Monday 16 September 2013

Home-made apple picker and More Fish

Afternoon Each
The weather can't decide what to do today. We have had sunshine and downpours throughout the day so I have been picking stuff from the garden, then in to do indoor jobs and then out again.....
 Below is a picture of D's second largest pollack from last weeks fishing. This weighed nearly 6lb. His biggest was 7 and a half, but I didn't take a picture. In the next picture my friend J. looks as though she is about to start filleting doesn't she ? Actually I do all that and she feeds me cider while I do it! Well, we are in Cornwall, which makes some pretty good cider.

 Some of the apples are ready and many are being blown off the tree BEFORE they are ready by the gusts of wind we are experiencing today. I shall make some sort of jelly with the windfalls. I shall also add them to the chutneys I have still to make. And of course the rabbits and chickens love them too, so even the windfalls won't be wasted.
Talking of apples I thought I would share my apple picker with you. it is a lot safer to use than teetering on the top of a ladder to reach the odd one up high.
The body is made from the top third of a drinks bottle (Lidl orangeade in this case, though that is of no consequence) Cut a small, say one inch deep by half an inch wide, hole in the rim. cover this and all around the rim with gaffer tape or insulating tape. This ensures that there is a soft edge that will not bruise or cut the fruit and is easier to see.
 With your tape attach the top of the bottle to something like a washing line pole. If you have one with variable lengths, so much the better. If you find that the pole goes all the way into the bottle, cut a piece of cork or some  "blu tack" and press into the neck, so that the pole doesn't shoot through or stick into the fruit.
Place the "bowl" under the fruit to be picked, with the groove underneath and up to the stalk. Push upward, while giving a little twist. If the fruit is ready it will fall into the bowl and you can carefully lower the pole and take out the fruit. Voila! Happy Picking.
It  is sunny again, so I am going out to pick some tomatoes and red pepper and have a go at Chelmarsh Chunterings  Sweet tomato pickle.

Tonight I shall be papering the wall behind the old fridge. We took out the old fridge and the back wall was disgusting! So I shall clean it all up and repaper and paint before the new fridge goes in. WHICH MEANS... that I shall be re-decorating the kitchen a couple of months earlier than I had planned !!
Hopefully I shall be sat down in time to watch a some telly and do a bit of embroidery that has been hanging about.
See you soon
Gillx

10 comments:

  1. Redecorating is such a strange mixture of pleasure and pain...lol

    Do you make mincemeat for pies? I want to make some, but all the recipes I find call for suet which I cannot find anywhere in my area.

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    1. Yes I do make mincemeat. I suppose you know (if you are not vegetarian) that the fat in the rib cavity,around the fillet of beef is suet. If you have a butcher you can deal with he should sell you some, which you just put through the mincer after taking the thin skinny bit off.
      failing that I could always mail you some. They do both beef and vegetarian suet here.

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    2. We don't have a butcher, but I will ask the meat counter "guy" and see if he can save me some.

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  2. That's the problem with moving things, always something nasty lurking behind! Free standing cookers were always the worst - yuck.

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    1. So true ! Have now grasped the nettle and all much sweeter and almost ready to receive the fridge

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  3. I've been juicing windfalls but they are a little tart. The addition of carrots sweetens them up.
    I like your home made picker!

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  4. Like the carrot idea, will give it a try

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  5. Oooh I love the apple-picker!
    Looks like that is what I shall be doing this evening :) My umbrella and ladder combo has not worked too well so that looks like an ideal solution!
    Would adding apple to blackcurrant jam work? The last batch I made was so dense I am wondering if apple will dilute it a little?

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  6. Yes definitely ! Cook the fruits separately as the apple tends not to cook so well at the same time as the blackberries. Then combine the two and cook in the usual way. Apples are high in pectin and will help jams to set too.
    Gillx

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