I love this time of year, slipping from summer to Autumn, ‘the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ as Keats once wrote. It’s not cold yet, but you can cosy up under a big old jumper and enjoy the very last of the nature’s bounty.
Grape liqueur
We have had such a big crop of grapes this year. They obviously enjoyed the hot summer! However, they aren’t sweet enough to eat or juice.
I offered them on Facebook to see if any friends wanted to take them for wine making but there was no take up. We couldn’t let the whole crop just rot on the vine so I decided to make some grape liqueur.
It couldn’t have been easier. Essentially you just leave them in vodka with a little sugar. I am giving the jar a shake every day and looking forward to drinking this at Christmas.
I am keeping my eyes open for some pretty bottles and might even give some of the grape liqueur as a Christmas present.
Hazelnuts
Talking of nature’s bounty, we have had two bags of hazelnuts sitting around for months. They were given to us by a neighbour. Some were eaten last Christmas but the others were forgotten about!
I found them the other day and decided to clean off the husks and start to use them. Now I need to find some good recipes 😀. I can make some nut cutlets for the freezer, of crush them up and put them in cakes or biscuits.
Apples and flowers
As I mentioned in last week’s meal plan, I hosted a dinner party for my girlfriends this week.
In the past I thought I had to recreate a top restaurant experience when I threw dinner parties. I would worry about every detail, spend a fortune on ingredients and generally stress out. But when I have been at work all day I just can’t do that and, to be honest, they wouldn’t expect it or be remotely judgemental. So I decided to make a nut roast with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puds and steamed vegetables. I made the nut roast the evening before, so just had to put it in the oven. I also made an apple pudding with custard. It was pretty much stress free, and meant I had time to sit and chat without any last minute faffing about. We all enjoyed it and there were leftovers for Mr S.
It didn’t break the bank either! The apples were from a neighbour’s tree like the hazelnuts. My friend Sara, who also grows lovely things in her garden, brought a beautiful posy of home grown flowers for the table.
Bulbs and compost
Our garden has been a bit neglected this year. We did spend a good few hours out there last weekend, cutting things back and tidying up. Then we went to the garden centre and bought a job lot of compost and some big bags of spring bulbs.
Bulbs are a cheap way to bring colour to the garden every year. I am going to layer them in pots so that the crocuses come up first, followed by the daffodils and finally the tulips for a long lasting display.
Sale bargains
I hardly ever buy new clothes and am a veritable second hand Rose. However, I really needed to find a couple of tops for work so I headed to the New Look sale where they had 60% off some items. I got one reduced from £13.99 to £6 and another for £8 that was originally £15.99. I wear a dark coloured skirt and cardigan almost every day so I don’t have to think too hard in the mornings. A bright top stops me looking too drab!
So that’s my frugal week enjoying nature’s bounty and a bargain or two. How has your week been?
I am linking up with Cass , Emma and Becky in their Five Frugal Things linky.
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Oh, what a lovely post, Jane, full of good frugal ideas on how to enjoy autumn without breaking the bank, even your meal for your girlfriends (I love nut roast even though I’m not vegetarian.)
Our own ‘nature’s bounty’ are the walnuts from our own walnut tree. For the past couple of years, squirrels have stripped the tree bare, no nuts at all even though one day they were there, overnight they had totally disappeared. There must’ve been an army of the little creatures to manage that, no doubt carrying sacks to carry their goods home! But this year we are having a reasonably good harvest and the nuts (those that have dropped thus far) are drying on the sitting room windowsill. Home grown walnuts are a treat and nothing like the dry commercial ones, which can be slightly bitter, that are in the supermarkets all year round.
Bulbs, as we speak, are on their way to us. I confess these aren’t exactly frugal, but they will be such a treat come the spring. We also bought wallflowers and sweet Williams yesterday but won’t be planting them today as it’s heaving with rain.
Margaret P
You are lucky to have a walnut tree, even if you do need to fight the squirrels for them!
Warm the hazelnuts in the oven and put in a food processor and blend till they turn into nut butter I do this every year after Christmas when bags of nuts a sold off cheaply, delicious.
I will! Sounds great
Husband has just seen a squirrel on the lawn going around looking at the fallen nuts. Husband says that he sniffs each one before deciding which one to choose to take away! An I thought a walnut was just a walnut. Obviously Mr Squirrel knows something we don’t! (It’s heaving with rain, I actually feel sorry for him!)
Margaret P
Nice bounites, Jane. I love your thoughts on hosting and hope to be less stressed about it. I don’t judge folks who are kind enough to have me over so why would I think they are doing so to me? I love generous neighbors and friends that share their produce. Not being a gardener or a fruit bearing tree owner, I try to think of ways to reciprocate and baking or making jam works. Sare the grapes sweet enough for jelly?
They have made a very sweet jelly. It’s lovely!
Oooh I am loving the sound of grape liquer!
I didn’t think grapes would grow in the UK for some reason so I need to look into this x x x
They are easy to grow, Cass! We did have a particularly good summer though