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Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Bits 'n Pieces from July


I was given some quinces, and not really knowing much about this fruit I decided to try and make Quince Compote with them.  This is so yum!



 QUINCE COMPOTE
From The Margaret Fulton Crock-pot Cookbook
Cooking time: 10 – 12 hours on low
5 quinces
½ - ¾ cup sugar
Rub 5 quinces with a cloth to remove the down.  Put them whole and unpeeled into the Crockpot with 1 cup of water.  Cover, turn heat to Low and cook overnight or for 10 – 12 hours. They will become a deep amethyst colour and should be soft but not breaking up.  When they are cool enough to handle, peel, halve and with a teaspoon remove core.  Cut off blossom end, cut into slices or leave in halves.  Arrange quinces in a glass bowl.  Make syrup with the liquid from the crockpot and ½ to ¾ cup sugar.  Cool. Pour over quinces.  Serve with cream if liked.


I made my all time favourite pie, Lemon Meringue J


A foggy morning.


Doing repairs to
the fan in our oven.


Flowers...








 Young agave.


 Icy morning.


Minus five here two mornings ago...brrr!



 Our hens are laying more, 
we are getting between 7 - 11 eggs a day now J


We needed more wood for the chilly nights...



Some of our girls.


Sunset.


 Warmth.


Citrus...





Mandarins make excellent juice.



And cake J


Recipe here 

Organising my cupboards...
These spices are located above my stove and have needed sorting for so long.


All listed now and easy to find J


Labeling is good J


We have had more than one visit from a fox.  
We lost four of our girls and a rooster this Winter.  The fox has been coming onto our property in the middle of the day and taking them. We cant let the chooks roam around at the moment as it is not safe, and they are not happy about it!


We are already picking some of our Quandongs.  These are usually not ready until September. I made a wild peach crumble with this lot J


I am still picking tomatoes from our summer plants, but not for much longer as severe frosts over the past few nights have turned the plants black.


And another pretty end to the day...


xTania

8 comments:

  1. I thought now that you are an old married lady, you might not be going to blog anymore. I'm sure glad to see that's not the case!

    Your home looks so cozy and warm. You know the Chinese symbol for happiness is a stylized roof with the symbol for a woman under it? Looks like your husband sure has a good wife.

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  2. The photos are gorgeous and that cake recipe looks amazing!

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  3. Hi Tania! Long time, no see! Love this post, and always find it so odd that we are in total opposite seasons! I would love to be chilly!!!!
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  4. Poor chooks. I have heard having a male wee round the boundry helps as does hanging tufts of hair. I don't know if this is just an old wives tale though

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  5. Good to see you back again, Tania. I will have to check out the cake recipe. We still have a tree full of mandarins. Pity about the fox but they are very cunning aren't they?

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  6. Welcome back to blogland. As you can see you were missed. Great update post. I wish i had a tree full of mandarins. It certainly is handy having someone to fix your appliances. It has saved us so much money over the years. Poor Chooks. I think you can keep your -5, down in Melb we've had a few close to 0 and that's cold enough with the wind off the bay.

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  7. Hello Tania... I just wanted to say, when you make an apple pie grate the rind of a mandarin and add to the apple... super delicious. Marilyn

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  8. Hi tania,
    lovely post, am especially jealous of those gorgeous quandongs, what a wonderful colour.Sorry about your chook loss,Those rotten foxes.
    will also have to give that cake a try, all the best, good to see you again.
    Cheers,
    Jane.

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Your comments really make my day. Thank you for taking the time and for being so kind.