In the Meantime...
Good morning to all. The start of a new week, and let's hope, for me at least, it will be better than the finish of the last, but more about that later. First to reply to your comments:
Good to hear that your son is requesting recipes Julie. Was that the prompting by Jamie or would he have asked anyway? Possibly Jamie Oliver may be the one to reach the hearts of the younger generation and with any luck cooking will begin in their own (or our) kitchens. Even if we have to do the washing up for, let them at least have a go without doing the more unpleasant chores. These can be introduced later.
As to growing veggies in the front garden Flo, lots of herbs are very pretty and many perennial so the neighbours should not object, could also plant a bit of lavender between them. One year I grew some ornamental cabbages - not sure if you have seen these, but they are very pretty and grow quite large (width not height) and their leaves are all different colours (on the one plant) - look at the photo on a packet in the garden centre to see what I mean. Have been told they are edible, but not as good as green cabbage. Best to ask re this. Suggest they are planted between 'real' cabbages to make a patchwork effect.
You mentioned your favourite pork pie comes from Walker's, in Leicester. We used to live in Leicester and ALWAYS ate Walker's pies, and other Walker's pork products. It was traditional in that area to eat the pie for breakfast on Christmas morning my mum told me. When my friend comes to stay she usually brings a couple of pies with her. We eat one and the second is divided the into portions, each wrapped closely in foil to keep out the air and this way the pie freezes very well indeed. So far - having tried very many - have never found a pork pie as good as Walkers.
Agree with you about Lakeland, CheesePare, it has never seemed quite as good since someone took over from the late Michelle Kershaw. They seem to have too many new and often unnecessary and often expensive gadgets (although still many good ones) and the basics that we used to rely on are disappearing from their catalogue. Have bought from them since the owner's Dad began selling plastic bags from his garage and still feel it has the best customer service of any firm in the country.
As to the aspic covering for pate. A good concentrated chicken stock would work well. Traditionally the jelly would be made from pig's trotters. Sometimes I keep a couple in the freezer to make the stock to pour into a pork pie, once baked.
Thanks also for the info re yogurt CP also the suggestion about adding dried fruit - add enough and you end up with a cheesecake filling and no need to do anything else. Thanks also to Moira and Lesley for their input on the same subject.
With the Cassata Lesley it would make a good festive pud (or even tea-time dessert), but as ever - suggest you make it at least once (even small scale using one trifle sponge in a tiny dish) just to know it works. This last week myself made the mistake of altering the way I made the lemon chicken for the Chinese meal (served to guests). Because I left it whole, and not cut into strips before cooking - it lacked the lemon flavour throughout the meat, and also was difficult to carve neatly when hot - ended up shredded. Was really fed-up about that. Next time I will make it using my original recipe knowing it will work very well indeed.
Thanks Janette for giving details of the lower priced baking tins. Have never myself tried those 'bendy' ones, made of some sort heatproof material. Please anyone, let me know if they work as well as the metal ones re the heat getting through, and also whether they release the contents easily - and do they need greasing first?
My Challenge continues. Even before I begin to tell you about yesterday, feel that if it still continues the same way, may be forced to hang up my apron and give up cooking altogether. Could be that by the end of this year no more "Taste the Goode Life". Make the most of it while you can.
With a more positive outlook, am telling myself all that is happening is because I was moaning about having cook's block and having said it all, had not a lot left to write about, so my spirit guides decided to give me a helping hand to make sure I DO have something to write about. Pity they forgot about the saying "too many cook's spoil the broth". One guide at a time only, please. But thanks for the thought anyway.
Yesterday began with my usual multi-tasking, even small scale. Decided first to prepare the individual trifles so hunted out the pack of trifle sponges from the cupboard. Took out one pack of four from the box, two of those would be used, the rest returned to the box later. Then I took a jelly from the cupboard (8p from Tesco) and put that in a jug with a little cold water and put it into the microwave to dissolve. Brought the two trifle bowls to the table. Discovered the sponges had gone missing. Laid them down and had forgotten where. Eventually found them lying on top of the box of bread mixes (same colour as the box). So far so good. Added cold water to the dissolved jelly to bring it up to under a pint (with cheap jellies find a little less water works best), tore up the sponges, added sherry, then poured over half the jelly.
Picked up the two bowls and strode to the fridge so they could chill. Stood there in front of Boris (aka our fridge/freezer) with a bowl in each hand and no hand free to open his door. Felt a bit silly. No room to rest them where I stood (should have cleared the table before I began) so had to walk right back over to the unit by the oven, walk back to Boris, clear a space for the jellies, then while I was there, decided to bring out the half carrot, parsnip and celery that I needed to make the soup. Could not find them at first, but eventually discovered them tucked into a half-full (half-empty would be a negative thought) of mushrooms. Well they would be there wouldn't they, why hadn't I looked there first?
By now Boris was bleeping his head off (reminding me his door was still open), so went back, collected the bowls and put them in to chill. The reserved half of the jelly left at room temperature to pour over later.
Meanwhile got on with the soup. Diced the half carrot, celery stump and half a parsnip (doing the Challenge have to be Queen of Mean when it comes to using ingredients), put these in a pan with a little butter to saute, then remembered I had forgotten to get the chicken stock from the fridge, so again had to explore Boris's innards to find it. Put that in a pan to boil, as it hadn't been boiled for a couple or so days. Left the room to get something, then got distracted. When I returned the vegetables were - to put it nicely - beginning to caramelise. Tasted them and they were fine, so poured over the boiling stock (to which I had already added more water), and a tblsp of pearl barley, and set them to simmer.
Later, when checking if the veggies were cooked, noticed the soup was a darker colour than normal - this purely because of the caramelisation - caramel being the way to make gravy browning. Thought then it would look better if I served it as a 'beef and vegetable soup' so stirred in a teaspoon of AWT's gravy mix - forgetting the soup had originally been made with a good chicken stock. Have to say I almost stamped in frustration once I had realised this because the chicken stock was mega-good. Later, when we came to eat it, it really tasted VERY GOOD INDEED. so mixing the two stocks had no adverse affect whatsoever and might try that again. Being made in advance was able to turn out the heat and leave it in the pan until suppertime.
