In the Kitchen

I'm a keen cook. You'll nearly always find me in the kitchen at home (or at parties for that matter!) rustling something up. I love to find new recipes to try, or experiment with my own. It lifts me up when I'm feeling down and it's also something we all enjoy as it brings us together to share a meal.
We recently had some sad news from the vet about one of our lambs. I shouldn't get attached, I know, but it's hard not to, especially when we helped it's mother give birth.  Growing up in the city means that I'm not as 'tough' as I should be when it comes to life and death on the farm.  Especially on this occasion, when we are the ones who must decide whether things are to live or die.  Often it's easier when it's out of our hands.
So in order to process this information, I head to the kitchen and cook.  Today we had strawberries that were lovingly picked by Phil, Ava and Ned from the strawberry plants under our fruit trees.  

I've been enjoying the River Cottage Preserves book (yes, I'm a big fan!) and decided to follow a little twist that Pam the Jam (who wrote the book) suggests.  I added a couple of Rose Geranium leaves during the cooking process. The leaves are removed prior to bottling and they give a wonderful aromatic flavour to the jam. It's really, really good. Especially when raspberry jam is the firm favourite here. This batch gives the raspberry a run for its money. 

 

We were also given two massive bags of lemons by a kind friend.  I usually make homemade cordial as it's so much better than the bought stuff, but as we have more than enough for cordial requirements, I decided to branch out a little.  

I've never made alcohol before, so I thought I'd give this Limoncello recipe a go from Darina Allen's, Forgotten Skills of Cooking book (which I'm also a big fan of) and it's worked out really well.  I first tried Limoncello in a little place in Sorrento - Southern Italy which this area is renowned for.  It's pretty potent stuff, but on a warm summer evening, it goes down a treat!  

 This batch is very reminiscent of Southern Italy - oh to be there today.....