Taste the Goode Life

Time is of the Essence

2012-01-30T08:40:00.004Z

Later start than normal due to late rising (dreaming again!), plus decided to make some Apricot EasyYo yogurt whilst the water was boiling for my morning coffee, also did a few other 'culinary' activities. Then had my coffee and pills, came in here and spent a few minutes working out why it is that B ALWAYS brings in more groceries than requested, as yesterday this expense was more than my allotted £10 due to him not 'listening' (or more likely having what he wanted not what I wanted).

We were running low on butter and B won''t eat marg or any other spread, so asked him to check on Lurpak (his favourite) and bring in a block ONLY if it was under £1.50 a pack. So he brings in four packs, each priced at £1.60! If he could only have waited a couple of weeks I could have bought Tesco's Value butter (which he says "tastes as good as Lurpak") at £1.19 a block and saved £1.74p.

Food bought was 6 navel oranges (35p each), a bag of Gala apples (£1 - and VERY good value as 9 in the pack = 11p each), 2 x 4 pint containers of milk (price gone up), another Pukka Pie for £1(he now can't resist them, but they are very good), grapes £1.87 (didn't need them but B wanted them), and four packs of Lurpak (a massive £6.40!).

Of course there is still enough food in store to keep B well fed for several more weeks if not months, but - like so many of us - once in a store he does get tempted, and as the food he buys will be eaten, this just leaves me more in store. It's not as though we are spending hand over fist, even with this last expense, still well under the £10 a week 'budget' since Christmas.
Maybe I worry too much, trying to prove something that no-one is really interested in aiming for. Possibly just 'cutting down drastically on purchases' instead of 'cutting out altogether' is possibly the way to go.
In any case will shortly have to place an on-line delivery with Tesco as need to stock-up ready for my marathon dessert 'cook-in' for B's sailing club in a few weeks. Waiting until the last minute is never a good idea (been there, done that....) as more often than not the store has run out of what is needed, and then means a frantic chase round other stores. I don't do chasing. Me, I like to feel secure, knowing I have everything to hand when needed.

Due to my wish to get yesterday's blog published before Gill rang (managed it by the skin of my teeth), forgot to reply to comments that had been sent in. Do apologise for this and am doing this now, followed by replies to those that came in later.

Having one than one man in the family almost certainly means our larder/fridge gets raided for snacks. Gillibob has this problem. Mind you, when our son AND grandson used to do this I was always content, more so than when B did it. Most be the mother in me. Thankfully, other than ice-cream, the rest of the frozen food is left alone due to it not being for 'instant' eating. Pity we can't keep everything in the freezer.
One way to prevent food being eaten that is intended to be kept, is to keep these in boxes or tins that are labelled 'do not touch' or 'not to be eaten', leaving a certain amount of (say bacon, biscuits) for those that have stomachs like bottomless pits. Should do this myself, but perhaps because when stores become depleted (esp in the fridge) I can then 'go shopping' again, which is - I have to say - something I really do love to do, even though these days it is confine to foods (plus some non-foods like detergents, loo rolls etc).

Welcome back to Elaine who has a husband who doesn't help himself to food, and as he sounds as though he prefers to be waited on, not sure whether that is good or bad. If he asks for snacks etc to be brought to him, would suggest you explain that you have put cake/biscuits in tins, and other snacks (that he likes) in the fridge, so that he can help himself when the need to eat comes over him. Just provide him with his main meals and then let him sort the rest out himself.

The wartime rations of a suggested 3 - 4 baked potatoes a day Sairy would have been because these are extremely 'filling/satisfying' so not a lot more food (there wasn't a lot more anyway) needs to be served with them. Cabbage has always been a healthy veg. to eat, especially those with dark green leaves, the winter kale being one of the best. Even though in those days the nutritonal value of foods wasn't understood as it is today, it seemed that the insistence to 'eat your greens' told to us as children (by mothers AND grandmothers) was for a good reason.
The 'two other veg' would probably be carrots or swedes, or anything in season that was able to be bought (or grown) in any amount, for some reason onions always being in very short supply. If they had the equivalent of eBay in those days, an onion would have been able to be sold for a LOT of money. As it was then in what what called 'the Black Market'.

Your husband Sairy sounds as though he was brought up in a large family (as was B) during the war years, but doesn't seem to feel as deprived as B seems to think he was. Possibly this is due to your OH's good upbringing and his other siblings ready to share. According to B, his brothers always grabbed the food before B got a chance, so he was left with 'the leavings'. Am sure this was not the case, more the way B thinks it was.
One of our daughters (a clone of her father, and now living in America for a 'better life' which has not come up to her expectations - but nothing ever does) always used to complain that her brothers and sisters got more than she did, and this was absolutely not true. When we tried to reason with her, she said she wanted better than they were given. Once or twice gave her the opportunity to choose which gift she would like from several, saying to her 'the ones she didn't want would be given to her sisters' and this really upset her, for whichever she chose, she tgeb said she'd made a mistake and her sister's gifts were still better than hers.
This craving 'for better' or 'more than' must be a type of personality that is embedded in the genes, and as it can't seem to be altered, just have to live with it.

Having caught up with the previous comments, carrying on with the next....
The recent shopping bill has shown that the price of some fresh 'five-a-day' fruit is way beyond that of canned fruit (one orange costing more than 1.5 cans of sliced peaches). Even if an orange was shared, still makes it a much more expensive 'portion', than that from a can of fruit.
The apples WERE good value. So, Urbanfarmgirl, worth buying canned fruit that is low price or 'on offer' and certainly those of us who have room in the garden should plan this year to plant fruit bushes and small fruit trees (blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, black and redcurrants et). 'Patio' cherry, apple, plum and pear trees also worth growing if garden space is limited. We can always freeze the fruit to enjoy during the winter months (our redcurrant bush has been loaded the last two years, and we only planted it 2.5 years ago).

Think the slump in 'cereal' sales is more to do with the processed cereals such as cornflakes and the like sue15cat. For some reason oats come under a different category. The article in the trade mag listed the 'top 10 bestsellers' (starting at the top with Special K, followed by Weetabix, Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes, Kellog's Corn Flakes, Quaker Oat So Simple, Coco Pops, Cheerios, Shreddies, Shredded Wheat, and last on the list - Rice Krispies). Even so, the overall 'volume' of sales has dropped. All these cereals are what I call 'processed'. Porridge oats are as near to 'natural' as we can get, but now more and more being packaged with other things (as mentioned yesterday) so that manufacturers and retailers can make more profit.

This year we will be seeing a lot more pressure (by the government and nutritionists) for the nation to 'eat healthily'. 'Ready meals' will contain less calories and more veg (probably this means using less meat to keep the package weight the same, but this won't make the meals any less expensive, probably the reverse), and so there will probably be lot of new 'healthy' products appearing on the shelves. The Oats So Simple topper pots mentioned yesterday is an example. Avoid 'basic', add flavour then reap in the profits seems to be the order of the day.

How much would a coffee and muffin cost if bought from a coffee shop (mentioned in a comment)? Quite a lot I should think. Simple enough to make a flask of coffee and have home-baked muffins in the freezer to take out and eat and drink 'on the hoof' so to speak. Keep the savings to pay for a holiday in the Maldives.
The best AND cheapest way to eat healthily is to avoid all these cereal gimmicks, pressure from Starbucks etc , buy basic ingredients, fresh produce, and make up our own meals right through from breakfast to supper. Let us hope more do this.

After reading the supplement on 'oil' yesterday, feel I'm in a bit of a quandary. What is true? What isn't? For as a cook have always read AND believed that extra virgin olive oil should never be used for cooking - always use cold in small quantities to add flavour to a salad dressing for instance, but as you will see in one of the the extracts taken from the supplement, this is now not the case. Extra virgin being the most expensive, seems that they will suggest anything to get us to buy more of it.

"The trend towards consumers staying in and cooking during the economic downturn has been to the undoubted benefit of edible oils. As consumers experiment more in the kitchen, they are increasing the number of oils in their repertoire: for instance choosing extra virgin olive oil for dripping and drizzling, standard olive oil for marinades, light and mild oils to complement delicate flavours and seed oils for basting and frying".

The above seems only to apply to the more wealthy who initially used to 'eat out' rather than cook. For one thing they probably have to learn how to cook rather than 'experiment' (this can be costly when you get it wrong), and even those past novice level would rather not be confused as to how many different types of oil need to be kept in the larder. If you ARE a person who understands the value of different oils, then almost certainly is already an experienced cook who rarely eats out.

"Extra-virgin olive oil is another varient that continues to build a loyal fan-base. However, he fact that the per capita consumption is extra virgin is only half a litre per annum proves that the market is still at the incubation stage... there are millions of litres of potential growth yet to be captured by UK multiples. The key to unlock this is by persuading and enabling consumers to use extra virgin in every day cooking. Taking extra virgin beyond the occasional drizzle on a salad will unleash fantastic incremental sales."

From a retail aspect this makes sense, after all - business is business, but it does show how a store is always looking for ways to pull a few more of our spending strings. For instance there was a 'tailored Christmas promotion' to give (oil) consumers a chance to win up to £10,000..."the on-pack offer proved to be a great mechanic to attract people to purchase. It sold through quicker than expected and consumer penetration over the 12 weeks up to Christmas ncreased by over 15% as a result".

Another slightly disturbing bit of info is "We have found shoppers are particularly willing and indeed expect to pay the full rsp for oils that add a point of difference.....and if suppliers can effectively communicate to consumers the usage occasions of speciality oil, they have the potential to add significant value to the category."

"The growth in fine home dining during the economic downturn has presented fine food categories such as specialist oils with a unique opportunity for growth. As more and more people enjoy following intricate, fine food recipes at home, that opportunity is growing as more and more specialist oils are being used as key ingredients in everything from stir-fries and sauces o home-made dressings and cakes."

Quite honestly, the above makes me wonder if I don't try hard enough to put 'fine-dining' on the table, having never found it necessary to use 'intricate recipes'. Cooking for guests is stressful enough without having to make it complicated. Mind you, all this chat about the oil varients is making me think twice. Perhaps I should keep more than just sunflower, extra V and truffle oil in my larder.

One manufacturer has a mission to get UK consumers cooking with extra virgin olive oil. Their ad shows a bottle with the message under saying: "Extra Virgin British style: A drizzle here, a drizzle there, save it for the salad!" and underneath that "Extra Virgin Spanish style: Pour it on! Litres of the stuff. 99% of it for cooking."

"The myth that consumers have to use a lesser quality 'refined' oil in cooking is blown out of the water with the advent of *** " say the manufacturers (not giving the brand as don't wish to give them free advertising).
They continue..."So called pure and refined oils have undergone harsh chemical extraction and refining processes. High heat and strong chemicals are used to extract, de-gum, neutralise, deodorise and bleach the oil. The resulting de-natured oil has virtually no taste or smell, and so a small amount of standard extra virgin is added to improve some minimal olive oil character. Amazingly these 'refined' oils are sold in the UK at virtually the same price as the treasured extra virgin."

If the above is the case, then how can we sort the wheat from the chaff? Probably make sure we buy a reputable brand of extra-virgin, and go for a sensible and cheaper frying oil (then mix the two together for other purposes).
Despite olive oil said to be one of the healthiest for us (and probably still is) the following may be of interest when it comes to making a choice...
Olive oil: contains 15% saturated fatty acids, 75% monounsaturated ans 10% polyunsaturated.
Rapeseed oil: contains 5% saturated fatty acids, 15% monounsaturated and 15% polyunsaturated.
Sunflower oil: contains 5% saturated fatty acids, 25% monounsaturated and 65% polyunsaturated
Peanut (groundnut) oil: contains 20% saturated fatty acids, 50% monounsaturated and 30% polyunsaturated.
Corn oil: contains 15% saturated fatty acids, 35% monounsaturated and 59% polyunsaturated.

...and because I save chicken fat skimmed from the top after making chicken stock (I include the chicken skin to get extra) to use for cooking/frying, it is good to know that my reference books tell me that "chicken fat is not too saturated for an animal fat, with 35% saturated fatty acids, 50% monounsaturated (i.e. neutral), and 15% polyunsaturated, depending upon what the chicken has eaten.
Chicken fat is softer and nearer in consistency to oil than other animal fats. When clarified it fries well and can be heated to 200C (392) without burning. It is much used in south-western France and in Jewish cooking".
Considering the price we have to pay for all fats, why not make our own for 'free' each time we make chicken stock?

Hope some of the above has given good food for thought. Now must dash off into the kitchen to make the most of the rest of the morning. Time is of the essence they say. Use it or lose it.

Looks like being a lovely day today, blue sky (which means lots of sunshine), but still very cold with frost still on the lawn. Snow forecast for several places, but doubt we will get any, but each morning the dawn breaks earlier and can feel spring already stirring in my veins.

B had chilli con carne for supper last night. I was good and froze the surplus (really wanted to eat it, but am trying to lose a few more pounds, so ate a big bowl of strawberry yogurt and two oranges instead). Will perhaps cook that Pukka Pie for his meal tonight with some Brussels sprouts. As I made three individual trifles yesterday to use up the bit of cake I'd saved and the drained peaches (the syrup went into the baked beans), there are still two left, so no need for me to think about a pud, although might make a fruit pie as have thawed out some pastry. Also might make a quiche (both of us like quiche, B particularly as a snack), and a Bakewell Tart. Whatever I do, you will no doubt be told about it tomorrow. Hope to see you then.

Cheaper Ways...

2012-01-29T07:15:00.005Z

Beginning today with a photo of 'my' baked beans, once they had cooked in the crockpot. These started life as one 500g pack of dried haricot beans (98p), and after soaking in cold water (free) overnight, then began cooking them in half a carton of tomato juice (42p worth used). Later adding some leftover syrup (allowed 10p for that) and juice from a can of sliced peaches (juice 'free' as the fruit was to be used for a trifle). This came to £1.50.

This next picture shows the beans once they have been put into a glass bowl - so you get a better idea of how much was made. This beans/sauce (not the bowl) weighed 2kg, so that meant they now weighed four times their original dried weight. As you can see the sauce is just about the right amount, and certainly less that that 'supplied' in many of the canned beans.
As baked beans come in 450g cans, that meant the beans below would have filled about four and half cans, and probably works out at about the same price as the cheapest canned beans (34p) so was it worth it? Certainly was impressed by the flavour of mine (even though not as good as Heinz), and having a pack of dried haricot beans meant that if I ran out of canned it was easy enough to make my own.
Passata might have been cheaper to use than tomato juice (bought to drink), the peach syrup ws used because many years ago read that peaches were used as a flavouring for beans (or was it ketchup?) anyway it worked. The 'bean sauce' was exactly how I like it, very slightly sweet and not too runny.

While I had the camera in the kitchen, decided to take a couple of photos of my now sprouted lemon pips. Can't quite remember when these were sowed, probably around Christmas when I'd been making a batch of lemon curd. As you can see, once they had sprouted (kept them over a c.h. radiator to do this), moved them to the conservatory windowsill protected by half a plastic lemonade bottle (mini-greenhouse).

In the picture below you get a better idea of what the shoots look like, and although only six pips were sown, several seem to have thrown off two shoots, so will let them grown on a bit before re-potting, then may be able to divide them up to grow even more 'lemon trees'. As said before, these could make good and very unusual gifts to give to family and friends who like indoor pot plants. Perfect presents for next Christmas.

Did a bit of price comparison yesterday re the 'five-a-day' and it does seem that if we include canned produce it will work out cheaper than if we rely only on the 'fresh'. For instance one orange could cost at least 25p, but a carton of orange juice (62p ltr) works out at around 10p per 'serving'. An apple could be around 15p each, apple juice would - likewise -work out cheaper.

Compare the following prices to any 'fresh' that you might have bought, and then possibly you could supplement your diet with more of the 'readies' as a way to save money but still get your five-or-more-a-day. Am giving the lowest prices, normally 'own-brand'/value packs.

Canned Peaches (29p): = 2 servings for 15p

Canned tomatoes (42p): = 4 servings for 10p

Canned Sweetcorn (42p): = 3 servings for 14p

Canned Peas (24): = 3 servings for 8p

Canned red (and other) beans (42p): = 3 servings for 14p

Canned carrots (17p): = 3 servings for 6p

Canned Mixed vegetables (39p): so count as half to one serving

With the canned mixed veg you could be getting the full five, but not quite enough of each, but at least this might work out the cheapest way of all. It's also useful to compare the prices (per serving) against frozen veg (these I feel superior to canned and often cheaper AND 'fresher' than buying fresh produce over the counter).

Now for a look at how the stores and manufacturers are working to tempt us to buy more, starting first with the concern they feel over the governments wish to slash the nation's daily calorie intake. "Behind the scenes there has been frantic negotiation to reach a compromise..." as many companies do not wish to reformulate or reduce the size of their portions "as this would have been hugely damaging to the brand" (this from a well-known confectionery manufacturer).

Seems that by having to change the calorie count of many products would cause so many problems (new machinery, packaging etc) that this might even put up the price of 'healthy eating'. We will have to wait and see.

An interesting challenge by the British Frozen Food Federation led to surprising results. They fed diners identical plates of pub grub, and no diner could spot the difference between dishes made with frozen ingredients, and those made from fresh, and "the pub menu was used to demonstrate to diners and pub owners the lower cost and reduced waste that frozen offers without compromising quality" said the BFFF spokesperson.

As frozen veg are processed within minutes of being picked, and 'fresh' can often be hanging around stores for some days, seems that frozen does make sense, and if it works out cheaper for 'the trade', it could also work out cheaper for us consumers.

You have to laugh. An 'age verification' alert was triggered by a £1.19 pack of six Basic teaspoons at a self-scan checkout in Sainsbury's (Crawley branch). When the customer asked why the spoons had to be 'verified' she was told "could be used for drugs paraphernalia". Later the store said the scanning system recognised the spoon's SKU (?) as one for a knife.

We must keep venting our spleen whenever we get the chance, for a survey has now shown that "frustrated shoppers believe that 'supermarkets have not done enough to reduce the price of the weekly shop', with older Brits feel the strongest, with 79% saying the level of prices are 'disappointing'."

