Potato Wine

We are always searching for things to make wine from, usually in the Spring we have no problem with that as there is always an abundant supply of dandelions which make fantastic wine, and the young oak leaves which are equally good. In Winter it can be a little harder as there is little that grows outside, hence we turn to the basement for inspiration. 2015 provided us with a good potato crop so the next batch of wine had to be potato. To some that may sound a bit different but potatoes make an awesome strong white wine. It is such a simple cheap wine.

To make roughly 3 gallons, boil 12lb of peeled potatoes in some of the water until tender. Once cooled strain the potato water into a large pan, a jam pan works well.

Ready to cook

Don't chuck away the potatoes, they are still useable! They are a good excuse to make some cracking leftover potato recipes.

Potato goodness

To the potato water, add 500g of organic raisins, 2tbsp freshly grated ginger, 6kg of sugar (we used half brown and half white) and a cup of tea for the tannin. Boil until the sugar has dissolved and let cool. Once cooled pour into a brewing bin, top water up so you have roughly 3 gallons and add the yeast. We used a sparkling yeast.

Cooling

Leave to ferment for a week before racking into a demijon. When the wine has completely stopped fermenting it can be cleared and bottled. At the time of writing this blog our potato wine has not yet been racked into the demijon. Update to follow :)

Feedback Folks!

I have been running my blog for a couple of weeks now. In order to write what folk like, or to write more of something, less of something or to not write at all it would be great if those who read could spend a few moments to make a small comment about my blog. This will help me to keep my writing relevant. Thanks so much in advance :)

Awesome Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks

Another cheap and frugal cut of meat that is often discarded or discredited is the humble shank, lamb shank in this case. It is not seen as a quality piece of meat, folk see it as tough to cook and not worth the effort. Not by me, it is one of the most tender, tastiest and easiest cuts of meat. This is how to achieve this wonderful delectable dish.

Sprinkle the shanks with pepper and cinnamon, brown them in a pan until nicely colored.

Getting Browned

Place the browned lamb shanks in a slow cooker. Fry a sliced onion and two cloves of garlic in the same pan as you browned the lamb. Once they are slightly colored add the onions and garlic to the shanks. De-glaze the pan with a splash of water, all those charred bits at the bottom of the pan are flavor, don't leave them behind!

All Done

Put a large handful of mint in with shanks (I use frozen because I don't have fresh at this time of year.) Cover the shanks with enough stock or water to cover half way. I used leftover carrot water. Cook for 6 to 8 hours. Heavenly!

No bread, no worries!

Sometimes despite baking most days, things can run out. When it is the bread that runs out one must think what else can be made rather speedily and that whatever it is we come up with will be a hit at the dinner table filling those empty hungry tummies. Don't worry if there is not even a crust in sight, it is not the end of the world.  These little flatbread beauties are quick and easy to knock up and so versatile.

Ready to Serve

Mix two cups of wholemeal flour with a scant 1/2 tsp baking powder and a slug of olive oil. Mix this with milk or kefir or water to create a dough. Break off large walnut size pieces and roll out thin on a floured side. Pat off any excess flour. Cook in a pan on medium heat, no oil is needed, they dry cook wonderfully. As soon as they brown on one side turn them over and cook the other side. They really do take minutes but these little breads can be served with so many different things. Homemade hummus goes a treat, and so does just plain old butter! Now, who needs bread?  :)

A Cleaner Clean!

Over the Winter months with not much to do outside other than tend our livestock that is bungled up in their sheds my attention turns to that dreaded cleaning! With the warmer months being so busy the poor house and contents seem to get buried under dust, and all matter of different things. One of the biggest areas where people are unknowingly poisoning themselves is by using toxic household cleaning products. They are so bad for you, throw them away!

Here is a much more healthier option -

2 cups of water
20 drops of tea tree essential oil
15 drops of pine essential oil
10 drops of orange essential oil
A drop of washing liquid (natural stuff of course)

Add all these ingredients to a spray bottle, shake well and it is ready to use. You can make a different spray for different areas but to be honest this is the only one I use everywhere, the kitchen worktops, the bathroom and anywhere else I feel needs a clean. It not only cleans but the essential oils are anti-bacterial so you are eliminating the bad guys. It also makes your house smell divine.
Essential oil's can be expensive to buy, but they last a very long time so it is worth spending that extra money to get them. 
Over time you will save money this way as you will not be spending more regularly on those toxic harsh environmentally bad cleaners. A clean clean!

