Friday 23 October 2009

Muddy goodness

Hello!! Now, what was that all about blogger hey??? Don't know if any of you noticed this morning, but the whole thing was down!! I couldn't do my usual early morning update or check out other blogger blogs!!! But fear not, it seems to be all ok now! Phew! ;-)

Anyway, it's Friday, thank goodness! Any exciting plans for the weekend anyone? Not much here really. I'm planning on meeting up with a friend who's coming over from France for a few days, that should be really nice. And there's an Apple Festival in my town tomorrow too, so that's definitely on my list of things to do.



Also on my list is the planning of meals. Not normal meals though. Organic meals. Now before you think I'm all posh and have more money than sense (well that's not quite true, I wish I could buy everything organic but let's face it, in such hard times, we can't splash out on such luxuries very regularly), let me tell you what I'm talking about. Have you heard of Abel and Cole? They're a company that delivery veg/ fruit/ meat boxes to your door, everything being organic and most things being locally produced. I've always wanted to order one of their boxes, but last week, Christmas came early (not as early as my cards though!!). I was reading this lovely blog and got in touch with Rachel, the author of the blog. She then put me in touch with someone at Abel and Cole who very kindly got a mixed fruit and veg box delivery to us yesterday - and all for free!!!



The fruit and veg looks amazing to be fair. I'm going to have a look at some of their recipes to find what I could do with the green cabbage, something I very rarely buy. Any suggestions welcome!! The carrots, parsnips and potatoes will be put to good use on Sunday for a roast - I can't wait!!! And the onions have come perfectly on time, we'd just run out, so I used one in last night's curry (by the way, this was a delicious vegetarian curry, made with onion, carrot, cauliflower and celery - delicious even for meat eater Boyfriend who loved it!!).



The pears and bananas will be kept for next week, we like to snack on fruit during the day you see (say NO to muffins and crisps hahaha!!). That way, the bananas will have a bit of time to rippen, there's nothing worse than a green banana is there?! This leaves us with bramley cooking apples, broccoli and leeks. I'm thinking soup (with the veg of course, not the apples!), Boyfriend suggested some sort of pie. Honestly, the possibilities are endless!!! It's just really nice to think all this is local (well apart from the bananas of course!), organic, the veg is still all nice and muddy, and all for free, thanks Abel and Cole!! I'll let you know what I end up making with all these goodies!!! Oh and by the way, so sorry for the crummy photos, I took them last night after my gym class, by which time it was well and truly dark - so enjoy the light from my eco friendly light bulbs!

9 comments:

Liz said...

Enjoy the apple festival. I'm heading up north to my parents' which means lots of lovely knitting time on the train and hopefully lots of playing with my niece who will also be visiting.

Jennifer said...

Sounds like fun, an old friend and a festival. Great box of fruit and veg, we really like sauteing cabbage and eating it as a side. Or you could make cole slaw. This Saturday my mom is watching the 3 bigger kids, so hubby and I (and baby) have the whole day to ourselves, which never happens.

Unknown said...

Have a great trip. Can't wait to see what you have on the flip side.

dragonfly said...

Snap! I'd forgotten how much I love cabbage! Last Sunday I had my family over for lunch (14!) and I served 10 different vegetables! How great is that? I'd had a few left over from the week before, plus good ol' frozen peas, which the children love!

Have a great weekend.

Felix said...

Vegetable box scheme looks awesome. When I look at the contents I must confess that I see at once a fine apple and parsnip soup. This is a surprisingly good combination; the acidity of the apples cuts right through that solid sweetness parsnips have... I always make mine up as I go along but you can be certain that a dash of cider or cider vinegar plus a little nutmeg and seasalt and plenty of black pepper usually make for a very tasty soup. Once you blitz the parsnips they make a lovely, creamy base. You can start with frying some onions until clear if you want that sweet, caramelly-onion goodness to add some flavour.

Petit Filoux said...

Ooh sounds like people have a few nice plans on the cards!! Have a great time! Weekends go so quickly, we should definitely make the most of it!
Thanks for all your suggestions, I think coleslaw will definitely be a must! And maybe the apple and parsnip soup too, depends how adventurous we feel!!

Felix said...

Tthanks for your comment on the wolf post! The apple and parsnip soup is made with cooking apples! There are a few recipes online if you don't fancy off-roading it. Enjoy your weekend!

lucy said...

I had exactly the same veggie box delivered this week. My husband fried up some garlic a small onion and chopped bacon in some butter for 5-6 mins then shredded the cabbage into 1 cm strips added that to the pan for about 10 minutes, season add beef and ale stew with dumplings. Yum!

The Girl said...

I know someone who used to get an Abel & Cole box and loved it. I've thought about it a few times and still might give it a go. I work just round the corner from the market so tend to go there so I at least get a warm feeling from supporting local veg supplies!

So far this weekend, we've had Fred & Lily come to stay and I've gone on another trip to Hobbycraft and.....I copied your Christmas tree cards!! I'll stick a photo up and give you all the credit, don't worry!