Plain Home Cooking

After my last post mentioning the heat in Wellington, a heat wave is descending on us. Tomorrow we are expecting temperatures around the 41 degC mark but thankfully the night time temperatures are more tolerable. Althought the last place most people would like to be when it is hot is the kitchen, that is where I have been. The plums all seem to be ready at once and have to be picked and processed. I'm sure I could put some in the fridge for when the weather is cooler but jam making isn't really that labour intensive. The results are well worth the effort.We have eaten fresh plums too but yesterday the majority went into plum jam. I have just read a recipe for a plum chutney in The River Cottage Year by Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall which also uses overgrown zucchinis so that will be on tomorrows to-do list. I have a few bumper zucchini that I don't feel like grating for biscuits, cakes and slices.

Yesterday was a bit of a cookathon. I made the jam, a banana fruit loaf and also braised beef for dinner. The braised beef was in the slow cooker which made the day much more enjoyable, not having to think about dinner at the last minute.
Thankfully last year after suffering from a shortage of jars, I put the word out on Freecycle and at Tim's work for any unwanted jars. I now have a stash that will last a while and they in every imaginable size too.

These zucchinis are going to turn into soup tonight. I'm not sure yet if it will be served hot or chilled. I usually like to pick our vegetables as close to serving as possible but because of the heat it makes more sense to pick them in the morning while watering.

The menu plan for the next few days while it is hot, will be plain home cooking. No fancy meals that require a lot of thinking and planning.

Tracy