At this time of the year, countrywide, the hedgerows are sparkling with free autumnal berries. Sloes, rosehips and elderberries are all making an appearance, but it’s the bountiful blackberry that takes centre stage for most foragers. This autumn there seems to be an abundance of berries free for the picking. Rich in antioxidants and packed with vitamin C, these luscious berries are best eaten straight from the bush. They do, nonetheless, make the juiciest of fillings for tarts, pies and crumbles. 

Some evenings there is neither the time nor the need for indulging in puddings, so on that particular evening, where a good bounty of blackberries have been retrieved, I take the opportunity to make my annual Blackberry Brandy. As sophisticated as it may sound it is incredibly easy to make. Freshly picked blackberries, sugar, brandy and ideally a kilner jar are all that is needed to create this deliciously fruity liqueur. However, you do need a little patience, as it will be a number of weeks before you get to sample a sip of this tipple. When made in mid-autumn, this blackberry brandy will be ready just in time to serve at a Christmas feast. It can be drank with just ice, included in a cocktail mixture {I would love some suggestions, on this one} or used as a rather impressive pudding ingredient. After straining the brandy an added bonus are the beautifully preserved blackberries, which are perfect to be used in a Christmas pudding mixture or simply served over pancakes with a dollop of yogurt, as a very grown up breakfast treat.

Blackberry Brandy

Ingredients

250g blackberries

125g caster sugar

400mls brandy

Method

1. Sterilise a medium sized kilner jar or a large, wide-necked jar.

2. Very carefully wash the blackberries, then dry them using a paper towel.

3.Place the blackberries in the jar and top with the sugar. Pour over most of the brandy. 

4. Close the lid and gently shake the jar, helping the sugar to dissolve and topping up with the brandy as it sinks into the berries.

5. Place the jar in a cool, dark place and take it out daily, for the first 2 weeks, to give it a little shake. After this, just give it a shake once a week for 6 weeks. The blackberry brandy can then be left at the back of a dark press for another few weeks.

6. When ready to use, strain the brandy, using a muslin-lined sieve, into another sterilised bottle or jar and reserve the berries, which can be used as part of a dessert or popped into a glass as a tasty addition to a blackberry based cocktail. The strained blackberry brandy can be kept in a cool, dark place for at least a year.

It never ceases to amaze me that when one fruit goes out of season, in our garden, another can take its place. I had but a few days of yearning for fresh berries, when I spied the first of our blueberry crop, already ripened by the summer sun. For the past number of years we've successfully grown blueberries in pots filled with soil, acidic compost and the odd shovelful of rich compost, from our compost container. The blueberries are deliciously juicy, and even seem to thrive without the benefit of a sunny summer. Rather surprisingly, they are the only fruit in the garden that the blackbird isn't drawn to, leaving all the more for us to enjoy.

One of our old, large pots that we filled with soil and acidic compost before planting the blueberry plants.

This little lady is a big fan of blueberries, and loves them best when she has picked them herself for her morning cereal. 

I was recently sent a few punnets of blueberries from a relatively local grower in Ballyteague, Co. Kildare, called Kildare Blueberries. Here they have a farm shop selling their berries, but visitors can also pick their own, if they’d prefer to have a hands-on fruit picking experience. Like my own blueberries, these were remarkably bigger and juicier than many of the foreign, shop bought varieties. We mostly munched on these berries as they were, but with one punnet, in a matter of minutes, I made a tasty compote, which served nicely on that morning’s pancakes. This flavoursome compote also made a perfect accompaniment to a few afternoon scones. When blueberries are at the height of their season, now is the time to buy a few punnets of them, pop them into the freezer and enjoy them winter long in smoothies, jams and delicious compotes, such as the one in the recipe below, (just increase the cooking time by 5 minutes when the berries are frozen).

Blueberry Compote

Ingredients

250g blueberries

zest of 1 orange

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 tbsp water

Method

1.      Place 225g of the blueberries into a medium sized saucepan, along with the orange zest, sugar and water.

2.      Place over a low heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. After this time stir through the remaining 25g of blueberries, and let the saucepan remain on the heat for a further minute, and continue to stir well.

