Feather your Nest Friday, 20th January, 2023.
Today was Mums birthday and Chloe and I combined to make it a nice day for her. Chloe is the star of the show though with beautiful cup cakes she made and a lovely table setting. I made gluten free sausage rolls and little quiches.
Mum went home with a little bit of everything for her dinner tonight. The two little boys entertained us especially Thomas who can talk quite a bit now and he said "I'm in trouble and I need HOLP" when his teddy bear ended up where he couldn't reach. We all laughed as it was so cute. It was also a beautiful day, we have lovely mild weather which is just heavenly.
I have been hoping for Strawberries and I missed out on a great deal the fruit and veggie shop had a couple of weeks ago. I watched their Facebook page hoping for another chance. In the end I decided to practice what I preach and phone them and ask. The lady told me there were no "jam" strawberries at the moment however they had a tray they would sell me if I took the whole tray which was four kilos. (About 8.8 pounds.). The price was great so I said ok! Andy was going to town so he would pick them up. Then I saw on their Facebook update several amazing deals including cucumbers so I added a few more things to the list. When Andy got home I began washing produce and it was so fantastic! Now I will try this more often, ring them and see what they might offer when asked!
We ate some strawberries fresh and still have a few left. I made jam which is so beautiful...
I even had some strawberry shaped jars (Kilner brand) so I felt pretty smug about this. 😊
I got eight jars. Then I filled the freeze drier as well.
In the background you can see the spice jars Wendy gave me last week.
The strawberries came out so beautifully. I have four big jars full.
I made refrigerator pickles with some of the cucumbers as Andy really likes these. They are so easy. A good quick solution to prolong veggies and good with summer salads and burgers!
I forgot to count how many sausage rolls I made... it was some for today, some for dinner, some for when I have my Granddaughters here next week, some for a friend as I was returning a favour... I gave him six with some relish to go with them. I forgot to take photos of the relish I made but its really good and I have finally settled on a relish recipe! I found THE ONE! As I will make it again I will take photos and share the recipe next time.
Then I had tomatoes and zucchinis to pick. I keep getting odd shaped zucchini...
Apart from using zucchini in meals I shredded some and filled the freeze drier again.
This has become my favourite way to add greens and bulk out spaghetti sauce. It is so good!
I picked a lot of heads of Parsley seed and packaged them up.
I also sprinkled some in pots and spaces in the garden and watered them in.
This week I collected ten dozen eggs. Yes, eggs are like gold now!!
Two hens are broody and each has about a dozen eggs. One batch is pretty close to hatching. It would be handy if they hatch in the next few days as Harper and Scarlett are coming to stay. I am glad to add more hens to my flock.
Some eggs became Quiches and mini Quiches...
Craft wise I decorated some note books. I did some sewing but not enough to show anything!
Thank you to everyone who replied to Heidi in Wales. Next week we have a post from Jane in Queensland, Australia!
How did you build up your home this week? We love to hear! xxx
Everything looks so beautiful on this post! Such pretty cupcakes. And the bountiful produce! And eggs! And you'll have new hens...so nice. andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you Andrea! I am really appreciating all the produce! Have a beautiful weekend! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteOh My, Annabel, I think you (and Chloe) have outdone yourselves this week! Those cupcakes are exquisite! And the tea sounded so delicious and delightful, and Happy Birthday to your Mom! Great find on those strawberries, but what did it for me - those wonderful strawberry-shaped jars. I've never seen jars like those, so now I will be on the hunt. Hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteDear Jill, Thank you! The jars are Kilner brand which I think is English. They come in Strawberry and also Berry that look like a Raspberry or something like that. I got six of each because I was in love with them! I must like the theme as I love the bottles that are shaped like a bear to keep honey in. Have a lovely weekend to you too! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI love all you have done. Cloe is very talented and must have a lot of patience. Strawberry jars are so cute. Happy Birthday to your Mom. Nancy
ReplyDeleteDear Nancy, thank you! Chloe managed it all with two little ones but everything was beautiful. Have a lovely weekend! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel,
ReplyDeleteChloe's cupcakes are amazing! She is doing such a fantastic job. I bet your mum was tickled pink seeing them.
