LEMON CURD

A jar of deliciousness with a rustic homemade loaf. A big warm hug in depths of winter.                                       UHG

As we enter the teeth of our grey and soggy winter, the beaming yellow lemons on my tree reminds me that everything is going to be ok; that the sun will shine again…

Lemons, a reason to be bright                       Mans

Shop-bought ones are just not the same    Mans

I love the lemons on my tree; they are not like those perfect ones without pips that you buy at the posh supermarkets. You know the ones that come in a fancy plastic packet that are all the same shape and size, that have a waxy sheen and a disappointing amount of juice. The ones off my tree are grizzled and gnarled, tiny and huge, peppered with pips and pregnant with juice.

During the next few months, I bet you that some South African gardens will be littered with rotting knobbly ones, waiting to be squelched between someone’s unsuspecting toes, while inside the same homes are bowls of boring shop-bought ones displayed on dining room tables. I dare you to own up if that’s you! I promise you won’t get into trouble…

Loads of juice…                                                                                                                                                                         Mans

Try this delicious lemon curd recipe. It even works with the clones, devoid of any character.

What you need

-          - juice of about 5 lemons (about 250ml)

-          - zest of 1 lemon (optional)

-          - 500g of white sugar

-          - 4 or 5 eggs; whisked (depending on size – what happened to small, medium, and large? It’s just large, extra large and jumbo these days. Hmmmm?)

-         - 125g butter

What to do

Chuck all the ingredients into a double boiler on a medium heat. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat and cool immediately in a bowl of ice (you don’t want scrambled eggs, do you?) For extra smoothness you might want to strain the mixture through a sieve, but only if you want. Bottle in sterilized jars. Store in the fridge and chomp within a couple of weeks. You should get about 2 x 450ml jars of deliciousness. 

Grizzled, gnarled, knobbly and bursting with juice.                                                                                                         Mans

Finally – check out an old blog of mine about my beloved lemon tree. http://theurbanhuntergatherer.blogspot.com/2012/09/living-under-lemon-tree.html. Definitely my most daring one. What was I thinking… what am I thinking now?

KEI APPLES (SPIKY SEASON PART 3)

Kei Apples                                                                                                                                                                                  UHG

Those of you who know me or have been following my blog will know that I’m a chronic attention seeker. I just cant seem to help myself. When I went to collect some Kei apples from a spot I have been told about my excitement started to bubble like fruit in a jam pot, as I saw an opportunity to show off. I know that you won’t believe me, but the only ripe fruit that hadn’t already been plucked from the tree was out of reach, so to collect a bowl of fruit required some sign climbing. The showing off was incidental, or at least that's the story I’m sticking to.

My new and exciting secret spot, just don't tell anybody                                                                                               Laura

'Mind the gap'                                                                                                                                                                           Laura

The 'proper' name for Kei apples is Dovyalis Caffra. ‘The pejorative botanical term ‘caffre’ invokes the history of colonization on the frontier of the Cape colony. This fruit is indigenous to southern and eastern Africa and ‘Kei’ apples draw their name from the river in the Eastern Cape, which marked the boundary of the conquered territories for much of the nineteenth century.’ So writes our resident historian and in this case part time photographer, Dr Laura Evans. They are known in isiXhosa as umkokola.

Kei apricots?                                                                                                                                                                            UHG

Sticking with the spiky season theme, Kei apples are fiercely guarded by their vicious thorns, and the branches were/ are used as barriers to contain livestock and to keep intruders out. The fruit is more like an apricot than an apple in appearance, texture and flavor. If picked fresh they are mouth-puckeringly sour and unless perfectly ripe are challenging to chomp without a crinkled face. You might think that simply poached in sugar and water they would make a fine and simple dessert, but, as I found out, this is not so. After only a few minutes of cooking they seem to collapse into an orangey mush, so they are best suited for jams, jellies and syrups. If eaten fresh, try them quartered and sprinkled with sugar. I might add that the pips add a crunchy pop, which is rather fun.

Not the same tree!                                                                                       UHG

Spiky season                                                                                            UHG

Ready for jamming                                                                         UHG