3.      Allow to cool slightly and serve with pancakes and a dollop of yogurt. Otherwise allow to cool completely and keep in the fridge for up to three days. 
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In Other News
* I'm thrilled to announce that my blog has been shortlisted for three categories in this year's Irish Blog
Awards. Thank you so much to anyone who nominated me and to the judges who shortlisted this blog.
Also a big congratulations to all my fellow nominees. Best of luck. xx
* Móna Wise has written a great blog post all about blogging, and the opportunity of
gaining employment as a result. I was delighted to contribute to this. Have a read here - http://www.wisewords.ie/index.php/2014/08/blog-awards/

I have a great affection for edible gifts, and home-made ones are simply a bonus. In the days preceding Christmas I barely have enough time for wrapping presents, never mind making them, so I’m always delighted when I've had the foresight to make a supply of preserves or puddings a few weeks previous. With this in mind when I was planning my columns, a few weeks back, I made sure to include some edible goodies that can be used as Christmas presents. As the saying goes.."two birds, one stone".
Chutneys are so easy to make, and as preserve-making has become more popular there are many jars and pretty labels available to buy in shops. However, I generally wash and sterilize any jars, attractive or plain, once they are empty. This is a favourite chutney of mine and it is particularly suited for festive dining. When the chutney is simmering away the smell of cloves and ginger fill the air. While in the pan the dried cranberries plump up to form red jewel-like speckles. This truly is a chutney that perfectly echoes Christmas. It is ideally served with some nice cheese and crackers, as an after diner treat, but is also well placed as part of a tasty turkey sandwich.

Christmas Chutney
makes about 3kg/6lbs

Ingredients
1.5 kg Bramley apples, peel, cored and roughly diced
2 onions, finely diced
150g dried cranberries
125g dried apricots
900mls white wine vinegar
750g caster sugar
10 whole cloves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mustard powder
½ tsp cayenne chilli powder

Method
1. Place all of the ingredients into a large, wide saucepan. Simmer gently over a low heat, stirring regularly. Cook uncovered for 1 ½ hours until the apples have completely broken down and the chutney has thickened and turned a dark brown colour.
2.Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely before transferring into sterilised jars. Store in a cool, dry cupboard. This chutney can be used immediately but it is nicer when it has had a few weeks to mature. Refrigerate once opened.

Other News

Hairy Baby Hamper Giveaway Winner

Using http://www.random.org/ the winner of the Hairy Baby hamper is Adrienne from Cross my Apple Tart. Adrienne would you mind dropping me a line with your address to NessasFamilyKitchen(at)gmail.com. Congratulations! 

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Christmas eBook 

My Christmas eBook is available to view and download here for free.

Once the hullabaloo of Halloween has passed the children eagerly begin their Christmas countdown. Santa lists are written and rewritten many times, but never quite finalised until The Late Late Toy Show has aired. This is normally the first Friday in December but this year is the last Friday in November, which should leave Santa enough time to make all the necessary gifts, in time for the big day. My own Christmas countdown normally begins too after Halloween. November for me is a month for baking; puddings, the Christmas cake and mincemeat all benefit greatly from being made early and left to mature over a few weeks. Individually none of these are too great a task to undertake, but each can give a wonderful sense of accomplishment on Christmas week. If you have a little time on your hands and would like to get ahead with your Christmas gift list, I'm certain that a homemade pudding, cake or jar of mincemeat would be greatly appreciated by a loved one at Christmas. 

Only in recent years have I started to enjoy mince pies. A pastry case overfilled with boozy fruit never really cut it for me, that is until I started to sample a few homemade varieties. My mother in law is quite the expert at making pastry so a couple of Christmas ago we made a deal, that she would make the pastry and I would make a suitable mincemeat filling for mince pies, to serve at a family get together. These turned out splendidly and each Christmas since I've made these to accompany some festive mulled wine. The quality of the pastry must be good but most importantly the quality of the mincemeat is crucial. I love anything a little zesty, so with added orange zest and some Grand Marnier or Cointreau, these little treats are rather pungent with orange flavours. I greatly welcome nuts, of any variety, in a pie or tart so a few pecan nuts are in the mincemeat, but these can be replaced with walnuts if you prefer. The uncooked mince pies will freeze very well. Open-freeze the uncooked mince pies in their trays, then knock each one out and store in freezer bags. To cook, replace the desired amount of pies in a bun tin. When cooking from frozen, allow an extra 10 minutes cooking time.   
For all the non mince pie eaters I'd urge you to give these a try, as you may be surprised by how much you actually like them!

Ingredients

300g (12oz) raisins
300g (12oz) sultanas

juice 1 orange

6 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau

175g (6oz) pecans or walnuts, toasted, roughly chopped

200g (8oz) butter, melted

175g (6oz) candied peel, {mixed or orange} finely chopped

finely grated zest 2 oranges

175g (6oz) light muscovado sugar

1 large Bramley apple, freshly grated 

Method

1. Soak the raisins and sultanas in the orange juice and Grand Marnier or Cointreau for a couple of hours or so until the liquid is all soaked up. I normally leave overnight for maximum soakage.
2. Add in all the remaining ingredients and combine well. Spoon into sterilised jars, seal tightly, then store in the fridge until ready to use. The mincemeat will  keep in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Mince Pies - Sweet Pastry

Ingredients

180g/7oz plain flour

75g/3oz ground almonds

25g/1oz caster sugar

Finely grated rind of 1 orange
pinch of salt

140g/5oz butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

1 large egg, beaten

Method

1. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix in ground almonds, orange rind, caster sugar and a pinch of salt.
2. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg and mix into the flour with a knife, then gather into a ball using your hands.
4. Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas6.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and line a bun-case. Spoon in the mincemeat. Top each with a pastry disc.
6. Brush with a little beaten egg or milk and bake for 15-20 mins.