Ginger and Spice

A few blogs ago I showcased my homegrown ginger plant that I had managed to get to sprout from an organic piece of store bought ginger root. Here is it a couple of weeks later -

Growing well

As you can see it has been doing well, it did have a minor setback when my son snapped about an inch off the top when he dropped the cat food lid on it but it seemed to grow back. The brown powder on the soil surface is cinnamon. Cinnamon and most spices act as a mold inhibitor so it stops some of the nasties that may cause damage to you plants plus giving them a dose of nutrition. It can be sprinkled on and re-applied after watering. And it is all natural folks!

I shall be featuring this wonderful spice called cinnamon in  a future blog and how it can be used in the kitchen and bathroom area :)

Thrifty Tasty Taters

Those who follow my blog and Facebook page will know by now that nothing goes to waste in our household and that leftovers rule. A few days a ago I made a big batch of cheesy mash, it is so easy putting a few extra potatoes in the pan just so you can make these little potato pleasures! 

Frying away

There is no set rule on ingredients here, simply add 1/2 tsp baking powder and enough wholewheat flour to your mashed potato leftovers (it does not need to be cheesy) until a dough is formed. You want the dough just short of sticky. Add a touch of salt and pepper and shape into flat discs. Fry in butter and oil (I use avocado oil) and fry for about 10 minutes on each side or until nicely browned.

Ready

I served these with a slightly spiced yogurt, put a sprinkle of cumin and turmeric into some plain thick yogurt and stir.

January Joy!

Once again our weather has surprised us, it has been plus one today, can you believe it? We cannot! It was a joyful occasion for our poultry who had the lucky opportunity to get out of their Winter accommodation and breathe some fresh air. I am sure it won't last though.

A few of the chickens

One has escaped!

A couple of the ducks

The Story Behind!

Our journey to become as self - sufficient as we can has not been a straight road, nor has it been an easy ride. We have made some very difficult decisions along the way, some we feel that were right and some we cannot not yet decide on. We have had a rather long adventure to be where we are, and we felt that that adventure was worth sharing. This is my book, our story!

Our Story

If you interested in reading about long journey please click here -
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Like-Mine

A bit slim on the basic supply front!

What would you do if you woke up in the morning to find no butter, no bread, no cereal, a splash of milk and pretty much bare cupboards? Well the first answer should not be to panic, secondly it should not be lets lie on the floor and starve and thirdly it should not be lets jump in the car and go to the local store as fast as humanely possible. What we should do is think about it, there is always something we can make with what we have tucked away, we just need to look and use our brains. Joking aside food insecurity is becoming a real problem, it is sad that there are so many that struggle to get a simple meal. And, it is true to say that the majority of folk have no idea what is is like to go properly hungry. Society has become so dependent on stores for food that if a food shortage was to happen, it would be a disaster on a huge scale.We should all think about that.

Our lack of basic supplies this morning could have caused a meltdown, but when supplies are low being resourceful and thinking outside the box is must. Although I lacked the basic's I still managed to whip up a plate full of heart healthy Oaty Banana Chia Pancakes. Although, I did slightly worry when I opened the fridge to find the egg carton empty. I quickly sped outside and was lucky to find my hens had laid me a couple of eggs. Phew!

Oat Goodness

If you would like to make these pancakes the recipe for them is on my Facebook Page, the link which can be found to the right of my blogs.

Stick to your Ribs Ribs

When it is cold outside, the wind is blowing and looking out the window just chills you to the bone you need a good hearty no frills full of flavor meal. This is a real Winter favorite of ours, but it can be eaten at any time of the year.  Slow cooked finished in the oven Sticky Ribs. The beauty of this dish is that it uses ribs, they are often just discarded during processing. What a waste when you can make a cheap and delicious rib sticking meal.

