pumpkinstrokemarrow

Most of the plants are dying now - presumably the cool nights have done for them it still being hot enough during the day - so the pumpkins are not going to get much bigger. We have the worst year since records began for the large yellow pumpkins which were the original point of the whole exercise. Quite a lot of fruit which made it to six inches or so and then started to rot. Maybe half a dozen or so which made it beyond that point but none as much as twelve inches. Where did we go wrong? Maybe a combination of late planting due to slugs knocking out the first planting and of not enough sun. Consolation prize in the form of the Cambridge green pumpkins which were not hugely prolific, getting maybe one to the plant, not huge, coming in at around ten inches - but at least we got a reasonable number of them and they had the advantage of novelty.

Picked the last Elinson Orange which although deep red remained rather underripe. And I remain very unsure that I have got the name of this tree right. Maybe also the spelling: Elinson's?

Hoed the discs for five of the fruit trees. Ground very hard. Gave the sickly James Grieve a couple of cans of water. Maybe it will recover next year - the morello cherry having finally made it to health, if on the small side, after about three years sickly.

Ducks being half price at Mr S the other day we had one - doesn't seem extravagent at £5 a pop - with the result that we had left over duck to dispose of. Curiously, not many recipes about for second hand duck - in fact exactly one in the Boston Cook Book and one from a similar sized French cook book from 1959 (interesting how the style of both writing and pictures has changed since then). That from Boston, salmi of duck, was much the same as another salmi of duck from France, although this last was listed in the new duck rather than the second hand section.

So went for salmi - the active ingredient of which being something called Spanish sauce and all went well. A hybrid between soup, stew and various popular tinned soups - the glaze and texture of the vegetables being very like that in one of those tinned farmhouse style vegetable soups. Also called chunky these days. But a superior version, naturally. Melt butter, add pepper. Add chopped bacon, chopped celery, chopped onion and thinly sliced carrot. Simmer in closed pan for a while. Meanwhile boil up duck carcase. Strain and add chopped tomato. Boil for a bit longer. Add into the other vegetables. Add the chunked second hand duck. Simmer for a bit then serve. Rather complicated for a reheat but worth it.

All of which reminds me that the DT has exhibited enough of the mug of Jamie Oliver to last me for a lifetime - and that is without reading the guff which goes with it. I guess, to his credit, he is just collecting the dosh and leaves some foot soldier to actually pen the guff. Good work if you can get it. But maybe someone ought to tell the marketting department at the DT that there is such a thing as over-exposure. His mug needs to be rested for a good long while.