Thursday, November 10, 2016

A Day in My Life

At the end of yesterday I was reflecting on the day I'd had and it occurred to me that, although it was pretty normal for me, it might be quite interesting from an onlooker's point of view to get a glimpse into my outback life.

I nearly always start the day with watering; putting sprinklers on, starting the veggie garden trickle, watering pot plants and, every 3 or 4 days depending on the weather, watering the orchard. The peaches are almost ready by the way.

While on my rounds I came across a pretty big brown mulga snake....he slid off into the jungle of date palms. I'm pretty sure it was the same one that almost gave me a heart attack a couple of days earlier when we scared the daylights out of each other. I didn't see him on my pathway between garden beds until he 'jumped' in fright and took off in the opposite direction.

The day before yesterday I'd made two loaves of spelt sourdough in the afternoon/evening which I shaped and put in the proving  baskets before covering and putting in the fridge overnight, ready to bake the next day. After letting the dough warm up at room temperature for an hour or so I baked them, just in time to have fresh bread with Vegemite for morning smoko!


After finishing the morning chores I sat down to do a final edit of the Isolated Children's Parents' Association (a volunteer organisation that lobbies for access to appropriate education for rural students) newsletter that I put together and emailed it off to the printers. Big sigh of relief!

During that I had an hour long phone call with a fellow shire councillor -solving the problems of the world. Actually, I think the problems of the world just got a whole lot bigger with the election of Mr Trump but we won't go there!

With a tummy full on a scrumptious lunch of grilled asparagus on fresh sourdough drizzled with olive oil, I started writing an article for another ICPA magazine about a fundraising garden day that my branch put on a few weeks ago.

My husband Rossco, who is away contracting for a few days, rang and we exchanged sweet nothings and important messages. I helped Julia (son Tom's partner) load and unload a few big concrete plant pots that she's planning to plant in at the cottage and then headed off in the ute with the dogs on the back to check on some windmills and clean the troughs.

Unfortunately I hit an emu that ran straight in front of me while I was driving along the Rabbit Proof Fence and had to stop and put it out of its misery. I saw lots of happy sheep drinking at the waters and was pleased not to see any wild dog tracks along the way.

As I pulled up to a gate I spotted a  roo which I shot, skinned and took home for dog food. On the way home I saw a daddy emu on one side of a fence and about 8 chicks on the other, all trying to squeeze through the gaps. I stopped and waited while they all got through then continued on to home, letting the dogs run for the last 2 kilometres.

As I went to tie the dogs up at their kennels for the night I spotted a tiny, bald finch chick on the ground immediately below the nest he'd fallen out of. I carefully popped him in my shirt pocket and walked back to the house to get a ladder in order to reach the nest. After a little pep talk to myself (I'm not too good at heights) I climbed up and poked the chick in through the little hole of the nest, while the parent finch was going mental nearby.

As dark approached I picked some lovely silverbeet and baby beetroot from the garden for my dinner...which was pretty simple with no blokes here...silverbeet sautéed with garlic and sprinkled with parmesan and steamed beetroot!

And that, dear readers, was my day on November 10th 2016.

PS- You can now follow me on Instagram as well as Facebook. Just search 'Outback Larder'




Thursday, September 29, 2016

Quondong Jelly

After steady and frequent winter rains the country here looks magnificent. Although faded now, the carpets of wildflowers were spectacular in July and August. It's such a privilege to watch the desert bloom at close quarters, and it's years like this that help us get through the droughts.

White pom pom everlastings
The whitish bits are carpets of flowers which were
prolific along the Greenough River plains

Pink daisies growing in the the wash country

The flowers may have finished blooming but there is still plenty to admire in the bush, including the vibrant fruit of the quandong trees. The tree pictured below was laden and I decided to pick some fruit and experiment with making jelly from it.

          

To play a little on the safe side I combined the quondong fruit with a few apples, thinking that they would bulk out the quongdongs and hopefully give a better chance of the jelly setting, as well as adding a nice flavour. 

I'm happy to report that the jelly turned out beautifully; deeply pink and delicious....although it's hard to describe the flavour! Suffice to say that its very pleasant, not particularly strong or perfumey. I think it will be equally yummy on scones with cream or as an accompaniment to lamb roast. I will definitely have to go and pick some more quondongs to make some unique Christmas presents!

