Elderberries To The Rescue

Last week, we went over to our friend's house in the south of Belgium. They live in a small valley, and have woods behind their huge backyard. It was supposed to be the height of the Leo Perseids meteor shower/show. But it was cloudy and rainy all evening and all night. So that ended that.

That didn't stop us from having a barbecue (corrugated metal covered the large grill), while various salads and vegetable dishes (using Olive Oil they got from a friend in Provence) were prepared. It was a cozy evening with good friends, good food, and loads of laughter.

The next morning we woke up and noticed that in most of the elderberry trees were ripening or fully ripe. So, I asked. And they said, of course! It was still drizzling/raining, but we picked from branches we could reach by pulling down the flexible branches, and soon I had a full bag.

And I have FINALLY gotten to all those berries taking up a whole shelf in the fridge.

It is picky and time-consuming work. Next time I do this, I am enlisting help. Because you have to make sure you get all the spidery thin stems and twigs removed. When cooked, they are poisonous (raw too, actually). And then I had this huge bowl to contend with.


But after debating between jelly or syrup. I decided on both. Well, actually a jam (which is jelly, but with skins and seeds - because I didn't feel like straining out the seeds and skins, again! There are only so many pots in our kitchen). And so, I ended up with 5 1/2 jars of Elderberry Jam and one litre (quart) bottle of Elderberry Syrup. I did a mix of recipes and methods. And because I don't have a kitchen scale, I guessed the amounts of everything. But here are basics:
Elderberry Jelly
Elderberry Syrup
Elderberry Jam


So, here we are Elderberry Jam and Elderberry syrup. The Syrup (and the jam too!) is very good for preventing the onset of a cold or for any throat infection/virus. A couple of teaspoons a few times a day, will keep you in good health. This morning I used those couple of teaspoons over yogurt and sliced apples. The taste was amazing! Next time an elderberry-apple jam/butter! They really complement each other so well.

So why is it "Elderberries To The Rescue"? Not only because I have a bit of a cold coming on that I plan to make disappear, but also we keep getting these apples, and I am getting sorely tired of coring, peeling, or mushing for an apple pie/crumble, or whatever. Now I can just slice and top with elderberry syrup or elderberry jam, on yogurt, on bread with butter (for the Europeans) or peanut butter (for the Americans). I can even have a refreshing drink in this glorious summer heat by adding some cold sparkling water!


That deep velvety luxurious red deepening to purple.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes... Pizza, Arabiatta, Stuffed!

Tomato season has officially started! It's been just over a week that we have 4-5 tomatoes a day. That means if we don't pick or eat tomatoes for one day we have 8-10 to contend with. This morning, however I picked 21 tomatoes! Had it been that long that I had looked into our little greenhouse?! Or maybe the past week as just the teaser!

One day last week, we had collected about 10 tomatoes and I decided it was a good a time as any to make a pizza topped with tomatoes, basil,arugula and spinach from our garden.

And it was hard work! People say pizza dough is easy, but they lie. I could have made two loaves of bread in the time and energy I used (in fact I was a bit lazy, as i didn't do as good a knead as I should have, but it was hot, and it's pizza - c'mon!). Well now I know for next time. there will be another pizza next week using different dough... but all in all...

It was delicious!! And looks pretty... but there is so much to learn! And whoever comes to our house next week is going to get a treat. : )

The next day was pasta arabiatta (chili-garlic tomato sauce). Sorry, no pictures - we were too hungry.

The day after that tomatoes stuffed with breadcrumbs, almond slices, garlic, and a bunch of parsley, to go with lamb chops and mint sauce.

Here are some more pictures:

The Blackberry-Apple Ritual

When we were young, we would spend the summer with our dad in London. He had a house in Wembley with a garden. And in the darkest corner of the garden was a blackberry bush. We always came in August, and were always "lucky" (so we thought) to get the blackberries at their ripest. We would each get a large bowl, wade through that dark corner, and somehow it was always a fantastic surprise. "Blackberries!"

