IT'S FEELING PRETTY AUTUMNY

Even though the weather can't make up its mind, it's feeling pretty autumny! I start turning embarrassingly 1950s housewife at this time of year: wanting to stock my shelves with jam and chutney, and do all sorts of knitting and sewing. With blackberries on the bushes (in surprisingly city-central locations) or blueberries cheap in the market, we've been making 'liqueur' (my recipe is below, but Noeleen and Larissa's may be better - I'll let you know after our tasting) - perfect for a kir or two. For those who like knitting or would like to try, there's a new knitting group with free childcare, run by Marja, a lovely Swedish mum of two who is a very experienced knitter, on Friday mornings 10-11.30 at the VKC (Langegracht 57), starting on the 18th - see www.vkcdespiegeling.nl for more details, or just turn up and give it a go! It's also a great chance to practise your Dutch in a friendly environment: I hope to see you there! Want a knitting project? For a lovely project for a baby, try for a most gorgeous pair of booties (they work: I've made about 10 pairs now).

Diary date

Family Mushroom Walk

Would you like to know more about the beautiful fungi in our woods and roadsides? Would you like to be able to identify the deadly and the delicious? Join us on 4 October, 14.00-16.00 at Leidse Hout, for a Family Mushroom Walk! Posters will be up shortly, giving the start point, but keep your diaries free! Numbers will be limited, so if you'd like to join us email me on harriet@homeinleiden.nl .

Last Event

Our Family Origami Event on Sunday 6 September was a great success (see photos).

Everyone got folding and created some lovely things. A big thank you is due to Mari for all her hard work and her tireless patience, especially with those of us wrestling with that extremely tricky frog! The children did brilliantly - you can see some of their work on display in the VKC. To have a go at home, print off some instructions from www.origami-club.com/en/ - HEMA has very cheap ' vouwpapier ' in the craft section. Warning: it is fairly addictive - I think I'm not the only one whose house is now covered in bits of coloured paper, some of them more squished than others (these represent Quentin's latest 'free-style origami' phase.).

Get involved!

Home in Leiden Committee

Home in Leiden was created as a project for the community, and in order to help both the website and the community develop and grow, we need your help! We'd like to create a group to generate ideas, share tasks and projects, and make use of the incredible, varying skills that everyone has. If you would like to be involved (and join monthly meetings over a few glasses of wine) contact me! 

Recipe of the week

Blackberry or Blueberry liqueur (makes about ½ litre)
500g blackberries or blueberries
juice of half a lemon
about 500g caster sugar
¼ litre vodka

•  Pick over fruit and put in a pan with the lemon juice and just enough water to cover. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes until berries are squishy. Mash and then drip through a cloth into a bowl (a muslin ( hydrofiele luier ) does fine, only don't expect it to be white afterwards).

•  When it's pretty much stopped dripping, discard the leftovers (although if you are using blueberries these are fine to use in a smoothie or fruit sauce), measure how much you have and then pour it back into the pan with the same quantity of sugar. Bring gently to the boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes. Leave to cool. Stir in the vodka and then pour into sterilized bottles. I used little 'grolsch top' bottles from Dille & Kamille : you can also use actual Grolsch bottles or a screw top bottle. Sterilize them by plunging them into boiling water for 2 minutes. I'm not sure how long this keeps for, but I don't think it's going to get much of a chance in our house.