Easter in Autumn

Autumn has got to be one of my favorite times of the year. We are busy harvesting and storing the best from summer. Here are a few photos of our Autumn so far....

a few apples....

made into a delicious stewed apple with lovely labels by Evie

Roasted tomatoes (just slice tomatoes and roast with onions on a low temp for about 1.5hrs)

The walnuts are just starting to fall - helped by the new swing put up on the tree!

The last of the monarch butterfly caterpillars has transformed and is hidden amongst the beans.

An Easter egg+ bunny hunt early morning.

A new favourite weekend breakfast  - German apple pancakes

 Have a great weekend!

When life gives you lemons (and limes) make marmalade

On a Sunday morning you can often find me at my local market. 

A mixture of pre-loved stuff and a fruit and veg market - it is my kinda place. 

You really get a sense of the seasons here, last week you could find persimmons at less than $2kg, the week before apples and this week, as the citrus season arrives in NZ lemons and limes all going for a song. I just had to bring some home to attempt to recreate a childhood favourite of mine.

It smelt amazing!

We waited a while as we couldn't find a recipe we liked. They all seemed too complicated, putting pips into little muslin bags etc... So we decided to make it in the same way we make grapefruit marmalade and see how it turned out.

It is a simple recipe. The fruit is sliced and left just covered in water overnight.

The next day put it all in a big pot and simmer until the fruit is very soft.

Let the fruit cool for a while and then measure how many cups/mugs you have by transferring it into a bowl. Then match this with the same amount of sugar.

Return everything to the pan and simmer until setting point is reached, scooping out any pips that float to the surface as you go.

Finally pour into sterilised jars

I'm a bit smitten with these lovely old Agee Special Jars I found by a skip

It is quite sour with all the peel in it - but that is the way we like it. 

I guess that's the great thing about making your own. 

It didn't turn out the bright green I remember, but having just read the ingredients list on the jar of Rose's lemon and lime marmalade - I think I know why....

Colourful Wool

This week the kids were keen to dye some wool. It's a pretty simple process to make colourful wool using things you probably already have in your kitchen.

Here's how we did it.

You will need;

Pure wool in a light colour

Water

Vinegar

Food colouring

First of all you will need to wrap the wool into small skeins. You can use the back of a chair, a book or the kids found a basket handle worked really well. Tie the skeins loosely in a couple of places.

Next soak the yarn for a while in some warm water. Try to limit the temptation for the kids to stir it at this point as it can get very tangled. yep.

When the yarn has soaked a while take a small saucepan and heat some water with a glug of vinegar in it to a low simmer. Add drops of food colouring. I have the primary colours and we have fun mixing them. Less is more I think as the colours take really strongly.

Next add your wool. You can put the whole thing in or let some hang over the edge so you can make it another colour. As the wool simmers gently it will very quickly start drawing up the colour from the water. Sometimes it will make the water completely clear again. Lift the yarn occasionally to check the colour and when you like it take it out and rinse under cold water. You can put it back in again into as many colours as you like.

Dry the wool by pressing in a towel and then hang up to dry.

Enjoy!