A Table in the Orchard
Michelle Crawford
Language: English
Pages: 320
ISBN: 0857983628
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Organizing cocktail parties at the Sydney Opera House sounds perfectly glamorous, and for a while it was for Michelle Crawford. But once she became a mother, the yearning to find her own little slice of heaven in the country could no longer be ignored. For years she had been daydreaming of a little farmhouse, with smoke curling out of the chimney, where she could slow down and grow her own food. Last but not least, she was hungry for a new adventure. An old farmhouse nestled in Tasmania’s lush Huon Valley offered the chance to make that a dream come true—and adventure in spades, from her first doomed attempts at planting a veggie garden to raising a bunch of chickens with attitude, discovering the joys of a wood stove and foraging for treasure to make sloe gin, jam, and bake cakes. Lots of cakes. Warm, down to earth, and inspiring, and lushly illustrated with lip-smacking images and recipes, A Table in the Orchard is breathtaking proof of how seductive a taste of slow living in one of the most beautiful valleys in Tasmania might be. Like Michelle, you might be tempted to make your own crumpets—or run away to the Apple Isle.
They are my favourite, too, and I love their wheaty chocolatey goodness for morning tea. If you skip the chocolate topping, these biscuits are still quite good and, when topped with a slice of good cheddar, they are sublime. FOR THE BISCUITS 120g oats 120g wholemeal spelt flour 60g dark muscovado sugar Ɖ tsp bicarbonate of soda Ɖ tsp salt 120g butter, cut into small pieces 1舑2 tbsp milk Preheat oven to 180ƆC. Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Š In a blender, grind the oats
oven and vinyl floor, and focused on the newly painted windowsill, I could fill jars with flowers and herbs from the garden to place on its ledge and create the first little space that made me feel happy 舑 the first space that looked right. The house was starting to feel like home, and I was sure it was feeling happier with its facelift. ROASTED STRAWBERRY AND PIMM舗S ICE-CREAM After a hard day舗s painting the kitchen, this ice-cream laced with Pimm舗s was the perfect reward. It舗s so easy and you
weather, happy in the knowledge that you舗ve used at least three eggs today. Š To dry oranges, slice orange thinly 舑 about half a centimetre 舑 and lay out on a baking tray. Bake in a really slow oven (100ƆC) for around 2 hours or until the slices are hard and crisp. Use them to decorate the cake. Spring Days Spring days, when the weather plays nice, mean glorious mild sunny days spent in the garden, surrounded by flowers and new spring growth. Even the most neglected parts of the garden have a
clever: it has one cooking chamber, one warming chamber and two hotplates 舑 one very hot and one for simmering. To adjust the cooking temperature you slide your pots around, rather than using dials. Visions of farmers keeping orphan lambs warm by the oven while the kettle boiled and a pudding cooked helped fuel my romantic notions about AGAs, and I secretly wished that one day I would own such an oven. However, when I discovered that these days AGAs run on gas or electricity and not wood, my
filled up and it gurgled and glugged, heating our hot water cylinder. I could hear how the fire was going, too, by the crackle of the wood and ticking noise the cooker made. These background noises kept me company when I was home during the day. She let me know what was going on and if she needed my attention: just like a toddler, silence usually meant trouble and that the fire had gone out.Š Our cooker can be a little bit contrary when she feels like it. But after so many years of waiting,