You Say Tomato...

We now have heaps of tomatos.  Here in Australia these are called "tom ah toes."  But I know in USA they are called "tom ay toes".  So any American readers, while you look at the photo here, imagine that these are a bumper crop of tom-ah-toes ;)

They are very pretty, shown in the photo piled up in my gorgeous ceramic handmade bison bowls (for more info on Brian Tunks' awesome ceramics check out http://www.bisonhome.com/ ).  I love my bison bowls and have been using them daily for over 10 years, after discovering them in Sydney when I moved to Australia.  Back to tomatos--slow to start this season, it is our first time planting a spring summer veggie garden here.  Ian brings more in each day, straight from the garden.  It seems like they are multiplying before my eyes ! I come back in the kitchen and more are waiting there, to join their friends in the bowls, ready for the next snack or meal.  We have red and yellow cherry tomatos, for awhile had some yellow roma/plum tomatos (the plant yielded to a tomato virus, sadly).  Also some funny scalloped shaped "santorini" tomatos (got that seed packet with a magazine, see photo of the tomatos in the blue bowl and the one on the table too).  They taste amazing, bursting with flavour !  And our neighbours have been away a few days and we are minding the garden, and there have been some tomatos from there too.  Let's just say, we are eating tomatos every lunch, and with or for dinner every night.  Last night we had chicken quesadillas served with cherry tomato and feta salad.  Bravo !

before:  mixed berries

during, mixed berries and sugar plus lemon juice,
being cooked to gel/set point

Meantime, got my cute new half pint jars....and made some Mixed Berry Jam.  It is really delicious (even I got a teensy taste).  Predominantly strawberry, with some blueberries and raspberries mixed in.  1.1 kg of berries.  I was VERY careful making it.  Because last week I did the blueberry batch and had a dud batch !  Overcooked it.  It was yummy, but came out hard as taffy.  Will only come out of the jars if microwaved first, to soften it.  I will use it, for something.  filling for fruit tarts ?  Fruit leather ?  Still working on that.  It was a small volume batch  and I just missed recognising the set/gel point  (that is a bit tricky, still learning...), kept going, and then overdid it.  Happy to say it did not happen with the Mixed Berry batch.

After:  Taste Test !
Mixed Berry on left,
Red Plum on left
Both Delicious :)

Jam making over for a bit, until after my next work trip.  In autumn I plant to make Rose Hip Jelly, using rose hips from the hundred or so rose bushes we have here.  And in winter I have my heart set on making Blood Orange Marmalade.  For now, time to tidy up the garden.  It is hot out.  I have been getting workouts in (and have lost a good amount of weight since late Sept--over 10 kgs, more than 22 pounds !)  The roses need a late summer light prune, to put on an autumn flush of flowers in April.  This weekend's job.

Ian under the patio/pergola,
outlook shows garden views
(stone retaining walls have gardens at 2d tier,
 the 1st will get landscaping soon)

Paving with large "capuccino" coloured pavers with
rough tumbled edges.
Looking towards driveway and Ian's workshop

Last but not least, a quick look at the paving under our patio/pergola, photos just above.  Looks so good.

St Valentine

In my break between split (early and late) work shifts we got out to have lunch in the lovely Clare Valley, some 105 kms north west of here....and while in the area we went to a small boutique/arthouse sort of cinema in the country Blyth Cinema see a French film My Afternoons with Magueritte. (for a review, follow this link) The movie was good, a lovely story with a surprise ending that was very sweet.  Bit of language practice for me and subtitles for Ian (I read them at times too, while not trying to think or work too too hard this afternoon !).  And we enjoyed the Blyth  Cinema (link with info on this cinema) venue too, set in a former Masonic Hall that has been nicely fitted out as a cinema, something of a unique feature in the small town of 400 (Blyth, SA).

We also looked at a nice vintage/antiques shop.  And, on our way home, we called in at Skillogallee Winery ( http://www.skillogalee.com.au/ )  and tried some of their offerings in the cellar door.  Really lovely wines and we did not agree on our favorites, but marked the ones we liked on their order form for future reference.  We brought a couple home today and will definitely be back for more !

Pookie helped me capture a Valentines Greeting for you.  We had stunning roses from our garden.  He looks lovely on the mantel, he likes being photographed anyhow and is pretty tolerant being posed and fussed over (for a cat).  However, I wanted to get the flowers and the silver letters I have propped up there, plus the little white china birds, AND Pookie all in the shot and arranged just so.  Oh yes, also the painting we have (Hydrangeas by Jacqueline Coates, for more info on her work, see http://www.jacquelinecoates.com/).  If you have ever done a photo shoot with a cat, you may find the following sequence amusing.  And if you haven't...just know this is what it is like getting a cat to pose for a photograph.  Involves some a nice setting, good lighting, a good tempered animal (bonus if it likes being photographed as Pookie does, he is generally rather lovely when the camera is out !).  Plus timing and luck !

Pook, don't move !

