Saturday 8 September 2018

Mosaic Monday # 100 - playing with my food

These past few days I've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen attempting to turn the fruit which we received from GN last week into something temptingly edible.
What to do with grapes, I asked myself. Grape jam/jelly came the answer from bbcgoodfood.com
I had a packet of jam making sugar in the pantry so thought I'd give it a try, cooked the grapes as directed and drained the juice. Grape juice, sugar and lemon juice boiled together until setting point reached.
Well, that didn't work.
The result could best be described as a very sweet grape coulis.
Here's a link to the recipe.
grape jelly
Let me know if it works for you!
Next I made a tarte tatin using those lovely looking red apples and a recipe from Raymond Blanc.
The end result didn't look very much like the photograph on the website but it did taste good served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Not to be defeated I tweaked an apple crumble recipe that appeared on my FB page one morning, using walnuts in place of pecans and baking the mixture in several small dishes instead of one large one.
My thinking being that I could freeze some of them for another time instead of having to throw half of a large one away because, after all, we are only two people with normal appetites and the dog won't eat sweets.
As with the tart tatin it wasn't a pretty pudding but it was edible.
Thinking about it later I decided that it was probably the dark muscovado sugar that turned both desserts such a dark, unappetising colour.
My final attempt at using up the apples was a success!
If only I'd thought to turn all the apples into apple sauce I could have saved myself an awful lot of time and effort.

I did think twice about blogging my less than perfect culinary concoctions this week but one thing I do know is that even though not everything in life turns out the way we would like it to it doesn't mean that we can't have fun in the process!

19 comments:

  1. Oh this post made me chuckle! I loved it. I have had a few of those attempts myself. I must say, I thought they all looked pretty good. :) Kit

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  2. It all looks so delicious! Yes, the downside of food gifts is that you have to often do something with it before you can enjoy. Looks like you scored well!

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  3. Attempting red pepper jelly tomorrow. My first try was a failure - didn't set at all!

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  4. Given the chance, I would have eaten every bite of those delicious desserts even if the cook wasn't completely thrilled with her results. The crumble especially looks great. Applesauce too .... and oh my gosh I shouldn't have come here just before dinner time!! Thanks for this and of course for hosting.

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  5. Thank you Maggie for sharing your many deserts and glimpses of your china and that wonderful Portnun and Mason white bowl. 100th party !! today.
    Joy

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  6. Gratulation zum 100# Mosaic Monday. Was hier, liebe Maggie - wenn ich die leckeren Kuchen und Desserts betrachte - gebührend gefeiert ist.

    Das Aufteilen in Portionen zum Einfrieren handhabe ich genauso. Obwohl diesmal unsere riesengroße Tarte in zwei Tagen aufgegessen war...

    Ein herzlicher Sonnengruß... von Heidrun

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  7. Your deserts look so delicious - all these bakings are the joys of early autumn. Happy MM.

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  8. Maggie - so pleased you shared this with us - whether it's cooking or a craft project or gardening, it's not always the result that counts, but the joy of the journey. We almost always learn something along the way. Congrats on MM 100 - and thanks for hosting!

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  9. It's so nice to share the not-quite-perfect things as well as the others. I like darkly flavoured things and although the tarte tatin and crumble may not have looked as pretty as they could, they probably tasted delicious. There's always something to learn, isn't there?
    Thank you for hosting MM once again. Have a wonderful week.

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  10. Your desserts look good, Maggie! I've heard that apples can be sliced, slightly sauteed in butter and sugar, and then put in freezer bags and frozen for future pies. Just an other idea for the future! Apple butter is another good choice--sort of like applesauce but even more concentrated and spiced.

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  11. This is really awesome and beautiful.
    Thank for this sharing.

    Karbonn Mobile phones

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  12. Happy Mosaic Monday. Thanks for dropping by my blog Maggie.

    much love...

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  13. Home-made puddings are always special, Maggie. Even if they don't always look "nice", I am sure that the taste is delicious. Keep on baking!

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  14. Dear Maggie - Refined taste of the mosaic of sweets! Your dark-colored tart tatin looks not only delicious but also visually appealing placed on the white plate with vanilla ice-cream. If I were your neighbor, I’d be so happy to receive a small share of them.

    Yoko

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  15. Have you tried making chutney that incorporates apples, Maggie? Just a thought...
    https://nicholasjv.blogspot.com/2012/06/food-friday-chutney.html

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    1. Hi Nick
      I have taken your recipe and will report back!
      M

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  16. Maggie, I like the look of the apple crumble. Have a great week. Sylvia D.

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  17. I have made applesauce a couple of times lately and it's so good. I froze some too for another day. Your grape dessert looks wonderful! I bet your house smells amazing! Happy MM from the mountains! Hugs, Diane

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