Pumpkins and bakes

So we have seen the Bake off final and I have harvested
4 pumpkins, 3 acorn squash and yet more yellow patty pans.

I made Green tomato chutney (from the latest Jamie magazine) which was great.

On the other hand my stuffed squash was not 100% successful. In fact not even 50% successful. I preferred the filling (60g Bulgar wheat with fridge veg)

I also made a lovely carrot, apple and courgette cake from the amazing Cake Hunter blog. It wasn't too sweet as uses honey, fruit juice and dates to sweeten it. It also had no eggs so quite heavy. You would definitely need the butter icing recommended but I screwed that up by using low fat cream cheese which dissolved into a pool that could never achieve frosting consistency. I admit I had to buy it in the end for office presentation.

I enjoyed it so much and colleagues liked it so much that I decided to bake it again for my own personal version of bake off - band of bakers. Yet again, I had trouble with frosting when practising.

On the plot I need to dig over the ground for winter and prepare soil - weed/ manure. STILL NOT DONE despite perfect weather - will have to wait until end November

In the recent storms, which we were lucky enough to miss the worst of, we just lost 2 fence panels. They will add fuel to the great allotment bonfire I am planning.

Finally with one of the pumpkins I roasted slices with whole onions and blitzed them for soup and also made Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall's pumpkin, chili cornbread which was a huge success.

Speedy salads and using up green tomatoes

Top tip - pinch out growing tips once tomato plants have set two or three trusses of fruit (cordon) otherwise you will be left with too many small green tomatoes at the end of the growing season. Save time by using salad seedlings to start off your salad collections.

If you do get stuck with some green tomatoes you can a) make more chutney or b) ripen green tomatoes using the banana trick. Basically, put your green tomatoes into a paper bag with a ripe banana and pop them in a dark place (a drawer will work well). Keep checking but the tomatoes should ripen.

Paul Merrett has a great recipe for Green Tomato Chutney in his book 'Using the Plot' which I adapted (as I didn't have all the ingredients to hand). I have used quantities that would make a jar's worth (again out of necessity as I didn't have that many green tomatoes).
500g green tomatoes, roughly chopped into small bits
140ml malt vinegar
1 onion, chopped
100g soaked dried dates (keep the juices)
2tsp mixed spice
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp ground ginger

Throw all the ingredients into a saucepan let the mixture boil for about 20 minutes. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer.

Every so often stir the pan to stop sticking. When the mixture is thick, dark brown and rich looking your chutney is ready. Cool and store in a sterilised jar.

At this time of year you can still sow salads to keep you going throughout Autumn (apparently you can even do this up to Christmas with a cloche or tunnel). It is important to choose a good variety that suits cooler temperatures.  These varieties tend to be spicier types although, actually, all lettuce germinates better in cooler (not cold) weather.

If you can't be bothered with sowing and pricking out you can still grow salad very cost effectively. Cut and come again salad leaves are now available from most supermarkets (I've seen them in Sainsbury's and Lidl). these are actually little salad seedlings and if you separate them and plant them out you'll soon have proper sized salad plants.

The sad little seedlings before they blossomed!
They were planted at the height of the heatwave....