Upbeat November

I have turned a corner – well, I think I have. (Nearly.)  My foot problems began a year last March and finally I underwent surgery 6 weeks ago in October, which was like having my already painful foot walloped with a lump hammer!  It has been a long and difficult journey but the road ahead is beginning to look straighter and the bumps underfoot feel a little less bumpy.  I hope this is not a mirage - but I can see a hazy, dim light for the first time in over 18 months.  I must press on, head towards it and never look back.

November is associated grey skies, damp grass and slimy leaves, as well as cold nights and short days. This year, the month started uncharacteristically mild with sunny, dry days.  Now Jack Frost is making his presence known and we have seen a couple of white-outs across the valley.  Autumn has bitten the garden with ice-cold jaws.

This morning, when the watery, fleeting sunshine had melted the tiny ice crystals clinging to the blades of grass, I wandered into the garden with my camera.  For longer than I can remember, walking has required the same level of concentration as threading the eye of a needle with a fine thread and the idea of actually doing something as well as walking (such as talking or looking around), was an alien concept.  However, today I took some photographs whilst standing up and took the odd step this way and that.  I was thinking about the picture and not the standing which for me is a breakthrough, dare I say a small miracle.  Maybe, using a pair of secateurs whilst standing up is a realistic target?

Springfield is going to sleep yet I feel like I am waking up after an long, unspecified absence.  It is doubtful I will ever leap up with reckless abandon, nor would it be advised even if my bones did not break quite so easily.  However I am stretching out my limbs, starting to look around and the landscape appears very different.  It is like I am seeing for the first time and I am seeing potential, not necessarily the garden's potential, but mine. Maybe I can do things, not all of them, but some.  If the garden can grow and change with every season, so can I.

It may be dismal outside but there is colour and form if you look closely at the detail.  The vegetable garden is browner than I would like. The leeks and parsnips are sad-looking but a blessing in the kitchen.  The parsley is unstoppable and is growing verdantly despite the low temperatures.  It almost looks defiant.  This bright green colour makes a change from the red and yellow of autumn leaves!

Believe or not, two roses are still in flower and one has buds ready to burst.  Surprise, surprise, the cotoneaster still has some juicy red berries to admire so obviously the birds have found food elsewhere.  But the showstopper is the solitary clematis flower on the pergola at the side of the lawn.  We have never seen that before in November!

Of course, the good garden stalwarts deliver as expected, such as the dogwoods (yellow and red cornus), evergreen sweet box (Sarcococca), ‘Autumn Joy’ (Sedum) and yellow jasmine ( Jasminum nudiflorum).  No garden is complete without these plants for autumn and winter colour. 

Back inside, after a much needed sit down and a coffee, I then set to work making a Gooseberry Frangipane Tart using some red and green 'goosegogs' from the freezer.  I make a huge one and freeze it in smaller portions than Doc would like. I admit I did not make my own sweet pastry but I do have an excuse!  It is a really easy recipe - see below for details.

Today has been a good day.  I am finally sitting down with both my feet up on a stool.  It feels great to have been into the garden, to have achieved something, to be there.  Long may it continue.  I just have to take it one step at a time.

Gooseberry Frangipane Tart

200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
6 eggs
80g plain flour
250g ground almonds
3 heaped tabls gooseberry jam
400g gooseberries, frozen then defrosted
500g frozen dessert pastry, defrosted

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, and line a large 24cm-26cm deep, loose-bottomed flan tin. Chill for half an hour.  Heat the oven to 180 C, Gas mark 4. I used our electric fan oven which has a fan and bottom heat control.  This means I don’t have to bake the pastry blind as the tart can be baked on the base of the oven – which reduces risk of a soggy bottom!  However, you can if you prefer, bake the pastry blind first, before you put the filling in.

Beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes, then add the eggs slowly, beating well. Sift together the flour and ground almonds, add to the butter mixture. Beat for 1 minute.

To assemble the tart, spread the jam in the base of the chilled pastry case. Spoon the frangipane cream over the jam and then top with gooseberries. Bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 45-50 minutes, until the tart is golden brown and set in the middle.  Cool in the tin for 20 mins and then turn it out on a wire cooling rack.  Serve dusted with icing sugar and whipped cream flavoured with elderflower cordial.  Doc prefers custard though!