Store cupboard specials.....

 This week was unsettled and the car refused to play, so I took refuge in the kitchen.
When the weather turns, I feel the need to stock the larder with bottled goodies. So started gently with mustard. I always use fresh herbs whenever possible and there was a lime in the fruit bowl, so made my favourite, coriander + lime.  Then spotted the box of caramelised cocoa nibs and a bag of fresh thyme drying at the back of the Aga. Consulting the Flavour Thesaurus (an inspiring and inspired gift) I found that thyme and chocolate go together. Hmm.. and herb mustard is always good. Soo....

I must say the resultant mix looks pretty weird, so will leave it to mature a week or so.
There was another aroma in the kitchen, a bag of quince donated by a bemused customer who had no idea what to do with this bounty.

Washed, chopped, just covered with water and cooked gently until soft, then pushed through a sieve to remove the unnecessary, the resulting pulp was measured in to a preserving pan with the required amount of sugar. After cooking the mix for about 40 mins (when it turns from yellow/green to pink) I poured most in to warm, sterilised jars and the rest in to lightly oiled silicone moulds - nothing specialised, just a loaf mould and an ice stick maker (like cubes, only oblongs!).
To my surprise, the shaped jellies turn out well, so cut in to cubes (kind of) and dipped in to dark chocolate. Looked good. Tasted .... well, more than good. Rich chocolate, sharp quince, what a combination! Will definitely be making more of these (well, have to, as they have all gone).
There was also a bag of sweet chestnuts, bought on a whim, to augment some found serendipitously in a lonely car park. A pig to peel, but now bottled in syrup with a vanilla pod.
Now for a well-earned mug of coffee. There is a bargain kilo bag of coffee beans in the cupboard and I am sure there is a grinder contraption which fits the food processor, somewhere ............ ah, yes, umm, the sort of thing that would also be excellent for grinding mustard seeds....
I will try most things and coffee-flavoured mustard would be interesting, but are my taste buds ready for mustard-flavoured coffee?

Mellow tints and fruitfulness

They say this is a mast year, a relatively rare expression of Nature in a panic. The weather has been so unpredictable, unseasonal and extreme that the vegetation is doing as much as possible to ensure the survival of species, all species.
So we see all the different fungi, dealing with the casualties of this perverseness.

 

And the fruit - not just apples and pears, but quince, yew and other unidentifiable shrubs.

Then there is the mast itself, beech, ash keys,

conkers (horse chestnut)

and decent-sized sweet chestnuts. ( Found serendipitously in an obscure car park!)

All seen around Halloween, to remind us of light, life, death - and to have some fun in between!

Can I tempt you to a spooky finger? Eye balls, anyone?