The tables began to fill up, though we did wonder where everyone was for the first half an hour!
It has been a busy summer, one way and another, but there is always time for some baking, especially bread baking.
This was a wonderful walnut bread, it worked really well with cheese, but for a bread lover like me, it tasted good just as it was.
The wild plum trees in Owl Wood have been giving us a bumper crop. We have enjoyed them simply cooked and served with our lunchtime bowl of yogurt, sharp and delicious. They have added a fabulous shot of colour to many dishes, including this windfall apple and wild plum crumble, the crumble crust having the addition of chopped hazelnuts to add to the autumnal notes and goodness.
The barley fields have already been harvested and the straw baled, which means that the fields are vast and empty and we have the pleasure of roaming through them at leisure. It always feels like a summer holiday destination during this magical period which the grandchildren, dog, and I enjoy to the max!
We have just been along the old railway line and picked about a pound of blackberries. We acquired a number of nettle stings and scratches along the way, but that is all part of the fun. Frankie took her revenge by stomping on nettles, thereby forgetting the stings. Emergency field medicine, but it works.
Our next door neighbours have kindly brought round a(nother) bag of plums and a(nother)bag of windfall apples, which is fabulously generous of them, but we have reached the point where my smile becomes fixed and my heart despairs. I make, bake, pickle, share and pass on the fruit...and still it comes.
Right now I am busy dealing with a glut of huge and beautiful tomatoes and the courgettes have all decided to really kick in at the same time. Hedgerows are glistening with the deep, dark elderberries and the rosehips and hawthorne berries shine out like Christmas lights, all of this at the same time - oh, and let's not forget the sloes!
I am grateful, don't get me wrong, and it is a wonderful feeling to be able to put down so much food ready for the hard winter months...does all this bounty mean that we are going to have a really harsh winter?
In other news, although it, too, saw me chained to the kitchen stove for quite a while, we have just had the Annual Village Show. The committee numbers have diminished again, so have the number of helpers, but more of that another time.
The show was a success and it was wonderful to see people come into the hall, proudly bearing their cakes and bakes, fabulous flowers, and magnificent marrows, etc.
This cake was made by possibly our oldest village resident, it was her 'Summer Celebration Cake' all the decorations are made from rice paper. Makes me think of a pretty summer bonnet - tasted very good, too!
Herbs. flower arrangements, paintings, photographs, eggs, fruits and vegetables all helped to transform the hall, for a few hours.
The refreshment stall was filled with home bakes as well as tea and coffee. Once the hall filled up, after judging, I was too busy to take any more photographs but, trust me, it was full to overflowing and people sat outside at the tables and chairs we had provided, to drink tea and chat with old friends.
Now, I must get back to the kitchen and I may be some time.
x