You've had a great week and your zucchini and strawberries look fantastic! And I love the jars.
I had a good week too. I used up any tid bits in the fridge so they didn't go to waste and also got ahead on a bit of cooking too.
The gentleman that I trade with for produce sent his sister over to trade with me. It's good to have a network even if it's a small one. She wanted some of my crocheted things and a dozen eggs and I got a bag of flour and sugar, a big bag of almonds and some canned goods. We were both happy and I told her to come back anytime.
It's cold and wet here so if I can keep everyone out of my hair I would like to make some more things to have on hand.
I hope everyone has a great week!
XOXO
Vicky
Dear Vicky,
DeleteI think the man sending his sister is a big recommendation! And what a great trade!! Almonds, (actually all nuts) are expensive here. I hope you can have a lovely weekend making and creating more beautiful things! With love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel and everyone,
ReplyDeleteChloe has a gift with cake decorating! Those are gorgeous. Annabel, you did so well with the produce this week. Those strawberry jars are adorable.
This week was a treatment week and my husband had a hypersensitivity reaction again this time (he is ok), so my contributions to my home were mostly cooking and lots of laundry. The bathrooms and kitchen did get a good cleaning. Annabel, I made a big impossible pie and my husband loved it, thank you for the suggestion! I also made up 12 egg muffins (no flour), 6 freezer ready-meals from a roast & veggies, muffins, a big stirfry, and lamb shank in the crockpot (which is going to be made into freezer meat pies today). Crafts-wise I fully finished 7 cross-stitch smalls and finished stitching on one new one. My dad let me borrow a book he had just finished and also brought me some vanilla extract for the baking pantry - it is like gold!
Savings-wise, it is tough to find good prices at the stores, so we are eating from the pantry/freezer as best we can. Egg prices are out of sight and the price club sold out in 2 hours (the manager told me this when we were chatting - he is kind and told me when they usually get shipments). Butter and meat prices are also rising here. I always pre-pay our escrow account for taxes and was surprised yesterday with a good-sized check because I had overpaid; this will help out a lot. We are getting our annual lamb from a local farm in March and might put this check toward a beef share, too.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.
<3
Kathy
Dear Kathy, I am sorry your husband had a reaction... but glad he is ok. My friend Laine is having treatments and they had to stop some because of reactions. I am thrilled the impossible pie was a hit! Also zucchini slice is pretty much the same thing. We like a little relish with these... but they are good warm or cold. There is another I used to make which was with pastry but inside it was basically layers of bacon and eggs. Your cooking sounds fantastic and I love lamb shanks. They are beautiful comfort food and also fit your needs.
DeleteIt is great you were far ahead and got a refund on that bill. Getting meat from the farmer is really good. With beef... if you go ahead with that... ask for the bones because you could make very good bone broth for your husband which is liquid gold in terms of nutrition and goodness. If you say what you want to do I expect they will help you out extra with that. I wish you were near as I could keep you in eggs! Have a very good weekend! With love Annabel.xxx
Annabel, the cupcakes and strawberries are so beautiful! I agree with your view of using zucchini to bulk out spaghetti sauce. That has been my secret ingredient for years to help get veggies into my family's diet. I just recently taught our 10 year old grandson how to make grammy's special spaghetti sauce, which is his favorite. When I showed him the secret ingredient (shredded zucchini) his eyes got huge. It was funny. But the good news is he still thinks my sauce is the best and he is eating a vegetable.
ReplyDeleteI feathered my nest this past week by canning 10 pints of sauerkraut which I had made a few weeks ago. This is my first attempt at sauerkraut making and canning, but I use at least a can a month so using the sale cabbage I bought a month ago I now have almost a year's worth of sauerkraut at .50/pint jar (US). Store bought off brand 10oz can is now .89. I was able to add some premade piecrusts for .99/box as they were an unadvertised special at the grocery store the day I went. There are 2 crusts per box and given the price of shortening and flour I knew I could not make them for that price. I bought 3 boxes (Wish I had bought more!) and will freeze them until needed. I have bought very little this past week at the grocery store (or anywhere else) as I won't pay the price for eggs at the moment. $4.79/dozen is ridiculous. This might be the one detail to convince my husband to let me get some bantams in spite of the HOA. We live at the back of our housing development at the end of a cul de sac which backs up to a farm. My theory is no one sees what we have in our backyard as it is and if someone ever questions seeing any chicken like birds in our yard I will say they flew over our fence from the farm:) I am keeping my fingers crossed for future egg laying birds.
