Freaky Good Friday

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Citrus, Citrus Bud mite, deformed, food, fruit, garden, home grown, Lemon, nature, plants

Lemons – This happens because some mites enter the flower buds and start sucking out the sap. The ovary of the flower is misshapen, so the fruit is, well, outlandish.

The tart fruit – Cape Gooseberry

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berry, cape Gooseberry, food, fruit, gardening, home grown, jams, organic, pies, plants, snacks, tarts

The name Cape Gooseberries actually comes from Cape Town in South Africa, the berries are actually called Gooseberries was brought to South Africa by the Cape settlers in the 1800’s.

Cape Gooseberries is one of South Africa’s favourite berries, well at least here in the Western Cape where they are mostly found. Some people call the Gooseberry a fruit but I’ll just stick to berries for now.

Cape Gooseberries have antioxidant properties as well as anti inflammatory properties and has also been used for cancer, malaria, asthma, hepatitis, dermatitis and rheumatism.

Physalis peruviana, commonly known as physalis, is indigenous to South America, but was cultivated in South Africa in the region of the Cape of Good Hope during the 1800s, imparting its common name, cape gooseberry.

As a member of the plant family Solanaceae, it is related to a large number of edible plants, including tomato, eggplant and potato, and other members of the nightshades. It is closely related to the tomatillo but not to the cherry, Ribes gooseberry, Indian gooseberry or Chinese gooseberry, as its various names might suggest.

The fruit is a small round berry about the size of a marble with numerous small yellow seeds. It is bright yellow and sweet when ripe, making it ideal for snacks, pies or jams. It is popular in fruit salads, sometimes combined with avocado.

Its most notable feature is the single papery pod that covers each berry. Because of the fruit’s decorative appearance, it is sometimes used in restaurants as an exotic garnish for desserts. If the fruit is left inside the husks, its shelf life at room temperature is over 30–45 days.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis_peruviana

Green Fig Preserve

Tags

carbonated soda, Christmas, christmas puddings, cooking, Ficus, fig, food, fruit, gardening, home, Lemonade, pantry shelves, preserve, recipe, Syrup, vegetarian

Most Afrikaner grew up in homes where rows and rows of jams, pickles and chutneys were stuffed into pantry shelves, jostling for position – a legacy of an era where everything edible had to be preserved in some way or another. Groenvyekonfyt (green fig preserve) may not have originated in the Afrikaner kitchens but almost every home had a couple of jars squirreled away for special occasions and it was served with cheese or bread and butter, turned into cakes and tarts and at Christmas, became an essential ingredient in the trifles and Christmas puddings inherited from the British.

1. Select figs which are plump, with no cavity inside.

2. Scrape and wash the figs. Make an incision in the shape of a cross at the blossom end of the fig. Weigh.

3. Soak over night in a solution of  Bi-carbonated soda, 2 (T) soda to 3,5 liters of water.

4. Rinse fruit, place in boiling water, and boil for about 15 minutes until tender. Use the water to make the syrup.

5. Press out the water and gradually put figs into boiling syrup. Use 2 cups sugar for every 500gs fruit, and for extra syrup 1 cup per every 375ml water. Prepare 1,5l (6 cups) of extra syrup to add when necessary.

6. Add a few cloves, cinnamon sticks and bruised pieces of ginger and 3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice for every 3kg fruit.

7. Boil rapidly for about 2 hours in the syrup until the fruit is clear and the syrup thick.

8. Pack into clean sterilized jars, fill with syrup and seal.

Tip: Test the syrup by allowing a little to cool in a spoon and then pouring it from the spoon. It should stick together and not fall in separate drops.

Allow to mature for 6 weeks.

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• Fresh Fig topped with Fig Pesto and Caramelized Walnuts (cali-zona.com)

20 useful Lemon tips

Tags

Assam, Beverages, cooking, Environmentally friendly, fruit, home, household purposes, household tips, Lemon, organic, zest

 

 

Lemons – a fruit with a wonderful fragrance, great in food and beverages, but also very handy for multiple purposes around the home!

 

Lemons have been cultivated by humans for over a thousand years. The fruit is mentioned in tenth century Arabic literature, but was probably first grown in Assam, India.

 

Lemons are high in vitamin C, have an anti-bacterial effect and are thought to possess antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties. The juice consists of about 5% acid, which also makes them useful for a variety of household purposes. Lemons and/or lemon juice are a popular addition in environmentally friendly cleaning applications.

 

20 useful Lemon tips

 

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• The Amazing frozen Lemon (aristonorganic.wordpress.com)
• 45 uses for lemons that will blow your socks off (undergroundhealth.com)

 

The tart fruit – Cape Gooseberry

Tags

berry, cape Gooseberry, food, fruit, gardening, home grown, jams, organic, pies, snacks, tarts

The name Cape Gooseberries actually comes from Cape Town in South Africa, the berries are actually called Gooseberries was brought to South Africa by the Cape settlers in the 1800’s.

Cape Gooseberries is one of South Africa’s favourite berries, well at least here in the Western Cape where they are mostly found. Some people call the Gooseberry a fruit but i’ll just stick to berries for now.

Cape Gooseberries have antioxidant properties as well as anti inflammitory properties and has also been used for cancer, malaria, asthma, hepatitis, dermatitis and rheumatism.

 

Physalis peruviana, commonly known as physalis, is indigenous to South America, but was cultivated in South Africa in the region of the Cape of Good Hope during the 1800s, imparting its common name, cape gooseberry.

As a member of the plant family Solanaceae, it is related to a large number of edible plants, including tomato, eggplant and potato, and other members of the nightshades. It is closely related to the tomatillo but not to the cherry, Ribes gooseberry, Indian gooseberry or Chinese gooseberry, as its various names might suggest.

The fruit is a small round berry about the size of a marble with numerous small yellow seeds. It is bright yellow and sweet when ripe, making it ideal for snacks, pies or jams. It is popular in fruit salads, sometimes combined with avocado.

Its most notable feature is the single papery pod that covers each berry. Because of the fruit’s decorative appearance, it is sometimes used in restaurants as an exotic garnish for desserts. If the fruit is left inside the husks, its shelf life at room temperature is over 30–45 days.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis_peruviana

 

Green Fig Preserve

Tags

carbonated soda, Christmas, christmas puddings, cooking, Ficus, fig, food, fruit, gardening, home, Lemonade, pantry shelves, preserve, recipe, Syrup, vegetarian

Most Afrikaner grew up in homes where rows and rows of jams, pickles and chutneys were stuffed into pantry shelves, jostling for position – a legacy of an era where everything edible had to be preserved in some way or another. Groenvyekonfyt (green fig preserve) may not have originated in the Afrikaner kitchens but almost every home had a couple of jars squirreled away for special occasions and it was served with cheese or bread and butter, turned into cakes and tarts and at Christmas, became an essential ingredient in the trifles and Christmas puddings inherited from the British.

1. Select figs which are plump, with no cavity inside.

2. Scrape and wash the figs. Make an incision in the shape of a cross at the blossom end of the fig. Weigh.

3. Loak over night in a solution of  Bi-carbonated soda, 2 (T) soda to 3,5 liters of water.

4. Rinse fruit, place in boiling water, and boil for about 15 minuted until tender. Use the water to make the syrup.

5. Press out the water and gradually put figs into boiling syrup. Use 2 cups sugar for every 500gs fruit, and for extra syrup 1 cup per every 375ml water. Prepare 1,5l (6 cups) of extra syrup to add when necessary.

6. Add a few cloves, cinnamon sticks and bruised pieces of ginger and 3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice for every 3kg fruit.

7. Boil rapidly for about 2 hours in the syrup until the fruit is clear and the syrup thick.

8. Pack into clean sterilized jars, fill with syrup and seal.

Tip: Test the syrup by allowing a little to cool in a spoon and then pouring it from the spoon. It should stick together and not fall in separate drops.

Allow to mature for 6 weeks.