I know hardly anyone will make it (probably no-one!) but here's the recipe just in case:


Quondong Jelly

1 hatful of fresh quondongs (or an ice-cream container if you must!)
3 crisp apples
A few sprigs of thyme (optional)
sugar

Peel the fruit from the quondong nut and wash well to remove traces of insect activity  (reserve the nut for snacking on, although you will need a heavy duty nut cracker to extract them!)
Roughly chop the fruit and place in medium sized saucepan. Chop apples, including skin, pips and core, and place in pot with quondong fruit. Add thyme if using. Just cover fruit with water. Place on stove and boil until the fruit is very mushy - approx 40mins.
Sit a colander over a bowl and line with muslin, cheesecloth or an old cotton tea towel. Pour fruit pulp into the colander and leave to sit on the kitchen bench for 8 hrs or overnight to drain. Don't press the fruit or you will have cloudy jelly.  
Measure the liquid collected in the bowl. Place into a saucepan and bring to boil. When boiling add an equal measure of sugar to the pan. e.g. 400ml of juice = 400ml of sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved then leave to boil quite rapidly until the jelly reaches setting point. (mine was ready when it reached 104.5 deg celsius) Skim any whitish residue off the surface. Pour into clean, sterilised jars. Pop a little sprig of fresh thyme in the top of the jelly and put the lids on while hot. 

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Quince Jelly

Since my last post our hot summer has been and almost gone, although by the look of the forecast we still have some temps in the high thirties ahead of us yet. 
Over the summer we have completed a very exciting project; piping 'good' water to the homestead. 

By good I mean less salty. In fact the new water has half the salt content of the old and that is a significant development for my garden and for the homestead itself. I am hopeful that next summer, with the aid of shade cloth and the good water,  I will be able to grow a variety of vegetables in spite of the heat. 


I have started planting the winter vegetable garden using both seeds and seedlings. I will have to nurse them along (water twice a day) for a few more weeks of hot weather but its great to get a bit of a head start before winter sets in.








Yesterday morning I picked this year's whole crop of quinces- a grand total of 7 fruit. With such a small number I had to decide if I'd cook them to eat now or preserve and enjoy all year. I opted for year round enjoyment and set about making that gorgeously deep pink, delicious accompaniment to roast lamb and pork; quince and rosemary jelly. 

Jellies are not difficult to make but they do take a bit of time. A few  things you need to know to be successful are:
1. Use very fresh fruit-for a good 'set' 
2. Don't try to get extra juice by squeezing the cloth- as this will result in a cloudy jelly. 
3. Put all the peel and pips in with the fruit as they contain high levels of pectin which is the setting agent.

It also helps to have a pot big enough that evaporation happens relatively quickly or you you may end up with very little jelly before it actually sets. 

Quince (or Apple) and Rosemary Jelly

Rinse and roughly chop a minimum of 1kg of fruit (apples or quinces) and place in a large non- reactive saucepan. 
Add a couple of sprigs of rosemary. 
Cover with water and  bring to boil. Simmer until the fruit is very soft. 

Line a colander with muslin and pop over a large bowl. Strain the fruit through the muslin, collecting all the liquid. You can usually green a bit of extra liquid by hanging the bag over the bowl, as per my 'setup' in the photo on the right. Leave fruit to drain at least 6 hours or overnight.

Measure the liquid into a large saucepan and for every cup of liquid add 3/4 cup of sugar. Stir just until sugar dissolves.
Bring to boil and keep boiling fairly quickly until the jelly is deep pink or red and sets when tested on a cold plate. (This can be hard to judge if you haven't done it before (and even when you have!) It is better to under cook than over cook because you can always tip the jelly out of the jars and re-boil if not set but you can't undo toffee! 

Pour into clean sterilised jars into which you have placed a sprig of clean rosemary. Seal when cool. 




You may remember that a looong time ago I promised you a photo of a caper flower? Well this morning I finally remembered to do it. The bushes are looking really pretty at the moment because I've got enough capers to last a year and I've had enough of picking them!  I read just this morning that not only can you eat the buds and berries but also the leaves once pickled. Sounds interesting, I might have to give them a go. 
As you can see the flowers are very delicate and beautiful and, I think, quite orchid like. They have a lovely scent also. Unfortunately they don't last more than a couple of hours once picked.