Malcolm : What do you mean, you're going to pick lilies, we don't have any in the garden.
Me : No dear, I said I'm going to make some piccalilli.
Some weeks ago, I promised Tinky that I would share my recipe for piccalilli with her ...... so I thought I might as well share it with all of you!
I started yesterday, when I chopped up about 500g of cauliflower. I put it in a colander, over a bowl, and covered it generously with salt. I left this overnight for the excess moisture to drain out of the cauliflower
The original recipe for the piccalilli uses cucumber and pickling onions, but I prefer to use ......
I cut 100g onions in half and sliced 200g gherkins. I rinsed the salt off the cauliflower and left it to drain. The other ingredients are
300ml vinegar, 50g sugar, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 2 teaspoons dried mustard, 1 tbsp cornflour
The method is simple - put most of the vinegar, the sugar, turmeric, ginger and mustard in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the cauliflower and simmer until it is almost cooked. Add the onions and gherkins and simmer for a few more minutes. Use the remaining vinegar to slake the cornflour, then add a little at a time, until the mixture has thickened. Spoon into hot jars, cover and label.
This made four small jars - now I just need some cheese on toast .....
Once the piccalilli was ready, I finished my Ishbel shawl - I had blocked it yesterday, and today I sewed in the ends. I had also knitted fingerless mittens with the leftover yarn and I finished them as well. Then it was out to the studio to take photos ......
While I was cooking, the postman arrived with two boxes. One contained a roll of cellophane wrapping and some cellophane bages. I popped two washcloths and a bar of soap into a bag and tied it with a scrap of ribbon - of course it will look better with matching ribbon and a pretty tag
When I saw these cardboard boxes, I thought hmm - what can I use them for? Perhaps for the new baby sets, with some pretty tissue paper (this is just an odd piece from my stash)
And to finish - could you have resisted this bakers' string and these super tags, which I can stamp or embellish