January's grip on the weather

This robin looks quite threatening I think!

We have experienced all kinds of weather in January; freezing cold ice sleat and snow enveloped the east coast of Ireland for almost three weeks bringing life aas we know it to a standstill. The snowfall was not  significant, however the contant thawing and overnight freezing meant that pavements and roads were very treachorous. I had not experienced Ireland in a state of paralysis like this since 1982; that cold spell only lasted 7 or eight days. The weather system which held the cold conditions in place for three weeks eventually weakened and moved on, but was quickly replaced by strong winds and rain. Ireland has had its weather problems for the last two months but the arrival of milder stormy conditions has occured in tandem with a severe water shortage as the freezing conditions pass the burst pipes relaease vast quantities of water directly into the ground.

Runner bean shoots

Frozen Cabbage

The freezing and wet weather transformed the allotment into a freezer. Only the hardiest of plants and vegetables have escaped the icy chill. We tried to protect the crowns of rhubarb by covering them with cut grass but the ground was thoroughly frozen and standing water on the ground had frozen solid. Corinne dug the jerusalem artichokes and washed them in the bitterly cold water. I bravely photographed this for posterity, dug out a few leeks and inspected the beetroots. Just visible through the ice and snow was the mache lettuce and the crisp layer of perfectly frozen snow had also been penetrated by the broad bean shoots which we had planted in November. It was amazing to see life taking hold where everything else had wilted and died with the chill of the frosts and ice.

Corinne cleaning jerusalem artichokes

Donabate beach on Sunday

On Friday evening I arrived home as the dark sky blackened and produced a dense misty rain. Beofre long the stylus on the barograph had dropped recording the arrival of a new weather front. By midnight the wind was houling and beating against the windows. With the easterly wind the sea must have been greatly disturbed and there was a big rise and fall in the tide. This morning while walking on the beach we came across a lot of shells which must have been dredged up from the sea bed by the violent force of the storm; a vast quantity of shells of every kind had been strewn along the high water mark. Large, black old native oyster shells, razor clams, and welks had been cast up broken on to the beach along with a great number of spiny cockles which live just beyound the low water mark. Many of these were still alive and awaited the sea as it closed in once again to possibly bring them back to their sandy muddy homes. Their bright pink and red bodies were extended in anticipation of digging their way to safety. Unfortunately for a few of the better preserved specimens, I arrived with a little canvas bag and collected a few. Having found a suitable rockpool which was constantly being filled by the arriving waves I placed my bag into it for an hour and let them feed and filter the sand out of the shells and fleshy bodies.

Spiny cockles resting in a rock pool

In early January when I bottled my wild bullace plum gin. I had waited until late September to collect a large quanity of these wild bullace plums, which grow in ditches close to the alotment. They take some time to pick and after all this work I dedicated some of them to jelly and others to a cobbler type dessert dish. The rest, just over a kilo, I pricked with a fork and placed in two large Le Parfait jars which were then topped up with gin and sugar. I used roughly 200 grams of sugar to a bottle of gin as the wild bullace plum is very bitter. Having let them rest in a dark cool place for three months I  decanted two bottles, and have set them down for a further three months to mature. I decided to reserve the remaining gin and bullace plums in a jar to mascerate for a further month or two to experiment a little. While bottling the gin I did sample a small glass or two of this wonderful fruit gin, and I was quite surprised with the result; the flavour was excellent and while the gin had acquired the sharpness of the fruit, it was an enjoyable tipple.

Corinne's charlotte russe au chocolat

Corinne always has an interesting and surprisingly exotic, request for a birthday cake. Last year it was mango cheesecake. This years request was charlotte russe au chocolat. While knowing the basics of the charlotte I did a little research and examined closely my best source for this cake; Julia childs book of French cooking. Having just escaped the clutches of  Christmas with moderate weight gain I decided to pass on the almond cream and instead decided to fill the sponge finger mould with the wonderfully rich chocolate mouse. Priior to serving I sieved a little cocoa powder over the mouse and placed on top a few intense chocolate biscuits for decoration to add to the 70s feel. wE passed on birthday candles and dived straight in!