By then the jelly in the fridge had set, so brought out the dishes and discovered the jelly in the jug was just about to set, but a vigorous whisk with a fork brought it back to being usable without reheating, so quickly sliced a banana over the set jelly, poured the remaining jelly on top (it just about set as it touched the cold jelly and the glass dish) then spooned over the custard saved from the previous day. At the time made the custard was a bit thinner than usual (to find out why read yesterday's posting), but because it was now cold it was just about perfect for the trifles. Back they went into the fridge.
Have some time to spare so decided to fill my home-made flour sifter with some flour I had left in a bag on the table. Half of it spilt down my front (was somewhat relieved for that made the third spill), and so another clean -and this time long-sleeved - jersey is today heading for the washing machine. Luckily the ones encrusted with dough and custard - set hard enough so they could stand upright - are still waiting to be laundered. This will be done today. Still room in the washing machine to add bed linen, so must strip my bed as well.
Decided it was time I should get myself a coffee and have a little sit down. What did I do? Put the sweeteners in the mug, poured over the boiling water, quite forgetting to put coffee in the mug. I looked down to see just sweetened hot water. By then I was beginning to wonder if I was quite sane.
One light at the end of my very dark tunnel of a day was that when I decided to cut up the last of the rhubarb intending to cook it gently with a little sugar then make it into pies or just freeze as-is, for some reason decided to see if it would cut up more easily if I chopped it with scissors rather than use a knife. That was SO easily done that way, and after years of chopping rhubarb wither a knife wonder why I have never used scissors before. Celery is also easily 'chopped' using scissors.
The rhubarb was put into a bowl, a little sugar added, and foil put on top (having learned the previous day that if not covered it would dry out). Placed in the oven, oven switched on and left to cook.
Beloved returned home about 45 minutes later. At the time I was up here, checking emails, playing patience. Went down and mentioned about the rhubarb, saying he could add a bit more to his crumble if he wished. Opened the oven door and no rhubarb to be seen. What had I done? Put the rhubarb in the top oven, and switched the lower oven on by mistake. So had to start cooking the rhubarb all over again. Switched the lower oven off and switched on the upper oven, and in hindsight now realise it would have been more sensible to put the fruit in the already heated lower oven to finish off cooking than start all over again. By then had got myself so unnerved that after going up to bed thought that perhaps I had forgotten to switch the oven off, so went down to the kitchen to check. But I had done, and was in order.
Have to say - by the end of yesterday was beginning to worry about myself. Is it that I am trying to do too much, or age has caught up with me? Maybe I could do with a holiday. Let us just hope it is only a blip or my 'guides' find someone else to play with and this week returns to normal - whatever normal is.
Of course none of these 'occurrences' need have been mentioned, so you would have been none the wiser, but although this might seem as though cooking can be more difficult than expected, by the same token feel that sometimes it is good to know that even an established cook can have disasters - and quite often in my case it seems.
Today will be needing to bake another loaf - firstly vacuuming out the sediment from the machine before putting back the pan, then hope it will stop screeching. If not, maybe a spray of WD40 might help (hasten to say not in the pan). Beloved loves homemade bread so much, he cuts the slices too thickly and so it doesn't last as long as the bought. The loaf made on Friday (first cut late Friday evening) is just about finished.
Speaking of bread, apparently bakers will now be allowed to make loaves any size/weight they wish. Originally the large loaves were supposed to be around the traditional 2lb (900g) but since metric believe some have been sold at 800g. Have a feeling that we will end up paying the same money for a large loaf but it will be slightly smaller. Then, once we get used to smaller, they will then make them just a bit bigger (in other words back to where they are now) and charge more.
In the newspaper this weekend was an article by a man - didn't recognise his name, but sure he was someone of note. What he did was to last a whole year without buying anything at all. By this he meant clothes, non-foods, presumably even petrol. It was a full page article and have to say only skimmed through it. Presumably the food he ate was paid for by someone else (partner/wife). Poor man went through his wardrobe and discovered he had only 8 pairs of shoes to last the year - and he did admit to having to pay for at least one pair to be repaired. He also ended up having to darn his socks. Seems he had enough suits, ties and shirts to last the twelvemonth, and presumably underwear. Don't think he mentioned having his hair cut, perhaps he was bald, or got his wife to run the razor over it himself (I cut B's hair, he can trim his own beard). Must re-read the article properly.
This made me think about the money spent on myself (other than food and the necessary non-foods). Am still wearing the same clothes that I have had for over five years now. Same with shoes. The only thing I need to buy (fairly rarely as my friend brings a dozen or so pairs of pop socks for me that she buys at Loughborough Market on my behalf) - and even now am contemplating stitching up the holes, or keeping the laddered ones to wear under another pair in the cold weather. Have new underwear (kept ready to take into hospital if the occasion arises), and several pairs of shoes but only one pair normally worn (think they are called Ecco or something similar). As long as I have a couple of reasonable outfits to wear 'when dining out' or some such nonsense, then I make do with what I have. Just as long as I feel comfortable. My only concession to vanity is having my hair done - and this I would do myself if I could.
Several of my skirts (never wear dresses or trousers) are exactly the same, so possibly could seem as though I own fewer clothes than I really have. Never wear coats, just prefer long cardigans in varying thicknesses, and have one pale grey zip-up jacket (called a 'fleece'?).
Do have a rainproof cover-all (with matching umbrella), that is like a massive poncho that has a hood that can be pulled up tight under the chin, rain just rolls off it. No need for the umbrella at all. Both brolly and coat were bought from Lakeland. The coat packs up really small, so very useful in that respect - considering our weather. Speaking of which, after a week of Indian summer, the forecast is now cloudy, rain and very windy. Today has started off with blue skies but I see fluffy white clouds whizzing past. Bet we get the least summer of any country in the whole world. Even in the land of the midnight sun bet they have more sunny days than we have, even though they have six months of nights.
Back to today. As well as making the bread, and probably as the dough is rising, really must make the marmalade. Still have to sort out what to make for supper. Meant yesterday to soak some red beans so that tonight we could have chilli can carne, but of course forgot to do that even though I had put them in full sight to remind me. Problem was the table was so cluttered everything was in full sight, and thus nothing caught my attention . At least managed to clear most of it up before the end of the day, although moving the beans to the unit, and forgetting to put them back onto the table to remind me didn't help. When it comes to kitchen work, it can often be like driving a car - we often do thing automatically and without noticing what we might be doing some way ahead. A lot less accidents on the road if we concentrate more when we drive, and stop thinking about other things. Same in the kitchen. Keep focused. Must keep telling myself that.
