cabbage with bacon and apple

Due to too much blog visiting and not enough crafting, I present to you another recipe....! This recipe is great for using up cabbage that appears in your weekly seasonal box, or in your vege patch. We tend to eat it with pork sausages. A couple of months ago I went into the butcher asking for sausages that would go well with a cabbagy bacony appley thing and got a rather strange look, because he was a bit confused about why the vegetable was my starting point rather than the meat. At least the sausages I ended up with were tasty!

Cabbage with bacon and apple

(serves 2-3 as a side that's really the main event)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 rashers bacon, thinly sliced

1 apple, peeled & sliced

1/4 cabbage, finely sliced

1 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste

2 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

1/4 cup rouchly chopped parsley

Gently fry the onion and bacon together over medium heat in a large frypan that has a lid, until the onion has softened.

Add the apple and cook until starting to soften.
Add the cabbage and toss about so that the onion mixture is vaguely stirred through. Put the lid on and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, for a couple of minutes or until the cabbage is no longer raw. You want it to still have a bit of crunch.

The problem with taking photos of your dinner is that it's dark. It looks better than this in real life!!!

Remove from the heat, stir through remaining ingredients and serve!

lovely linen...

This lovely, textured, exciting yarn is linen, and is destined to become this string bag. Who could resist?

P.S. I think Blogtoberfest is going to stretch me a little. Today's only day 6 and I'm feeling like the ideas bucket is less full than I thought. Just warning you. Hope it doesn't get too dreary!

Flower snow

This is my favourite tree in our garden. I think it's an ornamental cherry. It's just outside our bedroom window, and has lovely big leaves in summer that turn wonderful shades of red and yellow and orange in Autumn. It also has lovely bark so even in winter it's kind of pretty!

Yes, that's an open car door. Finding things to do while sleeping beauty does her thing...

At this time of year, it has glorious, fragrant blossoms everywhere...

which before too long will become a lovely petal carpet on the grass below.

Stash building...

I was lucky enough to win a Sew Mama Sew voucher during hand sewing month, and my selection arrived in the last week!

The green is earmarked for some bag trimming (I think I might have caught the bag making bug...), and I think the yellow will end up as something small and girly. I had been contemplating using the blue to trim some Raglan Guld pants, but I didn't get enough and now I've seen it in person I'm not sure it would have worked! Maybe I could use the big florally butterfly print instead, or maybe the motifs are a bit big? Oh well, dreaming is fun... ;-)

unexpected success!

Broken sewing machine + knitting needle stoppers = very cute little broach :-)

Pattern from here.

Polenta with mushrooms and goats cheese

Tinniegirl's topic for Blogtoberfest today is 'These are a few of your favourite things'. So it's fitting for me to post a recipe. I like food. A lot. And I like recipe books. A LOT! Cooking is something I really enjoy, and I find it a good way of taking time out, especially if there's other people around to help me enjoy the end product.

Before my little one was born, my husband and I used to share cooking duties fairly evenly, but since she was about three months old I've been doing the vast majority. By request!! At the end of a full day of parenting, I get to cook while he does the evening parenting stuff. I think we're both happy with that!

A couple of nights ago, I did an experiment involving mushrooms and polenta, and we both declared it a success! So here's the recipe...

Apologies for the night-time photo!

Polenta with Mushrooms and Goats cheese

Serves 2-3

3 large pieces dried porcini mushroom

3 cups mixed mushrooms, sliced (I used a combination of field & swiss brown, flats and buttons)

1 tbsp each olive oil & butter

1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

Salt & pepper

150g goats cheese (at least 50g per person - I like LOTS)

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup polenta

3/4 cup grated parmesan

50g butter

Soak the porcini mushrooms in about 1/2 cup boiling water for at least 10 mins. Chop rehydrated porcini mushrooms finely and reserve soaking water.

Add 2 cups water to the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Add polenta slowly and whisk until the liquid comes back to the boil. Keep whisking often while cooking to get rid of lumps and stop it sticking. Once cooked (about 15 mins, depending on the type of polenta you use), remove from heat & stir in cheese and butter, and season.

Meanwhile....

Heat butter & oil together in a large frypan that has a lid. Add garlic & porcini mushrooms and fry gently until garlic is translucent. Add mixed mushrooms and cook, stirring, until most of them change texture (about 5 mins). Add the thyme and reserved porcini water, stir and simmer, covered for 3-5 mins. Remove lid, season and allow to continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 2 mins).

To serve, spoon polenta into flat bowls, top with mushrooms and scatter with crumbled goats cheese. Enjoy!

My creative space

Apparently today is Thursday. For some reason it's Monday in my head, so I was a bit surprised to see My Creative Space popping up around blogland today!

My creative space has hit a bit of a speed bump today. My sewing machine has decided that enough is enough and it WILL NOT WORK UNTIL IT'S HAD A SERVICE!!!! So after having a mild huffy fit because I want to get sewing on my pinny, I've been knitting instead. Hurrumph.

Last time I was at the yarn shop, I discovered these very funky little stopper thingies to put on the end of your DPN's (probably so that your socks don't fall off). I figure it means I can use my DPN's as normal knitting needles. And then I can use another one as a cable needle!

Go and visit Kirsty to see many creative spaces!