Category: Spring

  • Versatile Blogger Award

      May seemed to be a good month here at Legge Towers for awards. Cath who blogs at For Bella and Will very kindly nominated me for this Versatile Blogger Award. So thanks very much to Cath for that. It’s also a nice opportunity to give some love to some blogs I read and to…

  • Apple custard cake Parisienne

    You’ll love this cake. It has a crispy case;  firm, slightly spiced apple filling and an aromatic vanilla custard topping. What’s more, it’s ridiculously easy to make and you get to play with squidgy pastry. I had a surfeit of apples in the fruit bowl that I wanted to use up and a need for…

  • Tree flowers and more, the forest garden in May

    It was a gorgeous summery morning yesterday. Many of the trees in our forest garden were looking gorgeous. Also the sound of the birds was incredible. We could hear grasshopper, sedge & willow warblers and chiff-chaffs back from their foreign trips. The insects were enjoying the tree flowers. So I decided to take a few…

  • Asparagus, tarragon and piave tart recipe

    People have enjoyed the luxurious taste of asparagus for millennia. The Ancient Egyptians ate it. And it appeared in The Roman Cookery of Apicius in the late 4th & early 5th Century CE. Asparagus seasonal right now but only for a short period. Also in season is the wonderfully aromatic, anise flavoured french tarragon. As…

  • Snowdonia snow and sun

    Snowdonia was beautiful wreathed in snow this morning as I travelled into town. So I stopped to take some pictures with my iPhone. The panorama extended all the way across Cardigan Bay down to mid-Wales. Glorious and another bonus after yesterday evening’s crepuscular ray sunset.

  • Llŷn Peninsula sunset – crepuscular rays

    Today started with high winds and snow. Nasty north-easterly winds that are not usual. So all sorts of things are blown into odd positions. After a few days where we did loads of work outside in shorts and t-shirts, it’s a bit nasty for the plants. In particular we have almond, buckthorn  and peach blossom…

  • Vollkornbrot: rye sourdough bread

    In my goody box from Anne at the Felin Ganol Mill was some wholemeal rye flour and chopped rye berries. Along with some sunflower seeds, these are just what you need to make this delicious, hearty & earthy bread. The result was fantastic and we ate it with some very special cheese. The soaked rye…

  • Wild garlic mash, warm chickweed salad & seafood

    This meal started off as one of those: “What do I do with these?” scenarios. Debs had made a gorgeous parsnip, cinnamon and lemon cake with some of our over-wintered parsnips. It was delicious. I had one parsnip left that Debs had not been able to use. And I had cleared a space in our…

  • First nettles of 2012

    The first nettles of the 2012 season for us. While the spaghetti cooks, gently fry garlic & anchovies in extra virgin olive oil. Then add nettles to the pan and cover till they wilt. Season with salt, ground black pepper and lemon juice. Mix through lightly drained spaghetti with a good handful of finely grated…