Course Booking Bonus at Discover Mullingar

 

If you book one of my upcoming courses at the Discover Mullingar event on Sunday 26th September, you'll get one of these beautiful bath bombs in an origami handmade presentation box as a Thank You.

 

I have 3 types - Vetivert with a hint of Rose, Calendula petals with Mandarin and Fennel, and Lime and Ginger. The Calendula petals are harvested from my garden, and dried before adding them to the bath bomb.

 

The boxes are made of recycled road atlases and sugar paper. Completely Biodegradable, not to mention environmentally friendly.

 

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Upcoming courses

Here are the courses I'll be running for the next few months. If you'd like to book any of them, please email me - annambrowne "at" gmail "dot" com

OCTOBER Classes:
Keep those Crops!
How to pickle, freeze, and preserve your crops to keep them through the winter.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: October 6th, 13th,20th, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Cost: €50.00

Seed Saving Workshop.
How to collect, test, and store seeds, and why it’s so important. Includes a walk in Belvedere’s famous walled garden to spot and collect ripe seeds.
Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar.
Date/Time: 24th October, 10.30 am to 1.00pm. Cost: €25.00

Parent & Child Seed Saving Workshop.
Family fun with nature! Bring a grown-up helper, learn how to spot and save seeds, and bring some home with you to plant next Spring!
Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar.
Date/Time: 27th October, 2.00pm to 4.30pm. Cost €30.00 per child/adult pair.

NOVEMBER Classes
Make (and Bake) it a Christmas to remember!
Have a simpler, saner, Christmas this year. Nothing says you care about someone quite like a hand-made gift - learn how to make and/or bake something to suit everyone on your list. Stress-relief Guaranteed!
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: 5th November 10.00am to 5.00pm. Cost: €75.00

Here comes the Summer! (Eventually)
Gardening isn’t just for half the year – learn how to prepare your patch before and during Winter, to maximise crops and minimize necessary work next Spring.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: 17th November, 7.30pm to 9.30pm COST:€25

Make a big splash!
Luxuriate in your own cleverness – learn how to make bath bombs, scented oils, balms, and exfoliants using natural ingredients. All materials will be provided and you will take home a variety of products you will have made yourself.
Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar
Date/Time: 24th November, 10.30am to 1:00pm. COST:€35.00

The staff of life…
…never tasted so good! Fill your home with the aroma of fresh baked Sourdough and other Artisan breads, or make your own Pizzas from scratch. A 3-session course, held over a weekend.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: Friday 26th 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Saturday 27th 10.00am to 4.00pm, Sunday 28th 10.00am to 12.00pm. COST:€90.00

DECEMBER Classes
Make a big splash!
Luxuriate in your own cleverness – learn how to make bath bombs, scented oils, balms, and exfoliants using natural ingredients. All materials will be provided and you will take home a variety of products you will have made yourself.

Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: 5th December, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Cost: €35.00

JANUARY 2010 Classes
No Wheat? No Problem!
Learn how to bake your own delicious Wheat-free bread – like mixed grain no-knead bread (No wheat, no work - a no-brainer!), sourdough spelt, and a variety of non-yeast breads. A 2-session course, held over a weekend.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: Friday 8th, 7.30pm to 9.00pm. COST:€90.00

Grow Your Own Food.
Get back to basics with this 6-session course, to prepare for a bountiful harvest. Whether you have a garden or a window-box, there’s something here for you, even if you don’t know a trowel from a dibber. Cost: €120.00
Starting January 16th at Belvedere, from 11.00am to 1.00pm,
or January 19th at Mullingar Educate Together National School from 8.00pm to 10.00pm


To Book - please email me - annambrowne "at" gmail "dot" com

Discover Mullingar

For my local readers, just wanted to let you know about an interesting event happening on September 27th. It's a showcase for all that's interesting, local, good in Mullingar. For further details see here

I'll be publicising my upcoming courses there (and here), but on the day there will be local food producers (including my brother with a big pot of stew made with his organic beef), arts and crafts, sports organisations - I'm going to have to try to find time to get away from my stand and see some of the other exhibits. Some of them will be taking place in the new County council buildings - where last nights launch was held - it's worth a visit just to see that, it's a beautiful space. Hope to see you there!

Beetroot Chutney

On of my buddies showed me a (tiny) jar of beetroot chutney that she bought somewhere exclusive in Wicklow for €5.99. Had a look at the ingredient list, and a taste and here's what I came up with. To me it tastes as good, if not better - we'll see what her discerning daughter decides...

1kg beetroot - peeled and chopped up into 5 mm cubes (no need to get out calipers, very small is fine)
750 g onions - chopped finely
500g eating apples - peeled, cored and chopped up into 5 mm cubes (see above)
40g ginger
400 ml malt vinegar (or whatever vinegar you have handy)
200g brown sugar
30 ml balsamic vinegar - optional

Chop beetroot, onions, and apples. Peel and finely chop the ginger (or grate it). Cook in the vinegar for 45 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the brown sugar and cook for at least another 45 minutes. I added the balsamic vinegar at this stage - it tasted like it needed it.

When the beetroot and onions are soft, and the mix is less runny and more like chutney, you're done. Put it into scrupulously clean jars that you have heated - a judicious run of the dishwasher will see to both, and lid and label. Better kept for a month before eating like all chutneys -I'm guessing here, as this is my first time making beetroot chutney...

Ginger and Marrow Chutney

If you find yourself in possession of a very large courgette (or lots of little ones), here's what I suggest you make.

Ginger and Marrow Chutney

Ingredients:
1.5 kg courgettes/marrows
250g chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
2 peeled, cored and chopped eating apples
600ml vinegar - white wine, cider, or a combination of the two.
300g brown sugar
up to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger - about 3 thumbs - depending on how much you like ginger.
175 g raisins or sultanas


Method:
Before you start make sure that you have lots of clean jars with lids. Put them on an ovenproof tray. You will want to heat them a little before you put the chutney into them.
Peel, deseed, and chop marrow.
Place in a pan with everything except the sugar and raisins, and simmer for 30 mins.
If you haven't chopped everything up really small, now is the time to spot the big bits and make them smaller.
Add the sugar and raisins - and keep simmering. Now that the sugar is in, burning or sticking to the pan is more likely, so keep stirring regularly. Cook for 30-60 minutes more until it's thick.
Meanwhile, put the jars into the oven, and turn it on fairly low.
When you're happy that the chutney is thick enough, put it into the jars, and put the lids on them. Label and date.

The chutney will taste better if you wait a month before opening and eating it - store in a cool dark place. so it will be perfect for Christmas presents for your lucky friends!

Onions

This year I harvested enough onions to make a couple of plaits.

 

They won't last through the winter, but it was fun to do, and they look lovely...

Chutney time

We 'came by' a giant courgette - 2.5 kg, so this evening I made 2 kinds of chutney - Ginger and courgette, and a spicy Courgette and tomato chutney. I ended up with about 20 pots. I'll post the recipes I used if anyone is interested. And there's green tomato chutney to come...