FLOWER POT KITCHEN: FABULOUS PINEAPPLE POOL PARTY FOR OSCAR

2 Aug 2012

FABULOUS PINEAPPLE POOL PARTY FOR OSCAR

SCOOPED OUT PINEAPPLE BOWL FILLED WITH FRESH SWEET AND
SHARP BLUEBERRIES, RASPBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES
& SWEET RED GRAPES

SCOOPED OUT PINEAPPLE FILLED WITH TOMATOES FROM THE
GLASS HOUSE AND ENGLISH CUECUMBER

COOL CARVED OUT PINEAPPLES FILLED WITH ORANGE
SQUASH FOR THE KIDS A FUN AND COOL WAY
TO HAVE YOUR DRINKS

CARVED OUT HALF OF A PINEAPPLE USED AS A
BOWL FOR COCKTAIL SAUSAGES

LOVE LOVE LOVE 1970'S PRAWN COCKTAIL, UPGRADED SLIGHTLY
BY SERVING FRESH PRAWNS IN A LEMON ZESTY MAYO
SAUCE WITH AVOCADO, CORIANDER & CAYENNE PEPPER

FABULOUS FRESH GUACAMOLE

CAPTAIN OSCAR AND HIS SHIPMATES HAVING A EXCELLENT

POOL PARTY ONLY LESSON LEARNED WAS NOT TO GIVE

THE BOYS AND I ALSO MEAN GROWN UP BOYS!

WATER SHOOTERS !!! US GIRLS WERE UNDER SERIOUS

ATTACK AT ONE POINT

REALLY LOVELY DAY

PRAWN COCKTAIL

500g cooked large prawns

200g mayo

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

1/2 lemon juiced

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp Tabasco (optional)

1 bunch coriander

2 iced gems, leaves separated

Salt and pepper optional

Take the mayo and add the tk, lemon juice, Tabasco, coriander mix well and season to your taste with salt and pepper and possibly a hint more lemon juice, add the prawns and cayenne pepper. Take the leaves of the iced gem and individually place on a platter and fill each leave with the prawn cocktail and dust with a hint more cayenne pepper.

AVOCADO GUACAMOLE

1/4 lime juiced

1/4 onion fine chopped

10 sprigs coriander

1 pinch salt and black pepper

1 lrg ripe avocado

I love to make this in my pestle and mortar, I find it really satisfying. Take the lime juice, onion, coriander and pound to a liquid, then add the avocado and bash to the consistency you require, I like my guacamole to be moderately smooth but chunky, taste and add seasoning or more lime juice.

PINEAPPLE DRINK CUPS

Fresh ripe pineapple

Bendy straws

Take the ripe pineapple and slice of the top approx 3 inches thick for the lid to the cup, make a small triangle cut out on one edge for the straw to pop through.

Run a knife around the inside of the pineapple and scoop out the centre, keep for fruit and topping the Hawaiian pizza with, replace the lid with the straw and then when ready fill with fruit juice, squash or a cocktail !!!

PINEAPPLE FRUIT BOWL

1 fresh pineapple

100g blueberries

100g raspberries

100g red grapes

50g strawberries

Take the pineapple and slice in half from the top to the bottom equally, scoop out the middle and chop into small chunks and place in a bowl, add the rest of the fruit to the bowl and then fill the the pineapple bowl with the fruit and serve. With the other half fill with cherry plum tomatoes and cuecumber.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.