Today was cold but sunny. I took a wander round my garden and found some snowdrops, crocus and tulips popping up through the cold soil. Spring is coming! I know it's still far too cold to start any gardening but it's nice to start thinking about it.
I checked one of my raised beds at the front and discovered some carrots I'd forgotten about. They were perfectly lovely if a bit small. Variety Eskimo.
The carrot tops were lovely and green. I got to thinking and remembered that I'd read somewhere they were edible. A quick look on Pinterest revealed carrot top pesto and drying them to use in soups and salads like a herb. So they're currently drying in the dehydrator. I'm going to try to dehydrate the carrots too. They have to be sliced and steamed first. I'll report back on their success (or not!)
On Saturday nights OH and his Teenogre come over for dinner. I always try to make something special plus dessert. Last night I tried Pineapple Poke Cake. Recipe HERE I'd never heard of a Poke cake so was intrigued. It was delicious and so easy to make. I subbed GF flour, added about 30g of ground almonds and used dairy free butter and milk but followed the recipe exactly.
I had too much mixture for my cake tin so filled some muffin cases too.
It was amazing with some Alpro 'cream.' I even reheated some this morning for my breakfast (well it has all that pineapple so must count as 1 of my 5 a day 😉)
I'd never heard of it either, so it's like a pineapple version of a lemon drizzle cake (but with a richer drizzle). Looks and sounds scrumptious.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought when I read the recipe. The sauce looks weird in the pan at first but I let it boil for a few minutes and it becomes more like a runny caramel sauce than syrup. All the ingredients are storecupboard staples so easy to whip up at short notice
DeleteCake looks lovely :) Gardening plans out the window here doe to snow........ again. Finding it hard to be patient lol Love the idea of a carrot called 'Eskimo' :)
ReplyDeleteSadly it's a hybrid, not an heirloom seed but can survive up to -10 degrees C. Useful in Scotland ;-)
DeleteMight give it a go; I usually use just the open pollinated seed so I can save if I want to, but a -10 carrot could be very useful here.
DeleteThat was me again, swapped user names lol
DeleteHa ha ha!! Good job I know all your aliases ;-) It was -9 here a few weeks ago and they've survived so I can vouch for temperature
DeleteHow wonderful to find fresh veg in the garden at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteJ x
I know! I was ridiculously happy :-) especially as my leeks haven't survived and my Brussels sprouts have been attacked by slugs
DeleteHard to believe you had carrots, what a gift. I hope they come out well.
ReplyDeleteThey tasted lovely raw. I sliced and steamed them and now they're dehydrating
DeleteI too cannot wait for spring. I was sure I planted some snowdrops last year but I cannot find them for the life of me! Sorry I've not commented recently, I love the flat you bought, it looks perfect for his needs. As for saving, me too but without much success really. I feel I go two steps forward and one back. I try to spend less, and as soon as its sorted (on the food front), I suddenly find I need new glasses, teeth fixed, hair cut etc etc. It all comes at once too! At the moment I'm trying to suss out the postage situation to try selling some stuff on Ebay. Its very complicated! I only have some leeks left in the ground but they've gone to seed so I don't think I'll use them. I have garlic which I planted in November and I'm hoping once the big freeze lets go it will come back to life and grow on and I can't wait to get started on my seed planting. Bring on the spring!
ReplyDeleteLovely to hear from you, hope you are well. Good luck at sorting out the postage costs on Ebay. It's something I'm always meaning to look at doing
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