Tag Archives: Dairy Diary

Fruity Gin

Try the sweet and subtle taste of fruity gin with a splash of cava or tonic; or simply on its own with ice.

Fruity Gin56 calories per 25ml shot
0g fat of which 0g is saturated
Serves 34
Time 45 mins plus infusing time
Suitable for vegetarians

Blueberries 450g (1lb)
or Kumquats 450g (1lb), sliced and pips removed
or Plums 500g (1lb 2oz), halved stoned and sliced
Gin 600ml (1 pint)
Soft light brown muscovado sugar 150g (5oz)
Glass jar and bottles
Muslin for straining scalded, cooled and then wrung out well

1 Choose which fruit you would like to use and then put inside a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

2 Pour gin into the jar, add muscovado sugar, stir well until the sugar is dissolved and then cover with lid and store in a cool, dark airy cupboard for 3-4 months, stirring weekly until sugar is completely dissolved.

3 When the gin has developed a good, fruity flavour, strain it through muslin, discard fruit and then pour into clean bottles for storing.

4 Store gin for at least 1 month before drinking. Serve fruity gin in shot glasses, well chilled and poured over ice cubes. The ginwill keep for several years.

TIP
Instead of the fruits suggested, try using sloes, to make sloe gin. You will need 500g (1lb 2oz). Sloes are in season in autumn.

This is a Dairy Diary recipe.

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Hedgehog Hideaway

Hedgehogs spend the winter months hibernating, curled up asleep in an out-of-the-way corner. They do good work in the garden by eliminating slugs and snails – so repay the debt by providing them with a safe, purpose-built home.

Hedgehog-HouseThis can be made at any time of year, but needs to be ready in early autumn for the hedgehogs to find before they settle for their winter sleep.

Allow a couple of hours, depending on your woodworking skills.

Equipment required

  • For the box: Six pieces of 1cm (½in) thick untreated plywood – two 30cm x 31cm (12in x 12½in) side pieces; three 53cm x 30cm (21in x 12in) pieces for the bottom, back and front and one 56cm x 30cm (22in x 12in) piece for a fixed roof or one 58cm x 33cm (23in x 13in) for a hinged roof.
  • For the tunnel: two 15cm x 30cm (6in x 12in)pieces of untreated plywood for the sides; two 18cm x 30cm (7in x 12in) pieces for the top and bottom.
  • Panel pins, 20cm (8in) length of 2.5cm (1in) diameter right-angled (‘elbow’) plastic piping, wood glue (non-toxic), saw, hammer.
  • Two or three brass hinges and screws (if using).
  • Shredded paper and/or straw to line the box.

1 Make the box first. Cut six pieces of plywood to the dimensions given on page 144. In the back piece cut a central 2.5cm (1in) diameter ventilation hole about three-quarters of the way up from the bottom – this will eventually take the piece of plastic piping.

2 Cut a central hole measuring 18cm (7in)wide by 15cm (6in) high in the bottom of the front piece.

3 Attach the sides to the bottom piece of plywood using glue and panel pins. Next attach the back piece in the same way. Hammer in the panel pins as straight as you can for stability. Attach the front piece in the same way.

4 For the roof you have a choice. If you want to look inside the box from time to time, then attach it to the back piece using two or three brass hinges. If not, then glue and pin the roof to the box sides, back and front.

5 Now make the tunnel. Glue and pin the two sides (the pieces measuring 15cm x 30cm/6in x 12in) to the bottom piece. Then glue and pin the top on.

6 Insert the piece of piping in the ventilation hole, with the outside open end facing down so it doesn’t get filled with leaves and debris or let water in.

7 Put some shredded paper and/or straw into the box so it is warm and snug for the hedgehog, then position it in a sheltered, secluded part of the garden – but not facing north or north-east. If possible, set it against a fence or wall. Insert the tunnel into the entrance hole – and await the arrival of your winter lodger.