Far be it from me to suggest we go out and buy confectionery, but as there will be a limited edition of Smarties in a retro hexatube format to mark the brand's 75th anniversary this year (rolling out to the trade from this coming week), and remembering how 'very old or limited stock' can be sold on eBay for a good price, maybe this is the type of investments we would find most profitable. So why not buy a couple to leave as a legacy for your great-grand children to flog? Just don't open the box and eat the contents.

It doesn't take much for the manufacturers of 'healthy eating' to get on the band-wagon of 'instants'. Quorn is targeting the lunchtime market with a range of vegetarian 'meal pots'. If you wish to pay £2.79p for 300g pot of Chicken style Biryani or Tagine, or Pasta Bolognese (these containing between 285 and 345 calories each), then why not? Myself KNOW I could make my own 'pot-not-quite-noodle lunch pot for far less cost.

Cereals take over several pages of the mag. Basically there has been a volume slump in sales even though the promotional activity has increased. This is causing concern to both manufacturers and retailers. A lot written about different types of breakfast cereals, but the good news is that consumers seem now to prefer products made with oats. So what do we see?

A Quaker Oats So Simple topper pot (saw it advertised on TV just last night), Basically a pot of porridge with 'cluster' toppings of either chocolate chunks or strawberry pieces. "Ready to eat in two minutes after hot water is added". Available from 6th February and (wait for it) 'at an rsp of £1.29p'. It doesn't say it comes in packs, so probably that is the price for just one!!!

At least a porridge brand called 'Oat Burst' now is selling porridge in sachets, these either sold in 12-packs of 'plain', or 10-packs flavoured with golden syrup, strawberry and apricot and honey. Not a bad price either as the rsp is £1.88p a box, with an introductory price of £1. At the offer price that is around 8p for a bowl of porridge (not including milk etc), but even so - still twice the price than if made (easily and quickly) in the microwave using bog standard (unbranded) porridge oats.

Price of jam is increasing due to the cost of sugar, and it now seems we are prepared to be a bit selective about who we serve the best to. Maybe I got it wrong but this does seem to read as though the kids can make do with the rubbish, whilst mum and day get the luxury "Consumers are now making a distinction between the jam used in the kid's sandwich after school and the jam eaten over a leisurely weekend breakfast with toast and croissants".

Proves again that we should all make our own jam so everyone gets the best, as 'the best home-made' costs less than the worst jam on sale.

Gill will be phoning in about five minutes - and as her calls last a full hour, feel it better I publish this now, and any more from the mag will be mentioned tomorrow. Hope you can join me then.

Always Worth Checking The Cost

2012-01-28T08:19:00.002Z

A late start again due to me waking early after what seemed a full night of great dreams (lasting worked many 'days' of 'dream time') that I really didn't want to wake up. Not that all dreams were good, but certainly gave me plenty of challenges. Lots about food.

Yesterday, after the haricot beans had soaked overnight, drained them and put them in a large pan with half a carton of tomato juice, plus about 4fl oz of the orange flavoured 'syrup' that I'd saved when candying the orange peel (this never worked, so for once the peel was discarded). Put the lot into my slow cooker on Low and left it for several hours. Around tea-time the beans had taken up all the liquid, so added the light syrup from a can of peaches. This just enough to get the beans just about 'floating' again. By late evening the beans were cooked with just enough thick liquid to coat - they tasted very similar and looked exactly like 'bought' canned beans with the same amount and thickness of the sauce that would be if canned, and I was delighted.
Today will weigh the beans/sauce and see how the cost of ingredients used compares to the cheapest canned beans ( a brand I would buy, Tesco's own brand is quite good). Tomorrow will let you know the result.

Also yesterday decided to make a Victoria sponge for B to indulge himself. Thought I'd made a bit of a mess of making the cake as I decided to use the 'all-in-one' method, putting the ingredients into one bowl them beating them together. But as I used some Stork marg (fairly soft) and some butter (very hard) decided to rub the fat into the flour and sugar until like crumbs before beating in the eggs. It sort of worked but didn't really cream the fat, could see little flecks of it still there. It also needed more liquid, so I dumped in a big tablespoon of Greek yogurt and half a spoon of bicarb (to give a bit more rise - bicarb works better than baking powder if yogurt is an ingredient). This made a good mixture and filled two sponge tins that rose well, although did turn fairly brown even though the temperature was slightly lower than I normally use.
The sponge layers were deep(ish) so decided to cut each through in half and use three sandwiched together with the contents of a small jar of lemon curd in the fridge (this being towards the end of its shelf-life. The fourth slice is being kept to make a trifle (or two). Thought the lemon curd had been kept too long (6 weeks max) but fortunately had used a marker pen to write on the date of making - a useful tip when it comes to short-shelf life products - and was relieved it had a week to go).
Beloved has already eaten over half of the cake and loved it. I tried a very thin slice and didn't really like the texture, will use the normal creaming method next time. Mind you, the lemon curd tasted wonderful.

Also prepared several more 4 oz (100g) bags of flour AND caster sugar as my 'some I made earlier' supply was getting low. It really does save a lot of time when things are already weighed before starting baking.

Whilst pottering around the kitchen yesterday began thinking about the food purchases made this year. Under £20 spent so far, but really none of them absolutely NECESSARY. Fresh milk has been bought, but as I have plenty of UHT in the larder, no real need for this. B just brought it from Morrison's as it was a good price. Cheese also bought because B had been eating what was in the fridge for his 'late-night snacks' - again not really needed (he still had some of his Christmas selection left).
It was only the other night I got up to get a drink of water (after midnight) and found B (who was watching a late-night film) with his head in the fridge loading up a plate while the adverts were on TV. He had already had a big supper, and at least two snacks after that before I'd gone to bed). Maybe he got himself another after that. Wouldn't be surprised.

So, although I am keeping a record of money spent on food since my last grocery order was delivered (several days before Christmas), it is comforting to know that very little bought was - if indeed any of it - 'essential'. Also that if - as many are doing - my limit was to spend no more than £10 a week to 'top up', could by now have have spent £50 without going over that budget, so have plenty of (theoretical) money still in hand, so far haven't gone over £20 total.

We have just about run out of fresh fruit, only cooking apples left and a few grapes. But this then brings me to another thought that came into my mind yesterday. What is the least expensive way to get our 'five-a-day'? So - over this weekend - am hoping to find time to compare costs of 'prepared' five-a-days. Canned fruits count, as do canned vegetables (including baked beans), and fruit juices in cartons, the canned containing at least two if not three servings, so the price can be divided by 2 or 3 to find out the portion price, which should then be fairly low. We don't always have to buy an expensive orange. Carton orange juice drink would probably give six portions for less cost.
'Fresh' produce is always best, but not always necessary if we can find a cheaper alternative, so will have a 'look-see' through Tesco's website to compare prices. Not forgetting that during the summer and autumn months there is 'fruit-for-free' that we can go foraging for (blackberries being the obvious).

Knowing what 'five-a-day' means can be puzzling, even misleading. We can't eat five apples and say we've eaten the full amount. The five have to be different. In the old days we used the 'traffic light' recommendations, eating some red produce (tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries etc), some yellow/orange (carrots, butternut squash, oranges, lemons....), and some green each day (leafy veg, kiwi fruit, apples....). Now they include purple - known to be excellent for our health (beetroot, black grapes, blackcurrants, blueberries, blackberries etc.). Again in the old days it was thought that we should eat all fresh produce uncooked, but now it has been proved we gain more (healthwise) from eating carrots and tomatoes that HAVE been cooked (so it's OK to eat lots of ketchup with our chips!).

It's better to eat a smaller amount of five different veg each day (or three veg and two pieces of fruit) than eat only a full portion of (say) three. Different produce has different vitamins and minerals and other things I can't even pronounce let alone spell. We could take (say) one carrot, one onion, a couple of ribs of celery, one parsnip, one bell pepper (that adds up to the recommended five), and one potato (which doesn't count), chop finely or grate and cook in water or stock to make a good panful of soup in which all the vitamins are retained. On their own these veggies would be the five-a-day for one person, put together they then could make soup to feed three, and better for each person to have a good sample of 'all five' than maybe just two of the 'five'. Well, that's my feeling anyway.
We can always make up any shortfall (if we feel the need) by eating an apple, drinking a glass of orange juice and maybe starting the day with baked beans on toast.

Can almost visualise me from now on living very frugally on just on 'five a day'... baked beans, soup etc., with a little extra protein and carbo added to complete the 'balance'. In a way seem to have been doing this for quite some time. Seems to be keeping me healthy. My 'flu experience' a couple of days ago came and went within 24 hours.

Sometimes I wonder if we do really need to eat so much fruit and veg? Obviously good for us, he vitamins keeping us healthy and the fibre keeping our pipes working properly (carbos give us energy/warmth, protein builds our muscles, and together make the very necessary 'fuel' for our bodies and keep us alive).
Yet, when I read about a young woman who has eaten nothing but chicken nuggest since she was just about weaned, then I wonder if we worry too much about missing one or more of our 'five a day'. Certainly the health of the young lady is causing great concern, and she is (if I remember correctly) now having to have injections of vitamins.
I've spoken to many elderly ladies who husbands have always refused to eat any veg at all (other than potatoes) and also don't like fruit. At least they've managed to grow to old age without (seemingly) too many health problems. Possibly the 'five a day' pressure we are getting, is more to hope repair the problems caused by too much eating of 'convenience' foods, especially where children are concerned. The older man above probably never ate any of those either, so had less of a health concern (high cholesterol, blood pressure etc) because of this.
This is not said to put off anyone eating the five-a-day, we should all aim for this, but just to give the subject a bit more perspective.

Beloved has brought in this week's trade mag for me - this I'll be reading later and pass on anything that we (as consumers) ought to be aware of. The supplement that came with it is all about oils and a quick flick through the pages shows again how retailers will be taking lengths to get us to purchase as many different types as possible "Oils for all occasions" is the heading to one section, this including a box (in big letters) that says "To build the category up in a sustainable way, all suppliers need to focus on education, education, education..."
Looks like being an interesting read, especially as my eye has now seen "there is an increase demand for Virgin Sesame Oil, Walnut Infused Oil, Hazelnut Oil, Roast Peanut Oil, Grapeseed Oil, and Olive Oil with Chilli.....again consumers are willing to pay a fair rsp for oils that cost a premium but which are still affordable, and which they may expect to last a while, as they ten to be used in small volumes".

Well, either this is another U turn in information, as more than one cookbook has led me to understand that nut oils (in particular) have a very short shelf life once opened and should be used as soon as possible. Did once buy myself a small bottle of (relatively expensive) walnut oil, and within a very few weeks it began to taste rancid. These flavoured oils are not used for cooking in the normal way, mainly used to add just a little extra flavour, sesame oil to a stir-fry (sesame oil), or nut oils for a salad dressing etc.

Myself seem to cope quite well using sunflower oil for general frying and some baking (muffins etc), and make my own 'light' olive oil by mixing equal amounts of extra virgin with sunflower, and then keep extra virgin for 'specials' (this usually given me as a gift from a family member who holidays abroad). Did fall by the wayside and buy a tiny bottle of truffle oil for B (men just love it, I know why but modesty forbids me to say). Have made my own 'walnut' oil by crushing some dried walnuts and putting them in a jar with oil, then leaving it to steep for several days before draining, then using up a.s.a.p. More about oils on a later day, if there IS anything in the supplement worth us knowing about.

Front cover shows several topics to be found inside the mag. One says: "Cereals. As sales decline, despite promotions, what's Plan B?" Must read that to find out. The whole foodie business is sounding more like a game that the stores are out to win. We need to be aware of all the cards they are hiding up their sleeves.

Was having a think about those lunchboxes you will be preparing Lisa. You are really wonderful helping out family and friends in this way. Think we mothers are hard-wired to do just this. It's in our genes.
Appreciate what you said about the food needing to be eaten 'on location' not necessarily having a table to sit at. Cornish pasties (meat or veggie filled) make good 'picnic food', easy to handle, but also substantial. Scotch Eggs are another 'handy' edible, as are sausage rolls and wedges of quiche.

You sound as though your seasonal 'genes' are waking Urbanfarmgirl. However much we believe we have moved on from the past, even in this 21st century we still have the same natural instincts as had our ancestors thousands of years ago, and come late January/early Feb. we get the urge to being the preparation towards seed-sowing. Many of us already choose to read seed catalogues rather than a novel (or even cookbook). In March most women feel the stirrings to begin spring-cleaning (although I try to resist the urge, and pleased that I have enough self-control to do so). Autumn sees us gathering in the harvest and in the kitchen preserving as much as we can, and then making sure our larder shelves are full to see us through the winter months.
Maybe some now don't get any 'stirrings' at all, but for those in tune to nature they will feel them full blast, and aim to do what nature has always intended we should. Becoming 'civilised' should never get in the way. But then I'm not really part of today's world, always wanting to live as they did in the past.

Interesting reading about the time zones (Margie and Lisa). Although my AA map of the USA and Canada (a huge tome) shows all towns, townships, and some farms, many of the country roads look dead straight, also those in towns (the only long straight roads in England are what were once the old Roman roads), and certainly the US state borders are shown as straight lines (unless the boundary is a river). Don't they ever weave round mountains? Which came first, the towns or the state boundaries? If the latter first, then probably the towns were, built one side or the other.

Do know that at least one town in England has a boundary running right through the middle of its main street. Not a county boundary, but the one between the city council and the county council, so the housing rates/rent on one side of the road are cheaper than on the other (for exactly the same type of property).
Not sure what happens if the road needs repairing, maybe they share costs, or each council repair only their own side.
Believe also there was a problem with schooling there, for children who lived on the 'town side', had to go to the 'town' schools, the 'county' children going to the county schools, so even if a child on one side of the road lived immediately opposite a school, he/she couldn't go to it, instead having to (maybe) travel some distance to get to his alloted one.

Even within a town, think the pupils in schools have to come from what I believe is called 'an encatchment area', this meaning within a certain distance of a school. Again possible that if you live across a road that makes you a few yards outside this 'area', a school further away is the one that has to be attended. Certain schools are preferred by parents who might sell up and move the other side of the road just to be resident in the right place, or if the children's grandparents lived close enough, their address maybe used as the children's address just so they can go to the chosen school.
With private schools, don't think it matters where you live, as long as the fees can be afforded and the entrance exam shows some sort of intelligence, then anyone can go to any of them.
Probably got some of the above wrong. Someone is bound to let me know if I have. Hope they do as I don't want to give misinformation.

Recipes today are the last on the theme of 'one basic batch - with variations'. Today based on a loaf-cake. Three variations given after the basic mix (this can be baked on its own), and these should inspire you to make your own alternatives by using different flavourings, fruit etc.
This is very similar to the recipe for a Victoria Sandwich mix, and you could omit the ground almonds and baking powder, adding more of the flour and less milk (but the almonds make a slightly better cake for this purpose). The oven temperature (170C, 325F, gas 3) and the baking times (45 - 50 mins until risen and cooked through - test with a skewer etc), the same for all.

basic mix for loaf cake:
6 oz (175g) butter, softened
6 oz (175g) caster sugar
3 eggs
5 oz (140g) self-raising flour
3 oz (75g) ground almonds
half tsp baking powder
4 fl oz (100ml) milk
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, flour, baking powder and ground almonds to make a smooth batter. To bake as-is, pour into a greased and lined 2 lb (900g) loaf tin, and bake until risen and golden (and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean). For the other variations, follow the method as given.

This first variation suggest using 4 tblsp elderflower cordial, but it could be another 'fruit juice' or even some orange liqueur (for adults only!). To help removal of cake it's a good idea to line with enough paper so that it comes slightly above the sides, the paper then can be used to help lift the cake from the tin after cooling.
elderflower crunch cake:
1 x basic loaf-cake mix
4 tblsp elderflower cordial, or other (see above)
4 tblsp white granulated sugar or demerara
Make and bake the cake as in the basic recipe (above, but allowing plenty of lining paper as suggested), then as soon as it is baked, and whilst still hot from the oven, prick the top all over with a skewer. Mix the cordial with the sugar and pour this over where it should soak in, leaving a crusty top. Leave to cool in the tin before carefully removing, ready to be sliced.

The chocolate variation suggests using melted chocolate for decoration, suggesting the cake is placed over paper to catch any drips. As melted chocolate will harden again, any drips can be collected up and re-used, so my suggestion is put a plate under the cake or baking parchment. If you don't want to save the 'drips' then newspaper is probably the cheapest 'catcher'.
The flavour of orange goes very well with chocolate, so by beating in some grated orange zest this gives the recipe below another dimension.
chocolate loaf cake:
1 x basic loaf-cake mix
4 tblsp cocoa powder
2 oz (50g) plain chocolate, roughly grated
extra chunks/drops for decorating (opt)
Make the cake batter as in basic recipe but include the cocoa when beating together. Fold in t the grated chocolate then spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake at given temps and times as given above.
Cool in the tin then remove and place on a cake airer that has been placed over a sheet of baking parchment (see above). Melt the chocolate chunks/drops in a bowl over hot water (or in a microwave) then drizzle over the top of the cake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Leave to set before cutting into slices.

Instead of using mashed bananas, use mashed/pureed cooked beetroot and omit the nuts. As chocolate and beetroot go together, this could be a marriage between the recipe below and the one above.
banana and walnut loaf:
1 x basic loaf cake mix ingredients
1 large (or 2 small) very ripe bananas, mashed
2 oz (50g) walnut pieces, chopped
3 oz (75g) butter, softened
4 oz (100g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
walnut halves for decoration (op)
Begin by making the basic mix, but start with creaming together the sugar and butter and then beat in the bananas before adding the egg and the rest of the basic mix ingredients. When smooth, fold in the walnuts, then spoon into the prepared tin. Bake as given, then cool in the tin before lifting out.
Make a topping by beating the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together, then spread this on top of the (now) cold cake. If you wish decorate top with walnut halves, or sprinkle over chopped walnuts.