The title of today's posting is a double-edged sword. Look on it that in the meantime we could be reading a few cookbooks, or trying out a new recipe and as far as cooking goes this may move us on a tad. But the sharper edge is that in the meantime means is as night-time means dark, and daytime means light, then MEANtime can stand for the time to be mean. With the financial crisis at its all time low, and maybe will get even lower, then now is when we should be mean re how much we spend and no reason to feel guilty at all. If being mean means 'tight-fisted', then nothing wrong with that. We are all of us discovering how much cheaper things can be in one store than another, and between us the information is being shared.
Being tight with money can also be called thrift. Thrift means just being sensible, never spend what we can't afford, and spend less in any case. The one place we can be extremely thrifty is in the kitchen. With plenty of supermarkets exchanging blows there are ample foods still on sale at low prices (but don't be tempted by the ones that have the calories but not the nutrition). We should - as our cousins on the continent have always done - check the produce before buying. Pick the freshest, the ripest (better flavour), the heaviest (if all priced the same). The days of reaching for the first iceberg lettuce we see should now be long past. The one behind may seem smaller but end up far more compact and heavier. Why pay for air?
Begin to shop as the professional cook would do. Discover the best butcher and fishmonger, compare prices, compare quality. The better the quality the better the flavour, so we can often buy less to get the same result.
We should begin to ask ourselves what might seem to be a totally unnecessary question such as: "do we need to use a whole carrot". Normally we would expect to use a whole carrot and if this means we can cut down a little on the more expensive ingredients (the total weight of ingredients for a savoury dish will serve a set number - and as long as the weight remains the same, more of the cheaper ingredients can be used in place of some of the expensive) then it would be sensible to do so. But is we can get away with using half - although this may seem too frugal, the little bit of carrot - once grated - and mixed with a little finely shredded white cabbage, a little chopped onion, and thinned-down-with-water mayo will turn into a credible cole-slaw. The more we can see the potential of any vegetable, the more dishes can be made without having to buy more.
Mean Cuisine - that is what we should be aiming for, but making it turn out as Posh Nosh on a Shoestring. Easily done when we know how, and over the past couple of years have hoped that enough info has been passed on through this site to enable everyone to do just this.
It is easy enough to give cost-cutting-tips from my side of the fence. Although I try to stick to only using foods that everyone can buy, obviously some 'freebies' come into it. Not everyone lives near enough to pick elderberries or blackberries, not even dandelions if living in a high rise flat (although could suggest digging up a few from the roadside and growing them in a pot on a windowsill (the new growth would have no fumes on their leaves). Even to reach a supermarket, this would mean using a car, or taking a bus (unless lucky to live within walking distance), and transport costs money.
The affluent can cut costs just by cutting down on the more expensive foods (lobster, good wine, caviare etc). Moving down the ladder we can begin doing more home-cooking, and maybe using a cheaper brand of foods we used to buy. Further down we come to the 'own-brands' and 'reduced', and lower (or even those near the top are doing this) move to a cheaper store such as Aldi or Lidl. Sooner or later we come to a full-stop, nothing can be bought cheaper and where do we go from there?
A certain amount of self-sufficiency can put more on the table, but again urge for 'the need to know and finding out' has to be there. In an earlier comment think there was a mention of gold-top (Channel Island) milk being used to make yogurt. If we can afford that, then we can also make butter, clotted and whipped cream from the CI milk, plus yogurt, and cream/curd cheese. When making butter we are left with butter milk, and once the cream has been siphoned off the milk, the milk left (still pretty rich) can be diluted with water to bring back up to a pint. Have done this myself when in the throes of povery and almost talking myself into doing it again. The more the need to know the more we can learn, and in all honesty, extremely good food can be home-cooked and not just eaten but thoroughly enjoyed by friends and family at far less cost than we could ever believe.
Beloved has been in and decided he will have a lamb shank for supper with new potatoes, green peas, mint sauce and redcurrant sauce. Expensive although the shank is (just over £2.00), he is the only one to eat it, so between us the evening meal will not be that expensive although have yet to decide what to have myself (possibly salad, with some potatoes and peas, grated cheese and hard-boiled egg (that a good enough balanced meal). Still rhubarb crumble and one trifle left, so no dessert to worry about.
Today's recipes are unusual and useful in that although making a loaf, neither use yeast, egg or butter. So simple enough for anyone to attempt.
With this first recipe dare say using Ovaltine instead of Horlicks might make it taste more like a malt loaf, especially if using black treacle instead of syrup. Instead of dates, prunes, figs or apricots could be used. Add nuts if you wish. An easy one for children to make.
Horlicks Loaf: gives 16 slices (F)
8 oz (225g) self-raising flour
2 oz (50g) Horlicks powder
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
4 oz (100g) dried dates, stoned and chopped
3 tblsp golden syrup
5 fl oz (150ml) milk
2 tblsp water
Put all ingredients into a bowl and beat together to make a thick batter. Pour into a well-greased 2 lb (900g) loaf tin and bake at 190C, 375F, gas 5 for 50 minutes until golden and firm. Turn out and cool on a cake airer. To freeze: when cold, wrap seal and label. Use within 3 months. Thaw for 2 - 3 hours at room temperature. Serve spread with butter if you wish.
This second loaf is much more of a savoury. If you store any hard cheese (such as Red Leicester, mature Cheddar) until quite hard, it will grate down as fine as Parmesan and have just as much flavour but be less costly. For the canned red pimento myself would substitute a few small Peppadew, or instead chop up a sweet red bell pepper and add a good pinch of cayenne, paprika or chilli powder to give that hint of spice or dash of Tabasco. If no fresh parsley, then add half a tsp dried mixed herbs.
Cheese, Herb and Pepper Loaf: gives 16 slices (F)
1 oz (25g) margarine or butter
8 oz (225g) self-raising flour
half teasp baking powder
good pinch of salt
2 tblsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 oz (50g) canned red pimento (see above), chopped
1 medium onion, grated
1 dessp chopped fresh parsley
2 fl oz (60ml) milk
melted butter
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and rub in the fat. Stir in the cheese, pimento, onion and herbs. Mix to a smooth dough with the milk and shape into a round. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 40 - 45 minutes. Turn out onto a baking sheet to cool, brushing the surface with melted butter. Can be served hot or cold. Freeze as explained in above recipe.
