our later years and I was fed up of killer winters.
The process of selling, packing up and moving on is hard work, stressful, exciting and sometimes hilarious but we are now much more relaxed and have the time to do things our way and at our own pace. I hope it goes well for you and you have time to take cuttings and gather seeds of your treasures.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Best to move now fidget while you are still fit to take on a new garden. Hope you find somewhere that gives you the privacy you have been used to. I love having the woodland behind the house and all the birds but do curse it when all the leaves cover the garden
Posts
Top bird - google Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish and you should get a good recipe - I'm on my phone and can't do a link.
I would use that as a base and add chilli to taste.
Always a good present if you dont like it
Last edited: 08 January 2017 15:54:58
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That looks like a good idea Dove - altogether sweeter and crunchier than a chutney and I'm pretty sure my mother used to buy a jar of something very similar back in the 70's. Think I'll give it a go. I can give the neighbour a jar and (if it turns out ok) I'll have a recipe ready for next autumn
Thank You
Have you considered a lovely big bowl of Hot and Sour soup or a laksa with extra chilli? I'm a great believer in the powers of that chilli / ginger / garlic / citrus combo for blasting out a cold.
ive been thinking about something like that, but at the moment OH is home until Thursdsy so the menu is his concern while Im on the sofa. supper todsy will be slow roasted pork belly with caramelised onions and apples, roast potatoes and buttered Savoy cabbageso I'm not going to complain
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I expect you could make green chilli jam if you used unripe toms and green chillies. Here's my recipe i case you want to adapt it:-
Sweet chili jam with garlic and ginger
225g chilli peppers or less or more depending on taste
400g red/bell pepper - cleaned, deseeded and roughly chopped
600g onion - chopped
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1.5kg sugar
750ml cider vinegar
50g ginger
1 head garlic - cloves peeled
1 tbs sea salt
Add the cleaned and prepared chillies, peppers, onions, garlic and ginger to a large pan with the vinegar and salt and blend with a hand blender (or in an electric blender before putting in the pan if you don't have one) until well mixed together - keep your eyes out of the way as any splashes would be very painful!
Add the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and bring to a rolling boil for about 45-60 minutes until thickened and the wooden spoon leaves a trail when stirred in the bottom on the pan. Skim off any 'scum' that rises to the surface.
Pot and seal.
Where we are, there is a wood to one side of us. Rolf used to call it the wild wood. About 5 acres of old undisturbed trees, an old orchard the length of my garden, a paddock, the big house, a gate house and a little bungalow. Mrs N had burglars who tied her and the housekeeper up, and she told me many years ago, that when Rolf died, she would sell up and move to London to be with her son and grandson. The council designated it all as building land, subject to preservation orders on some of the trees. The access at the top of my garden is an access road in to the new estate, and another one further round is for the exit road. So the wood will be sold, cleared and an estate put on it. There is already a load of new builds that wrap around it. I will probably have seven houses the length of my garden that will overlook me. I lose all the privacy and all the animals that come into my garden will lose their habitat. So I will also sell up, take the money and run. Either the developer will take the top of my garden(building plot size) or we sell it separately as a building plot for a bungalow or two. The estate agent has says that we will sell the two houses a lot quicker with less garden, and the top half of the garden is two building plots. the gardens run 225ft from my back door to the top fence, sloping up from the house. I have always known I will need a bungalow for my arthritic knees, so a bungalow with some flat land is what we will be looking for.
I think myself lucky to have had 25 years here, but now is a good time to move on, while I still have the energy to do a new garden.
Fairy; we offer educational camps to youth groups. They get a guided tour learning about the history of the emergency services, then practical workshops, learn how to perform cpr so they have the skills a huge meal, fun and games, and (for the braver ones) tales of the ghosts that reside in the building.
It's fun. Hard work but fun.
Dove: considering we provide hearty meals it is definately cheaper than a baby sitter.
Obelixx - sweet chilli jam sounds mouth-wateringly yum.
Topbird - the whole duvet and bed-sharing thing must cause anxiety across the country! You can get duvets with a different tog rating each side for the hot and cold bedfellows. I have settled on a super-king duvet on a king bed but liked the separate duvets scenario when we went to Austria.
When I was a child, I always wondered why my one set of Grandparents had twin beds and the other had separate bedrooms... now I understand that this is the gradual evolution of the realisation that sharing bedding is often impractical and undesirable. Add to the mix: snoring, heartburn, cramp, coughing, little visitors (with 2 or 4 legs) plus different alarm clock wake times and you have yourself a great case for 'separating' !
How horrible for your neighbour,fidget. Humans are lousy sometimes.I can understand why she would want to go now that she's on her own.
It's sad, but you're right to do it now. Also sad to think of all the wildlife having their habitat removed, but perhaps new residents will carry on the good work by encouraging some into their new gardens, and enjoy everything that the outdoors offers - right on the doorstep.
You can only hope. Ever the optimist, me.....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Good luck to you Fidget. We have moved because we knew we didn't want to be managing the Belgian house when we were 80. Surrounded by agricultural land so no chance of being built around but the house and garden were just too much for our later years and I was fed up of killer winters.
The process of selling, packing up and moving on is hard work, stressful, exciting and sometimes hilarious but we are now much more relaxed and have the time to do things our way and at our own pace. I hope it goes well for you and you have time to take cuttings and gather seeds of your treasures.
Best to move now fidget while you are still fit to take on a new garden. Hope you find somewhere that gives you the privacy you have been used to. I love having the woodland behind the house and all the birds but do curse it when all the leaves cover the garden