Scrumptious

Pork ribs
3/4 cup of tomato sauce/ketchup (I use organic)
1 cup of water or white wine
1 heaped tsp of mustard
1 heaped tsp of turmeric
1 heaped tsp of cinnamon
1 heaped tsp of cumin
1 tbsp of plain flour
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 chopped chili (Heat of chili to your taste)

In a pan on a low heat mix the tomato sauce/ketchup, all the spices, the flour, the mustard and cook for about 5 minutes. In a separate pan brown the ribs and place in a slow cooker, in the same pan gently fry the onion, the garlic and chili until the onion has slightly browned. Put the onions, garlic and chili on top of the ribs followed by the sauce. Now turn the heat up on the pan and pour in the water or wine, this will lift all those stuck on bits that are so tasty, add to the ribs also. Cook in the slow cooker for 6 - 8 hours on the low setting. Finish the ribs in the oven cooked at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes, spooning the excess sauce over them every now and again. If you do not have a slow cooker these ribs can be cooked on a low heat in the oven covered with foil.
Serve with vegetables of your choice and crusty bread to mop up the sauce! Best eaten with the fingers.

Save not Spend

One of the biggest areas were money is unnecessarily lost is grocery shopping, this is something that we can all sympathize with. It seems that each time we grocery shop the bill seems to increase, food cost in general is on the rise, substantially and it does not look like stopping. Even self sufficient folk like us need to purchase certain things we cannot provide ourselves.

There are a many many ways in which these trips to the grocery store need not break the bank if we follow a few simple rules. The most important step is to meal plan prior, this may seem stupid or boring and even a waste of time but it is not, believe me. Weekly meal planning can be done for single folk, couples and families and it should not be a chore but more a healthy habit to form. Kids especially enjoy meal planning, it gives them a sense of control over what they eat whilst learning all about different elements of food. Make it fun!

Once you have your weekly meal plan, which should include days where you will eat leftovers ( for example a chicken can provide more than one meal, see one of my previous blogs) it is time to write that shopping list. Here is where you will save, stick like glue to that list, it is all you need. You don't need to wander around aimlessly thinking about what to cook, you have already done that homework. Get in, get what is on the list, and get out. It really does work!

I will cover other money saving areas in later blogs.

Fabulously Frugal Stuffing!

Every week or so I will go through the cupboards, the fridge and the freezer to find food stuff that has been shoved to the back and hidden. Or, the last remnants that nobody other than myself thinks are edible. In my opinion these forgotten and lost items make some of the best meals or meal accompaniments ever! This week I found a small half handful of walnuts and cashews, some stale bread in the freezer and hidden from sight in the basement storage area a couple of onions that needed using up. As we were having a beautiful slow cooked nitrate free ham from one of the Berkshire pigs we raised last year I thought a simple stuffing would add a great addition to the meal.

All I did was saute the chopped onions in some butter and olive oil for about 20 minutes on a low heat until soft and almost caramelized. When they were ready I added them to the breadcrumbs, chopped nuts, and seasoned with black pepper and salt. To combine the dry stuffing I added enough of the ham cooking liquor to combine it. Baked on 350 degrees for 45 minutes it was served with purple potato mash, ham and peas and sweetcorn in white sauce. It was a frugal but tasty way to fill out the meal which meant plenty of leftovers!

Garden

Although at present the garden does not look like a garden under it's Wintery coat  the seed orders are ready to go and planning has begun. In a few months time this area will be a bustling metropolis of planting, weeding, more planting, more weeding and harvesting.

The pea rows featuring old boots will be heavy with plump peas that will no doubt not make it back to the kitchen. I can taste them now.

The greenhouse will be home to nine different varieties of heritage tomatoes and a good selection of chilies. Now, who cannot get excited about gardening?

Chicken, Chicken and Chicken!

It is our belief that when we slaughter an animal to provide us with healthy meat we must use as much of that animal as possible. Fall time is when we slaughter roughly 20 plus chickens for our freezer and to do them justice we need to learn how to use everything we can and give that animal the respect that it deserves. Our recent Sunday roast was a free range chicken. After the chicken had provided our family of 6 a chicken dinner, it also proceeded to provide a chicken curry.

Chicken Dinner Two!

The chicken curry was made using our homemade curry paste which comprised of the second hottest chili in the world the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. So, it was hot hot hot!

The last of the meat

The skeletal carcass that remained after the curry was boiled to make a delicious stock. The stock was drained and the bones picked through for any remainder of meat. The inedible scraps went to give the poultry a treat and the bones will be roasted and ground to make bone meal for the garden.

Chicken Dinner Three!

The stock was mixed with some leftover carrots, the chicken meat taken from the bones, some stale bread, garlic, onion, turmeric, cumin, coriander and a bit of milk. It was whizzed up to create a creamy chicken soup that was served with freshly made chia and millet seed bread.