Your creativity has really inspired me. I have been working on some Christmas table runners for next year using only scraps from my fabric stash. I would love to know how the cupcakes were decorated. Are they real flowers? Were they dried? What type of frosting was used? Blessings to you and the rest of the bluebirds.
Dear Marley,
DeleteThank you! Good job on teaching your Grandson how to make the sauce! And for getting veggies into him all this time! It an be done. Jamie Oliver has a seven veg sauce recipe that sneaks tons of veggies into kids and I think they soon actually crave this kind of goodness.
I will tell you what I know... the tops of the cup cakes.... were royal icing and the flowers were handpainted. The paints are food colours diluted in alcohol and mixed to get desired colours. Chloe is a good painter! The discs of royal icing were stuck on with another frosting which Chloe tinted lilac to match the lavender design. The cakes were a gluten free vanilla. They tasted lovely!
Well dont on the sauerkraut and also the lovely pie crusts!
Re the Bantams I like your theory. As long as no rooster and you are discreet I think you will be fine. This egg situation is pretty well world wide. Bird flu cannot be blamed here... With every household scrap plus every weed and spent veggies etc a few birds are very inexpensive to keep. I make it that grain cannot be stolen by other birds... otherwise you are soon feeding hundreds of random birds and I think they are a give away to something going on in your yard. This is easily prevented. So I am all for chickens by stealth! With much love Annabel.xxx
You had a very busy week.
ReplyDeleteI have never thought of dehydrating grated zucchini. Thanks for the idea.
God bless.
What beautiful cupcakes and lovely table setting! And your freeze dried strawberries are absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMost of my accomplishments last week were in the kitchen. I’ve been very mindful of planning, cooking and not wasting anything. I only spent $36 this week for groceries. We went out to lunch one day but otherwise spent $0 last week.
I cooked double one night and froze a ready meal. We ate a ready meal I froze about 6 weeks ago...just to keep things moving.
I got a big head of lettuce for $1.99 (most I’ve ever paid for lettuce). I washed and dried the leaves and stored them in a plastic bag in the fridge. I used about half the head to make a big salad for dinner Sunday with enough left for two more meals. I left out anything that might go slimy such as cucumbers and tomatoes, which I can add before serving or even omit.
Besides the salad, I made a pork roast and thawed twice-baked potatoes left from Christmas. My husband ate a couple of pork sandwiches and I used the rest in a meat pie for Thursday dinner and lunch today (Friday). I’ve made big pots of soup every weekend for the last 4-5 weeks and eaten it for lunches. Between soup and leftovers, our lunches (always a problem here) have improved dramatically.
I read two books from the library last week, including A Year Without the Grocery Store. This would be very helpful for anyone establishing food storage. However, I keep a very deep pantry, not what I’d call food storage (no wheat or large quantities of powdered milk, salt, etc.) Also, she never really discusses meat, except dried (?), and never once mentioned freezing anything. It was interesting, but not really useful for my situation. I could eat from my pantry and freezer for about 4-6 months and I'm comfortable with that.
Best wishes to all of the Bluebirds!
Oops, that was me--Maxine, aka mikemax.
