Happy Easter and hasn’t the weather been kind to us. The hedgerows are beginning to burst into life and here in Devon the banks are full of primroses.
Good Friday myself and friend Anna explored another section of the Tarka trail. Initially we dropped youngest daughter at Meeth Nature Reserve for her 30 mile bike ride to Bideford and back again, along the Tarka trail and we drove to Yarde to begin our little jaunt.
This part of the Tarka trail is completely flat and with a good surface under foot. It has a few sculptures along the way which form seats. We came across three birds and apparently an otter, which at this point we turned back and returned to @Yarde.Orchard.Cafe for lunch. As we arrived, Mia arrived too having reached Bideford and was on her return journey. We stopped and had lovely baguettes filled with cheese and chutney and tuna mayo. We resisted the temptation of the yummy looking cakes.
Mia then continue back to Meeth on her bike and we drove to pick her up.
Last week I mentioned I was hosting the Crafty Butterflies group to do decoupage tins. The evening was a great success and we had a lovely array of decorated tins by the end of the evening.
This week’s letter is ‘J’ and what better spice, for this gin lover than the juniper berry. Although let’s set the record straight. Juniper berries aren’t berries at all. They’re modified cones.
I know, bonkers, right? Instead of having scales like the cones most of us are familiar with on conifers, they have such small scales that this ends up looking like a thick, almost leathery skin.
This week I actually used them in two recipes. The first was a version of bubble and squeak. Frying Savoy cabbage and pre cooked potatoes in butter, adding six crushed juniper berries into the melting butter before adding the potato and cabbage. We then had roasted duck breast as game works well with juniper.
I also made an adaptation of @jamieoliver Dark berry, rosemary and juniper cocktail but as I could not get any frozen blackberries I used some of my homemade blackberry jelly and therefore did not add honey. Very yummy
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/gin-recipes/berry-rosemary-juniper-gin-fizz/
I made some very yummy Easter treats from the recipe below, but I used the Smarties version as brighter colours. These are extremely sweet, so one with a cup of tea is all I could manage!
https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-mini-egg-cookies/
I have been putting together my new beach hut shed and will do the big reveal next week when myself and Mia (queen of DIY) finally finish it.
Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Stepping Into Sixty and Out Of The Comfort Zone 