PICKLED EGGS....

I've noticed lately discussions on various blogs about the glut of eggs many have. Apart from using in salads, puddings, sandwiches and all sorts of other recipes, how about pickled?

Pickled eggs are hard-cooked eggs that have been soaked in a solution of vinegar, salt, spices and other seasonings. Besides being a conversation topic at a party with their bright colours (add some beetroot juice), pickled eggs are tasty and nutritious. They can contribute to your meals as part of any main course at dinner, as hors d’oeuvres, garnishes for salads, and diced ingredients.

Pickled eggs are a rich source of protein; they are low in calories and fat and contain very little carbohydrates. This makes them a very healthy option for those who are on a diet. Some of the ways that you might serve pickled eggs are with a fresh salad, or in a sandwich, or it could be used to accompany cold meats. Other popular ways to serve pickle eggs are with fish and chips or with a home made potato salad.

The longer you keep the eggs in a pickling liquid, the stronger will be the egg flavour. I have also found they tend to become a little tougher over time.

Now whilst I recognise that these were around before Adam…or should I say fridges, I personally recommend keeping them in the fridge for safe eating purposes.

PICKLED EGGS WITH GINGER
Ingredients:

• Sixteen hard-boiled eggs
• Two pints of malt or cider vinegar
• Fifteen grams of ginger
• Fifteen grams of black pepper
• Fifteen grams of Allspice

While you leave the eggs for cooling, start with preparing the pickling liquid.

• Place all the chosen ingredients in a medium-sized pan and stir them together.
• Once the liquid starts boiling, reduce the flame and let the mixture simmer down for ten minutes.
• Remove the contents from the pan and leave it to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, place the eggs in a clean container.
• Once the pickling solution is cool, pour it all over the eggs in the container and seal it shut.
• Store the container in a dark and cool cupboard for about a month. After this, your pickled eggs with ginger are ready to be served.

SWEET PICKLED EGGS 

Ingredients

• 12 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
• 1 large onion, sliced in rings

Brine

• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pickling spices, tied in double layer of cheese cloth

Layer the eggs with the onion in a 2 quart jar to within 1" of the top. Put all the brine ingredients (except spice bag) in a pot and over medium heat bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Swish the spice bag around in the brine for 30 seconds.

Pour brine over the eggs, leave for 2 weeks in the fridge before serving.

Make sure the eggs are completely covered.

MUSTARD PICKLED EGGS 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons prepared mustard (yellow, spicy brown, horseradish, Dijon)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar or eqivalent sugar substitute
• 1 pinch salt
• 10 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

Mix together the vinegar, mustard, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar.

Put the eggs in a wide mouthed jar (an old mayonnaise jar would be great).

Pour the hot mixture over the eggs.

Seal the jar.

Store the eggs in the refrigerator for at least a day or two before sampling in order to let the flavors develop.

DILLED EGGS

1½ cups white vinegar

1 cup water

¾ teaspoon dill seed

¼ teaspoon white pepper

3 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon mustard seed

½ teaspoon onion juice

½ teaspoon minced garlic

SWEET AND SOUR EGGS

1½ cups apple cider

½ cup cider vinegar

1 package (about 12 oz.) red cinnamon candy

1 tablespoon mixed pickling spice

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic salt

SPICY EGGS

1½ cups apple cider

1 cup white vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon mixed pickling spice

1 clove peeled garlic

½ sliced onion

½ teaspoon mustard seed

Enjoy!

Take care of you and yours....and the planet:)

molly

TODAY IN THE GARDEN.......

Today we spent cleaning up. We have a giant recycle bin that we are filling with bricks and all manner of things. It goes to the tip and is sorted into lots that others might find useful. 

We removed the first layer off the brick retained garden bed under the patio this morning. It was too high and blocked the view of the pond when sitting out there. 

Amazing what a difference it made, actually looks much better! I just need to find some pretty tiles to put across the top, plant in some rock roses (they grow nice and low) and it will be completed.

The chooks have finished getting broody I hope, we have 16 chickens now, lordy! Two of the roosters are going to be turned into soup or stew tommorrow night. Hubby doesn't like doing it much though, I don't blame him, I couldn't do it at all!
The garden has taken off. The pepinos in the roundabout centre garden have all flowered and one has fruit on. I don't like the flavour of them, but the rest of the family love them.

The herb garden is slowly taking off, the sage, thyme, chives, parsley leaf, coriander, winter savoury, parsley, rosemary are blooming, the mushroom plant is at long last taking off after being run over by the dogs and the borage has gone to ground until next season.

