Bryher strawberry and white peach smoothie....(serves 2)

 Today's been the first day I've really felt the sun stinging my skin. The layers are off, visitors are having picnics on the beach and getting up at 5am is less of a chore and more the best part of the day. 

We've been to the Abbey Gardens and lay in the sunshine the sun on our toes. This little man came along to say hello...

Our garden may not have such exotic visitors but it is in full bloom....

And even the seagulls are out sunbathing and not harassing my chickens!

The best part of the sunshine is that island fruit and vegetables are starting to blossom. Last week saw the first fat, ripe strawberries on the stall. Picked and eaten on the same day. Now they are an everyday staple in the house. But they are best of all at breakfast. If I have a few left over we make them in to a smoothie with the amazing white fleshed peaches Bryher Shop have in at the moment....

Bryher strawberry and white peach smoothie (serves 2)

150g strawberries (hulled)

4 small white fleshed peaches (peeled)

200ml almond milk

Put all three ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Notes from a small island....

Last week I phoned to book my flight home. 'Would you like a return ticket?' I was asked. 'No,' I said, a huge wave on relief washing over me. No return. I flew back to Bryher knowing I wouldn't be heading back to the mainland until the autumn and it felt fantastic. We've been blessed with a week of beautiful March sunshine. My face is glowing from the hours spent digging in the garden but my body isn't coping as well. My thighs are black and blue with bruises, my legs covered in cuts from gorse attacks and I can't stand up or sit down without a ten minute warm up. But it is paying off as the garden is starting to take shape.....

The first lot of turf arrived from West Cornwall....

And it transformed the garden....

My mum and dad have been up here every moment they can. Look at the end of the garden...that's the sea!

Now it all feels a bit more under control I'm back in the kitchen and will be blogging about more than just making tea...

Stalker....

I got a shock last week. I was told that my rhubarb was ready. My poor forgotten rhubarb left to its own devices over the winter months. It knew spring was coming and was bursting with pink shoots when I finally caught on. It made the most delicious pudding.

Rhubarb and vanilla sponges (serves 2)..........

4 rhubarb stalks

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1 large egg

50g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

50g caster sugar

50 soft butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

Chop the rhubarb into 2cm chunks and put in a pan with the brown sugar and a couple of tbsp of water. Put on a low heat and leave to soften.

Preheat the oven to 180'c. Mix all the sponge ingredients together in a small bowl. Butter a ramekin with melted butter and pop in the fridge for a couple of minutes. Butter again. Spoon the rhubarb mixture into the ramekin. Then add the sponge.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Carefully turn out and serve with custard or clotted cream.

Sprouting positive....

While the rest of the country seems to be waist deep in snow we've missed the best of it. Note the word "best" as snow can only be a good thing. (I'm conveniently forgetting the people stuck for hours on planes and snow bound pubs up country.) We've had bursts of it which leads to bursts of excitement in our household only to be met ten minutes later with disappointment and another ten minutes of checking Internet weather forecasts.

At least it's made the allotment look a bit less "horrendous mess" and a bit more "shabby chic."

I had high hopes for the sprouts being ready for Christmas but they are no bigger than the size of maltesers.

Brussels Sprouts in brown butter with chestnuts and Cornish sea salt.....(serves 4)

About 40 sprouts (10 per person is plenty)

2oz Roddas Cornish butter

1 handful of vacuum packed chestnuts

1 good pinch Cornish Sea Salt

Chop the hard bottoms off each sprout. The top two leaves should fall away but if they don't, gently peel them off. Pop in boiling water until just tender.

Drain and pop into ice cold water until you need them. In a pan melt the butter until it foams. Add the chopped chestnuts and stir around until the butter starts to turn a brown colour. Add the sprouts and toss around for a couple of minutes until they are warmed through.

Sprinkle with the sea salt and serve.

A shred of hope....

When I put on weight, I can stand to go near the scales. I put it off and putt it off until I eventually climb on and it's usually not as bad as I think it will be. This week I braced myself and headed back to the allotment after turning my back on it for a few weeks.

The vegetables I planted back in July have survived well without my weeding and watering. And I came home with this....

I also bought how armfuls of bluey green cavolo nero leaves. They are fantastically delicious. This is great with partridge or duck.

Cavolo Nero with honey toasted hazelnuts (serves 4)

4 big handfuls of cavolo nero

a knob of butter

1 handful hazelnuts

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 pinch salt

Shred the cavolo nero into thin strips with a sharp knife. Melt the butter in a pan and add the cabbage.

