Sun Time

Springtime sunshine is so joyous. It always bring such life, energy, play and laughter.  Everything is just so much eeeeeeasier :-)

Mother's Day

My mother's day treat was a day at a spa with some of my oldest friends and a bit of a girlie weekend with no George or Daddy who went for a sleepover at his 'big' cousins. It wasn't really planned that way but was lovely to have some girlie time, although I did miss my boys. There's something about being with friends that you've known forever, well 30 ish years, it's just so, well, easy.

Growing up I always thought of mother's day as a day for children to be grateful for their mothers. Now I think more in terms of how grateful and blessed mothers should all feel to fill the role at all.  Like other 'special' days Mother's Day is an added pain for all those with unfulfilled desires of motherhood.  For some, there is no greater pain.

I had some gorgeous tulips and my fave pressie to date is my new 'straw' necklace.  I loved George's long explanation of how he made me my necklace, how the straws went 'pop' and jumped around as he cut them and how it says mummy on it.

To my gorgeous cuddle monster and my wriggly flower inside, you are my world and I love you more than you will ever know.

Twinnies

Just had my twin sis to stay for a few days with my absolutely gorgeous 10 month old nephew.  I dragged them both along to a studio for me to have a play with the camera. Feeling a bit lost without her now, as is George. Oh how he loves bossing his younger cousins.

Back in Business!

Crop rotation sorted, soil pretty damn lovely = feeling like an old pro this year!! Emphasis will be on ease and simplicity though this year ... happy happy days :-)

Hard at work

All in the name of soil enrichment

Potato planting

Duck Ragu & Home Made Pasta

For my big 33, hubby bought me a pasta machine, which until last week had remained in its box.  As usual I left myelf with too little time while George was at pre school so although I managed to roast the duck and make the ragu sauce and pasta dough alone, I did have a helper for the pasta rolling. Not ideal, on the slightly stressful side of fun, but we got there in the end... yum yum yum...

Gwyneth Paltrow's Duck Ragu (Notes from My Kitchen Table):

1 organic large duck, washed and dried

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 slices duck bacon, finely diced (I used pancetta)

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced

2 medium stalks celery, finely diced

5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 5-inch sprigs fresh rosemary, stems discarded and leaves finely minced

3 14-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes with their juice

1 cup Italian red wine

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2 Trim off excess skin from the opening to the duck’s cavity and from the back end. Rub the entire duck with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, inside and out. Roast it for a total of 2 hours, flipping it from its back to its breast (and vice versa) every 1/2 hour. Let it cool in the pan until you can handle it. Drain off the fat and either discard or reserve it for another use, such as roasting potatoes.

3 While the duck is roasting, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole over medium-high heat and add the duck bacon. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until starting to crisp. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and rosemary, turn the heat down to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until softened. Add the tomatoes and their juice and put 1/2 cup water into one can, swish it around to get all the tomato stuck to the sides, pour into the next can, and repeat again with the third. Add the tomato water to the Dutch oven along with the wine, a good grind of pepper, and a healthy pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down very low and let simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

4 After the duck has cooled down a bit, remove and discard the skin and bones and shred the meat. Fold the duck meat into the ragu along with the tomato paste and cook on very low heat, uncovered, for at least 1 hour and up to 4, adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from drying out (continue to season with salt and pepper as you splash).

Papardelle - A basic recipe for fresh egg pasta