Friend for Breakfast

During the Winter months we like to help out our wild feathered friends. Most of our main kitchen scraps goes out to our poultry but the smaller stuff gets put into a small mushroom container and put outside for the wild birds to enjoy. Whilst eating our breakfast of banana oat pancakes we noticed this little bird had joined us and was munching on a few crumbs. We must help out when we can :)

Pasture Pie

For our evening meal we had Pasture Pie. When we had our lambs and pigs processed we got rather a large quantity of ground pork but a rather lean quantity of ground lamb. As a Shepherd's Pie is made from lamb I could not call it that as it had pork in it too. And, due to both animals feeding of our pasture the name for the mixed meat pie was born. It was absolutely delightfully yummy.


1Ib each of Ground Pork and Ground Lamb
1 jar of tomato sauce ( I use homemade tomato sauce)
3 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
A good handful of kale (I used our frozen kale)
1 heaped tsp of cumin
A good grind of black pepper
Enough mashed potato to cover top
Grated cheese

Cook both meats until browned, add garlic, onion, tomato sauce, cumin and pepper. Cook for 1/2 hour until reduced and thickened. Add kale and cook for a further 5 minutes. Place in a large dish and top with mashed potato. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Oven time

Ready to eat

The pasture pie was served with tomato and beetroot chutney and avocado.

Wine Time

We have found that here in Manitoba, Canada wine making is best done in the Spring, Summer and early Fall months. In Winter the wine does not seem to ferment as well due to the colder temperatures in the house. Plus, most of the ingredients we use to make our wine comes from what we grow or what we forage. There is not much that grows in the bleak middle of Winter. Our stock of homemade wine had in recent months been depleted and we had not made much to stock the numbers back up. To run out of wine would be quite the disaster! So to avoid a shortage we got some frozen raspberries and rhubarb out of the freezer and got the latest batch going. It is currently bubbling away in the kitchen. Later in the month we will sort through our stock of stored potatoes taking out the sqwishy ones to be turned into another homemade wine. Roll on Spring for more wine making!

Rhubarb and Raspberry Wine

Honey Oat Bread

Our son Elijah is quiet the cook these days, it is great to see. Yesterday he made a Honey Oat Bread which tasted great. Here is his recipe -

4 1/2 to 4/3/4 cups of organic Whole Wheat Four
1 1/2 tblsp of traditional dry yeast
1 cup of Water
1 cup of Milk
1/4 cup of Honey
1/4 cup of  oil ( he used olive oil)
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup of porridge oats

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of flour with the yeast. In a saucepan melt the honey together with the milk, oil and water. When it is cool enough (lukewarm) add this to the flour and yeast. Add as much of the leftover flour to make a nice dough. Knead for 10 minutes, and let rise on a greased or floured baking sheet for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Punch down and re-knead and leave again to rise for another 45 minutes. Bake the loaf at 350 degrees for about 30 - 40 minutes or until it is nicely colored and it sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

When cooked let the bread rest for about 1/2 hour. Delicious served with butter!

Oatcakes

When we lived in our homeland the UK we always purchased oatcakes, they were a firm favorite of ours. When we immigrated into Canada our oatcake dreams were shattered when we found the cost way to expensive, so we went oatcakeless for many years until after some months I finally perfected the perfect recipe. Here it is -

2 cups rolled oats ( I use organic quick cook oats)
1/2 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
2 tblsp of unsalted butter (melted)
Enough warm water to form an oaty ball

Mix the oats with the baking soda and salt. Add the melted butter and enough warm water to make a soft dough. Roll out until thin and use a cookie cutter to cut out the oatcakes. Because oats soak up the water you will find that you will need to add a splash more water each time you gather up the scraps to re-roll. Don't waste any bits that are left. Cook them too. Bake on 350 degrees until golden, turning once. The oatcakes are pictured with my Spiced Ginger and Cinnamon Cookies, recipe to be found on my sister page (copy and paste address to your browser) at https://www.facebook.com/flavourforlife/?ref=hl 

The most important thing to remember is the best way to eat them!

Lemony!

