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Tag: cider

S is for…

S is for…

September, of course. And the month has produced its usual harvest of figs which has meant, yet again, being in the kitchen and wondering what on earth to do with those left over from jam making and bottling. Nigel Slater’s fig and mascarpone tart has been baked numerous times, fig clafoutis, fig tartlets with goats’ cheese, figs in salads… luckily the chickens like them too.

Summer. Ha, well the temperatures shot up earlier this month, the first 16 days saw highs of over 30C. So we were able to watch the delayed Tour de France with the heat we usually associate with the sport. On 12 September it reached 37.9C.

Spring. Well, sometimes it feels like that too. First of all we’ve had a bit of rain, actually it thundered down one night as a tropical storm went over the house almost blowing over some of our young trees we planted a few years ago (they are now propped up with breeze blocks), and this has meant everything is slowly going green with little shoots everywhere. There’s a new emergence of wild flowers particularly autumn crocuses Colchicum autumnale (see top pic) and autumn snowflakes Leucojum autumnale. We need to look out for the lovely ladies tresses Spiranthes spiralis which also appear this time of the year. It’s the tiniest of orchids and we had some in the garden last year.

The birds have also started singing once more and our dog walks have become a musical affair. The robins, in particular, are trilling everywhere, a real delight.

Stinger. We have some water outside the house for the birds, always so nice to look up and see the splashing of a bird bathing, but we noticed that it wasn’t just our feathered friends appreciating the water. Asian hornets were also arriving and having a sip or two. Hmmm. They seemed to be arriving and leaving in the same direction which we decided to follow. Just around the corner the sound of insistent buzzing could clearly be heard from the middle of our willow tree. Rather nervously we got as close as we dared and sure enough the tree was swarming with a whole variety of flying insects including wasps and hornets, Asian hornets. So we took some photos and have reported them on a site dedicated to dealing with them. Quercus, the environmentalist group, has admitted though it has “lost count of the number of Asian hornets’ nests found in Portugal, but the number is already in the many thousands.” Which explains why they haven’t got back to us… we tried to find the nest but no luck. The hornets are causing 5 million euros a year in losses to the honey industry.

Skittle. On a more positive note we have let Skittle out to join his lady friends. We are so pleased that all their feathers have grown back and they all look healthy. Skittle was certainly pleased to start frolicking once more.

One slight downside is that Lacey, rather annoyingly, has decided to become broody again, for a second time this year. Not only does it mean she hogs the nest box (although there are two she is in the favoured one) it also means that Skittle only has five hens instead of six, and she is the only one (being the biggest) not to have lost any feathers. She makes the most appalling noise when you pick her up and collect the eggs.

Something brewing in the barn. Richard has no fewer than three types of concoctions bubbling away. First, another batch of beer. Apparently it’s a Brown Porter (whatever that is). Secondly, he went off scrumping and came back with a whole load of apples from the nearby fields and is having another go at making cider. He knows a lot more about the fermentation process now so we’re hoping for an even better batch this year. And thirdly, he’s collected all our grapes and yes, stood on them, and is making Vinho Tinto de Casa Azul, probably not a vintage. With all these percolating away it means he’s always darting in and out of the barn taking readings, making notes, stirring and goodness knows what else.

Singsong. Not to be outdone by Richard on the crafty front this is the name of my latest knitting pattern I’ve designed (on the left). It’s being tested now but I’m also working on yet another one, I have done well over 20 now.

Stalling. Sadly we have heard nothing at all from the Ponte de Lima council about our application for the house plans. Nada. They keep telling our architect they’ll be in touch but what with Covid… etc etc. A bit frustrating but we recognise how lucky we are being here. We continue to live in a sort of bubble really but today we ventured into Coimbra for a little shopping and lunch. We were very surprised by what we saw: the streets and cafés and squares were bustling with people and there was a nice atmosphere. There was an obvious lack of coach tourists walking up the main drag but despite that shops seemed fairly full, we think there were quite a few Spanish tourists making their own way across the border and of course the Portuguese are holidaying at home too. Most people were wearing masks, definitely in the shops (which is the law) but also in the street. We had a nice meal sitting outside, all the tables were taken by the time we had finished our café pingados. In fact they didn’t charge us for the coffees, I think restaurants are just so pleased people are frequenting them.

Sunsets, which come earlier and earlier. I put the chooks away around 9.15 in the summer but now, at 7.30, it’s time to lock them away. We hope everyone else is well too.

Maçãs e peras galore

Maçãs e peras galore

There are a couple of reasons why we have been rather slow at updating the blog recently. The first has to do with my iMac; it seemed to have died. We stared at the blank black screen that refused to show any sign of life and then, as there seemed to be a strange noise coming from behind, we both peered over the top… poof! It blew itself up. We have only just got round to choosing a (non iMac) replacement today.

The other reason (I’m struggling with the different apps on Richard’s computer now) is that we have both been busy turning Casa Azul into Fábrica Azul – a factory for a whole range of fruity goodness. For some reason the apple and pear harvest has been amazing this year, not just in our garden, but everywhere we go. Branches are breaking and bending under the weight of large, ripe fruit, many falling to the ground to create a colourful, fermenting carpet.

Our apples have been grated and given to grateful hens, chopped into cubes for crumbles and of course enjoyed with the local cheese for dessert. They have also been peeled, cored and sliced and then frozen. We have this great gadget that does the peeling, coring and slicing in one go so we go though the kilos very quickly.

Next up was the drying. To say that the weather is perfect for drying would be an understatement, it’s been hot and windy for weeks. So experimenting with an old clothes horse, apples have been dried in spirals, reminding me of the hanging incense in Hong Kong.

Not content with all of this Richard loaded up the truck with empty barrels and we drove around the country lanes collecting loads of apples from a range of different trees for Operation Cider. Out came the juicer and all the paraphernalia for making one of his top tipples. As he has been making beer as well it would not be an exaggeration to say the house smells of a brewery. (In fact the fermenting bucket behind me looks like something is trying to escape from it).

The pears have had a different treatment. Most have been bottled, my all favourite way for preserving fruit. There’s nothing nicer in the winter than to open a jar of summer sunniness which has been flavoured with vanilla, or perhaps star anise and cinnamon, cloves or cardomoms. Mmm indeed.

The bottling process has been quite a learning curve, there’s a huge difference in approach between the US and UK but I think I’ve perfected the technique this year. We have also had pears cooked in a red wine syrup, a dessert so tasty it should be more difficult to make.

Apart from the tree fruit the tomatoes have, until recently, been defiantly putting on some sort of show. Luckily I have grown a fair number of plants because the high temperatures have put an end to any decent crop from each one, and the range of varieties grown has also meant we have had enough for salads as well as roasting a whole load too. You can never have too many roast tomatoes. The special roma ones have then been through the mouli to make passata. Aah indeed. Luckily we have two freezers.

And just as I was feeling we were getting on top of everything, tidying all the gadgets and whatnots away, Richard has just announced that the figs are ready. Looks like the factory isn’t closing down just yet…