Tuesday 12 August 2014

A very tiring day.

Today has really been a day and a half so far (mid-afternoon).   This morning my on-line grocery order came at 8am and I had that to unpack and put away.   Then at 9.30am friend W called and we went to our Exercise Class for the over 60's (strenuous but very necessary).

The farmer collected me from the class and together we went to our Physiotherapist for half an hour's pummeling each.  I always come out feeling as though I have gone a couple of rounds with Mohammed Ali.  After lunch I took Tess for her walk and now I am thankfully sitting down at the computer.

Since Saturday the farmer has picked about  fourteen pounds of wild mushrooms from our fields.   They are delicious, particularly with dry cure bacon in a thick sauce made with white sauce and flavoured with the juice from the mushrooms.
Recipe herewith:

Cut mushrooms into fairly small pieces and fry gently in a knob of butter.   Meantime, make a roux with butter and cornflour and then add full cream milk to make a white sauce (I always add a pinch of mustard to pep it up a bit).  When the mushrooms are cooked (only a few minutes), pour the sauce into the mushroom pan and stir well so that you end up with mushrooms in what looks like gravy.  Stirring in a drop of cream makes for a richer sauce.   Serve with bacon rashers, or serve on toast - however you like it best.   Delicious any which way.

Tomorrow I shall make a batch of Mushroom Soup - some to eat and some to freeze.  More mushrooms to come I suspect - and the wild blackberries are just starting.   Nature's bounty - but at least blackberries freeze well.

On my return from my afternoon walk I met an old farmer friend, well in his eighties.  We are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Bertha and the wind is strong.   He greeted me with the words, "Good harvest weather."  It traspires he was talking about the old, old days, when the corn was cut with a binder and fastened into sheaves, which were then heaped into stooks to dry.   On this kind of day they dried very quickly.

He was surprised to find that I had a computer and enquired whether I had any plastic cards.   Finding that I did, he asked if I paid for my grocery order with plastic and when I replied that actually I order my groceries on line and pay for them Direct Debit, he remarked that I had really had reached the twenty first century.  Funny isn't it, how everything is relative - I am in awe of those who used tablets and I-pads, which seem far and above what I understand.   Not sure what I shall tackle next!

18 comments:

MorningAJ said...

You could handle a tablet. It's sort of like driving a different kind of car. Things might not be in the same places - but they all still work basically the same way.

Gwil W said...

You can wait for the iphone6 coming soon with unbreakable glass .... ;-)

donna baker said...

I can't believe you can order your groceries online and have them delivered.

angryparsnip said...

Goodness that is a busy day.
I have just gotten a new computer and still need to find the time to get use to it.

cheers, parsnip

Amy said...

yes we order our groceries online too, much easier considering the nearest supermarket is nearly an hour away in either direction.

Rachel Phillips said...

I don't think I could handle an exercise class following by the physio followed by a walk. Did you have 40 winks somewhere in between?

Em Parkinson said...

On line groceries are life changing. I used to tut at people with their smart phones.....six months on, I couldn't live without mine!

Joanne Noragon said...

Occasionally the "new" simply will not get out of the path. Personal computers will be mobile, hopefully not in my lifetime. I suppose we still can sit in an easy chair and hold the little screen while we tap its surface, but I'd still need a pen to jot little notes on my calendar, as well as a firm desk to hold my coffee.

Cloudia said...

But whatever you tackle next, P, we shall be cheering you on!


ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= .

Terry and Linda said...

I love Terry's IPad...I wish he would get a new one and I could have his old one!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Cro Magnon said...

My wife has an iPad, and seems to spend much of her time swearing at it. I like to see touch and feel my shopping, I don't think I would ever buy on line, although I can see the advantages.

mumasu said...

I did a delivery in Glasgow on Monday and was blown all across Yorkshire, Cumbria and Scotland. It has to be the windiest drive I've done this year. Scary in the big van, but oh, so beautiful and I wondered all through Yorkshire if some of the fields were yours. I love my sat nav, but I've still always got a map! :)

thelma said...

Also mushroom sauce with a bit of mustard, sherry and cream is delicious.....

The Weaver of Grass said...

Mumasu - you would only pass our fields it you drove from Richmond and then through Wensleydale. Thanks to everyone for calling.

Jacqueline @ HOME said...

Hi Weave,
Your mushroom recipe sounds delicious …… food at your house must be so amazing …. fresh, foraged and, your own meat. I have my groceries delivered from Ocado and have never been disappointed. Most is sourced from sustainable sources …. they even have fresh Dorset crab that is handpicked.
I also wanted to say that you would be brilliant on an iPad. A member of our family, who is 87, has just got one and she finds it easy. Your next birthday or Christmas present I think ?!! XXXX

Heather said...

Your day made me feel quite tired too! The mushroom recipe sounds delicious - bacon and mushrooms are a perfect combination.
I must say I am a bit intrigued by iPads. Maybe I will pluck up the courage to get one, one day.

Pondside said...

Your mushroom dish sounds delicious. I like just about anything creamy on toast!
I've had a good catch-up on your posts that I'd missed. I'd read about Bertha, and the havoc she wrought. I'm glad all is okay where you are.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

You have been busy. Your mushroom recipe sounds great - though I had to look up a rasher of bacon and a knob of butter. Now if I just had some fresh mushrooms - it has been far too dry for mushrooms this summer - but we are not complaining - a rare warm and almost hot summer for us this year and we are all enjoying it.