Happy pigs

The pigs are now housed in their new enclosure. They have a lot more space, less mud and a big grass paddock to run around in (and they do!). The green thing in the photos is a cover we thought they might like for a bit of shade, but in hindsight have taken it out, they have their shelter which gives them shade and also the fences are all now double height corrugated iron (wasn't quite finished in these pics) so at various points depending on where the sun is they can get some shade there also.
I think they are very happy. Well done and thanks to G for all his hard work.

Pumpkin, bacon and blue cheese quiche

We've got loads of eggs at the moment, as the hens are "all systems go" at producing them at the moment. Probably a few too many truth be told!
But I'm not complaining really, as it's always handy to have a few eggs in the fridge. And of course there is no shortage of homemade ice cream!

Anyway, back to the quiche. Last night we had this:

I made the pastry using 220g plain flour, 120g cold butter, 1/2 tsp salt and about 3 Tbsp ice cold water. Whizz dry ingredients in food processor, then add just enough water until a dough comes together. Roll out to fit greased quiche dish, prick with a fork and blind bake for about 10 mins, remove paper and weights, then bake for a further 5 mins until pastry base cooked. Cool.

Slice about 500g of pumpkin into wedges and bake on tray with olive oil drizzled over, 180 deg C for about 20-25 mins until just tender. Remove and cool. Then remove skin and slice into small strips.

I chopped a few slices of bacon (rind removed) and fried these. You could also use ham or another cured meat if you prefer (e.g. proscuitto if you can get it) or of course omit it if you want.

Into the base I put some grated mature cheddar cheese ('Tasty' brand in NZ), added the pumpkin strips, the bacon, then I cut up a small wedge of blue cheese (x6 small slices*) to arrange in a circle around the quiche.

For the egg custard, mix 4 large eggs with 150ml cream (or half and half cream and milk to 150mls), sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour carefully onto the quiche to almost cover the filling.

Bake for about 30mins at 180 deg C, until golden brown and set.

We ate this with a fresh green salad made from lettuce out of the garden and a chopped up avocado, drizzled with a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil (thanks W&P for the lovely oil!).

*Put more blue cheese in if you desire, although we found that just the small slices were enough to give a bit of a flavour punch without being overpowering.

Homemade goodies for a space-mad boy!

I got my sewing machine out tonight and made this cushion cover for D.

He won't see it until the morning, but I'm sure it will be a nice surprise.

He is crazy about rockets, aliens, flying saucers, planets etc! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, especially as I haven't done any sewing for years!

And on the topic of aliens, here is a chocolate lollipop alien I made as a special treat for him: