Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Quality Shopping

Dry Autumn days but very cold nights is the best way to describe the weather at the moment. October was exceptionally dry and it looks as though November will also be a very dry month.
We aren't complaining about the cold spell, it might kill of some of the nasties, namely slugs which ruined our potato crop this year.
We have had some exceptional sunsets which seem to coincide with frosty weather. Unfortunately the cold snap does not suit the hens, we are struggling to keep up our supply of eggs for our customers, still only a month to go to the shortest day, then spring will be on it's way.
Little work is being done in the garden, short days and hospital appointments seem to eat away time. We  even managed to miss 'Stir up Sunday', the day when Christmas puddings should be made, it was only listening to the 'Archers' that I realised that it was in fact last Sunday. If we had planned things better or paid more attention to the approaching festival we could have got all the dried fruit on our last trip to Sligo, just ten days previously, however that trip was to the Craft village at Rathcormac and then onto the Crafters Basket for more tapestry wool.

All it needs is a door and we could move in.
On that trip we did manage to see the recreated bronze age round houses which have been built at the craft village.
 It is very hard to find quality dried fruit in a small town so again we had  to go to Sligo to our favourite delicatessen.
Cosgroves is a small delicatessen which has been running for over a hundred years, if you like good food this is the place to go, it sells the most delicious olives amongst other things, most of  the olives got eaten on our way back home, (we can eat olives like some people eat sweets,)
  Cosgroves is also one of the very few places left where you can buy both seeded and seedless raisins and also currants,
Naturally dried apricots.
they also sell non- sulphured apricots. The colour of apricots that supermarkets sell is orange, due to the sulphur that is used to preserve them, we would prefer to not have added sulphur in our Xmas pudding. It's not a cheap place to shop, however good food should not be cheap, it should reflect the true cost of production. Tomorrow is set to be our stir up day, if we have time the cake will also get made.
Last week was the week for the duck harvest, we had five male ducklings hatched from a brood of eleven, we sold one of the females to a friend so we have an additional five females which we will keep for egg laying. Simon used the plucking machine again, it did a reasonable job but nowhere as good as it is for the broilers. The ducks all weighed in at five pounds give or take an ounce they all weighed the same. The freezers are now full again, and we have enough poultry to last us through until the next lot of birds are done, sometime around next May.
The winter vegetables are all doing well, our leeks are the best we have grown here
and the parsnips are also very good this year,
even the Brussels sprouts have done what they should do, nice firm heads and just the right size, possibly the veg all appreciated a cooler and damper summer than usual.
Freddy doing what cats do best.
 
  

11 comments:

  1. Freddy looks very contented. I think we've got all your rain, it's poured down here just lately, so much so that it was flooded around our little town on Monday. Yum, three of my favourite veg in this post, leeks, parsnips and sprouts.

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  2. I o wonder why some people say they hate parsnips and sprouts, I guess it's all down to how they are cooked.

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  3. I think you are right about it being best to pay a bit more and get GOOD food ingredients, rather than cheap stuff. Supermarkets have driven down prices to attract customers, but the customers now don't understand the costs of food production.

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    1. We avoid supermarkets where we can Mark, unfortunately people don't look around, they think that because supermarkets are big they must represent good value, we can buy Organic beef and lamb cheaper directly from the producer than what supermarkets sells their conventional meat from dubious sources. People are now so used to bland tasting food.

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  4. Well with a title like this I thought this would be all about Black Friday...joking! Beautiful sky pics. Looks like you got a huge haul...how many puddings will you be making?! xx

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    1. Black Friday, what's that? A day when the sun doesn't come up! Just two puddings and the one cake, hope you don't mind the cake not being iced, we don't like icing but love marzipan, home made of course.

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    2. Anne
      We have had much frost and some snow which has melted. Today will be in the 50's so clothes are dancing in the wind on the clothesline.
      I loved seeing your shopping trip to Sligo. Looks like a great market.
      Black Friday is the day after our Thanksgiving. Its a big shopping day with many sales to lure in CHristmas shoppers. Roads and stores so crowded, people fighting for sales items its not a day that I participate in.
      We have had lots of rain lately and it was much needed.
      The future here in America looks pretty bleak with the new president not believing in climate change. I have sent over with Patti some pumpkin seeds for you. They are a heirloom pumpkin which ranged from 10 to 40 pounds. Great for pumpkin pies. Your puddings sound yummy. Your winter veggies did so well and look yummy.. My best to you both

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    3. Anne
      We have had much frost and some snow which has melted. Today will be in the 50's so clothes are dancing in the wind on the clothesline.
      I loved seeing your shopping trip to Sligo. Looks like a great market.
      Black Friday is the day after our Thanksgiving. Its a big shopping day with many sales to lure in CHristmas shoppers. Roads and stores so crowded, people fighting for sales items its not a day that I participate in.
      We have had lots of rain lately and it was much needed.
      The future here in America looks pretty bleak with the new president not believing in climate change. I have sent over with Patti some pumpkin seeds for you. They are a heirloom pumpkin which ranged from 10 to 40 pounds. Great for pumpkin pies. Your puddings sound yummy. Your winter veggies did so well and look yummy.. My best to you both

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    4. We have had a very dry couple of months but rain expected on Tuesday. We are hoping to get over to Patti on Wednesday. Very pleased with our winter veg this year, we wont go short. Small gift on it's way to you, hope it arrives OK.

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  5. They are very good sprouts! and your parsnips look great too, I haven't lifted any yet but now that we've had recent sharp frosts I must try them. So impressed with your poultry processing in previous post! I am still slow at gutting although children help with plucking. All the best.

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    1. Our winter veg have done very well this year, we are very pleased with the green sprouts but the purple sprouts are very small, they might come on later. The plucking machine is a real boon, I'm glad we made the investment.

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