Time now for me to wend my way downstairs, speaking openly to any spirit guide still hovering with the words so often said by my uncle "advise but don't interfere". Tomorrow you will know whether they have bothered to listen. If the marmalade won't set, or the lamb shank is underdone - you will know who to blame, and it won't be me.
At least the past few days have taught me a lot. Hope you have enjoyed hearing about the Goode life more than I have enjoyed participating. Life is a see-saw - maybe this week Beloved will win the Lottery.
One last thing - have you noticed how Strictly Come Dancing is now speeding up the time between announcing the winners and losers. Didn't even bother to wait when it came to Jessie Wallace and partner, they were just about doubled up with the previous one, so bet there have been lots of complaints in the Beeb's mailbox re this. Thank goodness someone took notice. Or perhaps they were just running out of time.
As ever, love you and leave you and keep comments coming. Per-leeze.
Good to hear that your son is requesting recipes Julie. Was that the prompting by Jamie or would he have asked anyway? Possibly Jamie Oliver may be the one to reach the hearts of the younger generation and with any luck cooking will begin in their own (or our) kitchens. Even if we have to do the washing up for, let them at least have a go without doing the more unpleasant chores. These can be introduced later.
As to growing veggies in the front garden Flo, lots of herbs are very pretty and many perennial so the neighbours should not object, could also plant a bit of lavender between them. One year I grew some ornamental cabbages - not sure if you have seen these, but they are very pretty and grow quite large (width not height) and their leaves are all different colours (on the one plant) - look at the photo on a packet in the garden centre to see what I mean. Have been told they are edible, but not as good as green cabbage. Best to ask re this. Suggest they are planted between 'real' cabbages to make a patchwork effect.
You mentioned your favourite pork pie comes from Walker's, in Leicester. We used to live in Leicester and ALWAYS ate Walker's pies, and other Walker's pork products. It was traditional in that area to eat the pie for breakfast on Christmas morning my mum told me. When my friend comes to stay she usually brings a couple of pies with her. We eat one and the second is divided the into portions, each wrapped closely in foil to keep out the air and this way the pie freezes very well indeed. So far - having tried very many - have never found a pork pie as good as Walkers.
Agree with you about Lakeland, CheesePare, it has never seemed quite as good since someone took over from the late Michelle Kershaw. They seem to have too many new and often unnecessary and often expensive gadgets (although still many good ones) and the basics that we used to rely on are disappearing from their catalogue. Have bought from them since the owner's Dad began selling plastic bags from his garage and still feel it has the best customer service of any firm in the country.
As to the aspic covering for pate. A good concentrated chicken stock would work well. Traditionally the jelly would be made from pig's trotters. Sometimes I keep a couple in the freezer to make the stock to pour into a pork pie, once baked.
Thanks also for the info re yogurt CP also the suggestion about adding dried fruit - add enough and you end up with a cheesecake filling and no need to do anything else. Thanks also to Moira and Lesley for their input on the same subject.
With the Cassata Lesley it would make a good festive pud (or even tea-time dessert), but as ever - suggest you make it at least once (even small scale using one trifle sponge in a tiny dish) just to know it works. This last week myself made the mistake of altering the way I made the lemon chicken for the Chinese meal (served to guests). Because I left it whole, and not cut into strips before cooking - it lacked the lemon flavour throughout the meat, and also was difficult to carve neatly when hot - ended up shredded. Was really fed-up about that. Next time I will make it using my original recipe knowing it will work very well indeed.
Thanks Janette for giving details of the lower priced baking tins. Have never myself tried those 'bendy' ones, made of some sort heatproof material. Please anyone, let me know if they work as well as the metal ones re the heat getting through, and also whether they release the contents easily - and do they need greasing first?
My Challenge continues. Even before I begin to tell you about yesterday, feel that if it still continues the same way, may be forced to hang up my apron and give up cooking altogether. Could be that by the end of this year no more "Taste the Goode Life". Make the most of it while you can.
With a more positive outlook, am telling myself all that is happening is because I was moaning about having cook's block and having said it all, had not a lot left to write about, so my spirit guides decided to give me a helping hand to make sure I DO have something to write about. Pity they forgot about the saying "too many cook's spoil the broth". One guide at a time only, please. But thanks for the thought anyway.
Yesterday began with my usual multi-tasking, even small scale. Decided first to prepare the individual trifles so hunted out the pack of trifle sponges from the cupboard. Took out one pack of four from the box, two of those would be used, the rest returned to the box later. Then I took a jelly from the cupboard (8p from Tesco) and put that in a jug with a little cold water and put it into the microwave to dissolve. Brought the two trifle bowls to the table. Discovered the sponges had gone missing. Laid them down and had forgotten where. Eventually found them lying on top of the box of bread mixes (same colour as the box). So far so good. Added cold water to the dissolved jelly to bring it up to under a pint (with cheap jellies find a little less water works best), tore up the sponges, added sherry, then poured over half the jelly.
Picked up the two bowls and strode to the fridge so they could chill. Stood there in front of Boris (aka our fridge/freezer) with a bowl in each hand and no hand free to open his door. Felt a bit silly. No room to rest them where I stood (should have cleared the table before I began) so had to walk right back over to the unit by the oven, walk back to Boris, clear a space for the jellies, then while I was there, decided to bring out the half carrot, parsnip and celery that I needed to make the soup. Could not find them at first, but eventually discovered them tucked into a half-full (half-empty would be a negative thought) of mushrooms. Well they would be there wouldn't they, why hadn't I looked there first?
By now Boris was bleeping his head off (reminding me his door was still open), so went back, collected the bowls and put them in to chill. The reserved half of the jelly left at room temperature to pour over later.
Meanwhile got on with the soup. Diced the half carrot, celery stump and half a parsnip (doing the Challenge have to be Queen of Mean when it comes to using ingredients), put these in a pan with a little butter to saute, then remembered I had forgotten to get the chicken stock from the fridge, so again had to explore Boris's innards to find it. Put that in a pan to boil, as it hadn't been boiled for a couple or so days. Left the room to get something, then got distracted. When I returned the vegetables were - to put it nicely - beginning to caramelise. Tasted them and they were fine, so poured over the boiling stock (to which I had already added more water), and a tblsp of pearl barley, and set them to simmer.