Tip
Cover the box with leaves, twigs and branches to give it a more natural look and to help it blend into its surroundings, but take care not to obstruct the entrance or the ventilation hole and pipe.

Notes
Don’t use treated plywood – the stain used may be toxic or harmful to the hedgehogs. Try not to look into the box frequently to see if there is someone inside – a hibernating hedgehog should not be disturbed once it is asleep. Also, the less time you spend near the box, the more likely it is that a hedgehog will feel confident enough to take up residence.

Aftercare
The ventilation hole and pipe enable the hedgehog to breathe while it is in the box, and also help to avoid condensation. If you have used hinges for the top of the box, then place a brick on top to keep it firmly closed. Clean out the box once a year in late summer – after the breeding season is over and before hibernation is due to begin. Put some more clean, fresh paper or straw inside.

Project taken from Seasonal Garden Ideas available now from the Dairy Diary online store.

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Herbs for the Garden

Fresh herbs give a great lift to many foods – so grow your own in pots sited near the kitchen for ease of picking. And why not choose some colourful, fun containers to plant in?

Sow seeds in March, or buy small herb plants in April or May, pot up at once and start picking leaves as soon as the plants have grown slightly. Plant in a sunny position. The job will take about an hour.

HerbsPlants required
Seed packets or small plants of parsley, thyme, marjoram (oregano), sage, mint and rosemary.

Equipment required
Six small plastic pots for potting up seedlings bought at the garden centre.
Seed tray, modular cell system or jiffy pots for sowing seeds, if using.
Five containers such as the enamel kettles.
Soil-based potting compost and proprietary seed compost if using.
Broken crocks for drainage.
Trowel.

1 Fill the seed tray or modular cell system with seed compost and sow your seeds according to the instructions on the packets, or sow in jiffy pots according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep on a kitchen windowsill while the seeds germinate, then move them outside when all danger of frost is past.

2 When the seedlings are large enough to handle, pot them on into the plastic pots using potting compost and lining with broken crocks for drainage.

3 Or, line the plastic pots with broken crocks and fill with potting compost, into which you have mixed some sharp sand (if using). Then plant your garden centre seedlings, place into the containers and set out in an attractive arrangement. In general, allow one herb per container, but if the container is big enough, put several in together – here rosemary, parsley and mint have been put in the central container.

4 Place the young herb plants outside only when all danger of frost is past. If you’re uncertain, place them outside on sunny days and bring them in at night until the weather warms up enough for them to be left outside permanently.

5 Pick and use the leaves regularly. All these herbs can grow quite large and, by the end of summer, may well have outgrown their containers unless you keep them under control.

Notes
Most herbs do best in full sun. They don’t require rich soil, but they must not be allowed to get waterlogged, so good drainage is essential. Rosemary, sage, thyme and marjoram are tough, shrubby plants and can be kept going for years if put into the ground or grown in large enough pots. Mint and parsley are herbaceous and will die down in winter, but reappear again in spring.

Aftercare
Regular picking is needed, and watering with care.

Project taken from Seasonal Garden Ideas

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Foodie chuckles

There has been many a food-related chuckle this week. I am loving Jamie Oliver’s adverts for his new Channel Four TV show, Jamie Does, they are gloriously Fast Showesque.

Let’s hope the actual program is as amusing and tempts us with some delicious regional delicacies from around the world – I’m afraid his American Road Trip, though entertaining, did little to inspire the cook in me.

I also read this little anecdote in my Graze box this week. To propose to a woman in ancient Greece, a young man would simply have to throw her an apple. If she caught it, he knew she had accepted his offer.

Well thank goodness I wasn’t born in ancient Grecian times! I would have remained a life-long spinster, such are my catching skills. I must admit, I am much more impressed by a proposal on a gondola in Venice – just call me fussy!