DeleteHello Annabel! Happy Birthday to Chloe and your Mum! I love the cupcakes that Chloe made, so beautiful. I have never seen such sweet jars, I will have to find some. I was wondering why you place the plastic seal in between the jar and the lid? I’ve got Covid, again, yay me! I’m managing better this time than last time, so that is a blessing. I’m loving all of your posts and the other Bluebirds’ posts, lots to think about. Kindest Regards, Jennie❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteDear Annabel, happy birthday to your Mum! I love, love, love the beautiful party. Those cakes are magnificent! Chloe has such talent.....and to think she achieved all this with two little boys! She is like her Mum :) I love your strawberries and how you made jam and freeze dried some, same with the zucchini. Beautiful jars of goodness for the pantry. I love your notebooks. We are having to buy our eggs as we are having to have a break from having chickens. The coop is still there, so who knows. But the good news is my husband is measuring up for some new beds and we got some things planted today. I also planted some seeds last week and some have come up. Fingers crossed. I made scones today, and we are managing our groceries more carefully and mindfully. Lots of love, Lily
ReplyDeleteI loved the cakes, she is so talented and the table is elegant. You accomplish so much, I am impressed. I love the look, smell and taste of
ReplyDeleteStrawberry jam but the jars are a great touch.
My eyes glassed over when I saw the eggs. My neighbors had eggs all summer and gave them to me. In excess, then they quit laying and the next time I went to get eggs they were $4.50 a dozen.
I miss produce out of my garden. First year to grow eggplant.
Thank you for great posts.
Every picture in this post is beautiful Annabel! Happy birthday to Pat, she must have felt very lucky! Chloe has done it again with her amazing cake decorating and table setting. I love how she makes celebrations so special. I would much prefer that to lunch out at a cafe.
ReplyDeleteThe strawberry jam looks lovely, and you should be feeling smug lol. My girls and I went blueberry picking this week with friends. It was a lovely way to spend an hour and we got 9kg of berries. The price was better than frozen.
Just a couple of weeks until school goes back so I will be doing lots of baking for the freezer. It is a very expensive time of year with stationery and uniforms etc so I will have to work hard to keep grocery and petrol costs as low as possible.
This is very odd for me, but I haven’t been in much of a mood for crafts since Christmas. So I’ve been organising some supplies for projects to start when I feel ready. I have been doing lots of organising and decluttering so maybe I’m just using my energy there for now.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and that the weather stays nice and mild.
Jen (NZ)
I can just see you smiling as you spoon jam into those strawberry shaped jars...I'd have done the same! I feel like I am spinning my wheels lately. I can't seem to get out to do any real shopping at any point and actively stock the pantry as I feel I ought to be doing. However, this week I got my new upright freezer which is HUGE and has plenty of room to spare. I'm going to try and keep one shelf solely for flat freezing items so I can stock more in future. Now I can also make some convenience meals to have on hand. I've not had room to do much of anything and it's been frustrating.
ReplyDeleteToday I took advantage of some good sales at a grocery store and put a few extra packages of meat in the freezer. It barely dinted the empty space so I'm looking forward to filling this up, too.
Chloe is an artist right to her very core. I think she has inherited the artistic gene from you and then built upon it.
ReplyDeleteThis week was a flurry of activity. We spent as much time with the little girls as we could. They left early Thursday morning. We already miss them but are really enjoying the quiet sanctuary that is our home.
During the week Bluey and I had our 35th Wedding Anniversary. There was no fanfare, just the two of us being thankful for having each other.
Bluey found a good deal on strawberries and I made a small batch of jam from them. This led to a batch of scones being baked and some cream being whipped. Scones, jam and cream were had for morning tea when we had Katie, Jared and Spencer here. Spencer enjoyed his very much. I am glad we were outside as I am still finding bits of sticky scone in odd places.
Oue soap stores were getting low. I made a batch of melt and pour soap, which can be used right away, and a batch of cold process soap that will be curing in the cupboard for another 6 weeks.
I made up a new batch of balm for Spencer's nappy changes. I also made some solid moisturizer bars. These are great for rubbing into the heels to stop them from drying out and splitting. Jared also decided that he needed one to rub over his beard and into his skin this way. It really helped with an itchy dry patch of skin and proved to be a good beard balm. He asked if the next batch could be scented with something other than lavender EO. I might make one with sandalwood EO.
I am continuing with deep cleaning as part of my post Covid and post Grandies visit. I started off going to hard to fast and fell into a heap. I have decided that one area a day will be enough. I will get the place cleaned up and I will also have energy to do things for me.
Life is good.