If like us you have light worktops in your kitchen you will know that keeping them looking clean and free from stains is pretty hard. Instead of plastering the worktops with harsh cancer causing chemicals I use lemons. Lemons feature in my cooking quite often and instead of chucking them in the compost I save all the halves after zesting and juicing and keep them in the fridge. When I cannot stand the tea and coffee stains anymore I get the lemon halves out to go to work with baking soda. Here is another frugal tip, the mesh bag that the lemons came in or any mesh bag that fruit comes in  makes an awesome free scrubby that is great for those stuck on bits in pans or stubborn stains. Anyway, sprinkle baking soda over the worktops and squeeze any remaining lemon juice out of the lemons, using the lemons scrub the baking soda into the worktop. The antibacterial acidic lemon juice reacts with the soda lifting off the stains. Leave for five minutes before scrubbing with the free mesh scrubby. Wipe off with hot soapy water and voila! Clean, sanitized stain free worktops and a lemony smelling kitchen, all natural and no chemicals.

The Cleaning Team

Hard working lemons!

Sparkly clean

Life and Death

When we choose to raise animals of any sort we not only have the ups of new life but we also have to deal with the downs of death. On our evening rounds my daughter discovered that one of our turkey's had died at some point in the day. It is always a sad time when you lose an animal but on this occasion the death was somewhat expected. The turkey had never fully thrived and it was never welcome among the others, maybe they knew something was not right. We can be happy in the knowledge that we gave it every chance and that it was well cared for.

Nettle Soup and Homemade Bread

When it is cold outside, the wind is blowing and the thought of venturing out chills you to the bone we can take comfort in the form of a delicious nutritious soup served with homemade bread. What makes this soup even better is the main ingredient is free, frozen but free. In the Spring we have an abundance of nettles growing all around the place and considering these stingy plants are higher in iron than spinach it would seem rather silly to let them go to waste. In Spring it is on with the rubber gloves and a picking we go. We use them fresh or blanch and freeze for Winter use. Combined with some homemade chicken stock, a few potatoes to thicken, a good few cloves of garlic, an onion, a knob of butter, and milk and seasoning a tasty, body warming soup can be made. Served with warm homemade bread ( Recipe to come) a most delightful low cost nourishing meal can be had.

Delicious

Ginger

In my Marinated Pork Chops recipe was fresh grated ginger. This is usually bought in the supermarket but this year I am trying to grow my own. I found some organic ginger root in the store, I think it will only work with organic ginger as they treat conventional. I cut chunks off where there looked like a healthy bud may grow. So far so good, it has grown! I have another that has just started. It may however be a few years before providing enough to use.

 

Baby Ginger Plant

Marinated Pork Chops

For this recipe I used chops that came from our own home raised Berkshire pigs. The taste is just so superior. However, the best quality pork you can find will work great too. This is so easy -

Pork Chops
Freshly ground peppercorns and mustard seeds (I grind them together in a pestle and mortar)
1 small chili (heat of chili dependent on your preference)
1 large clove of garlic
2 tblsp grated ginger
2 tblsp of honey
2 tblsp oil ) I use avocado oil

Mix together and spoon over each side of the chops. Leave to marinade for as long as you can, over night is best but a few hours will do.
Cook until tender. I served ours with roast potatoes, green beans, homemade pickled beetroot and homemade hot chili sauce.

 

The Marinade Ingredients

Looking good already

Ready to eat

All served

A Frugal Following

Not only do I love the whole self-sufficient lifestyle I equally feel passionate about being frugal wherever and whenever possible. This is most important in the kitchen. The enjoyment of preparing, cooking and eating of food should be a integral part of life. It is essential!
The word frugal can bring some people to sheer panic. Why? Simply because in some minds frugal means cheap and nasty. This is just not true. Let me explain.
To me being frugal with food means using everything I can, stale bread and old cheese for example, the list is endless. Anything that is past it's best goes into the scrap bucket and my poultry is happy to oblige. I even have a use for lemon's that have lost there skin and juice, a blog for another day I think.
Last night I prepared a simple frugal meal, not because we have no food but because I wanted to. Here it is -

Simply Delicious

Potatoes with garlic butter and sprinkled with hot dried chili, kale tossed in butter and cracked black pepper and an egg bake. Eggs, grated cheese that needed using, some stale bread whizzed up into breadcrumbs and some milk. Mixed together and baked. Simple, easy, tasty, nutritious and most of all frugal.

Why do we do it?