The mango has flowered. Given it is only a young tree, I am guessing we will get about half a dozen fruit from it this season. Enough for a taste:)



I picked a large bunch of fresh lettuce leaves, and some carrots this afternoon, all small young ones, they made the most delicious salad for dinner.

I have noticed I am happiest with my garden when I can walk out the back door and pick at least one thing for our meal that day,  picking more than one thing is even better of course lol

 

We have purchased 3 grape vines, all different, 2 white one red to drape over the pergola near the pond.


The red for the B17 in the seeds and the sweet white for sheer enjoyment. 


Remember the oriental and asian lillies I bought the other day? Well they are all shooting. Keep your fingers crossed, they are in full sun...and it gets hotter than hades here!

The old nectarine gave its first ripe fruit today, slighly warmed by the sun, sweet and fragrant...just delicious!

The azolla in the pond (water weed) is reproducing that rapidly we are getting a full bucket a week to utilise as a mulch in the garden, love that! A wonderful nitrogen source for the plants.

I planted out some amaranth seeds today. We love eating it popped and tossed through our salads. It has a subtle nutty flavour that is complimentary to most salads, also wonderful in our soups!

My dried nettle stock has increased considerably (thanks Carolyn). I love using it in just about everything. If you dry and grind it to a powder nobody even notices they are eating it LOL!

Well, that's about all for me today, hope your week ahead is a good one!

Take care of you and yours......and the planet:)

molly

THE AGE OF STUPID

I found the movie on youtube a few weeks ago. Links to each part below. If you haven't seen it, PLEASE watch it.  There were a couple of lines that hit hard for me:

1   We stand focussed on the patch of soil beneath our feet whilst a tsunami races towards us

2   We strive to profit.....but not to protect


I struggle as we all do, wanting to make everything change right now, however I also know that this is going to take time. I can't change it overnight, neither can you. All we can do is do our best. Ensure in our daily lives we think twice about everything.... about our practices, our processes and our personal policies and promote, promote, promote!

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Part five

Part six

Part seven

Part eight

Part nine

 Visit an action site

I watched and could have wept. Instead I'm opting for doing more...more promotion of the consequences to others, more discussions with collegues, more scrutiny on home and work practices. The power of ONE....you too can make a difference, don't let watching the movie be the last time you think about it.

Take care of you and yours......and the planet:)

Molly

WHERE DOES IT GO?

Time that is! I cannot believe it has been nearly three weeks since my last blog!

Work has been keeping me flat out, it's that time of the year. Independent financial audits for 20 services, reports to funders on all the services, my completion of some internal audits, annual general meetings and planning of Christmas parties....all on top of my daily grind. I have been getting home from work with just enough energy to get dinner organised and do the domestic engineering, the rest has gone by the wayside!


I have at least got as far as taking some photos, so over the weekend I will update....promise!

Take care of you and yours.......and the planet:)

molly

GOING, GOING....GONE?

An international meeting on climate change in Copenhagen has heard the prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak there are plans to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.

Describing it as a last-ditch attempt, a team of scientists from the UK is collecting reef samples that will be frozen and cultivated in what they are describing as an ark.

The scientists say if humans do not do something soon to reduce the damage, the reefs will be reduced to rubble by the middle of the century.

Dr Alex Rogers from the Institute of Zoology in London admits it is a hard sell, but the marine biologist says something must be done now to save the world's coral reefs.

Full story HERE

 

What are we doing???

FOOD, POPULATION AND CARRYING CAPACITY..........

A conference of food productivity experts in Sydney this week heard the greatest threat to the world is not climate change, but food production on land and in the water.

Science communicator Julian Cribb, an adjunct professor at the University of Technology Sydney, made a keynote address at the seminar saying there is expected to be about 9.2 billion people in the world in 2050, barring wars or major accidents.

But Professor Cribb says that population will create an alarming problem - there simply will not be enough food to go round.

"Basically what the world has not noticed is that hunger has been sneaking up on us for quite a while," he told ABC News Online.

"Population is growing and demand for food is rising.

"Governments have had it so good for so long - the world has had plenty of food - they have become complacent and ignorant.

"Climate change is going to get worse and worse, but the food problems are going to be in the next two to three decades.

"I'm warning now because it takes about a generation to develop new technologies and get them out broadscale. We need to take action now about these things."

Treasury head Ken Henry this week said that Australia's population growth is the biggest challenge to Commonwealth and state governments since Federation.

Professor Cribb agrees it will cause problems, and says governments must not forget future famine goes hand in hand with population growth.

"They have grossly underestimated the potential for population growth in Australia," he said.

