Fruit of my Labour!

We were so excited, it really did taste like no other strawberry I had ever eaten! We ate it on Saturday night. We had a BBQ on Friday evening and had some lovely rosemarry marinated lamb steaks, together with a burger and some pork & leek sausages. J always does the BBQ cooking and I made a potato salad to accompany the lovely meat. My organic vegetable bag arrived on Thursday andI was determined to use the veg whilst it was fresh. I cooked and froze the spring cabbage, sugar snap peas with the carrots. I had never cooked with fennel before so I had a search for a recipe and came up with this... Chicken Stew with Fennel & Saffron Recipe Ingredients 4 tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped 2 large onions, quartered 4 garlic cloves, crushed 4 large fennel bulbs with feathery leaves attached, coarsely chopped 3 Tbsp olive oil 1/3 cup Pernod licorice- flavored aperitif 2 pinches saffron 1/3 cup fresh thyme 4 bay leaves Salt Black pepper 4 chicken legs with thighs attached, skin removed 1 pound boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered 2 cups chicken stock Instructions The day before: combine the tomatoes, onions, garlic, fennel, olive oil, Pernod, saffron, herbs and seasonings in a large covered casserole. Stir to blend and add the chicken, stir to coat the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours to blend the seasonings. At least 1 hour before you begin to prepare the dish, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Stew the chicken in its marinade, covered, over medium heat, stirring from time to time, for about 30 minutes. Add the potatoes and chicken stock, simmer until the potatoes are cooked (30 to 45 minutes). Taste for seasoning and serve in warmed shallow soup bowls. It was lovely! The salad which came in the veg bag was from Norfolk, I was a bit miffed at this, food miles etc. However the Rocket was lovely and I can't wait to grow our own. Talking of growing our own, we are both very excited and are planning our plot. I spent all Saturday cutting back the shrubbery in the back garden, planning my pink roses, pinks, delphiniums & foxgloves for next year. J cut back all the hedges on Saturday late afternoon and all Sunday morning. We have help in the shape of Chris this week. He normally helps J at the workshop but we are soo keen to get going J has allowed me to give him some jobs.........all to help us get on with our plans. Sunday afternoon was warm and we went out for a ride on the motorbike. We went to Fimber, just outside Malton then on to Scarborough and Whitby. The roads were very busy, it was nice a breath of cooler air from the coast! Harry loved Fimber and we were talking about him whilst we were there... we remember him laughing! The funeral is set for Thursday, I am currently writing a poem to read out at the service. Dx