Daisies and Desserts

With these hot days of summer the garden is curling up in places. The dry soil is slow to respond despite continuous watering. In places it’s crisp underfoot. Luckily the best part of the garden is the bit viewed from the house and that’s holding its own.

The bees are keeping busy and a few butterflies have appeared over the last few days. I haven’t captured any butterfly action with my camera yet but the bees are more obliging.

The lavender always attracts pollinating insects and I like the way some of the plants splay onto the paving with their fragrant flowers.

It seems a good year for lavender. My roses, though, are struggling for various reasons. I was dismayed to find that my “Scarborough Fair” has been munched by rose sawfly caterpillars. It was looking so pretty too.

Finding caterpillars on my roses is a first for me but this year I’ve had them on a potted pine as well. They can strip all the leaves very quickly. The only remedy is to pick them off and dispose of them. It’s important not to use insecticides because of the damage they do to bees and other creatures.

Late summer perennials are coming out or on their way. The marigolds are glorious and a few poppies are still popping up here and there.

Beautiful flowers appear in the veg garden too. Just look at this fabulous squash.

The squashes are tiny baby ones yet but they have plenty of time to grow for storing in the winter. These are called “Buttercup”. They have dark green skin and orange flesh. Much tastier than the “Butternut” ones, in my opinion, and delicious roasted with a light sprinkling of olive oil.

The basil in the greenhouse has loved the heat and the leaves are enormous this year. So good for Italian-style salad with bread cubes tossed in garlicky olive oil, tomatoes and olives and served with grated cheese. Great for pesto as well. My recipe is a bit different. It uses cashews instead of pine nuts and Lancashire cheese. The recipe is in my cookbook or you can find it by scrolling back to the post called “Delicious Pesto and Lovely Spoons”.

I’m also growing a pepper plant in the greenhouse. I don’t normally grow peppers because my husband hates the taste but I couldn’t resist buying one plant for myself from our local nursery. I’m thrilled to see little fruits forming now, following the nice white flowers. It will be my treat when they are big enough.

Regular readers might remember my recipe a couple of weeks ago for strawberry mousse. I froze some and when I thawed it I discovered that it’s even more delicious semi-frozen rather than just chilled.

I’ve been toying with variations of this mousse and here’s one I made at the weekend. Different than the fruity one but very enjoyable, especially if you love chocolate.

Toasted Pecan and Chocolate Mousse

25g Pecans + a few for decoration
40g Dark Chocolate
3 rounded tablespoons Caster Sugar
200g Cream Cheese
300ml Whipping Cream

Break the 25g pecans into bits. Heat the grill.
Place the pecans in a roasting tin or heatproof dish and brown under the grill. They will go dark but take care not to burn. Only takes a couple of minutes.
These must be completely cold before proceeding, so it's a good idea to do it the day before.
Place the chocolate in the fridge to chill.
When the chocolate is cool, grate it coarsely, or chop into tiny pieces.
Beat the cream cheese with the sugar and mix in the toasted pecan bits.
Add two tablespoons of the cream to the cream cheese and mix.
In a separate bowl whip the rest of the cream until soft peaks begin to form. Don't allow it to become stiff.
Stir the chocolate and the cream cheese mixture into the cream.
Place in dessert dishes and decorate with extra pecan halves.
Chill for several hours. 

With daisies in the garden and in the house they reminded me of a lovely meadow we saw ar Harlow Carr in Yorkshire, a few years ago.

I used my photograph of the flowers to paint them. Painted with acrylics on a canvas board. Not satisfied that I captured the beauty of the originals but it is a lovely reminder of a happy day. It hangs on our landing and the evening glow from the sunset lights it up.

Bye for now. Enjoy the summer but stay cool and safe. Remember to open windows while it’s cool in early morning and close them during the heat of the day to keep out the hot air. With you again next week.