This week, our Year Round Dairy Cookbook has been reduced to less than half price. It’s a staggering £2.99 for gorgeous seasonal inspiration. Here’s my favourite recipe from the spring section, Lemon Chicken with Potato Wedges, an easy and healthy dinner – good enough to cook for friends.

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Celebrate the start of spring

We have been blessed with some glorious sunny days recently and hurray, it was the official start of spring on Saturday.

It’s always a cause for celebration with the days getting longer, the weather warming up – very welcome after such a harsh winter – and lambs frolicking in the fields. Herald the start of spring with a splash of colour next to your front door. Not only will it cheer you every time you get home but it will please those who pass by or come to visit too.

Pansy and Tulip Basket

Elegant apricot yellow tulips, early flowering mixed pansies and dramatic trailing variegated ivy make a stylish combination in this unusual – and delightful – late spring hanging basket.

Pansy and Tulip BasketPlant in early spring for mid to late spring flowering.
Can be completed in about an hour.

Plants you need
20 bulbs of Tulipa batalinii ‘Apricot Jewel’ in pots.
Mixed pansies – here there are six different coloured varieties.
Four pots of trailing variegated ivy (Hedera helix).

Equipment you need
Hanging basket with hook and chain.
Hanging basket liner (plastic, hessian, felt or moulded paper).
Potting compost.
Trowel.

1 Line your hanging basket to prevent the compost falling out, then add a layer of compost at the bottom.

2 Position the four ivy plants first, setting them at equal distances around the edge of the basket, firming them into the compost at the bottom and feeding the foliage through the holes in the side. Add more compost around and on top of the ivy.

3 Next position the tulip bulbs, spacing them as evenly as possible but setting them in at least two distinct layers around the basket, adding more compost and firming in as you go.

4 Finally put in the pansies. Tuck these in as close together as possible, pushing the foliage through the side holes and firming the soil all around the rootballs. Finish by planting pansies across the top and centre of the basket covering all the bare compost – but leaving the centre slightly lower than the sides to make watering easier.

5 Water thoroughly with a fine rose. Then hang the basket in its final position, making sure that the hanging bracket or eye is secure and can take the considerable weight of the basket.

Tips
To maintain the good appearance of the display and to keep the plants flowering as long as possible, deadhead frequently. This will encourage new flowers to form. Don’t allow the pansies to set seed. Regularly remove any dead or discoloured leaves from the ivy.

Note
Leaving at least 2.5-5cm (1-2in) of space above the compost in the basket assists with water retention.

Aftercare
Hanging baskets and window boxes contain a lot of plants for the amount of soil in their container, so feed regularly throughout the growing/flowering season with a liquid fertiliser or with fertiliser spikes inserted into the compost at planting time. Water frequently to ensure the plants don’t dry out – especially, if the basket is hanging in a sheltered position where rain can’t reach too easily.

Tulip and Pansy Basket is taken from Seasonal Garden Ideas.

New cookbook plans

Nail-biting times in the office this week. We are awaiting a crucial print quote that decides the fate of our next cookery book.

Of the three ideas, this project is definitely my favourite and I really hope we can afford to do it! It’s a very different environment to those hazy days of the Milk Marketing Board when they had pots of money to spend on their cookery books. I am lucky to get 20 pence these days!

However, I am very determined and quite optimistic, so I may just get my dream project – to create that cookery bible, which is indispensable in every home. Fingers crossed everyone for Dairy Book of Home Cookery new edition for the 2010s.

The re-think of this book has inspired me to go back to basics at home and cook some real classics. Many can benefit from age-worn recipes handed down through their family (see Recipe cards on the table) but sadly I have no such luxury. My Grandad was a fantastic cook – cooking for the troups in the war with meagre rations – but sadly I don’t think he ever recorded any of his culinary creations on paper. So, it’s the Dairy Book of Home Cookery for me and my first old-school recipe shall be Rice Pudding. I am ashamed to say I have never cooked it before. If you’re watching from somewhere, sorry Grandad!

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