The ups and downs of countryside life

Living in the depths of the countryside definitely has great benefits:

The natural alarm clock of the pure musical opera performance, performed by an array of countryside petite and delicate birds like to give us

No overwhelming smell of petrol and other undesirable unnatural fumes are inhaled by my lungs, only sometimes do i have to hold my breath as the local farmers distribute their herds prized muck to fertilise the fields( but even this smell becomes slightly aromatic over time)

Wildlife runs little secretive communities that would normally go unnoticed. I frequently see the rabbits sitting in a circle with a couple of squirrels and a flock of pigeons all as though they are in deep conversation over a serious subject ( probably how they are going to best attack my vegetable patch)

I could go on, but you d get sick of listening to me over dramatise the perks of living in the great outdoors.

These qualities however enjoyable can come at a price and are forever pushed to the back of my mind when we are endured to extravagantly cold winters, rising prices in central heating oil and mud that quite literally comes up over the tops of your well worn farmer type wellies ( hunters may be fashionable, but to put them through some serious hard work day after day for a month and you'll find that cracks appear all across the bottom of your soles which like to cunningly seep muddy water in and around your already freezing feet).

The other day a gentle tap rapped against our door, a local veg grower in his late seventies stood in our doorway with the most delectable ruby red Victoria plums, each one desperately softening, just begging to be eaten. ' Ive brought you these ' he said as my greedy wandering hands had already made it round the handles of the bag that held the jeweled coloured fruits, 'but, Ive got a problem'. There it was, these beauty's that were dying to be halved, stoned and lovingly roasted were to come at a price.

A neighbouring tree had fell into his garden causing his tea making shed to be destroyed, and he needed some advice on what to do with it, we were grateful to do anything we could for this extremely kind gentlemen, its a small price to pay for the marvels he had just brought into my kitchen.

My mind was already in a turmoil on what to do with these plums, so many things to make but i had to choose quickly as these fruits were at their most perfect stage, no sourness distressed my tongue once they were bitten  in to, only their natural sweetness warmed my throat and sent endorphins around the rest of my body. Plum jam had been done and although lip smacking delicious on some fresh bread, i wanted to further the uses of this fruit.

One of my decisions was to make a roasted vanilla plum sorbet, a slightly tart but refreshing quench tasty treat that would marry perfectly with creamy vanilla cheesecake.

Every thing was going to plan, most of the plum s had been encouragingly roasted ( apart from a few that never made it to the roasting tray - i feel my stomach regretting that decision now ) and pushed through a fine sieve to extract all the necessary juices into my sorbet mixture.

Once the mixture had cooled i poured it into my churning ice cream maker and waited for the magic to happen. I'm not sure at which point i become hesitant in my sorbet making, but for some unknown reason i began to doubt the recipe and quickly scrambled around looking for others to support the one i had already made.

I was consistently being shown that an egg white added to the churning mixture helps to keep shape of the sorbet upon when it is served. So on a whim a chucked one in, it couldn't possible cause my mixture to be ruined, could it?

With ten minutes left on my timer for the sorbet to be done, R boldly strode into the kitchen saying he needed my help with a sickly calf. Now i love all animals, and have and would do anything to help one in need, but i have to shamelessly admit i was torn, helping an extremely poorly calf or watching my sorbet intently.

Surely we wouldn't be long so i gave my mixture one last hopeful look as a pulled on my wellies and my farm coat.

15 Min's and some calf medicating done, i had actually forgotten about the sorbet until i heard the whirring of the machine as i opened the door, peering into the frozen bowl, my dark plum exotic looking sorbet had expanded to twice its size, was bubblegum pink in colour and looked marshmallow like in texture.

'Think of calf, you've helped bring it back from the brink of death', i kept thinking to myself as my mutterings were whispering words of ' Its ruined ' and ' Im useless'.

R once again boldly bounced into the kitchen, he was just about to sick his ( cow muck free ) finger in the billowing mass before i thrust a spoon into his hand.

' Mmmm that's good, a bit tart but good '.

My faith had stared to return, it wasn't meant to be sweet it was just meant to taste of the Victoria plums, i bravely delved my own spoon in , i was slightly nervous as it looked like the candyfloss like mixture may of engulfed my hand at any moment but i actually became very surprised. Yes it was tart ( you could always add more sugar if you make it yourself ) but that was how id wanted it. The mouth tingling freshness cut perfectly through the rich and dreamy vanilla cheesecake, yes it may look like strawberry ice cream but it most definitely only tastes of the exquisite and royal Victoria plums.

Roasted Vanilla Plum Sorbet

I wish i could tell you the exact quantities of plums i had but i didn't weigh them, i just had a large freezer style bag full of ripe plums which i then halved and stoned.

1 vanilla pod - scored down the middle and the seeds scraped out onto the plums, then cut the pod up and put that in the roasting dish too.

250ml water

2-3 tbls of caster sugar - depending on how many plums you have and how sweet you want your sorbet to be

1 free range egg white

Pre heat the oven to 180oc.

Pour the water and  sprinkle the sugar over the vanilla and the plums.

Place in the oven for around 20- 25 Min's until the plums are soft and the skins have started to blister.

A little at a time push the plum mixture through a fine sieve to leave you with a rosy red liquid.

Check for sweetness then allow to cool, then place in the fridge till cold.

Once cooled pour your mixture into an already churning ice cream maker, about ten minutes in once the mixture starts to thicken add the egg white then leave to churn for about 20 minutes.

Place your mixture in a suitable container and allow to freeze for at least 8 hours.

Individual Vanilla Cheesecakes

Again my measurements for this are not great as i just did it on a bit of a whim, if you wanted the make a larger version I'm sure you could double or triple the ingredients.

Individual portions work better as there is only two of us and if we made a large cheesecake we would eat a large cheesecake!

2 x 3inch food rings - alternatively scone cutters could do the same job

Around 1/3 packet of digestive biscuits - crushed

Around 100g butter

Around 150 ml double cream

1 tbls caster sugar

250g soft cream cheese

Half vanilla pod

Slowly melt the butter in a pan then add the crushed biscuits and combine well

Place your food rings onto their serving plates then carefully make a biscuit base at the bottom of each one, compacting the biscuits down well till its around a centimeter and a half thick.

Place in the fridge for half an hour.

To make the filling whip the double cream and the sugar until it just starts to thicken.

Scrape the seeds from the half a vanilla pod and add to the cream along with the cream cheese, combine thoroughly.

Once the biscuit base has set, place the cream mixture on top of the bases until it comes to the top of the food ring then level off with a pallet knife.

Place in the fridge for around 4 - 5 hours.

Once removed from the fridge place a pallet knife in hot water then wipe dry and carefully run it around the outside of the cheesecake, releasing it from the food ring, gently remove the food ring and serve with a couple of spoonfuls of the plum sorbet.