Wednesday 15 August 2012

Thoughtful Bounty .... And making The Most Of It.


Summer .... however rubbish ... is rattling on ... and the Autumn almost upon us.... I know ... I know ...not had any summer yet ..an all that!

But I feel its more important than ever to harvest whatever we can ... save and store for the coming months ... 'things' are not getting any easier ..... and food is as expensive as ever.

So what a thoughtful boon.... a kindly gift ... a
 'Waste Not Want Not' 
kind of 
'Pass it On'.



I called ... as usual at 'Collin the Veg' for my weekly order of veggie goodies ...and it must be said his prices are very reasonable.
 As it was the end of the trading day (at the carboot/market) he said could I do 'anything' with some bananas and cooking apples ... they were okay ... just getting a bit over ripe ... and of course he could not sell them the following day ... so they would be thrown in the rubbish ....wasted.

 I said of course .... Yes Please.

Well .... he said.... I know you do all that proper cooking ... jam and cakes and stuff ... and will do something with them.
 


 And what bounty it was ..... a big box full of apples and bananas!

I set to as soon as we got home ... it was a very ripe boxful ... the whole van smelled like a banana.
I simply chopped all the apple and filled my trusty 'Big Pan' .... simmering them and putting them through a cloth to make some Apple Jelly.

 

I used 8 of the ripest bananas to make a batch of Banana Bread ...
It turned out really well ... I've not made it before ...I just got a recipe off the Internet .... modified it a bit to what ingredients I had in the cupboard. 




 Jelly turned out fine ... just a simple Apple Jelly ....I eat loads of it ... just love it with pork, or chicken ...or cheese ... or stirred into a sauce or stirfry .... Yum.




 It seems banana bread is a hit .... I made it yesterday and this is all that is left of a large loaf tin sized cake ...Hubby P has discovered it tastes just lovely slavered in butter .... 'keeps his strength up' ... or so he tells me.

Don't know why I bothered wrapping it in tinfoil ... telling myself 'well ... it says it will keep a good week ... and it is better ... is more moist ... after a day or two' ... fat chance in this household!




In the midst of the baking etc Hubby P walked in with a big bag of runner beans from a neighbour ... well they too needed to be sorted ... chopped, blanched and popped in the freezer for another day, a little work but so welcome to brighten our meals in the coming weeks.
 We had some for dinner with our pork steaks ... and a little apple jelly of course.



Still lots of bananas left here .... I've had bananas with my bran flakes, bananas and custard .... Richard has eaten a few .... Hubby P .... well .... I can only get fruit into him in the guise of cake/pudding etc ... so the banana bread is a good bet .... any good banana ideas? ..... anyone tried banana curry?

How is your harvesting going ...any ideas for interesting preserves? .... I'm getting a bit bored with the same old jams etc.

Bye for now x





14 comments:

  1. What a kind gift from the Fruit and Veg man! Your cakes and the apple jelly look delicious. I made jelly from a mixture of crab apples and elderberries last year and it was lovely. If you have any elderberries ripe near you then maybe you could try apple and elderberry jelly?

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  2. You're so lucky to get ripe bananas Vicky. Here's a great recipe for carrot cake that uses bananas, tried and tested and is gorgeous...dead easy to make too. I throw in a load of sunflower seeds too.
    8oz self-raising flour
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    5oz light muscovado sugar
    2oz walnut pieces, chopped
    4oz carrots, coarsely grated
    2 ripe bananas, mashed
    2 eggs
    150ml sunflower oil

    butter icing
    140g/5oz butter, softened
    280g/10oz icing sugar
    lemon juice to taste

    1. Lightly grease deep 8in cake tin and line the base. Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 / 180c. Put all cake ingredients into a bowl and mix until thoroughly blended (easiest with electric mixer) and turn into cake tin and level the surface.

    2. Bake for 50-60 minutes until well risen, golden and beginning to shrink away from the side of the tin (she makes it sound easy!). Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out and allow to cool completely.

    3. Add all the topping ingredients together and beat until well mixed - then spread on top of the cake. Important note - Store in the fridge! It never lasts long enough to store in the fridge here lol.

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  3. All your baking and jellies make my mouth water. I`m on a self-imposed diet, and cakes are a no-no!

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  4. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

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  5. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

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  6. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a lovely blog you have! So glad I found it!

    Julie x

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  11. Oh god I posted that too many times! I didn't see it post and thought I'd typed in the verification code wrong each time!
    Sorry!!!

    Julie x

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  12. Oooo Vicky, make a Manchester Tart, shortcrust tart case, spread with raspberry jam, slice bananas and pop in, cover in cold custard and sprinkle dessicated coconut on top - ding dong - bet you know this recipe already though !!
    Your apple jelly looks lovely. I'm going to make some marmalade and Chrimbo cake once the school hols are over
    twiggy x

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  13. Found you by way of Messie Jessie.
    A girl after my own heart... let little go to waste.
    The bed looks yummy!
    Susan

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  14. Hope to find some other over ripe banana recipes too. Manchester tart is wonderful but the bananas need to be reasonably new IMHO. I have sometimes tried banana pancakes, that is, pancakes with bananas sliced on and fried in the usual way. They taste good. I've had the suggestion for banana fritters, deep fried, so good for you :)

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