Ok so again these might be somewhat indulgent but when Ma and Pa’s garden is trembling on the edge of summer, it’s an amazing sight.
The pond
Their daffodils are still going strong
The rockery and waterfall
Sam – just about – having a good roll
There has been much distress in the parental homestead this last few weeks. A fox and then a suspected cat has been ravaging their chicken population, causing much consternation both to MCD and Joey, both of whom have an almost untowardly obsession with the eggs sent down on occasion and to Ma and Pa, who took the trouble to ring-fence an entire acre field and provide numerous safehouses for the chickens, only for said chickens to prefer spending the night up a tree perched just on the fence border… let no-one say they don’t live by the seat of their pants.
So this week Pa took himself off to Chicken Market (apparently these still exist and one is going strong in Melton Mowbray) and came back with 5 Rhode Island Red ladies, all of whom are incredibly tame, inordinately fond of bread in a way that suggests their diet has been a little too carb-based in a previous life and all in all, most attractive. Now they just have to hope they lay the eggs for which they were bought. 
And – because he was so completely unperturbed by the new additions and because he is so ravishingly handsome – a couple of entirely gratuitous pictures of Sam
I know I’ve already posted some pink blossom pictures below but bear with me. I beg forbearance because firstly with all the bank holiday weather they’re threatening us with, we may lose all the fantastic colour out there overnight and we may need to look back fondly and remember; and secondly because someone clearly needed to indulge themselves similarly as on my way to t’bookshop I noticed that a forward-thinking aesthete had placed a rather nice looking chair under the blossom.
I can only think it was so positioned so they could see this.
And why not?
At Brixton farmers’ market yesterday, rootling around in the sunshine for something other than cabbage and kale, I spotted, much like a pointer, bunches of the first early English asparagus. I had, I have to admit, been a little sceptical when they announced on Saturday Kitchen that the first asparagus was available; what with the long winter and the tiny problem of a volcanic cloud of ash blighting our skies, I hadn’t expected to be living off much more than greens and turnips for another couple of weeks, but hey, what do I know.
At £3.50 a bunch – not cheap, but hello it’s not cabbage – you have to be determined to make the most of it. I had, for reasons now unfathomable in hindsight given the weekend weather reports, defrosted a sirloin of beef for roasting for Sunday dinner; with the asparagus to bear in mind the whole had to become instantly spring-like. I roasted the joint of beef rare – you do have to bear leftovers in mind and who in their right mind can bear overcooked cold beef?, roasted some par-boiled Pink Fir Apple potatoes in rosemary and garlic and olive oil, briefly boiled some purple sprouting and tossed it in butter and melted anchovies and put together a tomato salad, dressed in nothing but olive oil and salt with some sorrel from the garden and wild garlic snipped up and scattered on top. The asparagus I did our favourite way and roasted it in the oven with a little oil and salt and then shaved a tiny bit of Parmesan over.
With the leftover beef, I had planned to make, to quote Nigel Slater, a ‘knife-sharp, groovy’ green sauce, but I came across the following from Rose Prince this morning and I shall make this dressing to drizzle over the beef, some leftover potatoes cubed and sauté ed until crisp like croutons, pea shoots, fennel, tomatoes and sorrel for this evening.
A winter sauce: (quantities don’t have to be exact but it needs to be consistency of double cream)
Mix together a couple of tbsp mayonnaise, 2-3 tbsp chicken stock to thin, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and a good dollop of mustard to taste and season.
Having discovered Windows Live Writer, I can now do very funky things within the blog. Anyway, momentarily stunned by the very outrageousness of their spring stance, the blossom caused me to stop and stare in the prosaically-named Norwood Recreation Park that I traverse on my way to Palace.
The picture of the red blossom is from my garden. It’s quite stunning every spring, but I have no idea what it is, although it makes my heart leap when the flowers appear.
The picture doesn't really convey the sunshine beaming out of the breakfast dish above, but take my word for it, it can make you very happy indeed. I happened to have some leftover rhubarb poached in orange juice and honey from the day before, which I reheated and added in some chopped fresh pineapple sauteed in a little butter. I warmed the cornbread in the oven - it's too fragile to toast - and then spooned over the hot fruit. I topped it with a little Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