"If you get a major collapse in food supply in an area like the north China plains or the Indo-Gangetic plains, there will be hundreds of millions of refugees cut lose so we could easily see 20 or 30 million refugees arrive in Australia over a couple of years.

"That's going to completely alter any plans we might have for a managed population growth.

"This is quite a dangerous situation. We may be OK for food, but if others are not, we will cop the backwash."

He says a range of issues have sparked current food production problems.

"Apart from the obvious things going on in the world food markets, there's a colossal shortage of water emerging because cities worldwide are pinching the farmers' water," he said.

"There's land degradation that's proceeded unabated for about 30 or 40 years now. We're losing land at the rate of 1 per cent of the world's farmland every year.

"We're running into energy shortages, we're running into shortages of fertilisers, and on top of that you've got climate change. All of these things are making the agricultural environment much less certain."

Professor Cribb says governments should be doing a range of things now to fix the problem.

"They need to focus on recycling water and nutrients, putting more science into agriculture to get farmers better technology, stopping cities from stealing farmers' land and water, paying farmers a better price so that they don't destroy the environment that produces the food and opening up free trade in agriculture," he said.

SOURCE

Add the food concerns to the comments from the head of the Treasury, Ken Henry, who says Australia's population growth is the biggest challenge to Commonwealth and state governments since Federation.

Giving a speech in Brisbane on Thursday, Dr Henry talked about a projected 60 per cent increase in population by 2050,  climbing from 22 million to 35 million by 2050. Where will those additional 13 million people live? And how well will they live?

Has Mother Earths carrying capacity been over extended? How many can she carry without damage to her?  Is 6 billion a good number, or is it too many people? Or, is it too small, too pessimistic -- could we have 10 billion or 20 billion?

Remember, carrying capacity is defined as: The maximum number of individuals of a given species that can be supported.....on a sustainable basis.

 Every year the average person in the western world is provided with:

• 100,000 kilograms(liters) of very clean water
  
• 1000 kilograms of food, including a lot of meat and exotic food
• 500 - 1000 kilograms of gasoline for transportation, imported.
  
• the equivalent of another 1000 - 2000 kilograms of gasoline in the form of electricity, imported or made from imported fuel
  
• tons of other industrial supplies such as sulfuric acid, steel, cement, commercial packaging, copper wire, industrial cleaning agents, plastics and other resins, cement, petroleum based dyes, glues and fabrics, etc., etc. Nearly all of this must be imported
• disposal systems that handle tons of solid waste, and clean and recycle a vast amount of dirty, unsanitary water for each person in the state. 

When scientists say that the carrying capacity of the Earth is 2 billion, they are not forgetting that we have 6 billion already. 

What they are saying is, that if you add up all the supplies in the world, and divide them up according to the amount that a typical westerner utilises, then there is only enough for 2 billion people. 

We have some major challenges ahead. I suspect the first one to be faced by us all will be doing more with less. We are about to face the consequences of mankinds actions over the last few hundred years....chickens always come home to roost....a natural law I think many would prefer to pretend didn't exist.

 

What plans have you put into place to face the uncertainty of the days ahead?

Hope your Sunday is a good one!

Take care of you and yours.......and the planet :)

molly

PLODDING AND PLANTING.....

Today is quite cool here. We have had a wee touch of rain, nothing to get excited about though! Friday saw my plants from DALEYS and TESSELAARs arrive; now that was exciting!

Hubby and I spent the morning planting of course, here's what went in:

CHINESE WATERCHESTNUT, Eleocharis dulcis: This popular Asian cooking ingredient is a tropical member of the sedge family. These nutritious underground corms reaching up to 4cm in diameter have an appealing crisp nut like texture.

They can be cooked as a vegetable offering a contrasting texture to many dishes or they can deliver their sweetness and juiciness prepared fresh and raw or lightly steamed or sautéed for salads

Water chestnuts can be grown in a pond of a container, an old bathtub or a salvaged water tank cut in half are ideal options.

Plant the corms in spring, about 5cm deep into friable soil preferably rich in organic matter and course sand. Keep the plants moist until the shoots are about 10cm tall, then fill the container up with water until it's about 10cm deep, with the tips of the leaves just showing.

Leave the container flooded at that depth for about 6-7 months, then drain off the water in late autumn. Leave the soil moist but not wet for another month or so until the shoots die down, then harvest the water chestnuts.

Water chestnuts will grow in most areas of Australia, but they are frost tender and require at least an 8-month frost-free growing season.
A single corm is said to be able to produce 100 corms within a growing season!

AVOCADO: A valuable commercial crop, the avocado tree thrives on rich well-drained soil. Due to flowering habits, avocado varieties are categorized into A and B groups.

