Preserving Roast Vegetables In Olive Oil And Consulting Books

 I decided, as the promise of warmer weather is on the way, I wouldn't bother struggling in the garden in the cold, I would wait a bit longer. After I saw the pile of gardening books my Dad had out the other day to give him ideas in his garden in the spring, I realised it was a long time since I looked at my gardening books. Years ago I loved browsing these books for ideas for plants, flowerbeds and little design features like arches or paths. Now I tend to look online and the books have been neglected. I have hundreds and hundreds of books, sometimes I think I need to contact books anonymous (if there was such a thing!)  As I have been running out of space books I haven't looked at for a long time have been put away in boxes under our bed. Yesterday I got out some of these boxes and it was really enjoyable to look through them again. This was one of my favourite gardening books in the 1980s and I have decided I really must leave it out to browse through all the time. It gives ideas on plants and shrubs that flower in all four seasons, in four different sizes and the care they need. It's wonderful you would have to browse for hours on the internet for this information.

I found cookery books , books on how to trace your family tree, cross stitch, embroidery, dog care, cat care even caring for your hamster! Some I have put in my charity saleroom boxes which are lovely and full now, I have even had to add two extra boxes, but some I am going to make space for somewhere as it made me realise that it is not necessarily always easier to look on google! 

A thing I have been doing at the moment, in my quest to have zero food waste each week, is roasting larger trays of roast vegetables which I love and storing them in an oil marinade. I always shied away from the word marinade as it conjures up in my mind something quite time consuming to make. This however only takes a few minutes. My favourite vegetables to roast in the oven at the moment are butternut squash, fennel, red peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms I add the extra roast vegetables to an air tight jar that I have sterilised in the oven for 15 minutes, then poor over warmed olive oil. I add garlic and and some rosemary to the olive oil, dried if I don't have any fresh, but you could add anything you like or nothing if you like it plain. 

As long as all the vegetables are covered they will keep lovely and fresh for about a week in the fridge and they can be added to wraps, salads or at the side of meals to brighten up the plate! The oil does solidify a bit in the fridge but soon liquifies again at room temperature. The olive oil, which absorbs all the flavours of the vegetables can then be used as dressing in salads. Apparently if you add a third vinegar and two thirds olive oil the vegetables can be preserved for months, but they never last that long in our house!  I have always been interested in the nutrition of food and try really hard to have the all the right nutrients in a day but I am well aware it is hard, even for someone like me, who loves vegetables but roast vegetables make it a little easier.

I was relieved to see the hose pipe had unfrozen yesterday but sadly the connection has split and the hose is still unusable so it will be buckets of water in the garden today again for me but at least it will be in the warm as it is much milder. Apparently it is going to be 17° by next weekend. That is really something to look forward to. Youngest son and daughter are both at home as they are off work for half term, so I'll have some company too. I hope everyone has a lovely day and has a bit warmer weather to enjoy. xx