Deblyn

Take one large cauliflower, break into florets and steam until just done, adding in the green parts of the leaves, but omitting the stalks. Put on one side. Saute a large onion, finely chopped, with one clove of garlic, finely chopped, in two ounces of butter until soft, add the cauliflower pieces, salt and pepper and two pints of vegetable stock (or chicken, if you are not a vegetarian). Simmer until cauli is soft, but not breaking, over a gentle heat, say 20 minutes. Leave to cool for a while, then blend in a liquidiser. Return to pan, add double (heavy) cream to taste, adjust seasoning, and heat through (do not boil or it will curdle due to the cream). Serve hot with chopped chive or parsley garnish and lots of home-made bread. The soup can be cooled and frozen before the cream is added.

this is not a recipe from a book, but one which I made up over the years. Other things can be added or subracted as you like. Nutmeg is nice on the top for serving (just a wee sprinkle, though), or milk can be used instead of the cream.

Hope you enjoy it if you decide to have a go.

Many thanks indeed - lots to do if they ever get as far as the kitchen! I would have to try the salsa without the poultry as I'm vegetarian. Asparagus won't be a problem soon, as last week I pootted up 167 asparagus seedlings I grew from seed. I am left with a few less than that now as the blessed pigeons have been pulling them from their pots!! I like the idea of adding them ti chilli as well. I knew someone here would come up with an answer for me!

Personally, I am not a fan of the monarchy, but that's another question. I'm not being picky, but you said something that is often said by mistake - the monarchy rule England Scotland Wales and Ireland, not just England. Being brought up in Scotland, I really notice it when someone makes that mistake, and feel I have to point it out, so please don't take offence, as none was intended!

Problem (!) solved. I am re-upholstering a chair to go into the kitchen when it is finished. It needs to be rubbed down, undercoated and painted, and the cushion covered. Hubby has agreed to buy the fabric to make the covers for it, so that'll be nice, as it will be my chair for beside the stove. (How to keep the dog off after we're in bed will be a problem!!)

Cauliflower cheese, with a rich cheesy sauce; cauliflower soup(v. good, this one), lickled cauliflower; curried cauliflower; raw with dips.

I grow violet tomatillos every year because I like them. I use them in salsa, but they rarely get as far as the kitchen as I usually eat them as I wander around the garden! What else can you do with them? All suggestions gratefully received!

"Maybe next year" is the gardener's mantra, isn't it? Well, it is in this house, anyway!!

I've never come across white ones before, but that's not to say they don't exist! Sometimes if you save seed from pumpkins and squashes from your own garden, they don't come true the following year as they cross-pollinate so easily; maybe the flower was on one of these cross-breeds, so came out a different colour. just a theory!

Thanks for that - what a nice surprise! We spent the day at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, which was very hot and dusty, but we all enjoyed it, especially the children. Here's to another 13!!! (But only if he gets my stove back in hahahaha)

I think you do have the wrong book! Enjoy the Hills!

Sorry - forget this bit - got carried away with myself again. I have a bank of three bins, all made from recycled pallet wood. I made them five years ago, by myself, so if I can do it, and they are still standing, then it must be fairly easy! I have two big ones for compost, and a smaller one for leaf mould, but that isn't used for leaf mould yet as the trees are not mature enough yet to produce the leaves to fill it! Another tip - put a pile of clippings, vegetation. prunings etc on your lawn and run over it with the mower. Breaks it down well without the expense, noise and pollution of a shredder.

For what it is worth, here is a selection of what I put on my compost heap (really!) -

all vegetation, weeds,eggshells, coffeegrounds (don't use filters, coffee high in nitrogen),tea bags, used fruit/veg from wine making, cleanings from chickens ducks and rabbits, also gerbil sawdust, cardboard, newspapers, worn out cotton clothing (I just remove the zips and studs from jeans as I use the composst the following year) old knitted cotton dishcloths, woollens, anything natural that will rot down eventually. The pub across the road from where I live saves all the kitchen scraps for me - what the chickens, ducks and rabbit don't eat goes on the compost along with the cardboard box they come in. Some research was done about the dyes used for printing on eg cereal boxes, but were found to be so negligible that no danger was perceived, so on they go! Also hair clippings (I cut all the family's hair), dog fluff and hair and the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag, although this is becoming very infrequent now as we have taken up all the carpets in the house!

I read Angela's Ashes last year. It is the only book I have ever read that made me cry. I didn't perceive the family as dysfunctional - that's just the way things were with thousands of families at that time. I found it heart-rending that these families lived in such poverty and desperate squalor. Sadly, things aren't much changed for a large proportion of people alive today. I haven't read the sequel yet, but will get around to it eventually. Maybe even more moving to me as my father's mother and all her family were/are Irish, lived inpovery in Dublin and through the famine.