Look back over here Pook
( imagine sound of fingers snapping,
trying to get his attention)

Noooo...Come back (please !!)

Let's try again, ears pushed back, look funny

Oops, an awkward pose
(it looked better when you were sitting)

Well Done.  Gorgeous.  Just Purrfect
Happy Valentines Day

Peachy Keen

Kim's Peach and Pink Garden Roses
in front of Nik de Masi abstract painting

You may recall I had a lot of fruit to  use, courtesy lovely gifts from some friends who had bumper crops in their backyard orchard.  I made peach tartes and two crust pies, red plum jam, and a lot of fruit has been eaten for snacks.  Mostly by Ian, I am still on a strict weight loss regime...perhaps living vicariously through food preparation.  Because I do not get to consume all the goodies, for sure.  And I cut up nectarines, peaches and plums, and have frozen some of the fruit in freezer bags to use for crumbles or pies in months to come (when stone fruit no longer is in season).  But still we had some more peaches.  I put the last lot of them in the fridge in bags, but needed to use them lest they go overripe.  I had such a good result with red plum jam and felt I needed more practice at jam making.  So I set about to use the last 1.2 kg of peaches to make jam.

I borrowed a huge stainless steel stockpot from a friend for jar sterilising and processing.  And I was a bit handicapped by size of jars available for which I had proper lids to create a properly processed jam.  Never mind, I forged ahead anyhow.  I found several recipes and settled on Peach and Rosemary Jam, which allowed me to take advantage of some sprigs from our huge rosemary hedges in the back yard (growing along/above the stone retaining walls).  Peaches got stones removed and then peeled.  And got put in a big bowl with just over 1 kg of sugar, lemon juice, and four generous sprigs of fresh garden rosemary.  This all was left to macerate half the day, and I turned it over with a good stir every hour on the hour.

skimmed off foam in bowl left of jam pan

peach and pink foam in boiling ja

As before, it took forever to boil all the water needed for the sterilisation, since it is such a large pot !  I did not start the jam cooking until it was half way to boiling.  The jam took a fair bit of time itself, and it foamed up  a lot more than the red plum jam had, which required me to skim a lot of thick peach sugar foam off the surface.  I was surprised to see the foam to be peach and pink coloured, it was very pretty actually.   Eventually the peach mixture reduced and I tested it for a set and found it seeming pretty good.  By this time the jars were ready.  I managed to get them out of the sterilising bath and filled them, using a funnel I made from an empty 2 litre milk jug.  I only had enough to fill one 500 ml jar and a bit under half of the next one, but hey...learning here and clearly need more supplies !  Still, the processing seemed to work OK, though the part full jar would not set down in the boiling water bath, and bobbed around the pot.  I had to manage to keep it away from edge and other jar too.  Eventually it came out, sealed.  And then the full one as well.  So success.

White Nectarines and Peach Syrup over
Vanilla Ice Cream

Peach Syrup and
Peach & Rosemary Jam

When I looked at the bowl with the skimmed off foam, I saw I had a lot of peach syrup underneath.  I skimmed off the foam from that, and sterilised one more jar I had...not intending to seal it properly for longer term keeping, but just to cleanly bottle the syrup for Ian to have with ice cream in the coming week.  I made it up for him tonight, over vanilla ice cream and white nectarines.  And he seemed to like it well enough (wanted to know if there was any for tomorrow's dessert--a good sign).

And on the subject of peach and pink coloured objects, just happen to have stunning roses in the garden in these colours, and ready to bring in for a vase.  I put them in a pretty clear blue glass vase.  And photographed them to add the shots to my photo reference library (for art and artistic inspiration).  I believe all the flowers in the vase to be David Austin varieties.  Two are known by name and two are not.  The warm mid pink on upper and far left and peachy at middle are Eglantyne and Evelyn respectively.  The peach on right are believed to be one of the D. Austin Leander group, and I am not sure which exact name they are (A Shropshire Lad ?  William Morris ?  those are my best guesses).  They are on a shrub that wants to climb and the flowers are in clusters and weigh down the ends of the branches they are on.  The arrangement here has another (just one, on lower left, more cup shaped and cooler pink hued bloom) pink rose which has a heavenly scent and whose name I do not yet know.  I am still working out what varieties and names  roses we have in the legacy collection here (some like Eglantyne and Evelyn had small metal ID tags, but others do not, or their tags have gone lost).

same roses as above in front of
Hydrangeas by Jacqueline Coates

again, roses in front of abstract painting
by Nik de Masi

I have not before thought to photograph flowers in front of some of the paintings we have, using the paintings as backdrops.  Today this just happened, by accident.  But I liked it.  Two of the shots (top and below) are in front of a stunning abstract painting in greens and orange I have in my office, by Nik de Masi.  The second is in front of Hydrangeas, by Jacqueline Coates.  I like both of these paintings as backdrops for this arrangement.  Very much in fact.  (hard to choose which I like the best).  Inspired compositions !