A Day out at Wisley

Scrump - v.tr. Brit colloq. steal (fruit) from an orchard or garden .....oh dear! that doesn't sound good.

Matron and Stan went to RHS Garden at Wisley today. There is an Autumn festival on this weekend, if you get a chance I can recommend it. If you have an apple tree in your garden and it is unidentified, well now is your chance to take some samples to the experts and have it identified for free. Normally there is a charge of £16 for non-members! Of course we went scrumping in the orchard! Such wonderful varieties "Pomeroy of Somerset" and "Winter Banana" to name but a couple. To see more of our adventures have a look at the Flickr set on Stan's Blog.

While we were there I took a walk on the wild side, to my surprise found a treasure chest of sweet chestnuts which the squirrels have not found yet! These will be roasted and enjoyed very shortly.

Meanwhile back on the ranch, Matron has picked the last batch of Bramley apples from the tree. This is just the final batch, there are pounds and pounds. An idea came to me at Wisley today, on a stand selling pickles and chutneys I sampled some "mulled wine chuntney" hmmmm!

Bramley Apples

What a fantastic year for Bramley Apples! So many of mine are beginning to fall off the tree that it is time to pick them and store them. I only had to hold each apple and twist very gently and they were all just so ready to come off the tree that only a little breeze or a frost would have them all spoiled. Bramleys are the most famous British cooking apples. A bit too sharp to eat, but fantastic flavour for cooking. There is a British fruit grower Ken Muir who offers for sale cuttings from the original apple tree which is still alive in a garden in Nottinghamshire. This tree was planted from a pip in about 1805 and is still going strong. What an interesting piece of history. I have picked mine now and I keep them spread on a mesh tray in the dark garage. Dark and cold is the secret for keeping apples...... now what to do with them all?

Ruth's Pumpkin Soup

So you have too much pumpkin and you don't know what to do with it all? Well, you might like to try making a traditional West Indian pumpkin soup which is made all over the Caribbean and is known universally as 'Saturday Soup' at this point I must give thanks to DaVikka for looking after my chillis while I was on holiday. Apparently she prayed every day that they might live! - or perhaps that if they did die... they would come back to life again!! This is actually more like a stew, and I would make it in the slow cooker and leave all the flavours to meld together. You will need:
2lbs pumpkin (diced), 1 scotch bonnet chilli (leave whole DO NOT CHOP), 3 spring onions chopped, 2 garlic cloves chopped, 1tsp dried thyme, 2 carrots, 3 sweet potatoes, 3 potatoes, 1 plantain.
Chop all the veggies (except the chilli...don't chop the chilli) and cover with water. You can season the water with salt and black pepper, and either a Maggi stock cube or preferably try to locate a packet of authentic Jamaican pumpkin soup mix or cock soup mix (yes, that's cock soup). Towards the end of the cooking you can make the 'dumplings' which go into the soup. These are ribbons of dough about 3" long made with plain flour and water, they will thicken the soup.

I just love these homely, authentic dishes that warm the cockles of your heart. At this point I must also thank Ruth, for inspiration. She must be OK because Buddy likes her too! xxx