Beloved has just come in to inform me he has opened the last pack of bacon (to make himself some bacon sarnies for his 'brunch'). This has given me a bit of a problem. Once it has gone, does B then have to go without bacon? He likes it always available for when he fancies it. His preference (when he shops) is always buy from Morrison's, and we both prefer Tesco's smoked streaky bacon rashers. Am hoping he will leave enough to last at least one more week, then maybe will have to place a small order with Tesco for delivery to 'top up'. On my own there would be no need to buy. Beloved would be sulking for England if he has to do without his favourites.

Are all men like B when it comes to food? He seems to think that all edibles bought are for his use, he never asks if he can have anything, just helps himself - constantly. Only a couple of days ago made a litre of EasyYo strawberry yogurt, and notice that he has already eaten most of it, and there was me hoping I'd be able to have a half share. If I point out there are two of us living here, and food is for sharing, he gets the hump.
Not that it really matters, it is nice that he enjoys what I make. Trouble is he brings in food for himself 'that he fancies', then I discover later that he hasn't eaten all of it, and sometimes none(such as a recent goat's cheese "thought it was something else"). Hate finding half-eaten bags of watercress left too long and not fit to be used.

As said before, the problem with B's constant 'snacking' is that he is working his way through foods/ingredients that could have been used to make 'proper' meals for him. So my stores are not lasting as long as they should. Mind you, still have plenty left, and as the idea was to eat 'normally' during this challenge, shouldn't then really grumble. Just useful for all to realise that a little CAN go a long way when there isn't a man about the house. Teenage boys are probably even worse, but then B never has grown up past this stage, as I think is apparant. Some might think I was lucky. Dream on!

That's it for today. Thankfully B is out again tonight at the 'sailing social club'. Am beginning to wonder what is he doing now each Saturday? This time he says the club is having a 'musical evening'. Find that hard to believe. All they seem to want to do is eat and drink. Anyway, now I'm too old to care where he goes or what he does, just very pleased to have him out of the way so I can watch the TV programmes of my choice. Sometimes it's nice to be very old, the only concerns now being the hope we'll wake up after we've nodded off. I'd be really cross if I didn't!

Enjoy the weekend that has already started. Hope to hear from you if you can find the time, and - as ever - I'll be back tomorrow (unless the strong solar flares forecast disrupt communications, but then all our comps may be 'down' and you couldn't then use your comp anyway). TTFN.

What To Make Next?

2012-01-27T08:40:00.003Z

Late start this morning due to flu symptoms hitting me yesterday. Aches in all bones, suddenly feverishly hot, then shivering with cold. Really felt bad so took myself off early to bed once B had his supper (Pukka pie with green string beans). Had a bad night, took me ages to get to sleep, but did eventually and this morning seem fine again, although a bit weak. Thank goodness I had the flu jab as almost certainly this prevented me from getting full blast symptoms.

Firstly must reply to Les who seems to think that there was no posting on Wednesday with no comment from me as to say why. I certainly didn't miss a day, so checked my drafts/postings/veiw blog to make sure a publication hadn't failed, and all were then.
What might have led Les to believe Wed. was missing was because I started this late Tuesday night, finishing it early Wednesday to make sure it was posted before Norma arrived. Blogger tend to show the date/time the posting was started, not the date of publications. Even so, having already published Tuesdays, So Les, if you are one of those who checks the date rather than whether each posting is a new one, then forget the dates in future and concentrate on what's published. It's one posting per day unless otherwise notified, although it could be if the comp/broadband gets a wobbly, I can't then post, although would always ask Steve and/or Eileen that day to post up the reason why.

It must be very hard for you living on a very low income Suzi. This makes me all the more furious when reading about those who won't work seeming to gain more benefits. Most of the supermarkets and discount stores are now selling 50p bags of fresh fruit and veg, and am hoping these might work out to your advantage, but it is always worth finding out if each item was bought speparately (one carrot, one onion, one potato etc) these would work out cheaper. Has anyone ever done this?
If you can possibly shop at the major stores around 7.00pm at night, they have lots of fresh produce they sell off really cheaply.

Hearing that Lynne has overspent on heating, she might be interested to know that when we lived in Leeds our domestic dual-fuel bill (gas and electricity) we paid through 'Staywarm', who then did (and probably still do) a lower tariff for people over a certain age, and this is based on how many bedrooms in the property. Even if only one bedroom is used, the full number still counts. The price was set for the full year, paid off monthly by direct debit, and regardless of how much fuel was used, so in a cold spell we could turn up the heat
However, although there was no debit to pay at the end of the year when a lot of fuel had been used, the annual charge was then increased slightly the following year. As this was still way below what we'd have to pay another supplier, and with no worry as to whether we could afford to keep warm or not, we stayed with Staywarm until we moved to Morecambe.

When we moved here we had to stay with British Gas (used by a previous occupant) as Staywarm told us we were back to them immediately, we'd have to wait for a while before we could, but even though now we have only one bedroom we have decided to stay with British gas, as it now costs less than it did in Leeds (but we did have four bedrooms in Leeds, Staywarm charges there were then more than we would be paying here). We will go back to Staywarm if fuel prices rise much further although almost certainly we will have to pay a 'leaving charge' to B.G. if we switch.

Am pleased you found the biscuit recipe a success Lynne. Was the choc. jelly cake the one that was supposed to end up like 'Jaffa cakes'? Possibly cooking a sponge cake separately, then splitting in in half and sandwiching together with a slab of set jelly before cutting into circles, each then dipped into melted chocolate to fully coat would work better. Any cake/jelly left over could be used as the base of a trifle.

Myself began soaking a pack of haricot beans yesterday, they are now ready to strain and fast boil, and my suggestion to Alison (who nearly burned hers) myself will transfer them to the slow cooker with some tomato juice and other 'flavourings' to hopefully end up with a large batch of baked beans. They could also be cooked in a slow oven until tender. This saves constantly checking the pan when cooked on the hob as often too much liquid evaporates which then can cause the beans to dry and burn.
Some cooks/chefs push a large circle of greaseproof paper/baking parchment into the pan to fit closely on top of what is being cooked, and before fitting on the lid, this helps to prevent them losing too much steam. Another way is to make a stiff 'dough' of flour and water, roll it into a strip and place it round the rim of a pan, pressing the lid into it to fit, this causes an almost air-tight seal, and again prevents the loss of steam, but the pan needs to be placed on the lowest heat to barely simmer.

The lamb 'hocks' mentioned (bought from a small Tesco) sound very much like the lamb 'shanks' that I buy (also from Tesco) for £5 for two. Perhaps they cost a £1 more in the smaller branches, or maybe the price has now risen - they have been £5 for seemingly years, even though the price of lamb has risen considerably over that time.

That plan of yours to provide packed lunches for your daughter's friends sounds a lovely idea Lisa. Soup, stews and curries especially sound good (for winter meals), and probably cheaper to make than the sarnies and fresh fruit, so perhaps you could do soup one day, sarnie and fruit another, and on the third the stew or curry. It might be each day you could then afford to include one piece of fruit (or even a fruit pie) to eat for 'afters'. A recipe has been included today that you might find useful. If the ingredients are too expensive you might be able to adapt it in some way.

Pleased you found the 'tenting' method of baking bread works (makes for a softer crust and moister crumb). Don't know why it took me so long to find out this would work.

Did notice the request Julie, from Superscrimpers for more people to become involved in their programme. In fact did contact them even though they were only (at that time) needing groups of friends who would get together to be taught a new skill. I sent them a few hints and tips that they could use if they wished, without me needing to take part. Did receive an automated reply of thanks. From then on have to wait and see if they make use any, or come back to me re this.

With the success of the biscuits, and hopefully the same for yesterday's cakes, today sees further recipes from the same stable. These based on shortbread. Although am giving the recipes as should be made, the lemon bar one sounds a lot like making lemon curd then letting it 'cook' on the top of the cake until thickened (while the base finishes off cooking beneath). Another recipe uses jam sandwiched between shortbread as it cooks, so my suggestion is, if you have already-made lemon curd, then sandwich this between the shortbread instead of putting it on top where it might then go a step too far and burn. Different flavoured jams could be used for the jam slice. So plenty of choice.

The topping for the 'Nut squares' uses bought Carnation caramel. We can make this ourselves by simmering a tin of condensed milk for 3 hours (making sure the tin is always covered by water), then leave it to cool completely before opening. If we covered the shortbread with this caramel, then topped it with melted chocolate and allowed to set, it is then called 'Millionaire's Shortbread'. So this is yet another variation on the ones given.

The basic recipe can be cooked with no additions as 'shortbread' if you wish. This will probably take approx 20- 25 minutes to bake at 200C, 400F, gas 4 but at this heat will make it slightly crisper and more golden than traditional shortbread. If you wish it to be lighter in colour and more 'tender', then cook at a lower temperature.
Note that the timings for the variations can differ.

basic shortbread base:
6 oz (175g) plain flour
2 oz (50g) ground rice
3 oz (85g) caster sugar
5 oz (140g) butter, chilled and diced
1 tblsp milk
Put the flour, ground rice, sugar and butter into a bowl and rub together until like breadcrumbs (you could blitz the lot in a food processor if you wish). Using a knife, mix in the milk, then tip the lot into a lined 8" or 9" (20 or 23cm) shallow baking tin and gently press down to even the surface. Then follow the method given for the variations.

strawberry slice: makes 9 - 12
1 x basic shortbread mix
8 tblsp strawberry jam, slightly warmed
2 tsp caster sugar
Make the shortbread mixture as above recipe but tip only three-quarters of the mix into the prepared tin. Press down evenly, then bake at 200C etc for 15 - 20 minutes until golden and slightly crisp. Spread the jam on top then sprinkle/crumble over the remaining shortbread mix, then bake for a further 5 - 10 minutes more until the topping is also golden. Sprinkle over the sugar, leave to cool in the tin then cut into 9 squares or 12 oblongs.

lemon curd bars:
as for the jam bars, but split the mixture, bake one half or 12 - 15 minutes until golden, then top with lemon curd, then sprinkle the remaining mix on top to cover, pressing down very lightly and continue to cook for a further 10 or so minutes.
Alternatively make from scratch using the following recipe.

lemon bars: makes 12 - 15
1 x basic shortbread mix
zest and juice of 4 lemons
3 eggs
7 oz (200g) caster sugar
1 oz (25g) flour
icing sugar to dust
Put the basic mix into a lined tin (size as above), pressing down gently, then bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 200C for 15 - 20 minutes, then remove from oven and lower the heat down to 180C, 350F, gas 4.
Mix together the lemon juice and eggs, then sieve into a bowl containing the sugar, flour and lemon zest. Whisk until fully combined, then pour this over the shortbread base, returning it to the oven. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until the top is just set, then leave to cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar, the cut into slices.

caramel nut squares: makes 12
1 x basic shortbread mix
9 oz (250g) mixed nuts, roughly chopped
11 oz (300g) caramel (see above)
3 tblsp flour
1 - 2 tblsp sunflower or pumpkin seeds (opt)
Make up the shortbread mix, pressing it into a lined tin (size as above), pressing it down evenly as before, and baking at 200C for 15 - 20 minutes until golden. Remove tin and reduce oven temperature to 180C. Mix together the nuts, caramel and flour then spread this evenly over the base, scattering top with seeds (if using), then return to oven and bake for a further 8 - 10 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.

Final recipe today is for a baked cheesecake. Good and healthy so as this could be one that Lisa may wish to make to pop into those packed lunches, am also giving US cup measurements.
Yogurt and Honey Cheesecake: serves 8
4 oz (100g/1 cup) digestive or ginger biscuits, crushed
2 oz (50g/half cup) flaked almonds, toasted
3 oz (73g/6 tblsp) butter, melted
9 fl oz (250ml/1 cup) Greek yogurt
1 lb 10oz (750g/3 cups) cream cheese or mascarpone
2 eggs
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
9 fl oz (250ml/1 cup) runny honey
Crush the biscuits and almonds together, then mix with the butter. Press into the bottom of a deep 9"(23cm) dish (either a cake tin, baking dish or roasting dish). Bake at 170C, 325F, gas 3
for 10 minutes until crisp.
Meanwhile, mash together the yogurt and the cheese, then whisk in the eggs. Fold in the citrus zests and most of the honey (reserving about 2 - 3 tblsp).
Spoon this on top of the biscuit base, cover loosely with foil and bake for one hour, then remove foil and cook for a further 15 minutes until the top is pale gold and firm with just a hint of a wobble in the centre. Leave to cool in the tin. Then chill in the fridge (where it can be kept for up to 2 days). To serve, drizzle over the remaining honey and serve with fresh fruit.

Despite a late start, still seemed to have managed to write up something 'useful'. Let us hope so anyway. Can't believe it is Friday already, how the weeks seem to fly by. We have spring flowers now in bloom in the garden, and am hoping they will survive during the cold spell forecast for this weekend. But the days are lengthening and on a clear-sky day, it is beginning to get light at 7.30am.
I've often wondered what it is like in a large country, such as the US, where they have 'time zones'. Are they in straight lines, going right through a house? If so it could be an hour later in one room than the next. Probably the zones deviate so they curve right round a town. But it can't be easy, it could be you leave one town to go to work and arrive almost an hour before you started.

At least in the British Isles and all of Ireland, the time is the same even though the sun rises on the west coast of Ireland almost an hour and a half later than the east coast of England. But then this means they seem to have longer days than we do (their sunset over a good hour later).

Time now for me to go and fast-boil my beans. This reminds me - don't ever soak your beans then leave them a day or two before boiling, as they start to ferment (even when kept in the fridge). Fast boil them for 10 minutes as soon as fully soaked, then reduce heat and cook them slowly in whichever way you prefer (and easiest to you). Given long enough time, and an initial 15 minutes fast boil, they should then cook on to tender using a hay-box. One way to save fuel.
Would a thermos work as well I wonder? Bet Les would know.

Although many of you are busy over the weekend, do hope you will find time to drop me a line, or at least read this blog (or eventually catch up). Just love hearing from you, and as many as possible. So keep those comments coming. Enjoy your day, tomorrow will be back as normal. Hope to see you then.

Playing Games

2012-01-26T08:05:00.002Z

During yesterday felt that I'd not given a very useful reply to Anonymous (name not given) who was normally needing to prepare three different daily meals for her family, and was trying to think of a more labour-saving way to approach this problem. For some reason began to think of is like a 'puzzle' that we sometimes read. 'A' can eat anything, 'B' cannot eat fruit and eggs and only some veg., and both 'B' and 'C' don't like the texture of meat in their mouths. What same meal can be served to all? This I found quite fun trying to work out.

The first problem was wondering what veg could be eaten by B, and whether B and C would accept the flavour of meat without the 'texture'. Then we come to using the small amount of info given (and hoped) that could work together.

If meat or chicken stock is acceptable, then there are plenty of soups that can be made using this 'protein' stock as a base, maybe even a simple minestrone with added pasta or rice to give 'bulk'. Or possible a lentil soup, a French Onion soup (with bread and toasted cheese floating on top), or an acceptable vegetable soup. Most can be made in advance and frozen to save time later.

Many vegetables can be cooked and blitzed together to make a pizza sauce. Onion, carrots and celery are good as together then end up tasting fairly sweet and marry well when blitzed with a can of chopped tomatoes. Perfect for pizza toppings or a pasta sauce. As a 'puzzle solution', then A, B, and C should be able to eat pasta layered with a cheese and maybe spinach filling, coated with above tomato sauce and a cheese topping. Or if serving pasta shapes with the 'hidden veg' tomato sauce, meat balls made from vegetarian sausages (for B and C) could be fried in the same pan as 'real' meat balls (for A), and this again should make meals for all three at the same tune, pans. Or it could be that all three would eat meat when it has been blitzed down to make it similar to a paste/pate, this can be used to make meatballs, burgers etc.
Pork sausage, egg beans and chips could be served to A and C, with extra beans instead of eggs served to B.

There was no mention of fish or poultry, but if the texture of fresh fish was unacceptable to B and C, then perhaps tinned fish might be, especially if it was mashed down well to remove any 'texture' then mixed with mashed potato and/or breadcrumbs to make fishcakes, able to be served to all. Can be made in bulk ready to cook as and when.

These are only suggestions going on the small amount of (accepted ingredients) that were given. Unless any more details can be given, there is not a lot more I can suggest at this time, and am just hoping that Anon is still with us and reading this. But as many people have reason to cook different meals according to various allergies etc, the above might be useful.

By the way, there are several egg 'substitutes' on sale that can be used for both savoury and sweet dishes, so quiches can be made successfully as well as many cakes. In fact several recipes have been given on this site for eggless cakes.

Welcome again to Jim who is asking about the reason for the more moist 'commercially' produced bread. There are several reasons, but mainly because the bread has additives (usually vit.C) to help it rise more with a looser texture (an presuming this means less volume of dough is needed for each loaf, so less costly to make than bread bought from a 'proper' baker. Also steamed as it is baked to give a moist crumb. Baker's (artisan) bread is not so moist, and dries/stales more rapidly.
To help keep our oven-bake bread softer we can put a large roasting pan of water on the bottom of the oven (or lowest shelf) to heat up as the oven heats, the water then evaporates to give a steamy atmosphere in the oven as the bread bakes. Myself find 'tenting' with foil (or even covering the loaf tin with a matching sized tin also works well. If using a matching tin, remove this about 10 minutes before the end of cooking time to allow the top to brown and form a crust.

Interesting Ciao, to hear that an Italian uses soy sauce when cooking. Believe this is common practice among many chefs in this country, but for some reason hardly ever mentioned. Maybe this sauce is also used in many other countries. It certainly does help to 'beef' up the flavour of casseroles. Suppose Marmite works in much the same way.

Am pleased that others have sent in comments 'ranting' about our benefit system giving so much to those who just expect this, who - in return - show no gratitude or seem to have any inclination to work in the future. Am wondering if all Commonwealth countries are obliged to do so much for their layabouts and immigrants/asylum seekers. Am pretty sure the US is much tighter-fisted, and good for them if they are.
The more we hard-working Brits shout about this unfairness of the benefit system, then perhaps more will be done to remember those where were born here come first - or should. This country is known all over the world to be a 'soft touch', and why so many people keep pouring into this country to get free housing and all the benefits they can.