Later, when checking if the veggies were cooked, noticed the soup was a darker colour than normal - this purely because of the caramelisation - caramel being the way to make gravy browning. Thought then it would look better if I served it as a 'beef and vegetable soup' so stirred in a teaspoon of AWT's gravy mix - forgetting the soup had originally been made with a good chicken stock. Have to say I almost stamped in frustration once I had realised this because the chicken stock was mega-good. Later, when we came to eat it, it really tasted VERY GOOD INDEED. so mixing the two stocks had no adverse affect whatsoever and might try that again. Being made in advance was able to turn out the heat and leave it in the pan until suppertime.
By then the jelly in the fridge had set, so brought out the dishes and discovered the jelly in the jug was just about to set, but a vigorous whisk with a fork brought it back to being usable without reheating, so quickly sliced a banana over the set jelly, poured the remaining jelly on top (it just about set as it touched the cold jelly and the glass dish) then spooned over the custard saved from the previous day. At the time made the custard was a bit thinner than usual (to find out why read yesterday's posting), but because it was now cold it was just about perfect for the trifles. Back they went into the fridge.
Have some time to spare so decided to fill my home-made flour sifter with some flour I had left in a bag on the table. Half of it spilt down my front (was somewhat relieved for that made the third spill), and so another clean -and this time long-sleeved - jersey is today heading for the washing machine. Luckily the ones encrusted with dough and custard - set hard enough so they could stand upright - are still waiting to be laundered. This will be done today. Still room in the washing machine to add bed linen, so must strip my bed as well.
Decided it was time I should get myself a coffee and have a little sit down. What did I do? Put the sweeteners in the mug, poured over the boiling water, quite forgetting to put coffee in the mug. I looked down to see just sweetened hot water. By then I was beginning to wonder if I was quite sane.
One light at the end of my very dark tunnel of a day was that when I decided to cut up the last of the rhubarb intending to cook it gently with a little sugar then make it into pies or just freeze as-is, for some reason decided to see if it would cut up more easily if I chopped it with scissors rather than use a knife. That was SO easily done that way, and after years of chopping rhubarb wither a knife wonder why I have never used scissors before. Celery is also easily 'chopped' using scissors.
The rhubarb was put into a bowl, a little sugar added, and foil put on top (having learned the previous day that if not covered it would dry out). Placed in the oven, oven switched on and left to cook.
Beloved returned home about 45 minutes later. At the time I was up here, checking emails, playing patience. Went down and mentioned about the rhubarb, saying he could add a bit more to his crumble if he wished. Opened the oven door and no rhubarb to be seen. What had I done? Put the rhubarb in the top oven, and switched the lower oven on by mistake. So had to start cooking the rhubarb all over again. Switched the lower oven off and switched on the upper oven, and in hindsight now realise it would have been more sensible to put the fruit in the already heated lower oven to finish off cooking than start all over again. By then had got myself so unnerved that after going up to bed thought that perhaps I had forgotten to switch the oven off, so went down to the kitchen to check. But I had done, and was in order.
Have to say - by the end of yesterday was beginning to worry about myself. Is it that I am trying to do too much, or age has caught up with me? Maybe I could do with a holiday. Let us just hope it is only a blip or my 'guides' find someone else to play with and this week returns to normal - whatever normal is.
Of course none of these 'occurrences' need have been mentioned, so you would have been none the wiser, but although this might seem as though cooking can be more difficult than expected, by the same token feel that sometimes it is good to know that even an established cook can have disasters - and quite often in my case it seems.
Today will be needing to bake another loaf - firstly vacuuming out the sediment from the machine before putting back the pan, then hope it will stop screeching. If not, maybe a spray of WD40 might help (hasten to say not in the pan). Beloved loves homemade bread so much, he cuts the slices too thickly and so it doesn't last as long as the bought. The loaf made on Friday (first cut late Friday evening) is just about finished.
Speaking of bread, apparently bakers will now be allowed to make loaves any size/weight they wish. Originally the large loaves were supposed to be around the traditional 2lb (900g) but since metric believe some have been sold at 800g. Have a feeling that we will end up paying the same money for a large loaf but it will be slightly smaller. Then, once we get used to smaller, they will then make them just a bit bigger (in other words back to where they are now) and charge more.
In the newspaper this weekend was an article by a man - didn't recognise his name, but sure he was someone of note. What he did was to last a whole year without buying anything at all. By this he meant clothes, non-foods, presumably even petrol. It was a full page article and have to say only skimmed through it. Presumably the food he ate was paid for by someone else (partner/wife). Poor man went through his wardrobe and discovered he had only 8 pairs of shoes to last the year - and he did admit to having to pay for at least one pair to be repaired. He also ended up having to darn his socks. Seems he had enough suits, ties and shirts to last the twelvemonth, and presumably underwear. Don't think he mentioned having his hair cut, perhaps he was bald, or got his wife to run the razor over it himself (I cut B's hair, he can trim his own beard). Must re-read the article properly.
This made me think about the money spent on myself (other than food and the necessary non-foods). Am still wearing the same clothes that I have had for over five years now. Same with shoes. The only thing I need to buy (fairly rarely as my friend brings a dozen or so pairs of pop socks for me that she buys at Loughborough Market on my behalf) - and even now am contemplating stitching up the holes, or keeping the laddered ones to wear under another pair in the cold weather. Have new underwear (kept ready to take into hospital if the occasion arises), and several pairs of shoes but only one pair normally worn (think they are called Ecco or something similar). As long as I have a couple of reasonable outfits to wear 'when dining out' or some such nonsense, then I make do with what I have. Just as long as I feel comfortable. My only concession to vanity is having my hair done - and this I would do myself if I could.
Several of my skirts (never wear dresses or trousers) are exactly the same, so possibly could seem as though I own fewer clothes than I really have. Never wear coats, just prefer long cardigans in varying thicknesses, and have one pale grey zip-up jacket (called a 'fleece'?).