Halloween is just around the corner and the boys are exceptionally busy making costumes and practicing Trick or Treat rhymes. The house is suitably decorated and all we have left to do is plan the food for our party. The children love honeycomb and only recently did I realise just how easy it is to make. It's very inexpensive and simply takes a couple of minutes to prepare. The contents of the saucepan get very hot, so I would advise keeping the little ones away, until it comes to bashing it into pieces; a job that my Millie very much enjoyed!

Ingredients

1/2 teasp sunflower oil

120g caster sugar

60g golden syrup

1 teasp bread soda, sieved

Method

1. Prepare a small baking tray by drizzling over the oil and using a pastry brush, evenly grease the tray. Put the sugar and golden syrup into a medium sized saucepan. Give it a stir to combine then place on the heat.

2. Heat gently, until the sugar has melted, gently moving the saucepan if one side is bubbling a little higher. Simmer for 2 minutes being careful that it doesn't burn. Once it darkens in colour, remove from the heat and whisk in the sieved bread soda, very quickly. The mixture will begin to foam.

3. Immediately turn the mixture into the prepared tin. Leave for an hour to set.

4. Remove from the tin and break into pieces by hand or bash a little with a rolling pin. It can then be used sprinkled over ice-cream or dipped in some chocolate it's perfect as a tasty treat. Store in an air- tight container for up to 2 days.

I also have a few suggestions on my Halloween page that I will be making again this year.

Have a Happy Halloween!

I may have mentioned it here before that I really love watching movies. I have also been lucky enough to be an extra in some Irish based movies and I was very proud to be one of the featured ladies in the well acclaimed feature documentary His & Hers. What a fantastic experience that was, and if you haven't seen it I'd positively recommend you rent out a copy. It's beautifully shot, quite funny and extremely touching. This Ken Wardrop film will certainly carry you on a very emotional journey, so be ready for it!

Having four children in the past ten years has meant that myself and Diarmuid rarely go out for a night and I can honestly say that this has never bothered me. We love our night's in with a good movie and of course the obligatory mini feast to compliment the night. Even before we had the children, cinema trips and movie nights were always a fond way to spend time together. Our cinema fixes are now satisfied by outings with the kids and with so many fabulous children orientated films on the market, these jaunts are always lots of fun.

Since I'm on the topic of movies, I thought I should share with you what I heard on Ryan Tubridy's radio show, this morning. Ryan was speaking with Keith Duffy about a new initiative that I think is really fantastic. Keith's own daughter, Mia, has autism and he has spoken publicly about her condition on many occasions, heightening the awareness of the condition to so many people. I always admire his honesty on telling about the day to day life as a parent of a child with autism. He explained how a family trip to the cinema can often end in disaster, as the lighting and level of sound can be very troublesome for an autistic child. This morning his focus was on a new cinema initiative for children with autism, which will give families the opportunity to attend and hopefully have a very positive experience.  Here are the participating cinemas and  if you are interested in bringing your child to one of these movies the next one is ‘Beauty and the Beast 2D’ – it will be screened on Sunday 13th May at 11.30am at the Odeon Cinema at the Point, and Storm Cinemas in Naas, Portlaoise, Cavan & Limerick & UCI Cinemas in Blanchardstown, Stillorgan, Coolock and Newbridge. Maybe just ring the participating cinema to check availability.  

Lemony Hummus
There are many goodies that I like to include in my 'movie smörgåsbord' and I always have to have a few bowls of hummus or pesto for dipping some bread sticks and tortillas in to. There are many different types of hummus that I enjoy, but a zesty one with a little spice is my favourite. If you are not a fan of cumin, this can be replaced with ground coriander or some smoked paprika. 

Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Juice of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp greek yoghurt
1 tsp sugar

75ml olive oil

Method

1. Place all the ingredients into a mini chopper or a food processor. Blitz until smooth.

2. To serve, place in a bowl and drizzle with a little extra olive oil & a sprinkle of ground cumin.
Perfect as a dip or to accompany any spicy meal.

Deciding on what nibblys to eat is the easy part of 'movie night'. A lot of negotiating goes into choosing the film!