Do remember that many years back families here, where the man had useful skills, were urged to go and live in Australia. They travelled by ship, costing no more than £10 as an 'assisted passage'. When they arrived, the men were sent to one compound, the women and children to another, and not allowed to leave until the husband had a job and got some accommodation for them. Because of this, several families (who expected immediate housing and family 'togetherness') returned home. Others stuck it out and then built up a good life for themselves.
We knew this because several of our friends went over with their families, but not all stayed the course, and so returned home to complain bitterly of their 'experience'. "It wasn't what we were hoping for". The others ended up happily in Oz getting all they hoped for, and more just because they 'stuck it out'.

Why don't we do the same here? All immigrants arriving here are placed in compounds, and when the men have got themselves employment, then we could perhaps provide them with council housing to give them start. If the people want better, then they - like we all do - have to earn the money to pay for it. Or would keeping husbands and wives apart be against 'human rights?' Don't think there seems to be any human rights in the countries the people come from, so why not make the compounds part of their 'nation' (like we do with embassy's), they can then keep the laws according to their own country.

People who are prepared to work are always welcome into this country. Others come in crawling with hands out like beggars (many turning out not to be as needy as they seem), and we give them help. They just then sit back and take, take, take. But there are limits to the money we have to give as 'hand-outs', and we could at least set a time limit on this. We can't keep giving it for ever. As a very small island we also have the problem of space. There are countries that have a lot more room to spare than we do, maybe even land to give that can be worked successfully. Sort of like the pioneers did in America a couple of hundred years ago, and all coming from different nations, eventually taking over from the native Americans (this being a disgraceful thing to do), which makes me think the same thing could happen here!!!

Those seeking to come here and have an easy life (on benefits and without work) shouldn't believe it will be their final stopping place. They either have to buckle down and work for their money, or end up where they are put (smaller homes or different country). If they don't like it they can always return to their birth nation. Well, it's one solution.

Of course I am generalising. There are many who come into this country who are prepared to work hard, and if we feel they take our jobs, this isn't usually the case, as much of the work they do we turn out noses up at. Things like cleaning, crop picking, anything with unsocial hours.
It is the layabouts, the 'free' money-grabbers that I wish we could pluck from our soil as we do weeds.

Don't know why I've such a bee in my bonnet about all this. Possibly it is the recession on my mind. An oil depot going bust down south (how on earth did they manage that, thought oil was a money-making concern?). This could lead to more expensive petrol, this then would mean more food prices rise due to the transport needed to get from port to warehouse, warehouse to store. Let alone the extra fuel cost of local transport (bus or car) getting to the supermarkets to buy the food. Probably home-delivery charges would also increase. Is there no end to our problems?

As a nation we have only so much money to 'spend', and if so much is paid out on benefits (especially to those who don't deserve it), then this means cuts have to be made elsewhere. Running the country is exactly the same (on a much larger scale) that running a domestic budget, and we all know how we are finding this much more difficult now. It must be very hard for those 'in power' to make cuts, knowing that there are always those out there who will start complaining because their standard of (very good) living will have to be (slightly) less. Doesn't seem to matter about everyone else, it's the 'me, me, me' attitude coming to the fore. Why should I have to do without?" Just how greedy a nation have we become?

Of course there are thousands out there who are sensible enough to know we are going through a bad patch and prepared to make the best of it. Just wish most would, then perhaps we would get back on our feet that much faster. Yet, now we have less money to spend, we now buy less, which means the industrial output is less, showing a minus drop in growth figures at the end of last year, so even our personal 'make do and mend' doesn't help those in small businesses who need our custom.
Thankfully China seems to have a sudden urge to buy 'all things British' (it used to be the other way around), as believe their bow affluent nation can afford our prices, so let us hope we get plenty of exports these coming months.

Because I am who I am (think they must have broken the mould when I was born), have no concern when it comes to shortage of money as am a born 'survivor[, indeed find much pleasure doing so. As you know, there is nothing I enjoy more than a challenge. Although - now at a great age - things are not quite so easy for me to do as in the past. However, those of you who have your youth (anything under 70 is what I consider 'youth' to be) and health, and (hopefully) a garden, should be able to 'dig for Britain' and grow much fresh produce to keep going for many months of the year. We can also barter - fresh veg for pots of preserves etc.

Those of us with less mobility can still grow herbs, mixed salad leaves....on our windowsills, and bake cakes/biscuits that could be used for barter. Wherever possible we should form 'groups' of like-minded people, neighbours etc, so food could be bought in bulk (esp from Approved Foods where it is exceptionally cheap), then shared between so that each pays an acceptable price, also do crafts together and have a chat (knit and natter etc). Maybe even have group baking sessions. Believe this already occurs in some rural communities, but it would be good to hear of the same thing happening in urban high-rises etc.

Thanks to Campfire for her offer of wrist-warmers. With the mention of 'finger-less' makes me wonder if these are what we used to call 'mittens'. Very useful for those working outdoors who need the use of finger tips when handling things (our milkman always wore them in the cold winter months, less chance of milk bottles slipping out of his hands, and easy to handle money when making the weekly collection of payments). Myself never could cope with mittens, but thanks for the offer.
Our daughter knitted me a 'frilly, lacy' scarf, and this I wear every day wound round my neck, as it keeps me very warm. She has knitted and sold loads of these in aid of charity, and they are very popular as they are far cheaper than the same sold in shops. It does seem that if a neck is kept warm, most of the body stays warm. Helps also to wear something warm on the feet (bed socks are good when sitting down). A bald man would keep warm if he wore a woolly hat on his head all the time. In olden days, men and woman used to go to bed wearing bed socks, a very long night-shirt AND a night-cap. Plus a hot water bottle put in the bed to warm the sheets before retiring. Before the 'bottle' it used to be a brass/copper bedpan full of hot coals inserted between the sheets to warm up the bedding.

Forgot it was Burn's Night yesterday, reminded when I saw haggis on the Alan Titchmarsh show yesterday. Hope you enjoy your Friday 'Scottish' meal Margie. Have never eaten haggis myself, so really should give it a try. Maybe now the traditional day of eating is over, any unsold may be availableat reduced price in the supermarkets.

Am slowly working my way through my food stores, probably more than half of the 'fresh' already used, and quite a lot of cans. Have only one can of baked beans left, but do have a pack of dried haricot, so will make up my own 'baked beans' using these.

Looking into the larder whilst I drank my coffee this morning (could only see the first few feet of the left-hand side), realised that most of the shelves on the left were almost the same as they were before Christmas. For some reason these 'dry' goods are not often used. True, have so much flour, sugar, dried fruit etc, that small amounts are hardly (visibly) missed, but the right-side of the larder (where I keep the cans, bottles etc) has shelve now showing huge gaps.

Is there a reason why I favour more the foods on the right shelves rather than the left. I began to wonder, for when in a supermarket ALWAYS work up the left-hand side of the aisle, which is odd as I am right-handed and would expect it to be easier to pick foods from shelves on the right rather than the left. Is it because pushing a trolley is a bit like driving a car, and in this country we drive on the left. The rare occasions that someone is working in the other direction (and then gets in my way) is when they are carrying a basket. Usually this is a man who probably lives on his own so doesn't need enough to fill a trolley).
When I reach the end of the aisle, I then do a U turn and come back down the other side, the shelf contents then still being on my left.
Realised that as often go and sit on my chair in my larder before choosing what to cook that day, as the chair faces towards the door, the shelves holding canned food are then still on my left.
There has to be a reason why I prefer to shop 'from the left', as do know I feel quite uncomfortable doing it the other way round. Even if I see something I want on the right (whilst shopping on the left) will not go across and fetch it, will always do that U turn and go back down the other side just for that one thing.

Is this the same way others shop, preferring the left-hand side of the aisle? Perhaps left-handed might do the opposite.? It would be interesting to know for this might be yet another way that supermarkets can 'pull our strings'.

The 'basic biscuit' recipe given the other day (with variations) seemed to go down well with some readers, so today am giving a basic recipe for a sponge cake 'traybake', also with alternatives.
This is very similar to the normal Victoria sponge recipe (weight of eggs, flour, butter, sugar being equal) but geared up to 'the metrics' so weights are 'rounded up'. Useful when it comes to butter as it comes in 250g packs (equivalent to 9 oz). The addition of yogurt gives a moisture texture. The recipe suggests each cake cuts into 15 squares, but we can make these these larger or smaller or even oblong or triangular if we wish.

basic traybake sponge recipe:
9 oz (250g) butter, softened
10 oz (289g) self-raising flour
9 oz (250g) caster sugar
half teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
5 fl oz (150ml) natural yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat well together until smooth then either bake as is (in a greased an lined 20 x 30cm tray-bake tin) at 180C, 350F, gas 4 until risen and cooked through, or continue with the variations. Oven temperature same for all (as above) but timings can vary.

Upside Down Traybake:
1 x basic traybake sponge recipe
1 tblsp caster sugar
1 tblsp flour
1 can peach slices, drained, OR...
...1 can pineapple rings, drained
Grease and line a traybake tin (as above). Mix together the sugar and flour and sprinkle this over the base of the tin. Cut the fruit into 15 pieces and place these evenly in the tin. Make up the sponge recipe then spoon this carefully into the tin, over and around the fruit, then bake for 50 mins to 1 hour until golden and risen and cooked through.
Turn out onto a flat board and cut into squares, each topped with a piece of the fruit. Can be eaten warm (with cream or ice-cream) as a dessert, or cold as we eat cake.

Mocha Traybake:
1 x traybake sponge recipe
1 tsp cocoa powder
2 tblsp instant coffee
4 fl oz (100ml) boiling water
5 oz (150g) icing sugar, sifted
12 oz (350g) soft cream cheese
Grease and line the traybake tin. Make up the coffee by dissolving the 'instant' in the hot water, then leave to cool (you could also use 4 fl oz of cold 'proper' coffee).
Make the sponge batter as per recipe, but include the cocoa and HALF the coffee before beating together. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake at the given temperature for 25 - 30 minutes until golden, risen and cooked through. Lightly stab top with a fork and drizzle over the remaining coffee, then leave to cool in the tin.
Mix the icing sugar into the cream cheese, then spread this over the top of the cake, dusting with a little cocoa as decoration. Cut into squares whilst still in the tin.

Bakewell Sponge:
1 x traybake sponge recipe
1 tsp almond extract
4 tblsp jam (pref blackcurrant or raspberry)
1 oz (25g) toasted almonds
icing sugar for dusting
Make the sponge batter as in the basic recipe but include the almond extract. Spoon into the prepared traybake tin and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately and rapidly drizzle the jam over and scatter the almonds on top, then return to the oven and bake for 10 - 15 minutes more or until the traybake has risen, golden and cooked through. Cool in the tin and dust top with icing sugar.

There are other variations we should be able to come up with. Maybe adding some dried fruit to the cake batter, or topping with lemon curd. Or we could cut the traybake in half to sandwich together with butter cream, whipped cream or jam.
Also we could freeze the basic cooked traybake to later assemble as a 'layer cake'.

Next week will see the start of February, with our minds then turning to Pancake Day and St. Valentine's Day. It is good to have more 'traditional celebrations' to look forward to and cook for. Then we have Easter (is that early or late this year?), after that we have to make do with any warm summer weather that our climate allows us this year. It could be - going on recent past year, if we have a late Easter in 2012, we will get our April heat-wave before we've even unwrapped our Easter Eggs. After that it is down-hill (weatherwise) all the way.

Cannot believe it is past 11.30, last time I checked it wasn't yet 10.00am. Apologise for publishing late AGAIN. I can't stop 'rambling' and - at the moment - having a good old moan about 'things'. Must try to stop, think kind thoughts, put a bit of sunshine into lives etc.
Well, maybe tomorrow. Join me then to find out.

Being Sensible

2012-01-24T20:13:00.003Z

Am pleased in a way that some readers have said they agree with me about the benefit system (too much paid out etc). Sairy gives a good account of how people - when jobs are lost - HAVE to cope on very little money coming in. She herself has had to do this. Scarlet too is also incensed about the lady (mentioned in the earlier blog) who doesn't want her benefits to be 'capped' due to not wishing to lower her standard of living.

The problem with me is that maybe I'm just too old, with memories of the way things used to be, when honesty and hard work meant more than they seem to today, and if we wanted a better life then we knew it had to be earned. Money was not accessible as it is today (credit cards etc), so everyone lived within their means.
Family life was more stable, old folk ended their days living within a family, mothers stayed at home to rear children, and children disciplined more, not allowed to run free and expect (nay demand) a 'pressie' every time there was an opportunity. Marriage meant responsibility, giving up the former way of life to buckle down and hope to earn enough to give children a better life, and also teach the the right way to get there. Children's care came first.
Now it is a lot more 'me, me, me', and 'spend, spend, spend' and 'who cares about saving money? Spend it all now and we don't then have to look after ourselves, the state will do it for us'.

People still work, but if they lose a job, then many won't take another until it is exactly the one they want. True, some people with degrees are not too proud to end up as window-cleaners or milkmen, they know the value of earned income. Others turn their noses up at any kind of work beneath them. "It's too hard", "I'm better than that"...."Unsocial hours" we hear it all the time.
Will we ever return to the hard-working, responsible citizens of yesteryear? Seems unlikely.

Think it was in the Monday Daily Mail that a few hours ago discovered yet another article about lower and middle-income earnings and where it all goes. The current average household income figures for these classes are given as £25,000 before tax and £20,500 after tax. But also includes couples without children living on a gross annual income between £12,000 and £29,000.
In a way I can relate to this as B and I now have no family living with us, and - as retired - the only income coming is is the state pension, this being slightly less than £12,000 per annum (so classed as 'poverty level'. That's a laugh. Poverty in today's world perhaps, certainly not in ours. We can manage very well on the state pension.

The article shows where part of the current average household income goes. Housing/energy taking 15%, food 13%, travel 12%. In other words 41% goes on 'essentials.
What I'd like to know what happens to the other 59%, this presumably classed as 'disposable income'? Going back again to 'my day' we were lucky to have any disposable income at all left over after the bills were paid. Money was earned to pay the bills, anything else was deemed a luxury - which was rare.

When I then read "With nearly 6 million households are struggling to pay bills, and unable to afford simple pleasures..... and about 45% of this group do not have enough money to go away on holiday, 40% cannot afford to replace furniture (does furniture wear out? Maybe cushions and fabric, but as Superscrimpers show we should be able to mend/replace these ourselves). Twentyfour per cent cannot now afford a night out with friends and family at least once a month (well it does cost a lot to buy a round of drinks these days, so a good reason to start 'dining in'). Eight per cent cannot afford to buy two decent pairs of outdoor shoes." (Good shoes should last years, so no reason to buy two pairs each year?). It is reading this that I It is realise more than ever that our now 'want not need' 'throw-away' society has dug a hole that it now is finding almost impossible to climb out from. Today we never repair, just throw away. Shudder when a hole appears in a sock, just chuck it out and buy new ones. Change the house decor every year or so because fashion decrees. And buy as much ready-prepared food as possible because we aren't meant to slave away over a hot stove nowadays. Every sensible solution to today's problems obviously takes up too much 'me-time' for this very selfish nation.

It has been calculated that the annual cost of putting food on the table has risen by £427 ahead of any increase over the last decade. Well that's not all THAT much over 10 years, and 10 years ago food was pretty cheap by normal standards.

Yet we are not all to blame, for he worst thing that ever happened to us was the introduction of credit cards and the way the government encouraged us to purchase as much as we could to bring industry back on its feet after the war. From then on people just bought and bought and bought and now, because the bug has bit so to speak, now many have spent too much over time, only affording to paying back interest, still owing thousands to the bank. 'The plastic' does avoid carrying around cash, but why not just restrict these to debit cards so that only money we already have goes towards what we wish to purchase? When our money is limited, then we have no choice other that to buy only what we can afford. Hire purchase has been around for probably all my life-time, but again limited to what we could pay from weekly or monthly earnings.

This young generation will just have to get used to living as we older folk managed to do very successfully many years ago. Maybe then they will realise that through most of their lifetime they have already been living a life of luxury that our ancestors could only dream of having. Never could it be in their reach. This recession could turn out to be a good thing if it brings back old values and old skills, and a bit more understanding of responsibility. Not sure how this will affect industry, but recessions are not new and the phoenix always manages to rise from the ashes.
At the moment we really have to stand back and take stock for things could get a lot worse before they begin to get better. But as ever - this is a challenge that many will find they quite enjoy. Let us hope all readers of this blog will believe this, and 'enjoy the moment'.

A welcome to Mrs G (Linda) who is sending in her first comment. The query about sauces used in Chinese cooking is not so easy to answer as there are quite a number: sweet and sour, black bean sauce, oyster sauce...to name but a few. Myself tend to buy the sachets of 'ready-sauces' that can be stirred into a stir-fry, and often do open a jar of 'sweet and sour sauce' (any surplus can be frozen). Chinese five-spice powder will usually give an authentic flavour to a stir-fry, and as Les says, adding a little liquid slaked with arrowroot will thicken the stir-fry when added towards the end of the 'fry-time'. A little tomato ketchup, honey, soy sauce and pineapple (or orange) juice thickened with arrowroot makes a type of home-made sweet and sour sauce, and the reason why arrowroot is used is because it makes a clear sauce, unlike cornflour which makes a sauce opaque.

Also a comment from an Anonymous (no name given), re her problem of having to often make three meals a day to suit the various family likes/dislikes. Let us hope you have a freezer Anon, for then you could make meals in bulk then freeze in individual portions. Pasta dishes (lasagne etc) freeze well. These would be suitable for two family members and if two fillings were made (one meat-based), meals for three could be made up at the same time, frozen or served 'fresh'.
Myself would enjoy the challenge of cooking three different dishes on a daily basis because then I could 'play' at being chef in a restaurant. Plan the menu cook the meals etc. But that's me - find a way to enjoy what we do. There always is a way to make life better (without spending money).