Hi Reci, was all ready to start the book tonight about the man with the fridge, but went to the mobile library this afternoon and came back with another 11 books; thus I have been a little sidetracked this evening. Will definitely let you know soon, though.

It was our wedding anniversary (13 years) on 1st September. since our first anniversary, my husband has given me the relevant gift eg paper for 1 year, cotton for 2, etc. Well, this year it is textiles, so I am going to have a whale of a time choosing - knitting wools, spinning, patchwork, quilting, cross-stitch, crochet, sewing........... What a wonderful problem to have!

The ones I use most in our house are bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice and vinegar. They seem to do most jobs quite well. I use soda crystals down the drains. I don't buy commercial disinfectants, as ironically, I don't think they are all that safe. I use rosemary steeped in boiling water , left for 24 hours then strained. Rosemary has a good disinfectant ability and smells lovely - I use it in the bathroom. They used it in hospitals in WW1, I have read.

May all your weeds be wild flowers.

(Most of them are, actually, at least here in England!)

May all your weeds be wild flowers.

(Most of them are, actually, at least here in England!)

No fighting! Got my way in the end, although it was in a very round about way! I/"we"'ve chosen a goldy sandy ochrey mustardy type yellow called natural saffron, and it's very nice indeed. I went into our local fabric shop today - big mistake!! They've just taken delivery of hundreds of new cotton prints with everything imaginable on them - animals, chickens, New England scenes, flowers and hearts, sunflowers, clouds, otters, etc. I'd better start now on deciding for the curtains!!!

I think we may have decided on yellow!!

The hops are picked and dried, then stored for use over the next few months as the beer is made. They keep for quite a while without losing their flavour. No news on the colour choice yet - am biding my time! It is a wee bit wet here this morning, but quite cool, so I hope to get outside later on. Even if gardening does wear me out it is an enjoyable and satisfying tiredness!

Our best bargain has to be this house, which we have been in for five years now. There's still loads to do to it, and the decorating's not finished, but it's coming along slowly. It's a three bedroomed semi-detached cottage in a small village of 166 houses. We live at one end, next to a farm, and opposite the village pub - handy for lots of reasons! It has a decent sized garden at the front and at the back. We painted it tradtional cottage pink three years ago - I'd always wanted a pink cottage, and now I've got it. Although we are spending a lot of money doing it up, it's still a terrific bargain, I think!

Hi Deb,

I surprise myself with my patience sometimes!! I do try and keep things in perspective, when I compare my life with that of some people, I do realise how lucky I am.

The immersion heater is a long thing with two small tubes that actually goes into the hot water tank. We live in a hard water area, and it was very furred up with limescale, so that was probably the problm. We don't use it much, as the Rayburn usually gives enough hot water. Colours - Argh!! I like a pale stone colour and one from a range called "New England" called "homecoming" - a pale lavendery/grey/muted colour. Julian likes the Spanish Rose, which is too dark to do the whole room in I think. I'd like something a bit more neutral.(not like me at all - elsewhere we have lavender, primrose yellow and blue!) I'm sure I will have the final say as usual, I'm just biding my time. I like compromise as long as it's in my favour!! I've plenty to occupy me while I'm waiting - the hops are ready to pick now, and that is a big job, also getting the garden ready for the winter.

This is an annual event here in Dorset, attended by many thousands of people. The main event is the gathering of dozens of steam traction engines, all polished up and on display, all working and steaming away. there are also ploughing matches using the engines, vintage vehicles, tractors, wood chopping, models, static steam engines, grain grinding, baling etc all on antique working machines. then there are crafts - country crafts of hurdles, wookworking, wood turning, etc, homecrafts, heavy horse displays and loads of other things to watch. They also have a huge sale of tons of stuff, like a big yard sale over the field, where you can pick up real bargains including antique kitchen gadgets and equipment, which are my favourite. We're goind along on sunday; J. likes it so much he has gone today with his father, and is going back on Sunday again! It's a great day out and we look forward to it all year.

Debbielee, your posts make me laugh!!! You're a hoot. The kitchen floor is only half done and the Rayburn not in. Huh. Last Friday, Bethany turned on the elctric immersion heater ( no Rayburn = no hot water from it, so have to use the lectric imm. heater) and all the lectricity tripped out. Therefore, last weekend was a day an a half fixing in a new immersion. The part wasn;'t expensive, and J. was able to do it, so saved money there, but it took time away from the kitchen. The hold up now is deciding which colour to paint the walls in the kitchen. We don't like each other's choices much, but I will probably get my way; after all, it's me who spends most time in the kitchen!! The new plumbing pipes got put in on Monday, and he hopes to have them fitted to the stove by Sunday night, but I'm not holding my breath! The end is in sight, which is good, as it's time for jam and pickles! It will be lovely when it's done, and we've saved a load of money by doing all the work ourselves, so that's ok. Just a little slow!!