Do have a rainproof cover-all (with matching umbrella), that is like a massive poncho that has a hood that can be pulled up tight under the chin, rain just rolls off it. No need for the umbrella at all. Both brolly and coat were bought from Lakeland. The coat packs up really small, so very useful in that respect - considering our weather. Speaking of which, after a week of Indian summer, the forecast is now cloudy, rain and very windy. Today has started off with blue skies but I see fluffy white clouds whizzing past. Bet we get the least summer of any country in the whole world. Even in the land of the midnight sun bet they have more sunny days than we have, even though they have six months of nights.
Back to today. As well as making the bread, and probably as the dough is rising, really must make the marmalade. Still have to sort out what to make for supper. Meant yesterday to soak some red beans so that tonight we could have chilli can carne, but of course forgot to do that even though I had put them in full sight to remind me. Problem was the table was so cluttered everything was in full sight, and thus nothing caught my attention . At least managed to clear most of it up before the end of the day, although moving the beans to the unit, and forgetting to put them back onto the table to remind me didn't help. When it comes to kitchen work, it can often be like driving a car - we often do thing automatically and without noticing what we might be doing some way ahead. A lot less accidents on the road if we concentrate more when we drive, and stop thinking about other things. Same in the kitchen. Keep focused. Must keep telling myself that.
The title of today's posting is a double-edged sword. Look on it that in the meantime we could be reading a few cookbooks, or trying out a new recipe and as far as cooking goes this may move us on a tad. But the sharper edge is that in the meantime means is as night-time means dark, and daytime means light, then MEANtime can stand for the time to be mean. With the financial crisis at its all time low, and maybe will get even lower, then now is when we should be mean re how much we spend and no reason to feel guilty at all. If being mean means 'tight-fisted', then nothing wrong with that. We are all of us discovering how much cheaper things can be in one store than another, and between us the information is being shared.
Being tight with money can also be called thrift. Thrift means just being sensible, never spend what we can't afford, and spend less in any case. The one place we can be extremely thrifty is in the kitchen. With plenty of supermarkets exchanging blows there are ample foods still on sale at low prices (but don't be tempted by the ones that have the calories but not the nutrition). We should - as our cousins on the continent have always done - check the produce before buying. Pick the freshest, the ripest (better flavour), the heaviest (if all priced the same). The days of reaching for the first iceberg lettuce we see should now be long past. The one behind may seem smaller but end up far more compact and heavier. Why pay for air?
Begin to shop as the professional cook would do. Discover the best butcher and fishmonger, compare prices, compare quality. The better the quality the better the flavour, so we can often buy less to get the same result.
We should begin to ask ourselves what might seem to be a totally unnecessary question such as: "do we need to use a whole carrot". Normally we would expect to use a whole carrot and if this means we can cut down a little on the more expensive ingredients (the total weight of ingredients for a savoury dish will serve a set number - and as long as the weight remains the same, more of the cheaper ingredients can be used in place of some of the expensive) then it would be sensible to do so. But is we can get away with using half - although this may seem too frugal, the little bit of carrot - once grated - and mixed with a little finely shredded white cabbage, a little chopped onion, and thinned-down-with-water mayo will turn into a credible cole-slaw. The more we can see the potential of any vegetable, the more dishes can be made without having to buy more.
Mean Cuisine - that is what we should be aiming for, but making it turn out as Posh Nosh on a Shoestring. Easily done when we know how, and over the past couple of years have hoped that enough info has been passed on through this site to enable everyone to do just this.
It is easy enough to give cost-cutting-tips from my side of the fence. Although I try to stick to only using foods that everyone can buy, obviously some 'freebies' come into it. Not everyone lives near enough to pick elderberries or blackberries, not even dandelions if living in a high rise flat (although could suggest digging up a few from the roadside and growing them in a pot on a windowsill (the new growth would have no fumes on their leaves). Even to reach a supermarket, this would mean using a car, or taking a bus (unless lucky to live within walking distance), and transport costs money.
The affluent can cut costs just by cutting down on the more expensive foods (lobster, good wine, caviare etc). Moving down the ladder we can begin doing more home-cooking, and maybe using a cheaper brand of foods we used to buy. Further down we come to the 'own-brands' and 'reduced', and lower (or even those near the top are doing this) move to a cheaper store such as Aldi or Lidl. Sooner or later we come to a full-stop, nothing can be bought cheaper and where do we go from there?
A certain amount of self-sufficiency can put more on the table, but again urge for 'the need to know and finding out' has to be there. In an earlier comment think there was a mention of gold-top (Channel Island) milk being used to make yogurt. If we can afford that, then we can also make butter, clotted and whipped cream from the CI milk, plus yogurt, and cream/curd cheese. When making butter we are left with butter milk, and once the cream has been siphoned off the milk, the milk left (still pretty rich) can be diluted with water to bring back up to a pint. Have done this myself when in the throes of povery and almost talking myself into doing it again. The more the need to know the more we can learn, and in all honesty, extremely good food can be home-cooked and not just eaten but thoroughly enjoyed by friends and family at far less cost than we could ever believe.
Beloved has been in and decided he will have a lamb shank for supper with new potatoes, green peas, mint sauce and redcurrant sauce. Expensive although the shank is (just over £2.00), he is the only one to eat it, so between us the evening meal will not be that expensive although have yet to decide what to have myself (possibly salad, with some potatoes and peas, grated cheese and hard-boiled egg (that a good enough balanced meal). Still rhubarb crumble and one trifle left, so no dessert to worry about.
Today's recipes are unusual and useful in that although making a loaf, neither use yeast, egg or butter. So simple enough for anyone to attempt.
With this first recipe dare say using Ovaltine instead of Horlicks might make it taste more like a malt loaf, especially if using black treacle instead of syrup. Instead of dates, prunes, figs or apricots could be used. Add nuts if you wish. An easy one for children to make.
Horlicks Loaf: gives 16 slices (F)
8 oz (225g) self-raising flour
2 oz (50g) Horlicks powder
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
4 oz (100g) dried dates, stoned and chopped
3 tblsp golden syrup
5 fl oz (150ml) milk
2 tblsp water
Put all ingredients into a bowl and beat together to make a thick batter. Pour into a well-greased 2 lb (900g) loaf tin and bake at 190C, 375F, gas 5 for 50 minutes until golden and firm. Turn out and cool on a cake airer. To freeze: when cold, wrap seal and label. Use within 3 months. Thaw for 2 - 3 hours at room temperature. Serve spread with butter if you wish.