Yesterday made myself a vegetable soup (onion, celery, carrot, and parsnip with chicken stock). Because there was a bottle of soy sauce left on the kitchen table, decide to add a few drops to my nearly finished bowl of soup and was very surprised to find it didn't taste 'oriental' at all. It gave the soup a really beefy flavour. Once read that when making a beef casserole, it is always a good idea to add a spoonful or so of soy sauce - for that very reason. Worth remembering if you are cutting down on meat and still wishing to keep as much 'beef' flavour as possible.

During the afternoon had another go at making a fruit loaf. This time used a white bread mix (think it was a Carr's), adding a tablespoon of sugar and a good sized knob of Flora Pro-Active (as felt it saved using the butter, and also healthier for me). The dough was made in the bread machine, dried fruit being added half-way through the cycle.

One problem with oven-baked dough is that often it becomes too 'crusty' - which can be pleasant enough and probably expected with a 'home-bake', but fruit loaves (when bought) are normally softer crust, so this time decided to cover the loaf tin with a tent of kitchen foil, folding the sides of the foil around the roll-edge of the tin (otherwise the fan oven would blow it off). The ends were left open and there was plenty of room above the dough.

After the full cooking time (45 mins at 180C), removed the foil and the loaf was nicely brown and well risen but the crust very soft. It fell out of the tin easily enough, but was concerned it wasn't cooked through due to the 'softness'. However, bit the bullet and left the bread to cool on a cake airer, and this evening cut a slice and it was PERFECT. The foil 'tent' almost certainly had helped 'steam' the loaf a bit, and this kept the crust soft, but also the crumb part was quite similar and moist, very like shop-bought bread, but better. The bread cut easily and certainly wasn't undercooked. As I said, perfect in every way. In future will 'tent' all fruit loaves with foil, and maybe even some of the plain 'whites' and 'browns'.

Have to dash, forgot it was Norma the Hair day today, hope you can join me again tomorrow, see you then.

Top Tips?

2012-01-24T06:33:00.002Z

After watching Superscrimpers last night was a bit disappointed. It could be I missed the outcome of the family budget as B distracted me close to the end of the programme, or it could be the meals were not 'up to standard'.
Whatever, it was good to actually SEE how much food a family (two adults, 3 children) can waste during a year. Normally they spent £200 a week on food, of which £50 ended up in the bin. Around £2,500 a year's worth of food dumped. A big truck came in a dumped the lot on a big table in their garden just so they could see.
Their challenge was to spend no more than £50 on food the next week. Around £7 a day to feed five, and how they grumbled. However, after making out the menu for the week's suppers, off they trotted to the supermarket and bought all the necessary - this coming to under £44.
Think most of us could manage to make a supper for five if we had up to £7 per meal to spend, and - even allowing for the little saved (around £1 a day), nothing was said about buying food for breakfast, lunch, drinks or any other meal, so myself feel the challenge was a bit misleading.

Being your own manicurist and painter of nails was interesting, but again - do people spend money on nail varnish when there are bills to be paid? Mind you, it took me back to my youth when I must have been way ahead of my time, for although we, in our late teens, did paint our nails, it was usually only pale pink. One day I painted mine with bright green enamel and sprinkled over gold glitter dust. Today this would have been perfectly acceptable. In those days not so sure it went down well. But I was happy, the green matched something I was wearing and the gold dust picked up the glitter in my hair (probably the same 'spray dust' used for my nails)!

Very interesting watching the bit about shopping around for car insurance, and possibly also about buying unnecessary warranties on 'white goods'. Have to admit myself to buying insurance on our big fridge-freezer and washing machine (it doesn't add up to much), but then as we've had the washing machine for so long, the insurance company have put on the policy that if it goes wrong and can't be repaired the will then give us a brand new one for free.
In the old days, electrical goods seemed to last for ages, and we still own several we've had for twenty, thirty, and up to fifty years that are still working. New 'electrics' seem to break down almost as soon as the first warranty (a 'free' guarantee for the first year) has expired. We now seem to have had to replace several electric kettles, toasters et al within a very few years of purchase.

There was something on the prog. about their website where they gave a new moneysaving challenge each day (or was it week?). Haven't yet checked, but it sounds a very good idea.
There was a good demonstration of making cushion covers from material scraps, but only a small shot of a lady with her rag-rug. Do hope they show more of this craft, it is very simple and really does make use of all sorts of rags. Myself have made rag 'cushions' to place on chairs, not even padded ones, more as protection for seats, but very comfy to sit on.

The trade mag 'discussion' this week seems to have been interesting to some. Am sure some mothers still use terry nappies, deb, perhaps using disposables when away from home. Certainly 'disposables' are labour saving, but so very expensive that it does make sense to use something that can be washed and reused again and again and again.
Even 'terries' must have been upgraded since I used them, as Urbanfarmgirl mentions them held in place with Velcro! In my day it was nappy pins to hold things in place - these still on sale even now, and used by me to anchor my fitted sheets to a rather deep mattress (otherwise it slides up, across and sometimes half off the bed as I toss and turn during the night). I do like smooth sheets when I sleep.

As Scarlet mentioned, many young mothers these days seem to want to keep their 'freedom', and myself have known many first-time mothers who return to work two months after their baby was born, not for money, but just because they wanted to. To do this the baby was taken to an expensive nursery each working day, the cost for this a lot more than the money the mother earned. High price to pay for 'keeping your independence'.
Seems that, like big cars, holidays abroad, plasma TV's etc, having a baby is part of the social 'status' these days. Everyone should have one.

Heard something on the news that the PM is intending to cap the benefit payments, so that non-workers (asylum seekers etc) have to manage on the same money that working families earn. At the moment the benefits are higher than average earnings. As B said, this possible new 'allowance' would still be more than many families manage to live on quite successfully.
Yet what do we then see, some 'poor' woman living in a very respectable and well fitted house with two children complaining bitterly that her standard of living would go down if she had to move into smaller accomodation, and she'd be moving away from her 'friends'. Do know that many religions are prepared to put their hands into pockets to help those of their faith worse off, and this lady has an added advantage of her bank giving interest-free loans, which she might be able to get, at least until her children are (presumably) old enough for her to go out and earn money and pay back what she owes.
No, I'm not bitter, twisted or even against religion (in fact respect all faiths), just feel that there seems to be one rule for one (like you needn't work but we'll give you the money to live in good accomodaton), and one for another (who is willing to work a 12 hours day but can't afford more than the rent of a council high-rise) which makes life a bit unfair.

Maybe things are different today, but in my day, living on 'benefits' just didn't happen. We did get 'dole' money when B was out of work (sometimes this was for 6 months out of each year), but this was barely enough to cover the running costs of the house, let alone food, and certainly nothing left for clothes, holidays etc. If we were not in work, then we expected to be really 'poor', not still have TVs, run cars, have computers etc. When I took a job as a bar-maid to help make ends meet, they reduced the dole money by the amount of money I earned. The only money I managed to take home was the 'drinks' that customers had paid for me to have, and the landlord let me keep the money instead.
We had to make everything we needed, cook all meals from scratch. Sew patches over worn cuffs and elbows, turn collars on shirts, sew sides to middle of sheets. Walk if we could, get the bus if we couldn't. Now it seems that those on benefits expect to keep up with the Jones, and have more as well. If this 'benefit capping' goes through, and the way things are going, will we see those faced with 'restricted benefits' now going to the EU and start complaining about their 'human rights'?
My feeling re this is how I feel about criminals. If anyone breaks the law then they should have no rights. Now it seems if someone breaks into a house, and the owner pushes the intruder it is the trespasser that can claim for assault and even compensation if he falls or gets a black eye. Human rights again I suppose.

Shouldn't it be that if we refuse to take work offered, then we too have no rights, but before you all come back at me all barrels blazing, this doesn't mean EVERYONE on benefits. Many single mothers have no choice but to stay at home and look after their small children - at least until they are of school age. It is the layabouts, those who feign illness and disability when they have none, that I'm going on about. But enough of this. Today's world is not what it was in my day, and probably never will be as good and honest and hard-working ever again. Allow me to be a grumpy old woman. If you don't like what I grumble about, move to another site that says what you like to hear.

It's interesting about the reaction from this week's 'trade secrets'. T.Mills seemed quite shocked at the lengths that stores will go to keep our custom. And rightly so, although I've tried to look at it from the other side of the fence, and it does make sense to keep certain products together if you wish them to be bought rather than missed. Do this myself in my own larder as the foods there in full sight are the ones most often used. Those placed elsewhere, sometimes forgotten.

There is a lot of psychology when it comes to placing products on shelves, stores pay consultants to give them adice on this. We have to remember this is 'business' we are talking about, and profits have to be made. If we owned a shop almost certainly our aim would be to keep our head above water, and lure in the customers, not be too generous.
Today - with the store wars - it is up to each 'major' to try and better the others, and general 'trade advice' (as given in the mag) can often point the way to getting customers to buy more. Advice that is useful to us as we can then be a bit more aware of what the 'other side' is doing.

The fact still remains that the superstores are still making huge profits. One major store mentioned on the news yesterday said it is providing several thousand new jobs (that is at least a good thing), but to do this it is opening new stores around the country. At what cost? Much of the money for this comes from profits no doubt, and most profits surely come from purchases made by their customers.

The order in which stores spread their products around can differ from store to store, and how often do we get incensed (well I do) when suddenly nothing is where it was the previous week. Food is moved around to prevent us getting used to it being there as this sometimes stops us looking at anything else we hadn't planned to buy. If a cream cake suddenly appears where the baked beans were last week, we might be annoyed, but then we might also decide it's a good idea to buy the cake THEN go and look for the beans. You see how it works?

In the old days all we had to do was write out a shopping list then go to and give it to the grocer who would either then pack it all up for you while you sat in a chair and waited, or would take the list and have the food delivered later to your door. Sometimes the grocer would suggest you might like to try a new product or ingredients, maybe even give you a free sample, but we did not then have the freedom to wander down aisles and put into a basket whatever took our fancy.

Nowadays temptation lies on every shelf in every aisle, and even across ends of aisles and in trolleys scattered around holding 'reduced price' items. Never before has shopping offered so many varieies with so much to be enjoyed. All we need is self control. Wish I had some!

We can blame the supermarkets for 'pulling our strings', but it really is up to each of us to try and work our way round the stores buying only what we went out to purchase AND NOTHING MORE. Having said that, of course if there is a really good bargain, then this could be worth buying, but if so then return to the shelf something already bought. For example, if having chosen a certain cut of meat and you see another that is cheaper, put the expensive one back and bring home the one most economical. After all meat is meat, and if your first choice was lamb, then does it matter if instead you bring home pork? Think nutrition and need. Need is necessary, 'want' can be an expensive luxury. Nutrition can come from various sources. But then today, it seems we all expect to have what we want, and what is still luxury to me, now the norm. Even the Queen herself is known to be frugal where it matters.

Yesterday, even before I mentioned supper, B said he'd like egg, sausage, beans and a few chips. so this is what he was served. Suppose always having what he wants to eat is his idea of 'luxury', for in our youth we had no choice as to what we were given, and had to eat it all whether we liked it or not, and if we didn't it was served up cold for our next meal, and continued to be until it was all eaten. But then that was wartime. Mind you, even before the war this was how things used to be. Now they'd call in Child Protection if we did things like that.

As the oven was at the right temp, popped one of those frozen Chocolate Fondants in to cook whilst B was eating his main course. Because it was slightly larger than the size given in the recipe allowed it 20 minutes instead of 15 and it turned out perfectly. Seems if cooked a little longer than the recommended time, the 'outer' casing of 'sponge' becomes thicker and there is then less runny chocolate in the centre. So don't think the timing is as critical as the original recipe seemed to suggest.

A thank you to Jim (new name? if so welcome), who seemed to like the sound of the breast of lamb recipe given yesterday. This cut is often rolled around a stuffing (the way Jim cooks his), and possibly the base of yesterday's dish (cabbage, onion, bacon, oats, lemon etc) could be spread over the breast to use as a 'stuffing', before the meat was rolled and secured to roast slowly, instead of placing it under the breast (this then cut into ribs) and cooked at a high heat.

Watching 'Hungry Sailors' yesterday saw them cooking goat meat. Forgot to mention this to Lisa when I gave a list of the meats we can buy in this country. Not that I've yet eaten any goat meat yet, but it is becoming popular. Do they eat goat in the US I wonder? Over here is it cheaper to buy than other meats? Or more expensive? Someone write in and tell me.

Beloved is out all morning, so having made an early start with today's blog, this should allow me extra time to 'have a play' in the kitchen, and maybe cook up a few things before he returns. Think I'll serve meatballs in a good sauce with some pasta for supper (having loads of meatballs in the freezer). This will leave me time to make a good pot of soup (mainly for me) AND do some baking, starting with another loaf of bread. Get the timing right, so while the mixture is kneaded then rises in the bread-machine, then rises again after being transferred to the loaf tin, should be able to make a cake AND some biscuits before the bread goes into the oven.
Must remember also to make another litre of EasyYo yogurt, fruit flavour yet to be decided.

Although the traditional English meal (meat and two veg) is often the easiest to prepare and cook, it is usually the more unusual that are cheaper and can often be tastier. The recipe today is one of these with the less familiar 'spelt' as one of the ingredients. Whole grain spelt can be used in place of rice in risotto, but then so can pearl barley and quinoa, so any of these grains can be used in this recipe (pearl barley being the cheapest, spelt being the most filling, quinoa having the most protein).
The beetroot can be raw then home-cooked, alternatively (as I often do) use the beetroot sold in vacuum packs. Instead of the butternut you could use pumpkin. With either of these, wash the seeds, dry well, then toss in a little olive oil and sea salt, then spread over a baking sheet and roast in the oven until golden. They can then be used as garnish for this dish, or used as a 'snack nibble'. Save a few seeds (unroasted) as these can be planted the following year to hopefully 'grow your own'.

Made with spelt, this is a very 'filling' meal, the amount given serves 2 as a main course, or 4 as a starter.
Grain and Squash 'risotto:
2 - 3 cooked beetroot, each cut into quarters
1 small butternut squash, skin left on
2 tblsp sunflower oil
salt and pepper
1 - 2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
18 fl.oz (500ml) vegetable stock
4 shallots, finely sliced
9 oz (250g) pearled spelt (or another grain)
5 fl oz (150ml) white wine
2 oz (50g) butter, chilled and diced
1 heaped tablespoon cream cheese
2 oz (50g) Cheddar cheese, grated
Cut the squash in half and remove seeds, then dice the flesh (no need to peel). Put the squash into a roasting dish and drizzle over some of the oil. Add seasoning to taste, and place the herbs on the top. Roast for about 20 minutes or until almost tender, then add the beetroot. When ready, set aside but keep warm.
Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil, then reduce heat to low and leave the stock to simmer whilst frying the shallots in a large frying pan with the rest of the oil. When tender but not coloured, add the spelt (or other grain), stirring well so the grain is coated with oil, then add the wine. Keep stirring gently until most of the liquid has been absorbed, then start adding the hot stock, a ladleful at a time. Keep stirring (to prevent contents sticking to the base of the pan and burning), adding more stock when most has been absorbed. Don't let it dry out between ladles. How long it takes to cook depends upon the grain used, pearl barley will probably take the longest, quinoa cooks fairly rapidly. The texture will feel different to rice but should be soft in the mouth (but not too soft). When to your liking, beat in the butter, then when all this is combined, beat in the cheese. Aim for a creamy and fairly loose texture. If too thick, then add a little more stock. Serve with the roasted butternut and beetroot, garnishing with the roasted seeds if you have them.

The other day saw a chef cook a traditional pudding that seems rarely to be served today. Maybe because it is just too easy. In some ways it is a hot version of Summer Pudding, prepared in similar way. Probably will be making this for B's 'afters' today. The recipe will make one large pudding, but it can easily be made in individual pudding basins, each to serve one. Although haven't tried this, am sure - once assembled - it will freeze successfully, and probably even be able to be cooked from frozen.
Because every recipe is now in 'g's rather than 'oz', it is easier to 'round up' to 200g, but myself would probably use a little less sugar, say 6 oz. Saves a few pence, and every penny saved etc....
Use less blackberries and more apples if you wish, or omit the berries altogether. It goes without saying we dry the bread crusts off in the cooling oven to grind up and store.
Apple Charlotte: serves 6
1 lb (450g) Bramley apples, peeled and chopped
good pinch ground cinnamon
zest and juice of 1 small lemon
7 oz (200g) caster sugar (see above)
1 lb (450g) blackberries
1 slice bread, crumbed
4 oz (100g) butter, melted
10 slices white bread, crusts removed (see above)
Put the apples into a saucepan with the cinnamon, lemon zest and juice. Place over a low heat and cook until the apples are soft, then remove from heat and stir in the sugar, blackberries and breadcrumbs.
Take an 8" (20cm) deep cake tin or Charlotte mould and grease generously with butter. Cut the bread to the shape to fit the tin (a round for the base and lid, and strips or wedges for the sides), then dip one side of each piece in the melted butter and place in the tin buttered side down on the base and buttered side facing the sides. Allow each piece to slightly overlap.
When the container is lined, fill right to the top with the cooked fruit/sugar, then cover with the reserved bread 'lid' this time with butter side facing up. Bake at 180C, 350F, gas 5 for 1 hour until the lid is crisp.
To serve, carefully turn the Charlotte over onto a shallow dish or plate, but leave the tin in place for 15 minutes before removing. Serve with pouring cream or custard.

If you make your own American muffins, the final recipe today is a 'quickie'. Use ginger or chocolate flavoured muffins to serve this 'faux' Sticky Toffee Pud. As muffins normally should be eaten the day of making, normally they freeze well, so then perfect for thawing to make this dessert.
If you prefer, you can first make the sauce, and using a microwave container, heat the muffins/fruit in the microwave for a couple or so minutes, then serve as given.
Alternately, if the oven is going to be on anyway (for the main course), prepare in advance, but don't heat the muffins, just put into individual or one large ovenproof container, pour over the sauce and leave to cool. Chill then bake at the given temperature for 15 - 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the puds are piping hot.
'Sticky Toffee' mini-Puddings: serves 4
4 large chocolate muffins, crumbled
2 oz (50g) sultanas or finely chopped dates
2 oz (50g) light muscovado sugar
2 oz (50g) butter
3 oz (75ml) double cream
ice-cream or whipped cream for serving
Mix the muffin crumbs with the dried fruit the divide between four buttered ramekin dishes (or fill one larger container). Cover with foil and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 4 for about 5 minutes or until heated through (one large container will take longer).
Meanwhile, put the sugar, butter and double cream in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Pour this on top of the muffins and serve warm with a dollop of ice-cream or whipped cream on top.
See above for alternative ways to cook.

