Every year I find I cling to winter. I love the snow and the cold, warm mulled wine and hearty comforting meals. I've never been a hot weather person; probably something to do with living in Texas for 10 years and fantasising about wearing a jumper for a change! The snow from last weekend has now melted, and been replaced with lots of wet greenness, and while a lot of others rejoice in this, it makes me feel sad! So in an attempt to prepare for a new season, I bought a little piece of spring this morning from my local market. I didn't like the black plastic pots these narcissus were in, so tied some ribbon around the middle and popped in some fresh bay leaves from the garden. A little something to add to my table.

 When living in Edinburgh my husband and I would pop to the farmer's market on a Saturday morning and treat ourselves to a hog-roast roll. Delicious moist shredded pork with a little crackling, stuffing and apple sauce. Tucking in and looking up at the castle was pure joy. We loved this tradition so much that we had a whole hog roast on our wedding day! I recently tried to recreate this at home with fantastic results. The pork shoulder just fell apart in all its yummy goodness, with all the delicious juices soaked up in the crusty white bread that it was served in. To recreate this yourself, you will need:

A medium sized pork shoulder joint
A small bottle of cider, preferably a still kind, like a local scrumpy.
2 Onions
3 cloves of Garlic
Pork Seasoning (I used a pre-made bottle from the supermarket, but any combination of your favourite pork friendly herbs will do)
A slow-cooker (or a lidded casserole dish on a low heat in the over).

I cut the thick fat off the top of the joint and put this to one side ready for grilling later for crackling. Cover the joint in the herbs/seasoning mix, and brown in a pan on a high heat to seal the meat. Whilst the joint is in the pan, add the cider and let the liquid heat a little. In the slow cooker, put the onions (I left mine chunky, cut into quarters) and the garlic cloves (cut in half). Add the joint and the cider into the pot and cover with the lid. Leave the cook slowly, on a low setting, for as long as you can. I left mine for 8 hours. It may look like there isn't enough liquid in there, but don't worry, this helps the meat cook in its own juices instead. Don't be tempted to lift the lid as this sets back the cooking time.

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Remove the shoulder joint (in one piece if you can, but I had trouble as it had all fallen apart!) and put into a dish, ready for shredding with a fork. Add the pork to crusty rolls, with some sage stuffing and apple sauce. To die for!

A new year

I took an extended break from the blog but it's a new year and things are starting again. An unexpected snow day has provided me with the perfect time to get organised for the growing season ahead.

While the snow falls outside, my amaryllis bulbs look ready to burst into flower.




They were potted about 3 weeks before Christmas, and while they seemed to take longer this year to sprout their promising green shoots, they've done well on the sunny windowsill of my dining room. I've found it helps to rotate them regularly to keep the stems straight, and as little water as possible to avoid them growing too tall and then flopping miserably.

Although you can't see them, the front garden has hundreds of tiny green heads popping up from bulbs. In October last year I planted daffodils, tulips and Iris and I can't wait to see what they deliver. They are somewhere under all this!



So what's on the menu this year? All this!!



I've opted again for some interesting varieties of the good old classics, including purple carrots, yellow courgettes and a 'fruity, mulled wine' basil. In the greenhouse this year will be poblana ancho chilli peppers and a rainbow blend of tomatoes. I hope we have a lot more sun this summer to really boost the yield...last year was a bit of a let down.

There are some things I've decided not to grow again this year. Potatoes proved to be very difficult to maintain in my raised beds and although I did get some very delicious king Edwards, I didn't feel they were worth the effort. I'll stick to buying from supermarkets. I'm also not attempting the pumpkins this year. Although I have a dream of a small harvest festival on my kitchen counter, with numerous different bumpy pumpkins, the patch I have just doesn't get enough sun or warmth for them. Perhaps I'll try one plant this year and see if anything comes of it.

So here's to 2013!!