Sunday, January 31, 2010

A garden feast

We went away for the weekend to a little cabin on the beach to celebrate my 40th birthday...it was a time of reading, walks, beaching, playing chess and scrabble, watching the stars and wildlife - a Kudu grazed under our window at night. What a wonderful weekend escape for us all.

But back at the lil ol homestead things were growing and ripening...



I am running out of room in my cooler drawer for more produce and with the heat being what it is at the moment need to pick and use asap. So tonight we had another dinner from our garden...

Iced cucumber and yoghurt soup (this was a bit of a challenge for us all - YKWIM - cold soup, but it was delicious.)



Simply made with 4 cucumbers, 3 cups of yoghurt, 1 cup of water, a pinch of fennel seeds and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Blend til smooth and chill.



Two French loaves...and stuffed marrow.

The stuffed marrows were delicious...ours was so big that I halved it lengthways, then cut it into 6 pieces. Scrape out the flesh with the seeds. Fry some onion garlic and pinenuts with the cubed flesh of the marrow.



Mix it together with 2 - 3 cups fresh breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, lots of fresh chopped parsely and sage and stuff it into the marrow shells.



Top with lots of parmesan and bake for about 1/2 hr. I had them in the oven at the same time as our bread was baking.



Dear Daughter Number 2 mixed up a batch of chocolate waffle batter and served chocolate waffles with cream and the strawberries we picked. Our strawberries are tapering off now as they send out their runners for new plants but we still are getting a fair amount of them to enjoy.



It was a true feast tonight.

8 comments:

Jill said...

Happiest of birthdays, Wendy! Your feast looks tremendous - II bet it was truly grand. What a wonderful way to spend a holiday!

Chris said...

That is one delicious looking feast! Your bread looks beautiful. Happy Birthday! Christine

Urban Homestead South Africa said...

Thank you both for your wishes.

Tanya Murray said...

Yum, going to give the cucumber soup a try. Happy Birthday and many more x Really enjoy your blog and the different view.

Linnie said...

Happy birthday, Wendy!
I'm learning more and more, everyday through your blog and website!
Lots of love

Merinda said...

Mmmmm, this looks so yummy Wendy, you are an excellent cook!
Happy 40th Birthday, now you are entering the land of milk and honey, so be prepared for an overflowing garden :-)
I'm So glad for knowing you, you are an inspiration - thanks for letting God use you as a spark for my candle...
Have a lovely week
Love
Merinda

Jill said...

Hi Wendy-

I tagged you on my blog today. Don't know if you'd be interested in participating, but wanted you to know that I love your blog. Feel free to have fun with this or let it be.

Sonja said...

What a wonderful cook you are!