This second loaf is much more of a savoury. If you store any hard cheese (such as Red Leicester, mature Cheddar) until quite hard, it will grate down as fine as Parmesan and have just as much flavour but be less costly. For the canned red pimento myself would substitute a few small Peppadew, or instead chop up a sweet red bell pepper and add a good pinch of cayenne, paprika or chilli powder to give that hint of spice or dash of Tabasco. If no fresh parsley, then add half a tsp dried mixed herbs.
Cheese, Herb and Pepper Loaf: gives 16 slices (F)
1 oz (25g) margarine or butter
8 oz (225g) self-raising flour
half teasp baking powder
good pinch of salt
2 tblsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 oz (50g) canned red pimento (see above), chopped
1 medium onion, grated
1 dessp chopped fresh parsley
2 fl oz (60ml) milk
melted butter
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and rub in the fat. Stir in the cheese, pimento, onion and herbs. Mix to a smooth dough with the milk and shape into a round. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 40 - 45 minutes. Turn out onto a baking sheet to cool, brushing the surface with melted butter. Can be served hot or cold. Freeze as explained in above recipe.
Time now for me to wend my way downstairs, speaking openly to any spirit guide still hovering with the words so often said by my uncle "advise but don't interfere". Tomorrow you will know whether they have bothered to listen. If the marmalade won't set, or the lamb shank is underdone - you will know who to blame, and it won't be me.
At least the past few days have taught me a lot. Hope you have enjoyed hearing about the Goode life more than I have enjoyed participating. Life is a see-saw - maybe this week Beloved will win the Lottery.
One last thing - have you noticed how Strictly Come Dancing is now speeding up the time between announcing the winners and losers. Didn't even bother to wait when it came to Jessie Wallace and partner, they were just about doubled up with the previous one, so bet there have been lots of complaints in the Beeb's mailbox re this. Thank goodness someone took notice. Or perhaps they were just running out of time.
As ever, love you and leave you and keep comments coming. Per-leeze.
posted by Shirley at 5:11 AM
8 Comments:
Hello Shirley and fellow readers,
I just want to say how much I enjoy reading your blog every day. I am currently not well and have another fortnight before I have to return to work, and have been reading here for about a month but was too unwell to post. I had to get my password changed, and managed to do that with less drama than expected.
I absolutely agree with you about domestic thrift. That it can be a joy, but we all have our off days in the kitchen. I too get distracted sometimes and come back to something burnt, or not switched on, or in the wrong place... very frustrating!
I don't always enjoy cooking for one. Having had a family, and prior to divorce I found it easier to cook for others. The plus side is being able to eat what I like when I like,without having to consider someone else's likes and dislikes.
I hope today is a better day for you.
Best wishes
Groatie
Shirley
While reading the Bill Bryson book on Shakespeare, I discovered that the word frugal was first used by Shakespeare... http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cetag/1dbnewords.htm for more commonly used words that he created.
That was quite some day you were having! I tend to find that if I get rattled by one event, it leads me to be distracted, and then that can lead to another 'mishap'... could this be the reason behind the sequence?
I ahve started taking cookery books to read in bed at night before dropping off. I like to work out the 'how' of dishes, so I can adapt them. A recent revelation was to fry onions, then add flour, then add stock to make a thick gravy for a stew. Yes yes I know... you knew that already, but it's the sort of basic starter for so many dishes and very adaptable.
Have you already done posts on basic starts like that? Or on the basics of pastry and why it gets adapted in different ways for different purposes?
And finally on my own efforts at frugality. Saturday night was another 'fire outside' night, so I threw a couple of baking potatoes into the fire (well wrapped in foil). Other half was concerned about the aluminium foil oxidising and falling apart, however although the outside foil did crumble, the inner layer was fine. The spuds were given an hour, though they came out quite black - 3/4 hour would suffice. Other Half was curious about the flavour, so took the end of a spud and popped some butter on it. Ten minutes later the whole potato had gone. Finally found a way to make some more use of the fire other than getting rid of the waste wood and de-stressing.
One last query... we go out to work at 7.30am and get back at about 4.30 or 5pm. Would it be safe to leave chicken joints on the side to defrost for this time? Would you defrost in the fridge?
Hi Shirley and girls, Eileen here.
Hope today is going well for you Shirley. Dont worry, you are not losing the plot, days like that happen to everyone. I spent half an hour looking for something the other day only to find it exactly where it should be (and where I had looked first). I must have looked past it or through it, wierd ! Ah well thats life.
I had a great "Shirley moment" yesterday, You would have been proud (I hope). I had defrosted a small chicken breast for my evening meal which I was going to have with leeks and carrots. I had an unexpected guest and had to turn enough for one into a meal for two. I remembered your advice last week about serving more courses and removed one of my cartons of home made lentil soup from the freezer and two banana muffins.
I made a jug of chicken stock with the cheap tesco stock cubes and thinned the soup a little with some of this. I then diced the chicken and sauted with the sliced leeks and then added the rest of the stock. I put this in a casserole and made a very small amount of suet pastry for the lid. This was baked in the oven where I also warmed the banana muffins. The finished meal was lentil soup, Chicken and leek pie with carrots and banana muffin with custard (half a packet of tesco instant custard only 7p !!! and quite nice). The whole meal was very well received.
I was interested to read about your day and also about the clothes you wear. I also have bought more than one of things that I like and am comfortable in.
I have "house clothes" and always get changed the minute I walk in the door.
The horlicks loaf sounds good, I wonder if that would work for Cheesepare in her bread machine ?
Cheers, Eileen.
Hi Shirley - bad days can only get better - you haven't lost the plot at all, I really enjoy reading what you have to say and wish I was as articulate.
My son would have asked for the recipe - all three of my sons live with their respective girlfriends, but this particular son likes spag bol and given a chance would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and any meals inbetween! He and girlfriend went shopping and bought a jar of ragu sauce and he complained his spaghetti didn't go red like mums! I won't say what girlfriend said.......
Cheesepare calling ...
Dear Shirley,
I know what you mean. On some days I believe it is safer not to leave the house!
On breadmaking, I now follow your tip and always shred an apple and add it to the mix which greatly improves both the taste and texture. this might help use up the apple glut, althoough for us this has not been a bumper year ... and hardly any pears and no plums at all.
Eileen, I believe is well placed for hazelnuts . Towards the back end we would collect plenty in the woods behind Arnside Knott - towards the tower. A mere bike ride from Morecambe!