I get asked sometimes why we bother as a family with all the hard work of living a self-sufficient and frugal lifestyle. Firstly, it is never any bother, yes it is a very hard lifestyle to keep, lots of work to do each and every day. We don't get to have days out very often but when we do they seem to be extra special. Secondly, I do not class our family as fully self-sufficient, to make that claim would be lying. We are as self -sufficient as much as we are able to be, we grow our own vegetables, we raise our own meat and we bake all of our own stuff. We hope this Spring to bring in two dairy goats to provide our dairy needs. But, we cannot grow or raise everything we need. I know that what we do each year is a mammoth task but it is worth it when each and every day we see our family flourish with homegrown food, plenty of fresh air, and most of all enjoy the lifestyle we have chosen. We eat leftover leftovers often but we have little waste, and anyway leftover leftovers are the best. We may not have TV's in every room, we do not allow the latest gadgets or sit on computer games all day. We read, we encourage self thinking and motivation, we all muck in and we love it.

Medicinal Echinacea

Poppies

Manitoba Sunset

First Snowfall

Homemade Garlic Bread

 Looking at the above, who could argue?

Simple Fare

Some of the most simplest and easiest foods to cook can often be the hardest and the most adulterated. Take for example the scrambled eggs we enjoyed for our lunch today. Eggs, butter, milk or cream whipped up and either zapped in a microwave or quickly thrown around the edges of a pan. Completely WRONG!

Perfectly cooked Scrambled Egg on Organic Homemade Bread

The microwave cooks the eggs within seconds to an inch of their life resulting in a chewy shameful inedible pile that is far from scrambled eggs. Cooking in the pan is best but let's go back to the beginning and start over. The recipe, the freshest free range eggs your budget can afford or the ones your chickens laid that morning, and a knob of butter and seasoning just at the end of cooking. Yes, that is is. The method, in a large pan, I use a wok, melt the butter over a low heat. Beat the eggs gently in bowl, now add them to the pan. At this point put the toast on low. Here is the key, the eggs should be cooked on a low heat for several minutes or longer and only carefully moved around the pan. Stir the eggs constantly, they are ready when the have come together, not runny but not in a lump either. They should still have a slightly wet consistency. Now don't panic that they are raw or not cooked, they are perfectly cooked over several minutes. They will look nothing like scrambled eggs cooked with milk or cream, there will be no watery liquid to make your toast soggy. Season the eggs with salt and freshly ground pepper. I use Himalayan Pink Salt. And then spoon them over your hot toast. If you try and cook scrambled eggs this simple way you will never cook them a different way again, honest. So, get cracking!

Mild Manitoba Morning

It is very hard to believe when you step outside that it is January 2016, it is so incredibly mild and beautiful. While a lot of folk are reveling in these unseasonable conditions I cannot be so joyful. These weather patterns are against the normal, and that is a very worrying trend. Here in Manitoba we are much warmer than we should be, this has a detrimental effect on those who depend on that normal cycle of seasons and weather patterns to survive. I think about the animals and the flora and fauna that will struggle with these changes, we can adapt but they cannot. Spare a thought for them.
My chickens, ducks and turkeys have been enjoying the warmth, usually locked up snug in their sheds they have been able to venture out and enjoy the snow!

Year Planning

Once all of the Christmas and New Year celebrations are all done and dusted, the eldest children are back in school and the husband is back to work it is time to start planning the year ahead. This may seem slightly early for some but for our family it is essential that we do this. It is also time to look at ones aspirations for the coming months. My personal goals are to finish the mid-grade children's book I started about five years ago, and to start writing my self-sufficient, recipe, environmental come everything else that goes with self-sustainability book that has been brewing for a few years too. As for the acreage, more chickens as you can never have enough, goats (maybe), better garden, more work on the house (inside and out). Make plenty of homemade wine, we have special visitors this year and will need a basement full for this occasion! In general, the hope that this year will be equal or above to the last. Now, better find that seed catalogue!

Elijah's Specialality Chia Cinnamon Rolls

To finish off our New Year's Day duck dinner our son Elijah made some chia cinnamon rolls, spiced with beautiful organic cinnamon and dusted with chia seeds before being rolled. In replacement of the normal brown sugar used for the filling Elijah used raw clover honey and date palm sugar which added a nice caramel flavor to the rolls. These were served warm with a dollop of organic whipped cream. Yum Yum!

The filling of raisins, palm sugar, honey and chia

Rising Time

Fresh out of the oven