One variety is sufficient to produce adequate crops for the home garden, however by planting a tree from both groups the harvest will be much greater. Avocados begin to ripen once picked and may take up to 10 days to reach maturity.

Fruits are rich with oily flesh and are delicious eaten when fully ripe in sandwiches, salads.  Guacamole is a famous blend of mashed avocado flesh, lemon or lime juice, onion, garlic, pepper and chilli; it makes a very tasty dip.

Avocados are very fussy about their soil conditions and will not tolerate wet feet or heavy soils, it is essential to prepare the ground for an avocado well before planting.  Young trees are susceptible to sunburn and damage from frost so a small shelter while they establish is a very good idea.

BLACK SAPOTE:  Not surprisingly this is one of the most popular fruits and if you like chocolate you'll love Black Sapote. 

Commonly known as Chocolate Pudding Fruit this amazing fruit is low in fat and an excellent source of Vitamin C containing about 4 times as much as an orange. 

The fruit is delicious eaten fresh or used as a chocolate substitute in recipes and milkshakes or simply mix the pulp with yogurt and lemon juice for a refreshing treat.  

Fruits can be cut in half and eaten covered in passion fruit, in Mexico the pulp is mashed with orange juice or brandy and served with cream, it is also delicious mixed with wine, cinnamon and sugar. 

A very close relative of the persimmon the black sapote is Chocoholics dreams come true! 

MEXICAN CREAM GUAVA - Psidium guajava: Small to medium, roundish fruits. Skin light yellow, slightly blushed with red. Flesh is creamy white, thick, very sweet and finely texture: Excellent for desserts. 

The seed cavity is small and the seeds relatively soft. Upright tree. Height:4m 

COFFEE ARABICA: If you're one of those people who can't live without their cup of coffee in the morning then consider growing and producing your own. 

Easy to process and relatively problem free the Arabica thrives in the cooler climate and rich volcanic soil of Australia. In as little as three years the coffee tree will be covered with white, jasmine-scented flower clusters. 

The masses of green berries that follow mature to a beautiful cherry-red making this an inspirational and decorative addition to any garden. Ideal as an indoor, ornamental or hedging plant.

And to finish it all off, some stunning Arum Lillies in amazing colours and Asiatic and Oriental Liliums. Now it is coffee and chill time, stock making from some chicken leftovers and an experiment with oranges and lemons...more on that later....

Hope your weekend is a great one!
Take care of you and yours.....and the planet :)
molly

A CRUDE AWAKENING - THE OIL CRASH

If you want the facts and some depth to the explanations about future oil, try this series:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

Video 5

Video 6

Video 7

Video 8

Video 9

Although there are nine videos in this story it is well worth every minute. Another reminder about the importance of simplifying, reducing our footprint and prepping.

Here's to a super weekend!

Take care of you and yours.......and the planet:)

Molly

WHEN LIFE GETS TOO HARD.....

I found this on Hermits blog and could not resist passing on....

Have Faith:)

AZOLLA FOR THE POND

Just recently Naturewitch asked about a pond plant we have growing in our recently built pond. We utilise it now for garden mulch, in the long term it will replace the pea straw we have been utilising. Cheaper, has as much nitrogen and grows for free like wildfire in the pond.

Despite hunting around I couldn't find out what it was. 

Tonight whilst doing some research on the turtles I happened to come across the details of the plant, so NW, here it is:

Azolla is a floating fern with fronds that range from green to deep red. It tends to be greener when shaded and redder when in sunlight with high nitrogen water. Depending on the amount of sun and the nutrients in your pond it may take on a solid colour or grow with a rainbow effect as shown in the photograph.
 

Given ideal conditions Azolla's growth is prolific doubling its mass regularly. However because of Azolla’s small size it does not choke the water surface as thickly as noxious floating weeds such as salvinia.

Azolla’s growth inhibits algae by robbing the algae of light and nutrients. Scoop out excess Azolla for use as nitrogen rich plant mulch.

Azolla tends to survive winter more readily than duckweed and does not die back in tropical areas.

In addition to its traditional cultivation as a bio-fertilizer for wetland paddy (due to its ability to fix Nitrogen into the soil), Azolla is finding increasing use for sustainable production of livestock feed. 

Azolla is rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Studies describe feeding azolla to dairy cattle, pigs, ducks, and chickens, with reported increases in milk production, weight of broiler chickens and egg production of layers, as compared to conventional feed. 

One FAO study describes how azolla integrates into a tropical biomass agricultural system, reducing the need for inputs

Hope your week is going well!

Take care of you and yours.......and the planet :)

Molly