Who doesn’t like a crisp, punchy and vinegary pickled onion? Especially with a nice bit of quality cheddar as part of a ploughman’s or cold platter. Making your own pickles and preserves is not difficult at all, it may cost you a little time but the rewards vastly outweigh any time spent.
IKEA Korken 1.8L Jar, with seal.
Shop bought pickled onions are often not as crisp as I like and often come across as quite mushy or soft. The difference in texture and sharp flavour really goes well with some cheese!
The inexpensive IKEA Korken Jar is ideal for making your own pickles, preserves and even sauerkraut. At the time of writing the price is only £2.50 for the 1.8 L version which seems to be a good compromise between sizes. A sturdy wire frame for the lid assembly and a natural rubber gasket ensures a good tight seal.
We definitely recommend buying a couple for your winter cheese board prep!
IKEA Korken Jar 1.8 L Details:
Measurements: 21.5 x 12.5 cm (Height x Diameter).
Replaceable gasket: Yes (IKEA suggests you may be able to purchase these separately).
Volume: 1.8 L.
Made from: a minimum of 40% recycled glass, natural rubber seal and stainless wire.
Washing instructions: Glass Jar may be washed in a dishwasher, however the rubber seal can only be hand washed.
Another few days go by and the fleeting memories of extraordinary places I’ve been to keeping coming back and remind of the places I really pine for.
Know that these places will still exist when we inevitably move on past the Covid-19 pandemic in, I am sure of, the near future.
Having never driven on the ‘wrong side’ of the road I felt at ease enjoying the endless miles of N roads (Route Nationale) which were almost always wonderfully smooth, quiet and displaying the lovely French countryside. Driving was not a chore at all during the week in Normandy making comfortable progress away from our base near Lison.
The Tuesday we set out East Bound towards Caen, eventually driving over the replaced Pegasus Bridge making our way into Merville-Franceville-Plage for a quick pit-stop and sight-see whilst on our way to see the Museum and the Merville Battery site.
Douglas C-47 Dakota known here as The Snafu Special
This picture for me was definitely ‘pretty cool’, only after further research (much time later) this particular aircraft was assigned to the 9th US Army Air Force in the 95th Troop Carrier Squadron (Squadron code 9X) of the 440th Troop Carrier Group based at Exeter, England. Which is very local to me! Source.
It’s just not on, but we are doing our bit for our future. It is hard, some dream of staying at home but not everyone can just stop. I’d quite like to get out and about, even just a casual evening drive is now a taboo!
This time of year is normally perfect for that walk in the warm, somewhere nice such as Budleigh Salterton is a favourite of ours and when on the way back indulge in a South-Western favourite, the great Cream Tea.
Who can resist a Cream Tea? A particular favourite spot of ours is known as Southern Cross Tea Rooms which is a fantastically quaint tea rooms located in Newton Poppleford, East Devon.
A solid, go-to Scone recipe (Makes 12 decent sized Scones):
Strong white flour (this will also work with plain white flour too): 500g.
Baking Powder: 1.7 tbs.
Optional bicarbonate of soda: 0.3 tbp if you want additional oven spring / rise.
Pinch of salt, approx 3g.
Thoroughly chilled unsalted butter: 90g.
Milk: 280g.
A single large Egg.
This recipe is very adaptable as you can use the above list to create plain, savoury or sweet scones. For example you could add around 150g of dried fruit and 90g of sugar for a sweetened fruit scone or add 150g of strong cheddar and some mustard powder instead. Another good option is a teaspoon of almond extract, 150g of halved glace cherries, 90g of sugar and a couple of drops of vanilla extract for that super sweet ‘bakewell style’ scone you didn’t realise you wanted…
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 190° Fan.
Get all of the dry ingredients in a suitable mixing vessel (excluding fruits / cheese additions – mustard powder however is fine to go in at this point) and combine thoroughly.
Weigh out the butter and dice into small cubes, smaller the better and colder the better.
Crumb the butter into the flour until fine and the dry ingredients clump together when crushed.
Combine milk, eggs and any other wet ingredients into a suitable mixing vessel and beat thoroughly. I would add 2/3rds of this mix into the dry ingredients and combine using a table knife, trying not to mix it too much. You can cut through it to combine.
When combined to a slightly tacky dough tip out onto a floured surface, roll or press to a thickness of approximately 35mm and cut out into your desired size.
Place your scones to be on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, let rest for 10-15 minutes then bake in the oven.
They will take around 15 minutes, remove once browned to your liking.
Let cool for a little while so they set up nicely, serve with your favourite accoutrements.
Back in October 2016 we travelled to the great Island of Jersey. Took a plane using the now sadly departed FlyBe airline from Exeter and landing promptly at St Helier (after making a stop on Guernsey!).
We were very lucky that the weather was very mild for October, plus being surrounded by the sea usually helps to keep the island fairly warm and free from frost even in the depths of winter.