Time now for me to wave B goodbye for several hours and then I can begin my culinary activities. Outside it is another miserable day, so am glad to be able to remain indoors. Not everyone is so fortunate. Don't think many of us appreciate what a good life we have, even the weather isn't THAT bad, compared to other countries. Perhaps we are turning into a nation that loves to have something to moan about. The newspapers are full of doom and gloom and moans and groans. Anything good written about is usually hidden towards the back, if you can find it amongst all the adverts, many of them taking up a full page (often supermarket ads paid for by their profits - this being once our money - in the hope they will persuade us to spend more). Seems now we have more ads than news, and most holiday ads (for hols abroad) are now offering very good discounts. Just a pity we haven't the money to take advantage. Never have been able to understand that it can be cheaper to holiday abroad for two weeks, including flight fares, for less cost than one week in our own country.

Keep those comments coming, and join me again tomorrow. See you then.

Back to the Beginning?

2012-01-23T07:50:00.002Z

It was Mabel (new name so very welcome and group hugs) who has asked about cooking breast of lamb and the price. The recipe was first on this site on 5th Oct. '08, but on checking back see it seems to have been one of those that was 'lost' due to blogger cutting down on my allotted space (well I do use a lot of it each day). At least have kept a copy of all previous (earlier) postings on my blog, so will repeat the recipe today (after the usual 'chat').
Cannot now remember how much the lamb cost - it's been in the freezer for several months - but it is a 'joint' that is similar to pork belly, both being one of the cheapest cuts/joint.

When back-checking the blog this morning (and discovering the omission), decided to read what had been written on that day over 3 years ago, and - quite honestly- surprise myself sometimes. I quite enjoyed what was written, especially the recipes, so urge the newest readers to this site to go back to the very start of this blog (Sept '06) and work their way through from start to the current postings. This will take time, but as a lot of the 'chat' has now be edited out by me, this leaves mainly hint and tips and recipes that don't cost a lot but taste great and too good to miss.

The way you compare different store prices is an excellent idea Scarlet. Maybe this can be done easily on mySupermarket.co.uk, but so far haven't yet got my head around that website.
Problem with food prices is they rarely remain the same for any length of time, so what will be cheap in one store one week maybe more expensive in another, but the reverse a week or so later so it is impossible to stick to one store hoping that ALL will be cheaper. Believe that Sainsbury's (or might be another store) will give back money (or voucher) at the check-out if the goods purchase could have been bought cheaper elsewhere, but this may be only on branded goods. Anyone know more about this?

Know what you mean Urbanfarmgirl about seed/plant catalogues being enticing. If only I was years younger then I would have bought a Sweet Chestnut tree to plant in the garden, and also a damson tree. Not that our garden is really large enough, but there are now so many fruit trees grafted onto small stock that never grow THAT tall, so given that I knew I had ten more years of 'sensible' life, this garden would be full of small and different fruit trees, almost a fairy orchard.
Am very tempted to try growing kiwi fruit as this seems possible, even in our climate.

No-one has yet come back to me re my query about growing mushrooms from kits. Desperately need to find out if it is as economical as it sounds. Those who go horse-riding will have access to stable manure and should be able then to make up a stack in a dark shed or somewhere and plant mushroom spawn which will then produce many more 'rooms' than those rather-expensive-for-what-you-get-kits.

When visiting a mushroom farm in Yorkshire, saw a pile of steaming horse manure which came, the farmer proudly said "from a local racing stables". Apparently the quality of the food the horses eat is then passed onto the mushrooms. Maybe so, can't say I would be able to tell if there was a difference in flavour. But perhaps why field mushrooms (growing in fields) are prized. All those cow pats, horse droppings???

Continuing this week's 'trade secrets', this week several pages had been given over to baby foods. It maybe that many readers are past this stage, but again there is much 'food for thought' in what is said...
"The range of food and drink available to babies and toddlers has changed beyond recognition over the last eight years, but the challenge to engage mums and get them to buy from the baby aisle is stronger than ever".

This to me shows the power of advertising, or maybe the way the world is today. In my day doubt there were many baby foods on sale, mothers made them themselves from food they prepared for adults. We did have Farex (type of porridge/biscuit) and 'bickipegs' (hard oblongs of 'biscuit' to help babies cut their teeth), and of course baby milk powder (when bottle feeding was necessary), the rest we had to provide for ourselves, like just pureeing the adults cooked food (with not added salt - this is important). Food in those days being mainly meat and two veg, we didn't have the problem of coping with highly spiced meals.
Few domestic kitchens had freezers in those times, so normally the baby meal was prepared fresh each day. Today we can make up a whole batch and freeze it in ice-cube trays or small containers.

Today it does seem that some children can be very picky eaters. Maybe this is because so many these days are bottle fed. It is known that breast fed children (once they are weaned) will happily eat foods their mother ate during (and maybe before) pregnancy. If she ate Brussels sprouts, then the child will too. If the mother spent her teenage years and early twenties downing Big Mac and pizzas, no doubt any babies she had would also prefer this diet.

There is some good news re baby foods. Seems that the last quarter of last year, although the value is up 7% (due to rising prices?) the volume sales were static, and "wet food and snacks" began declining due to"more mothers preparing food from scratch". Snacks for babies? Seems the 'snack habit' sets in even before they begin to crawl! At least some mothers are beginning to find the economical sense of making babies meals instead of buying.

From the supermarket angle (and this is one to think about for although this relates to baby foods, it covers all aspects) none of us are ignored in the stores and manufacturers attempt to drag the pennies from our pockets..."the good news is that there are more players in the market than ever, and innovation is prolific in the snack, wet food, chilled, frozen and toddler categories, delivering strong growth for organic manufacturers." And this is the same whatever age we are.

This next bit made me smile "parents refuse to compromise on the quality of their babies' food, even in hard economic times when other areas of the family's budget are being cut". Surely, surely, SURELY the best way to get quality and also save money is to make the baby foods yourself?

Bit more gloom coming up-from the viewpoint of our purse, any silver lining aimed at the storekeeper who is now being advised that "the value of a mum to the retailer has also never been higher, with her shopping basket coming in at over £31.46 per week higher than average". Possibly this extra amount also covers disposable nappies, talcum powder...as well as baby food, but even so.
"What we feed our children in the first three years sets their palates for the future. This age group is crying out for nutritional quality" says a kid's organic ready-meals producer.
There is still hope for the sensible, speaking now from my viewpoint when I read "but with 65%of meals being cooked from scratch at home, manufacturers and retailers have to work hard to attract mums to the baby aisle - and to keep them there".
"Many mums scratch cook and don't buy into the wet baby foods category at all..." this is not good news for the stores, so expect even more products on the shelves in the near future. On the other hand, any reader of this site who has young children, then beware and continue (or even start) making meals for your little ones yourself.

A list of take-home sales is shown with nappies coming at the top of the list (don't mothers use 'terries' any more?), then moist wipes, followed by milk, food, toiletries, accessories, healthcare, drinks (these up by 15%), and sterilants.

Dear oh dear, what do I read now - re infant chilled ready-meals..."It's growth is testament to the quality and range of products....and the fact mums can gain a bit more 'me time' by purchasing ready-made 'cooked at home' meals". So when is 'me-time' so much more important than the few minutes to make a child-size version of a meal? Surely less time than it takes to walk through a supermarket to find the chilled baby meal in the first place.

Do remember that after about 15 years raising four children and seemingly having no 'me time' at all did then start to feel I was being taken for granted and had lost my independence. But babies and toddlers, and even teenagers should come first. That's what being a mother is all about. Or it used to be. Now it seems life is all 'me, me, me' and everyone else comes second. No one will ever end up happy with an attitude like that.

More advice in the mag for the stores. The average baby aisle shelves are groaning under the weight of snacks, juices and to a certain extent pouches that are regularly bought by mums with older mouths to feed. Seems that once out of the baby aisles, mums don't wish to search across the supermarket to find the readies to feed older children, so they probably still get fed baby food when they are five? The advice is that "supermarkets are missing a trick by not having a children's food aisle. It could be an extension of the baby aisle. Parents with kids of different ages would just have one place to go". So manufacturers are now given even more opportunity to 'invent' new 'kid's food' to appeal to those between the age of three and ten, which a lot of mum's will then be persuaded to purchase just because the 'kids' have seen it on the shelves. "If you buy our baby food here, then why can't you buy something for me as well" I can hear echoing round the stores in the near future.

It's pretty obvious that supermarkets are aware of both of our needs and weaknesses, and nothing wrong with that. If I was a retailer and not a customer I would probably do much the same 'to help customers find what they need' - every missed sale being less money in the till etc.
Almost certainly a small independent shop needs every penny it can make, and we would respect them for that, it's just when it comes to the large stores that make such huge profits that we (or at least I do), begin to feel that they really are manipulating us consumers beyond a level we are happy with. The above extracts from the mag may be to do with foods for children, but this is almost a 'master-plan' that can carry on through all age groups and none of us are free from the pressures to buy whatever is any major store we step into.
But - as ever - once we are aware of what is happening, we can at least do something about it, even by just giving a little more thought as to what we purchase, and ask ourselves "why don't we have a go at making it ourselves". We could be highly delighted when we do.

One final extract from the trade mag..."A storekeeper in Whitwell discovered a vintage cereal haul after taking down some shelving. Behind lay some boxes of Nabisco's Malted Shreddies dated from the 1970's. They inevitably ended up on eBay, with a single box fetching upwards of £150." A very happy ending for the store owner who had earlier been unable to persuade her hens to eat some.
Make you wonder if it might be worth me keeping some of my unopened packets that have now reached their b.b.life and storing them away to leave as a legacy for our grandchildren to keep in store for their grandchildren, for by that time each item might be worth quite a bit of money.

A reminder that tonight Superscrimpers will be on Channel 4, 8.00pm or 9.00 on 4 + 1 (it is the latter time that I'll be watching it, due to the soaps that both B and I can't miss (shown tonight between 7.30 and 9.00!!).

Now to the recipe for today. This is Poitrene d'Agneau au Chou (my French version that may not be correct, but hope means 'breast of lamb with cabbage', French sounds so much more appetising than English when it comes to food).
Although the ingredients don't sound appetising at all, surprisingly the end result is full of flavour. Even yesterday had my doubts, as though having made this dish many years ago and knew it ate well, couldn't really believe it when made again yesterday. I even apologised to B in advance, saying "if you don't like it I'll cook you something else", but after eating it he came in and said it was really, really good and could he have it again. There was a little left over which I then ate myself and had to agree with him.

Yesterday couldn't remember whether the skin on the ribs should be removed or not, but left it on and as well I did for this ended up exactly like pork crackling, but even better as it was more 'tender' and so my ancient teeth found it easy to crunch. Hot roast lamb fat is particularly sweet, and as some of this filtered down through the oats, this made them almost 'toasted' when eaten. As there is not nearly so much fat with lamb breast as (say) belly pork, not THAT unhealthy.

Because the bones are still in the breast, the meat itself has great flavour, but it does mean the ribs need eating with the fingers, in the same way as Chinese (pork) spare ribs. Tear off the now tender meat with your teeth and crunch the fat/skin as you do so. Unbelievably good.
(Reminds me of another way I've cooked breast of lamb. Cut into ribs, simmered for half an hour in water (to help tenderise the meat), then drained well and coated with a sticky glaze to finish off in the oven for 15 minutes and they end up identical to Chinese 'ribs', and taste as good as, if not better.

This dish can be served with potatoes or rice, but because it contains oatmeal (a carbo), yesterday just served it as-is, and it was fine like that.
Poitrine d'agneau au Chou: serves 4
half a hard white cabbage, finely shredded
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
4 oz (100g) porridge oats
zest and juice 1 large or 2 small lemons
1 breast of lamb, cut into ribs
chopped fresh parsley, optional
Steam the cabbage until tender, then set aside. Put the oil in a frying pan with the bacon and onion and fry until the onion is softened and the bacon lightly crisp. Stir in cabbage, then the oats and lemon zest and juice, and remove from heat.
Spread the contents of the pan over a shallow greased ovenproof dish and top with the lamb, skin/fat side up. Bake at 200C, 400F, gas 4 for one hour. If using, sprinkle the chopped parsley over the top when ready to serve. As said before - eat and enjoy!

That's it for yet another day. We've already had rain, now some blue sky has appeared, but still fairly breezy. It was supposed to snow over the weekend, maybe it did in Scotland. Certainly not here in Morecambe. Maybe we will have none this winter which will be a pity as I do love to see the big flakes fall. Wouldn't it be lovely if we could have a long hot summer, with any rainfall coming whilst we were all tucked up in bed. Waking to a garden full of scented flowers, not to mention butterflies and birds is my idea of paradise (as long as there are angels around to do any weeding that is necessary).
In the meantime have to bring myself back to the real world and start planning tonight's supper, not yet sure what. Lamb yesterday, so tonight's meal should be based on either chicken, beef, pork, fish or even vegetarian meal. Or maybe something simple such as sausage, egg, beans and chips. Have to run a few ideas past B to find out the one he prefers (then make something else. Just kidding!).

Please join me tomorrow, I so look forward to meeting up with you - even at a distance. Don't let me down. Enjoy your day. TTFN.

Choosing the Right Path

2012-01-22T09:57:00.002Z

Late start this morning as thought I'd get Gill's phone call over before I began. Maybe mistake, but at least this will stop my train of thought moving to another track.
Firstly will reply to comments.

Good selection of crops you managed to harvest recently Urbanfarmgirl. Were these 'outdoors', or grown in your polytunnel? Does your p.tunnel supply you with salads or other veg right through the winter?

Appreciate that Heston B. has a place in culinary 'art' MimsyS, and it is right that we should all have freedom of choice as to what we cook and how we cook it. Maybe it is my frugal outlook that shudders when I see a chef whose use of ingredients are 'wasteful and expensive'. Fun to watch of course, but in my line of 'work', try to follow the path that leads to a comfortable life without needing to spend much.
Suppose it is more a matter of income, if one earns enough, then they can afford to be wasteful or enjoy a more decadent life. Each to his own. Another viewpoint is that spending money on expensive food will also help to line other's pockets.

Although now try to avoid 'wasting' any food, there was a time when I used to make framed 'decorations' using many different pasta shapes. Arranged attractively and stuck onto a backing card, then sprayed with gold paint they did make an inexpensive 'picture' to hang on a wall. Done the same thing with various dried beans and seeds, this time using their different colours to give a good effect, omitting any gold spray. Now I would see this as a waste of food. Shows how far I've trodden the path of poverty and parsimony. Maybe gone a mile or two further than I should.

Don't make the mistake of thinking Margie, that during wartime people were healthy because they ate so many veggies. Although not on ration, these were in very short supply as very little (if at all) food was imported, and apart from potatoes and wheat, it was left to individuals to grow their own. 'Dig for Victory' this was called, and lucky were those who had garden or allotment. Many who lived in towns had no way of growing anything.
As an instance, an onion was worth more than its weight in gold, and if there was a spare one, this was often given as a prize in a raffle, then made to last as long as possible. All fresh produce was season, and those lucky enough to live in the country could at least forage for 'free food'.
With no imported fruit (citrus fruit etc), rose hips were gathered to make rose hip syrup to give children essential vitamins.
During the war the Americans sent over lots of vegetable seeds to help us Brits grow our own produce, but most of these failed dismally as the climate here was not the same as in the US and the plants either did not flourish or failed to give any edible crops (pumpkins etc). The 'fancier' foods, such as courgettes, aubergines, bell peppers etc were not then normally grown, we made do with the heavy croppers such as peas, green beans, cabbage/kale, and the large garden marrows. Even potatoes were limited supply, it was a matter of who got to the greengrocer first to be able to bring home a spud or two before they ran out.

The improved health of this country was - admittedly - due to rationing of food, but not in the way we believe. It was the poorer people, the ones who previously were at poverty level when it came to affordable food (diets of bread and dripping, potatoes, gruel etc), whose health improved as rationed food was the same for all, rich and poor alike, so for the first time the poor were (in their eyes) eating like kings, the rich felt they were eating like paupers.
Rationing had been thought out carefully, and just enough allowed to keep everyone alive. Manual workers were allowed a little extra protein (usually cheese) to give them enough calories to cope with 'hard labour'. Everyone else had to manage on the little provided, and what else they could grow or forage.

Your comment Alison reminded me that today I rarely bother to peel potatoes. Generally cooking the large spuds in the microwave and eating the whole lot (the skins have loads of fibre, this makes them very filling and helps to satisfy the appetite), the smaller spuds are boiled in there skins and again all parts are eaten. If wishing to serve mashed potato, then cook in their 'jackets', and scoop out the centre. The skins can be cut into wedges and dried off in the oven to use as 'dippers', or the inside could be brushed with butter and filled with something like chilli con carne, or a mixture of mashed spuds and cheese, and heated through.
Instead of 'mash', try the 'new way' by boiling small 'new' potatoes until tender, then putting into a frying pan with a little butter and/or oil, then squashing them slightly with a potato masher. These are called 'crushed potatoes'.
Roast potatoes are normally peeled before roasting, but this is not necessary. Just cut them up as normal, and we end up with at least one (maybe two or three) sides without peel, and the skin should then be able to be easily peeled off (wafer thin so the spud retains all its vitamins) or just roast as-is.

Myself find that opening jars and bottles can often be difficult, and it is possible to buy a gadget that fits round the top and give extra leverage. Rubber 'mats' also on sale that help give a better grip. A rubber glove (the 'marigold' type) works just as well.
If a jar lid is almost impossible to open, then either turn it upside down and give it hard bang on the top of the work surface (this often helps to release the seal), or dip it into very hot water (causes the metal to expand which help it to loosen from the glass).