Much love,
Cheesepare
Hi
Well - I think I'll allow my "guides" a litle more leeway - I tend to think that it might improve things if they interfered a little more in my life. Advice sometimes doesnt get listened to - and then I regret it! I can certainly think of a few times when I was glad I did listen to the advice...saved me a lot of problems.
regards
ceridwen
x
Hi Shirley, enjoyed reading your blog again.
Here are somg interesting tips on Storing Garden Crops:
Cold Storage Tips
Home storing of the less perishable vegetables for winter use has almost become a lost art.
Cabbage, turnips, radishes, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, celery, potatoes and apples may be stored in cool and moist surroundings. Onions require a cool and dry atmosphere; and pumpkins, squash and sweet potatoes need a dry place where it is relatively warm.
If you do not have a basement cold room, or an outdoor root cellar, the alternative is to store the cold-requiring vegetables in pits or mounds outdoors. Root crops for storage, including potatoes, should be planted late so the crop will not mature too early.
Leave an inch of tops on such vegetables as beets, carrots and turnips. Pack them in boxes between layers of loose soil or sand; dig a trench in a well-drained part of the garden–make it deep enough to leave the tops of the boxes a foot below ground level, and large enough to hold all the boxes; place the boxes in the trench. Then lay boards across the top of the trench, stand a piece of drain pipe or tile up to carry off the air and after a few days when the vegetables have cooled, throw in enough earth to close the space between the roots and the boards. When it gets very cold, heap on enough dry leaves or straw to keep the frost from the soil under the boards. Keep the leaves or straw dry by covering with old canvas or boards. Being dry, the leaves will be easy to handle and resistant to frost, and will be easier to remove when you want to get at your vegetables. Potatoes may be stored in this way if plenty of straw is used so air circulates around them.
Perhaps you will want to make several storage pits with a box of vegetables in each, so you can remove them one at a time without disturbing them all. If so, put a variety of vegetables in each box.
For cabbage, a simple method is to dig a trench 8 inches deep and wide enough for three heads. Pull the heads up by the roots, remove the largest outer leaves, and place the heads top down in the trench. Cover with straw or hay, then soil, and add more soil as the weather becomes colder. Stand a bunch of straw up like a chimney every few feet along the trench to give ventilation.
Brussels sprouts may be kept a short time this way if packed loosely in straw, then covered with earth. However, this vegetable is quite hardy and the sprouts will be usable from the garden until late fall.
For celery, dig a trench as deep as the celery is high and as narrow as possible so the stalks can be packed tightly in an upright position, roots on the soil. Leave uncovered until freezing weather sets in, then cover with straw and 6 or 8 inches of soil. For early use, blanch the celery in the garden, but for mid-winter use, put it in the trench green and blanch it there.
Apples can be kept in barrels laid in shallow pits. Select the best fruit, pack carefully in barrel and nail a burlap sack over the end. Try to have the apples cool when you pack them. Cover the barrel with a foot and a half of straw, then 6 inches of soil. As the cold strengthens, add another layer of straw and soil. Storing apples in barrels instead of open ground keeps them from absorbing a ground flavor.
Onions need cold, dry air. After being pulled, they should be cured by spreading them in the sun several days. Remove tops after curing, cutting them three or four inches above the bulb. Place on slatted racks or trays and store in a cool, dry place where there will be circulation of air. A frost-proof attic is ideal.
Pumpkins and squash should be gathered before frost, and left with stems on. They should be fully mature, and many gardeners leave them in the sun a few days after they are cut, to harden the rind. Store them on shelves in a dry room where the temperature will be about 50 degrees. If warmer they will lose weight; if moist they will rot. Handle carefully to prevent bruising.
Sweet potatoes need the same conditions as pumpkins and squash.
Green tomatoes left on the vines can be saved by pulling the plant and hanging it in a dry, frost-proof place. The fruit will ripen for some time. Peppers can be kept for as long as three weeks if the plants are pulled up and hung upside down in a damp, cool corner of the basement.
Being retired has given me more time to get prepared for Christmas instead of at the last minute. I cooked my Christmas Puddings this morning, so that my cake made and my Christmas puddings, so my next one is my mincemeat.
Well take care.
SweeterRita
Hi everyone.Ive just discovered this blog and im slowly making my way thru the back posts.
I havent got much in the way of kitchen equiptment as ive always been a buy it already done so i havent felt the need..until now.
The dreaded credit crunch has taken care of all the finest foods and expensive puddings although i do occasionally treat myself to the toffee pecan roulade in tesco every now and again.
Mistakes in the kitchen...oh ive made quite a few..hence the need to buy prepared..lol..
I have "forgotten" rice puddings on more than one occasion and have returned to find them dark brown and the pyrex dish broken..i stopped cooking that after i got down to one pyrex dish..
I have a small food processor and a hand mixer and thats about it when it comes to gadgets.I have a small bun tin and a couple of baking/roasting tins and one loose bottom cake tin ive had ten years after trying to make a christmas cake..i only did the one..unfortunatley it was too well dosed with brandy for us to eat..i was injecting it with brandy every day from october to december and i thought a whole bottle of brandy was what the recipe said when in fact it said use a minature...Never mind my mum really was happy for quite a few weeks.
I left home at 16 and went to live in a bed sit with just an electric fire a saucepan and a few items of cutlery.The first meal i have was cooked on the bars of the fire after tilting it on bricks..beans on toast and it was lovely..of course disaster struck when a bean fell into the elements and i tried removing it whilst still on with a fork..i electrocuted myself and broke the fire much to my dismay..my dad ended up buying me a two hob mini oven after that and that became my first real cooker.
I look back now and remeber how i started off with nothing literally and have now got all the mod cons it has made me appreciate what i have.My dd whos ten looks at me like ive gone mad when i tell her i used to hand wash clothes as im only 40. I cant see her having to make do and mend when shes older.
I cant see any of todays generation gutting fish or working on the land in all weathers either just to earn a living.
Oh well ive gone on again..i have a tendancy of doing that one topic often gets me on to another and before you know it ive waffled enough to fill a page or send the reader to sleep..lol..
Hope you have a disaster free day today Shirley.
Keep up the blogging its about the only thing i enjoy reading on the web at the moment
Flo x
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