Bread and Butter Pickles

Last year I made these pickles for the first time and they were amazing.  So good in fact that when I got to the bottom of the last bottle I was devastated and was kicking myself that I had not made more with the glut of cucumbers we had last summer.

So this year I will not be making the same mistake.  I am going to make a couple of batches and have just got the first one under my belt.

These are great as part of a ploughman's lunch, fantastic with cheese on crackers and great in burgers or sandwiches.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Part 1 - Vegetables
1kg Cucumbers (young and freshly picked)
2 Onions
3Tbs Salt (Not Rock Salt)
1/2 Cup Hot water

In a saucepan dissolve the salt in the hot water.  Slice the cucumbers very finely.  I use a mandolin but you could use the slicer attachment on a food processor or do it by hand but thin even slices are the key.
Slice the onions thinly as well ideally the same thickness as the cucumber.
Mix the onion and cucumber in a bowl and pour over the salty water then mix thoroughly and leave for 3 hours.
Tip into a colander and press as much as liquid out as possible.

Part 2 - Liquid
2 Cups White Vinegar
2 Cups White Sugar
4 Tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 Tsp Ground Turmeric
1/2 Tsp Chilli Flakes

In a stock pot heat all of the liquid ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the drained vegetables and simmer for 3 minutes stirring a few times.
Spoon into sterilised jars making sure all the vegetables are covered in the pickling liquid and seal.

This is so worth making even if you buy your cucumbers.

For the Love of Books

Over the weekend Brisbane hosted its Lifeline BookFest and my best friend and I meet up to hunt down some bargains along with thousands of others.

For anyone who has not heard of the bookfest it is one of Lifelines major fundraisers.  Lifeline is run by Uniting Care.   Uniting Care Community is one of the Queensland's largest community service providers, offering Lifeline services, child and family care, counselling, disability support and social inclusion programs throughout Queensland. 

The bookfest is the worlds largest second hand book sale with millions of books on offer every day.  It takes up half of the Brisbane convention and exhibition center and is attended by thousands many pushing supermarket trolleys full to the top with books.  As well as book they also sell CD's DVD's, puzzles and board games.

Row upon row of tables of books

 I have been to the book fest quite a few times and I know to take along my nanna troley like the one below.  And when it is full that is it time to leave (although sometimes there are a few more books loaded on top ready to tumble off at any moment).  Otherwise I could just go on and on.

 I got a heap of books, mainly fiction, and although I tried to avoid the gardening section the lure was just too great.  But it was worth it.  I picked up this excellent little book all about wild herbs for $2 which is both a field guide and recipe book.  I have not had a chance to read it yet but from the brief skim through it looks very interesting.

I also managed to get some board games and puzzles for $2 each.  One of the puzzles has never even been opened so it will have all the pieces but the other well I will not know till I give it a try.

Puzzles and games

I picked up a game of scattergories that has only been played a few times and a cute retro set of board games that has all the pieces and is in great condition.  You can see the games on the front and I had heard of all of them except the Motor Race and the Steeple Chase.  

Do you remember these?

Retro Board Games

After all that looking at books we headed off to a nearby cafe for lunch and spent a lovely hour catching up on all the news.

Slow Living December 2012

Linking up with Christine again this month.

Foccacia

Nourish -Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead.
We are eating very few processes foods lately and it has been very noticeable when leaving the supermarket with very little in the trolley.  Most of our food that we are buying is coming from the markets or green grocer.  I have still been baking bread but not as  much as in the cooler months, it has just been too hot to turn the oven on.

Strawberries to freeze

Home made Feta

Bottled Tomatoes

Bread and Butter Pickles

Prepare - Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season.

I have made bread and butter pickles, bottled tomatoes, and home made feta too.  I even managed to get some strawberries in the freezer.  I seem to have got quite a bit of preserving done over the last month.  On top of this we had one of our cows killed and she is now in the freezer.

Reduce - Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing.
Hubby has been busy building a new woodshed from recycled materials.  The posts were parts from an old power pylon and the roofing iron came from a few different people who were getting rid of it. 

Washing  Liquid

 Green - Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.
I have been making up more of my Bi Carb Cream Cleanser and washing Liquid.

Grow - plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden?

It has all been about summer vegetables with lots of peppers and tomatoes as well as cucumbers.

Create - To fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others.

I made a lot of Christmas cards and presents in 2012 as part of my Home Made Christmas.  I am still practising my knitting and am knitting a few more dishcloths.

Discover - Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests.
I am still reading books about permaculture and climate change and these were a couple that I really enjoyed.

Enhance - Community
The anti sand mining group for my local area that I am involved in had a major win which we celebrated over the Christmas period.

Enjoy - Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment.
December was a busy month catching up with friends and family.

What have you been up to?

Unwanted House Guests

Last week while doing the washing I heard some rustling behind the laundry tub.  I knew straight away what it was.  A snake keeping cool during the hot weather.

We have had them come in the back door making a bee line for our washing machine where they curl up to keep cool.  This one was a red belly black snake and did not want to leave.
We tried leaving the back door open three nights in a row plus all the days and there was no hint it was leaving.
So in the end I called a snake catcher.  It had been 5 days and I was not prepared to wait any longer to get my laundry back.  Plus this is an area we have to walk through every time we need the toilet or bathroom.
The snake catcher came out and asked me to give him a hand by tipping the washing machine to one side while he grabbed it from underneath.
It was all over and done with in less than 5 minutes and I just had time to run and get the camera to get these couple of photos.

The snake was placed in a pillow case and the snake catcher advised me he would be working on taming the snake over the next week ready to do a display and presentation at a nursing home next week.

Well either way I am glad it has left our place.  If it had just stayed outside he could have stayed.

Hello 2013

A Happy New Year to you all.

I really enjoyed the break over the Christmas period and even though I had to work every day but the public holidays I really tried to live like I was on holiday.  I stayed away from the computer and TV , spent time catching up with friends and family, and read lots of books.

We had a lovely relaxed Christmas with hubby's family and my youngest brother who has moved over from New Zealand.
We gave Jessie an grunting pig for Christmas as she loved to death the second hand one someone gave us.

Hmmm what's in here?

I'll just test it with my paw

Grunt little piggy, grunt.

I love my Piggy

And I am not letting piggy go, even when I go to bed.

My sister in law was buying for me (this year we all only brought for one person each.  Like a "not" secret santa) and she made me this fantastic apron which is reversible and labelled Fi's Kitchen.  Plus she got me some cheese moulds to go with the cheese making kit she and my brother in law gave me last Christmas.  I will post about some of my cheese making another day.

We had a lovely relaxed day and spent some of the afternoon playing Finska.  Such a great great game for all of the family.  It is all about knocking down the pins with a wooden baton and then you stand them up where they fall.  The other team/person then has their turn.  The aim is to get exactly 50 points which is not that easy.  If you go over you go back to 25 points.

The starting set up

My father in law taking his turn.

My brother standing them up from where they were knocked by the last person.
By the end of the game some of them had made their
way back under the mango tree in the background.
(It was pretty hard to get them back there)

Over the Christmas period I have also been bottling tomatoes on a weekly basis stocking the pantry for the year to come.  I don't think I could grow and preserve enough to last a whole year but since all of my tomato plants were grown from seeds every bottle represents a money saving.

Seven litre sized bottles to store away

I am picking about this many "Italian Fryers" Capsicums every day.  They are sweet and deliciousness and I have been eating them right of the bush.  Lucky there are still plenty for the kitchen.