We would pick blackberries until our fingers were deep red with juices -- looking like we had lost the fight with the blackberry thorns. But we would emerge smiling and carrying bounty!

We would walk into the kitchen, where Beverly would have the apples already sliced. We'd help crumble the crumble. Top the pie, put it in the oven. Eat dinner. Take out the pie. Make custard while it cooled just a little. And have the warm deep red blackberry-apple juices peeking from under golden crumble and ochre custard.

So now you know why I had to make this. This is the late summer ritual. Even if our bush isn't that large and our harvest wasn't that huge. Plus, we have apples from our garden. And these were the first ripe ones!

Oh, and I added blueberries (more than the picture shows) - because the blackberries needed some help. So, I guess, it is really a mixed-berry-apple crumble. More than good enough!

Garden Sunshine

Good Morning Sunshine! This lemon yellow sunflower woke us up a few mornings ago. It's sorbet color, plus it's height (about 2 meters) makes sure it gets lots of attention.


A friend of ours, who has a huge organic garden in Hoegaarden (yes, the town of the famous citrus-y Belgian beer), brought us a huge tall graceful bunch of coriander (aka, cilantro) flowers as a house-warming gift last year. And ever since then, I've wanted them in my garden. I made thai curries, ginger-lime soups, and topped salads, honey-ginger glazed chicken with the young leaves. Now I have these beautiful flowers, and tiny pale green spheres that will soon bronze into coriander seeds -- to add to further curries, Indian, Moroccan... Oh, I'm in love!


Another lace-like flower. Melding yellow into green. I planted dill for the chance to make yogurt sauces and delicate, yet flavor-packed fish --- but I also wanted the flowers. And next to the coriander, it creates a lacy curtain in front of our sunflowers.


And one ruby ripening on the vine. We had some on the pizzas I made yesterday. I'll post those pictures soon.

No flour, hardly any sugar... and the shops are closed

This is really going to be a non-post, but I had all these things planned for today and my pantry is empty (well, not as full as it should be). And it is Sunday afternoon, so all the stores are closed. So in the meantime, I'm posting a picture of the red currant-cherry jam on bread with butter. That gorgeous red-purple color looks beautiful in the sun.

Ah, breakfast was on the terrace (or patio in American??). I had blueberries with yogurt and then more blueberries with cornflakes. The start of blueberry season is a beautiful thing. And it may just have inspired us to see if we can buy a bush. Heheheh...

For now, I have a box of red currants that we bought in the shop on the stove transmuting into jam, as I write this. Because, obviously we need more (and the price was cheap)!

ADDED on August 11th - The transmuting into jam

The Drying of Mint

It's really simple. No mixing, measuring, or adding. And yet, I almost missed the chance to enjoy our mint through the fall and winter. Right now, everything is in bloom. Bright purple flower abuzz with bees, and this is the wrong time to harvest. Luckily I started a couple of weeks ago. Last week, I took the bunches tied with string out of our shed and brought them into to be stored in jars.

Ironically (or perhaps not to those who know better), the mild spearmint has the stronger dried mint scent, while it is quite mild when fresh. The peppermint was quite a bit less potent. Perhaps I picked the wrong time to harvest them. That is always a possibility. But it is a joy to have fresh, um, dried mint for tea.

Apple Chutney Improvisation

Well it turns out that I couldn't make the "English" recipe for apple chutney, as "Allspice", apparently, does not exist in Belgium. And I didn't feel like using black peppercorns. So, I compromised and with the ginger added two cardamom pods and 4 or 5 cloves.

It didn't come out with chunks of apples, but rather like a purée. But we've already eaten the half jar extra as a condiment to burgers (lamb and veggie) and with potatoes. It is spicy and sweet with a hint of apple.

That same day, I had some red currants from a friend's garden. It wasn't enough for a pot, so I added some cherries. We just ate opened it today, and it has a lovely red-purple color and taste. The raspberry-currant one was a bit tastier, but we are not complaining. Here's to raspberries, currants and all things red.. combined with a bit of ginger and green apple!