Sairy et al, finds the stick blender one of the most useful gadgets. Myself have one, but for some reason don't use it that often. Perhaps because I enjoy eating more 'chunky' soups.

Must now pass on some more 'trade secrets'. Quite a lot in the mag was interesting this week, so this could take a bit of time.... maybe give some today and more tomorrow.
As mentioned yesterday, Tesco is set to launch a new wave of promotions that will target customers "based on the affluence of the areas they live in". Initially this will involve 300 of their stores. Not sure how this will work out (at least for me), will just have to wait and see.

Asda has long been known as the UK's cheapest supermarket (the mag says) and research carried out shows it is also the most trusted regarding its claims about price and promotions. As I have never shopped there, cannot comment on this. So let's hear it from you.

Next bit is about the first shopping trend of the year. Well it had to start sometime. This one being identified by Morrison's who are suggesting that more of us Brits are bringing lunch into the office (presumably instead of 'eating out').
Sale of plastic storage boxes have rocketed by 260% so far in January. Wow! Apparently this due to "cash-conscious customers taking lunch to work".
The retailer also said there had been a run on comfort foods (also linked to a colder spell of weather). Potato sales rose by 31% last week, soup up by 25%, pies and pastries up by 24%,
Now although the above could mean these were being taken to work for lunch, this still means they have been bought from the store, and not a lot made from scratch. But then the trade mg is written from the retail aspect, hoping to keep us buying and forget all about home-cooking.

Many of you may log on to www.mySupermarket.co.uk and might be interested to know that this website saw a 140% jump in users this Christmas. The site has been improved with a relaunch last November and is an aid to finding the cheapest basket.

Although this next bit is written for wholesalers, it could mean this means higher prices will be charged by those who buy certain products. The ones mentioned were catering packs of things like branded sauces (by catering I mean the tiny ones given 'free' with a meat at a cafe). If the purchaser has to pay more, then he will surely add a few pence more to the menu price to cover his costs.
In one wholesale list a total of 127 out of 129 products are set to go up next month.

Readers living in the Sussex area will be pleased to know that the independent retailer Jempson's has slashed the price of fruit and veg by 10%. At least until the end of this month "to cater for the growing trend for scratch cooking and home baking". Suppose where we shop depends on whether independent prices compare well with those in the supermarkets.

Wholesale prices for red meat and poultry might (or might not) affect us as consumers. Although meats are still showing month-to-month rises, these have slowed significantly compared with annual inflation rates.
UK lamb, chicken and pork - although rising in price - hold up better than counterparts abroad, although New Zealand lamb has fallen nearly 5%, although the price still remains high. Long-term trend is for UK and NZ lamb to move upwards, with prices rising year-on-year due to falling flock numbers.
Turkey is a 'rising price' exemption due to the post-Christmas slump, showing a 10.7% drop.

Now the above info may be more of us to wholesalers and butchers, but at least it gives us an idea of future trends/prices, and the reason why. It could be we would be wise to buy lamb now and freeze is away before the price rises even further. Am not suggesting we do, it is just a thought.

Here is some 'trade talk', the way retailers hope to keep our custom. Read it as though you are a store manager, then read it again from the viewpoint of a customer...
"In this extraordinary economy, everyday low prices are simply not sustainable: the quality of the product is at it highest, but the margins down to the wire."
"In this promotion-driven world, most shoppers will happily switch from one brand to another because of a special offer. Shoppers simply expect to be swayed by the latest bogof."
"A recent survey asked shoppers to name brand they could honestly say they were loyal to, and could not do without. The results were surprising. Beyond health and beauty products, there were very few brands that customers could not be swayed away from by a promotion.
This is a problem".
"The good news is that people love to shop, they like to be inspired and when they are they become loyal advocates......and if retailers and manufacturers begin to treat the consumer's time in stores as a below-the-line media opportunity, they can begin to inspire customers. Perhaps that will help drive ritualistic behaviour and put brands back on shopping lists".

Another article gives another way to keep our custom, this mentioning a certain store as an example (what's gone wrong for *** is what's wrong with ***), but as the same could be said of many stores prefer not to give names. "Go into the *** or *** and you get helpful people. Go into a *** and you're in a faceless tin cathedral. Go into local smaller stores and you're in eye contact world."
Feature finishes with interesting questions, again speaking from the retail viewpoint "For we who think, eat and breathe food, this requires a return to first principles. Does food come to the people or do people go to the food? *** chose the latter. Is food for health or wealth? It chose the latter. Is it about sustaining the planet or profits. Ditto." They way I see it is that the fault lies not at one door, nowadays all supermarkets put profits before customers needs (although admittedly some are better than others at doing this).

However much I try not to be tempted by new products, this next is one I'll have great difficulty in avoiding, for Walkers is bringing out three new crisp flavours this week - but won't be telling shoppers what they are. The packs will be labelled 'What's That Flavour? (called A, B and C) and if we consumers identify the flavour correctly we then go into a draw that gives a £50,000 prize for each variety. Honestly, it's not the money that is making me want to sample the flavours, it is the novelty of trying to guess what I'm eating.
These new flavours will be on sale as single bags, a six-pack containing two of each flavour, and two bags of mystery flavour in multipacks of the normal salted, cheese and onion, or salt-and-and-vinegar.

Think that's enough for today. Still have a few more items not yet covered, but will trot these out tomorrow. Hope the above has given you 'food for thought' when it comes to how the stores aim to keep our custom. As many of the ideas are for our benefit, then no cause for concern. We just have to make sure they don't pull out strings to make us move in the direction we don't wish to.

Another cold and windy day, just right for a Sunday 'roast', even though ours will be breast of lamb. Must really try to make this interesting.
Before I forget, the remains of the beef casserole and shredded cabbage were reheated together with a little added water, and it made a very good minestrone-type soup (but without adding any pasta), the flavour being so good that I'll be saving casserole/cabbage every time it is now cooked just so that I can have a steaming bowlful again.
With B 'eating out' last night, made myself a supper of canned tuna and cucumber sarnies (the tuna bound with a bit of home-made Marie-Rose sauce. A bit boring I suppose, but very tasty.

More from me tomorrow when I hope you'll be joining me. See you then.

Measure Twice, Cut Once...

2012-01-21T07:40:00.002Z

This time yesterday dawn had broken and it was almost light. Today it still as black as pitch, presumably because of low cloud. It was raining last night with another gale, and is still windy, possibly still raining. So another day indoors, and there was me hoping to get out and sort the pots ready for later planting this year. The seed/plant catalogue makes me want to grow just about all the fruit and veggies and a lot of flowers too. Yet - my aim is to sow only the seed saved from last and previous years and make do with those, then that will really be 'free' food.

On yesterday's 'Hungry Sailors', the Strawbridge father and son went to visit a farm that grew microshoots. VERY easy to grow, but not sure they are cost effective, as if sown less thickly, and each shoot repotted, it should then grow into a full-sized plant, so what is better, a shoot (say basil) with a couple of tiny seed leaves at the top, or a plant with a hundred or full sized leaves on it?

Have just about had my fill of Heston Blumental. As well as his current cookery series, this week I've seen him on three different chat shows, each time demonstrating how clever he is blowing cake cover from a paint sprayer. Maybe sometimes he does have some useful ideas - the very bitter dark chocolate tasting much sweeter if sprinkled with salt - for instance. But he seems obsessed with the technology and chemistry of food, fine in a laboratory, but not much use in a domestic kitchen.

But this brings me to an interesting point, one that I hope you will ponder over, and let me know your thoughts, for I can only speak from how cooking seems to me. Twice recently (both read and heard) it is said that men enjoy the technicalities of cooking, whilst women, in general are not so interested in this side of 'catering', certainly not in domestic kitchens. Men like to use as many different 'appliances' as possible ('boy's toys?), and women can be quite content and manage just as well (if not better!!) using just a few labour saving 'gadgets'.

In the old days, oven heat was either gauged by putting our hand inside and counting the seconds before we started screaming, or (maybe the safer way) seeing how long it took for a piece of bread to get brown. Almost certainly it was a man who 'invented' oven thermostats and the regulo 'scale' of Centigrade (now Celsius), and Fahrenheit and for that we should be thankful. But how far do we need to go when it comes to exactness of heat. Do we need all the different thermometers and probes that are now on sale, some even electric? Most domestic cooks (women anyway) know when something is cooked because they can smell it is. Boiling jam/marmalade allowed to drip from a wooden spoon is as good a guide to 'setting point' than any temperature gauge. We can stick a skewer into a cake or chicken to find out if it is cooked through properly. Perhaps we have evolved to be a little more sensitive or aware of such things.

It is debatable whether Heston's 'extreme foods' taste THAT good. It may be showing some artistic skill to make what looks like a potted plant perfectly edible, leaves, soil and even the pot itself. But sampling a spoonful of what looks like soil, yet was in fact crumbled chocolate or biscuit crumbs would give us more a feeling of relief rather than anything else. Methinks it is the deception we applaud rather than the taste.

Why mess around with food anyway? It maybe true that it helps jaded plates by 'feeding the eye', because the more appetising a meal looks, the more we are inclined to want to eat it, but I always think a joint of beef tastes (and smells) so much better when roasted or braised than when cooked in a water-bath. Oven-cooked meats also make their own 'gravy'.

Was watching the first part of Masterchef late last night and they were wrapping a rolled-up piece of meat tightly in cling-film, then steaming it. Looked great, sliced beautifully, but the only flavour it had was itself I would think, and would need a good sauce to complement it. By turning cooking into a science, really doesn't do much for the food, just shows another way it can be cooked, some methods losing (or at least not gaining) the most important part - the flavour. Is tenderness of meat more important than flavour. You tell me.
If we have to slow cook or even slower-cook meat, then at least we should sear it in a hot pan for several minutes before continuing, as this does help somewhat.

Myself tend to not be too concerned if my oven is set at a slightly higher or lower temperature than the one given in a recipe. If too high whatever is cooked then takes a little less cooking time, if too low it will take a little longer. We need to be fairly exact when it comes to baking cakes, but then I tend to 'know' when a cake is ready because I can smell it. Often this is a different time to the one in the book (certainly with one of Delia's fruit cakes mine is done half an hour earlier than she says it should be) As I have checked our oven temperature with an oven thermometer, do know it is correct as per the recipe. Maybe it is cookery writers who have ovens that are not accurate. Of course it does make a difference if we have use a fan oven, we can then reduce the heat slightly.

Having rolled out pastry with a wine bottle filled with cold water, and grated food on an ancient metal grater, baked cakes in empty sweet tins, and bread in terracotta flower pots, and quite often use the top of a wine-glass as a 'cutter' for pastry, scones, and biscuits, am wondering if we really do need all the gadgets we seem to amass. Think it was the Victorians who began to 'invent' just about everything we might find 'useful' in the culinary area (kitchen and dining room).

What I'd like to know is your approach re cooking. We all know the value of fridges, freezers, and certainly the hand-held electric mixer does save a lot of time and labour, but do we really need sandwich toasters, waffle irons, griddle pans, chef's blow-torches, chip pans, pressure cookers, electric steamers, electric jam-pans, microwave ovens, water-baths, dehydrators, vacuum sealers, silicone moulds, tortilla presses etc to get a really good meal on the table?
I've often been tempted, even owned one or two, but feel only those that 'pay-their-way' are the ones worth buying. The others are just for playing with, and who can afford such luxuries today?

I'd love to hear your 'must haves' and whether you found these worth it in the end, and do tell us about those appliances/gadgets you can't do without. Myself find the food processor is used far more often than my electric mixer-on-a-stand, as I tend to prefer my hand mixer (light to pick up for one thing). The electric slicer has certainly paid for itself many times over, as has the bread-maker. Yet my liquidiser blender is hardly ever taken from the cupboard. The slow-cooker is used regularly, the microwave hardly rarely usedfor 'cooking' (other than a jacket potato, and lemon curd), being normally used for defrosting and reheating.
Suppose the electric toaster and kettle are now pretty well part of everyone's kitchen 'equipment', even though remember that in the past we never found it slowed us down much if we grilled the toast and boiled water in a whistling kettle on the hob. Thankfully, if push comes to shove, there are a lot of things we can still manage to do without needing to any modern appliance/gadget at all.
All I can say is that in my experience, none of these make anyone a better cook. At best they can be labour or time saving (usually but not always the same thing), at worst they have lots of bits that need washing up, and when not used regularly are usually a waste of space.

Both B and I watched a late film last night 'Empire of the Sun'. This I found most harrowing, and was shedding a tear at the very end, but it again brought home to me how war prisoners had to manage on so little food each day (a potato and a bowl of rice - teeming with weevils, so suppose these were the 'protein') and it quite made me ashamed of how much everyone in the Western world seems to want to eat today.

Myself often feel that instead of having British Egg Week (where we are encouraged to eat more eggs) or British Sausage Week (ditto), or even British Vegetarian Week (where the hope is all eat less or even no meat that week), we should have a British World War II Food on Ration Week where we all have to make do on the food ration allowed then. No reason why we couldn't do this anyway. Anyone game to try this challenge later in the year?

Although did manage to work through the frozen cabinet in Boris, there were few items that could have been added to my list, but as these were mainly tubs of assorted stock, part-packs of puff and shortcrust pastry, boxes of berries (blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blank and red currants etc) - each clearly labelled, so no real need for keeping a record. Several things in bags/tubs that had no name (when will I learn to label EVERYTHING?!!), and did unearth a breast of lamb, this now defrosting in the fridge to cook on Sunday.

There were a few opened bags of veggies (peas, sweetcorn, oven chips), and a few desserts (Summer Pudding, Chocolate Fondant, Chocolate Gateau...). Also quite a number of containers holding ready-cooked stewing steak, brisket etc. Plus others with just gravy. A container or two holding 'cubes' of tomato puree, lemon juice, herbs etc. A pack of filo pastry, some naan bread, and did find two small balls of bread dough that I will soon be defrosting to make a pizza base.

There was no lamb's liver for B's supper, so instead defrosted a container of cooked stewing-beef-in-gravy, added that to some fried onions plus a can of chopped tomatoes and a good shake of Hot Paprika, with a bit of Bisto Best beef granules to help thicken it a bit. Cooked a couple of thinly sliced carrots separately with some halved small potatoes, and when these were tender, added them to the beef. Finely shredded cabbage was steamed and served with the 'casserole'.
This made enough for both B and myself with plenty left over for me to either blitz to make a Cottage Pie, or turn it into a large of Cornish Pasty, or smaller meat pie, or even make - with the left-over cabbage and some added cooked pasta - a type of Minestrone Soup.

Beloved is out again tonight (he was out last night as well), this time going to the Annual Dinner of the dinghy side of the sailing club, this held at a local hotel, so no doubt he will eat loads and gain back the weight he has lost. This means I don't have to cook a meal for him tonight, so might make myself a pizza to munch in front of the TV (memo: cook sausages to slice and put on top of pizza, thaw out tomato puree also for topping, not forgetting to thaw out the bread dough. Frozen and grated Mozzarella can be used from frozen).

We're just about out of bread (AGAIN!), so today must bake another loaf. Still haven't made cakes and biscuits, maybe will do today although these are 'treats' that B will eat as his 'snacks' and not as part of a meal, and already the thought has come into my mind that this would waste ingredients that could have been used in a 'proper meal'. Mind you, have so much flour and sugar, even dried fruit, that making several cakes will not make much of a dent in the pile. More likely I'm using this as excuse not to bother to bake, than concerned about hoarding my stores.

Have suddenly looked up out of the window and see it is now fully daylight - how can that happen in just one hour without me noticing? The dark must have been because of the heavy grey clouds still there, but on the visible 'horizon' (the bit I can see between two houses) there is much lighter, and possibly clear sky to be seen. Let us hope it comes our way.

Only one comment sent in - this from Margie in Toronto. Enjoyed reading this as it shows that when we stop and think, we often find we can do without the food we had originally planned to buy, and carry on 'making do'.

This reminds me of what B used to tell me (of of his many jobs was being a salesman for cloth), that when making a garment, to make sure you get the measurements right, it was necessary to place the patterns carefully so there would be as little waste as possible, In other words: 'measure twice, and cut once'. So by tranferring this to food, we can 'think twice and cook once', pr maybe buy something other than planned because it was cheaper for the main meal, or make sure the food we have bought goes as far as possible.

Even when dealing with something as simple as pastry, there is no real need to make round (say) vol-au-vents, we can make square, oblong or triangular ones, as cutting these from a slab of puff would then use all the pastry, not leave scraps that are not so easy to use up as short-pastry. If we are working on numbers, then a dozen oblong pastry cases would then leave a very usable piece of puff left over, than if cutting 12 circles.
Often we do have pastry scraps and sometimes these can be used to decorate the pie lid, but why do this if we can collect the scraps (store them in the freezer), then later - when we have enough - roll them out to make something 'useful' with them.

Puff pastry scraps are difficult to deal with due to their layers. If possible lay the flat scraps on top of each other and they can then be rolled out to maybe cover something, alternatively, gather them up in a ball and roll out, cover with plenty of grated cheese, fold into three, repeat, roll again and cut into thin cheese 'straws'. After baking they will end up rather oddly shaped, but wonderfully crisp and tasty.

Good gracious! In the space of very few minutes, most of the heavy cloud has disappeared and the sky is now blue with just a few fluffy white clouds dotted here and there. Still blowing half a gale though.

Back to food (sorry I do get distracted). When we are using what we have, we can either use the foods in the normal way, or think twice before preparing. Do we really need two onions when one might do. Or two carrots? Make up any shortfall by including something else that really does need using up (mushrooms for example). Use half a can of chopped tomatoes instead of a full one, decant from the tin and freezer in a container for later use. Use a little less rice or pasta if we can, alternatively use a little more if we feel the dish needs 'padding out'.