This will take only a couple of minutes. It will transform the bluey green leaves, turning them a vibrant emerald. In a pan toast the hazelnuts. As they start to toast add a tbsp of honey and mix through.

Add to the cavolo nero and stir through. Add the vinegar and salt and serve.

Butter together.....

Everything seems to be flowering in the allotment at the moment. The bees and ladybirds are having a field day.....

The sweet peas have all come at once. They threatened death a few weeks ago but they seem happy enough climbing up the chicken wire with flowers the colour of confetti.

It's the herbs that I've been enjoying the most. Chive flowers sprinkled in cheese salads, borage over smoked salmon, thyme flowers over a lamb chop. This year I'm going to try and make the most of the herb garden, drying, freezing and preserving. Bunches of rosemary are already hanging in the greenhouse and jars of bay leaves are filling the cupboards for warming bowls of wintery Italian pasta. Mint always has me stumped. Once the apples are ready I'll make some jars of mint and apple jelly but for now all I can make is lots of tiny pots of herby butter.....

Mint and Chive Butter.......(Makes 15 of so small portions)

4oz/125g room temperature butter
1handful chives
2 handfuls mint leaves

salt and pepper

Mash the butter with the back of a fork. Chop the herbs as finely as you can...

Use the fork to mash the herbs and the butter together along with some salt and pepper.

Scoop into little bowls or ice cream tubs and freeze. Use over a steaming bowl of hot peas or in foil parcels of salmon or pollack.

Chard Day's Night.....

Melted cheese. Is there anything in the world more dreamy? Cheese on toast with a bit of ketchup, a parmesany carbonara or a winter's evening fondue. For me cheese is an any season, any day treat. But as I sit here typing with the sun streaming over the harbour it's not a fondue I want or a heavy lunch. This is perfect stirred through spaghetti, placed on toast or just in a steaming bowl on its own.

Chard with Cornish Brie and Coppa.....(serves 1)

1 large handful of chard
2 slices Cornish brie (about 3oz/85g)
3 slices Cornish Coppa (available here)
salt and pepper

Wash the chard. Then chop it roughly with a sharp knife. You don't want it shredded just sliced into chunks. Pop it in a pan to steam for 3 minutes of so, tossing it occasionally. (I usually add about 1 tbsp water just to help it along).

Take the chard off the heat briefly. See if it needs draining. If it doesn't pop back on the heat and add the coppa and brie. Toss with tongs until the brie starts to melt. Serve with salt and pepper.

Cour Blimey.....

The walk to the veggie patch has changed a lot in the past month. A month ago the grass was bright and lush now it has a faint crunch underfoot after being scorched by the late June sunshine. The beds that were sparse are now over flowing with borage, sweet peas and nasturtiums........

The trees are bulging with tiny apples and pears ready to be picked and preserved by me. I've already started storing the gluts I have. Over ripe raspberries have been potted into jams and frozen into purees, I've added tablespoons of caster sugar to gooseberries ready for autumn crumbles and I've started drying out bunches of rosemary for late summer roast dinners. But for now I'm enjoy the early vegetables bursting to life. At the allotment this morning I picked three baby courgettes no longer than my middle finger, still with flowers in tact. Then on my way home I popped into the new local Deli on the side of the A39.

Large local salamis and coppas hang from nets from the ceiling, there are fresh eggs and piles of broccoli and cauliflowers. Beside the cream cakes as big as pillows is a stand of local cheeses. I'd already decided to make a warm salad with griddled courgettes but wanted a salty cheese to shave over the top. Not a goats or a blue but something plain and weekday.

Do you know why yarg is called yarg? Apparently because the people who sold it were called Gray. Yarg. Gray back to front.

Baby Courgette and Yarg Salad (Serves 1)

2 baby courgettes

1oz/25g yarg

1 big handful mixed leaves

2 nasturtium flowers

olive oil

1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

a pinch of sugar

Remove the flowers from courgettes. Sliced them vertically so the are about the thickness of a polo mint. Spray them or brush them with a little oil and griddle for 3 minutes or so on each side.

In a small bowl mix a tbsp of oil, a squeeze of lemon, the sugar and salt and pepper. Pour over the mixed leaves and toss with your hands. Put on a plate. Top with the petals, courgettes and yarg.

I used one of the flowers to decorate it. This is definately a girl's salad.