We can fry one whole egg, adding the yolk of another instead of frying two whole eggs (there is normally enough white in one egg to allow for this). Reason why is that we then get a 'free' egg white that we can either freeze or use for another dish (even making a few meringues with it).
We can add breadcrumbs when cooking scrambled eggs to make them go further, and by adding one third fine dried breadcrumbs to grated Parmesan, this also means we can use less cheese (good when making Parmesan 'crisps').

Trade mag has just been brought to me by B. Don't like what I see on the cover, so took a peek inside. Seems that Tesco are about to do 'dual-pricing', with some foods sold cheaper in 'less affluent areas', in competition with Aldi and Lidl. Certainly good for those who can't afford to shop anywhere but at the discount stores, but I'm wondering about ME! We are fortunate (because we were lucky enough to buy our home at knock-down price)in that we live in one of the best parts of Morecambe (or said to be - and it really is charming), so would affect my on-line shopping? Will have to wait and see.

Another 'cover mention' has caught my eye. Seems that free-range egg suppliers have been asked to take action as free-range systems are more vulnerable to disease than cages. Possibly it is more the health of the bird than the eggs that is of concern, but the more hens lost through disease, probably means free-range eggs will then be higher priced.
A full read of the trade mag will be done today, so wait until tomorrow to find out if we have anything to be glad about. Or if there is more to come that will depress us.

A 'three-in-one recipe today - starting with the basic, then this leads on to make at least three quite different biscuits, so well worth making them all. The oven temperature: 200C, 400F, gas 6 is the same for all, but the cooking times are different.
Using this recipe you end up with two 'free' egg whites, so with an extra 4 oz (100g) of caster sugar you could also make loads of meringues to dry off in the cooling oven (leave in the oven for at least 8 hours without opening the door).
Basic Biscuit Dough:
6 oz (175g) butter, softened
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
2 oz (50g) icing sugar
2 egg yolks (see above)
2 tsp vanilla extract
11 oz (300g) plain flour
For all biscuits shown below start the same way. Using a wooden spoon mix together the butter, sugars, egg yolks, and vanilla, then mix in the flour half at a time. Then choose your biscuit and continue...

chocolate orange cookies: makes 22
1 batch basic biscuit dough
zest and juice of 1 orange
4 oz (100g) icing sugar, sifted
finely grated chocolate or choc vermicelli
Add the grated orange zest at the end of making the biscuit dough, then roll into a long sausage and cut into 22 pieces. Roll each into a ball and place on baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes (200C etc) until golden, then leave to cool.
Mix the icing sugar with enough of the orange juice to make a thick, slightly runny icing. Dip each biscuit into the icing so it covers half, then coat the iced half with the chocolate. Leave to dry on a cake airer.

custard creams: makes approx 20
1 batch basic biscuit dough
4 oz (100g) softened butter
5 oz (140g) icing sugar, sifted
2 tblsp custard powder
food colouring
Roll the biscuit dough out thinly on a floured pastry board, the cut into 40 small even squares (each approx 30cm square). Place on baking sheets and bake at 200C (as above) for 8 - 10 minutes until golden.
Meanwhile mix together the butter, sugar, custard powder and food colouring if using (yellow is best, but you could use pink), then pipe or spread this on one of the biscuits, and top with another. When all are done, dust tops with a little icing sugar.

Spicy Spirals: makes approx 20
1 batch biscuit dough
2 tblsp demerara sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Roll out the biscuit dough on a sheet of baking parchment to a 20 x 30cm oblong. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and spread this evenly all over the dough, pressing it gently in with the rolling pin. Begin rolling up from the narrow end, pulling the parchment paper over as you roll to keep it tightly together, then wrap the roll in the parchment and chill for an hour (or even overnight if you wish).
When ready to bake, slice thinly into 20 or so rounds, then lay these flat on baking sheets, scattering the tops with a little more sugar, and bake for 10 - 12 minutes (200C...) until golden.

Spoke too soon. Sky now covered with cloud again, but at least not as 'heavily' as before. Not that I'm bothered as will be cosily tucked up front of the TV once I've got my kitchen 'chores' out of the way. Not that there is much on TV on a Saturday, so will probably spend a few happy hours reading cook books. Might even do a bit more clearing up.

Suppose most of you will be too busy to 'have a read' or even send a comment, but hope that some of you will. Already looking forward to our 'get-together' tomorrow morning, and please make sure you enjoy your weekend. TTFN.

Foot in the Door

2012-01-20T08:24:00.002Z

Noticed this morning that no longer do I come into a very dark room to being my blog, through the window this morning could see dawn had already broken. This time last week it seemed very dark, now we see lighter skies - although perhaps more due to lighter clouds than previously. But good to see anyway. Gets the sap stirring in my veins. If you know what I mean.

Was reading a copy of a plant brochure sent through the post, and they were selling mushrooms kits - four different varieties: white 'buttons', chestnut, oyster, and shittake. £9.99p each, but if you bought two you got the third free, so that would make them £6.66p each (?). Although several crops from each are expected, would like to know if these work out any cheaper than buying ready-grown mushrooms from the supermarket. Has any reader grown these mushrooms. If so please let us know if it is worth it financially.

Did not do any of my Boris sorting yesterday, due to late finishing of my blog. Do intend doing it today. Beloved had lamb shank, baby 'new' potatoes and green peas for his supper, with the usual mint sauce, redcurrant jelly, and gravy.
Normally I boil the spuds on the stove whilst the shank is cooking in the oven, and 'cook' frozen peas in the microwave (although suppose I could throw them in to the spuds near the end of their cooking time). However - to save fuel - this time cut the spuds in half and placed them around the lamb shank - its container (I now use a deep foil tin that held the frozen turkey breast eaten at Christmas - it is just the right size for the shank).
Although the shank comes with its own mint-flavoured gravy, by the time it is cooked this has mostly evaporated away (or soaked up by the meat), so I always add half a glass of red wine (from the bottle B has opened for his own consumption), and the end result is just the right amount of rich gravy that is not too runny. Perfect in fact. This helped to 'steam' the spuds, and they were perfectly cooked when the shank was ready to be served. Suppose the peas could also go in another covered dish in the oven towards the end of the cooking time, and the oven then cooks the lot. I'll get there in the end.

As I ate the last orange yesterday evening, and also a couple of apples with a bit of Cheddar, now feel that I really should buy some more fresh fruit. But am trying to cope for a further week, after all we are just about at the end of this one, and - fingers crossed - may be able to last out another week as still have canned fruit in the larder.

Viewing the larder from my seat at the kitchen table can only see the 'dry goods' shelves (on the left as you walk in), they look exactly the same as before, but then not a lot has been used other than flour and sugar and these are kept in large containers anyway. The other side - holding the canned foods - has quite a few gaps now, but not enough to concern me at the moment. The soups are all gone, and most of the baked beans. Still loads of canned tomatoes and assorted canned fish. Plus a wide but small variety of others.
The fridge shelves are now 'gappy', but enough to keep me going for several weeks, yet, even have a dozen eggs left. Maybe I will fall by the wayside and send in an order, but seeing Tesco are offering me £5 of my next order (sent me an email) and half-price wine, think I will not order from them because then they will offer me a lot more money off to get my custom back. Well, that's what I'm hoping for.

Beloved came in yesterday with a lump of Cheddar because he had forgotten to get it earlier in the week (so didn't mind), and also some grapes (he likes to each cheese and grapes - had these for his 'afters' yesterday). So will have to add the cost to the running total. It's all adding up, but could have been worse I suppose.

Thanks for your comments.
Lynne, Don't feel too badly about the amount you have spent since Dec. 20th (you say this is £15.89, and probably the same as me and a thousands others doing this challenge). If you were planning to limit yourself to spending no more than £10 a week after that, then as it is nearly 5 weeks since the 20th, by now you could have spent nearly £50 and still within your budget. And it doesn't sound as though you have. So very well done!
£10 a week isn't much money to spend on food (even though it is just topping up), yet £50 sounds so much more - even though it is to last 5 weeks. Looks like another challenge could be fitted in somewhere - like how much can be bought for £5? It is surprising just how much. I've tried it more than once.

Les, were you once a physics and chemistry teacher? Do try and remember I'm an adult and do know that when a red light comes on the oven is using electricity, and when it goes off, it is not. Even know about Archimedes - wasn't he the one who shouted 'Eureka' when he fell in the bath? I even discovered this myself when I once got into a rather full bath, and the water then rose up and flowed over the sides onto the floor, but Eureka was not the word I shouted, mine began with a B. This 'displacement' works well for fat people ('like wot I am') especially for those during the war years who were limited/rationed to using only a very few inches of water in their bath, and even now this works well for those using a water meter.

Still feel my 'sucking' air out of a bag is far simpler than the way you use, messing around with a bowl of water. But then I'm a woman and you are not. A woman would find filling a bowl with water a bit unnecessary, and the chore of filling a bowl with water then either throwing the water away for finding a use for it (we can't even waste water these days) something to avoid if there was an easier way to the end result. Maybe I am lazy, or just old, but the more time I can save the better.
The saying 'teaching grandmother to suck eggs' came to mind when I read your comment. But then I am a grandmother, so perhaps years of 'experience' are almost as good as 'teacher training', and it just boils down to (no pun intended) to you and I using a different approach to how we explain things.
Am sure there are readers out there who will understand your reasoning far better than mine which can often be rather vague. So thanks for your input.

Reading that minimiser deb is 'doing a Shirley[' almost makes me feel some trepidation. Let's hope it's all the sensible things I've suggested that are followed and not some of the stupid ones (but then have there ever been any of these?). I don't have much faith in myself, it has to be said, just tend to believe ideas I come up with should work, and often set challenges that are too hard to accomplish. It is easy enough for me to cope when my larder and fridge/freezer is stacked from floor to ceiling, and only one and a half to feed (I eat a lot less than B), but given less stores and a family of four to feed, all would be used up within a month, that's for sure. So what 'challenge' suits one, does not necessarily suit everybody.

However, hope the general idea of not going out to shop unless something is really needed, and buy nothing else is working. OK, if something really is worth buying - like baked beans on offer (these have a long-shelf life anyway) - then we are probably wise not to miss the 'offer'. Generally though, making more use of our 'dry goods', and also introducing more canned and other food products from our stores into our recipes will make the fresh produce last much longer, especially when a 'ready-meal' is bulked out with veggies to give an extra helping that can then be frozen.

It could be that going back to the 'old ways', buying just the fresh produce we need (from the local shops), to use almost on a daily basis that could work out cheapest of all. Much depends on the price, and of course the time we have. Maybe that is a challenge I will set myself later, when the weather is much warmer and I'm prepared to venture out several times a week with Norris. Norris useful as he cannot carry too much bulk as well as me, so purchases have to remain limited to one full carrier bag at a time.

With small children, it is almost obligatory to take them out each day for a walk (or in a buggy) to get them some fresh air, so a trip to the local shops could be fitted in with that. People who go 'out' to work probably prefer to nip into the local supermarket to buy what they need, and there the temptation to buy something else is hard to resist. Even I find it hard to buy only what I need which ever shop I'm in. Self control has to be the answer, and I have very little. But I try.

Recently was asked about ideas for alternative breakfasts, so here is another coming up. As always this meal could also make a good lunch or supper dish. Seems now we eat anything, anytime, and cafes are now serving 'all day breakfasts'. Perhaps because the 'full English' really is so very good.
Although this is a 'tart', it contains no pastry, the base being made with breadcrumbs, so it's a bit like getting eggs and bacon and toast in the same dish. If you wish it to taste more like a 'full English' then add some sliced mushrooms, and sliced cooked sausage to the onions/bacon, and possibly some halved cherry tomatoes, there is enough egg to hold the lot together. If wishing for baked beans AS WELL, best serve these separately.
Bacon and Egg Breakfast Tart: serves 4 - 6
1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, halved then thinly sliced
3 bacon rashers, chopped
3 tblsp dried breadcrumbs
4 eggs
9 fl oz (250ml) milk
6 oz (170g) goat's cheese, ricotta or curd cheese
salt and pepper
Place an omelette pan over medium hob heat. Drizzle in the olive oil, then add the bacon and onions and cook until the onion is softened, about 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and onion and set aside.
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the base of the pan, stirring it into any residual fat, then press down slightly to form a base and sprinkle the bacon and onion on top.
Crumble the cheese (don't break it up too much), then beat the eggs and milk together and fold in the cheese. Season to taste. Pour this over the bacon and onions and cook until the top is just setting, then finish it off under a hot grill.

It is not always easy to come up with an interesting dish when we have oddments of veggies to use up. It has got to the point with me that now I often leave a vegetable (say mushrooms) out of something like a casserole that contains meat just so that the veggies is there to be used in another dish (or maybe even more than one).
This next recipe contains no meat (so any you might have have planned to use to make a casserole can then be saved to use another day), but if you wish to for the flavour of meat, then use a good meat stock (chicken, lamb or beef) instead of vegetable stock. As the stock is absorbed by the pearl barley, each mouthful will then taste as though meat is (somewhere) in the meal.
As always you can use different vegetables according to what you have. As long as the total weight of veggies remains the same, the dish will serve the same amount of people. If you have the small Chantenay carrots, use these and leave them whole.
Veggie Casserole with Dumplings: serves 6
1 tblsp sunflower oil
12 oz (350g) shallots or small onions
2 leeks, thickly sliced
half a swede, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
12 oz (350g)carrots, roughly chopped
6 oz (175g) pearl barley
8 fl oz (225ml) white wine (or water)
1.75 pints (1 ltr) vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 tblsp finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper
dumplings:
4 oz (100g) self-raising flour
2 oz (50g) vegetarian suet granules
2 oz (50g) mature cheddar
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
2 tblsp water
Put the oil in a large flame-proof casserole and fry the shallots for five or so minutes until turning golden brown. Add leeks and cook for a further minute, then stir in the swede, parsnip and carrots. Stir in the pearl barley, then pour in the wine, stock and herbs, with seasoning to taste. Bring to the boil, then cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes until the barley and veg are tender. Stir occasionally to prevent the barley et al sticking to the base of the pan.
Meanwhile make the dumplings by mixing the first four ingredients together, then stir in 2 tblsp of water to make a soft dough. You may need more or less water. Divide the dough into six and roll each into a ball. Place on top of the 'stew', cover and continue cooking for 20 or so minutes until the dumplings are risen and cooked. Covering the pan 'steams' the dumplings so they become light and fluffy.
Alternatively, pop the dumplings on top of the stew and finish off in a pre-heated oven set at 200C, 400F, gas 6 and cook uncovered for the 20 or so minutes which will then make the dumplings firmer and golden (a bit like scones).

A comment recently mentioned the lack of vegetarian alternatives to the trad. Christmas dinner. Think was was meant was 'able to be bought', but as I've come across the following recipe, it is worth filing away ready to make and serve to guests whether at Christmas or any time of the year. As I've most of the ingredients already in store (have even got dried cranberries mixed in with other mixed fruits, so could always pick these out), perhaps others have too.
Vegetarian Wellington: serves 6
2 oz (50g) long-grain rice, pref basmati
pinch turmeric
grated zest of 1 lemon
boiling water
2 oz (50g) butter, melted
1 onion, chopped
1 lb 6 oz (600g) chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 tblsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tblsp chopped fresh tarragon or other chosen herb
1 tblsp dried cranberries
2 hardboiled eggs, chopped
salt and pepper
9 oz (250g) puff pastry
beaten egg
1 tsp sesame seeds (opt)
Measure the rice, then put in a pan with the turmeric and lemon zest plus two of the same measure of boiling water. Boil for 8 - 10 minutes (long-grain may take longer) until the rice is tender. Drain well.
Put the butter in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the onions and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until both are softened. Stir in the herbs, cranberries, cooked rice and eggs and when combined, add seasoning to taste. This is now called 'the filling'.
Roll out the pastry large enough to cut a 30 x 20cm rectangle, and brush the edges with beaten egg. Spoon 'the filling' down then middle of the pastry, then bring the sides together, pressing firmly to seal. You can leave it with the seal at the top, or turn it over so it lies underneath - just make sure there are no gaps.
Brush the pastry with beaten egg and chill for half an hour, then brush with egg again and sprinkle with the sesame seeds (you can omit the second brushing and seeds if you wish).
Bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 30 minutes or until the pastry is risen, crisp and deep gold. Sliced into six portions and serve with (a meatless) gravy.

All of a sudden now have a desperate urge to go into the kitchen and unload Boris. Perhaps I just like making lists of what I have in store. Prefer to do this rather than cook much of it I have to say. Am hoping to discover some lambs' liver so that B can have liver, bacon, cabbage and spuds for supper. He hasn't had that for ages. Might bake a cake so that I can make B a trifle with the trimmings. OR could make a sponge cake and fill it with some of the last of the lemon curd folded into a bit of Greek yogurt (instead of cream). OR could fold equal amounts of lemon curd and the yogurt together then freeze it (tastes like ice-cream), OR could make up a Knickerbocker Glory with layers of lemon jelly, crushed meringue (have some of these in a jar in the larder), lemon curd and yogurt. Maybe even topping with whipped double cream. Decisions, decisions. And what's the betting I don't make any of these?

You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what I've been doing today, so do I hope you will log on to find out. If so - see you then.

What's Gratitude?

2012-01-19T09:07:00.002Z

Believe it or not it is now after 9.00am, and only just sat down to first read the comments, and then begin to write. I blame the lavender 'room spray' that I discovered when spending time tidying my wardrobe when the phone line was down. Each night since I've been spraying my pillow pillow with some and this means I drop of to sleep very rapidly and have the most wonderful dreams!
Beloved has still not yet risen, so it might be an idea if we reduce the time the central heating is on as it switches itself off at 9.00am. No-one up to appreciate it, although once we do get up the 'house' (I like to call it that even if it is still only the bottom half of one), has warmed up enough for us to be comfortable.
So with time pressing on had better begin today's 'chat'.

Thanks to all who told me not to bother about my 'non-appreciative' family. My daughter is also very canny when she shops, just think the other day she felt (perhaps because of her not-so recent and continuing illness) that it is better to enjoy rather than limit.
Her illness has not yet been fully diagnosed, she still has further visits to consultants etc before she can get some written confirmation that she is unfit for work, and until then cannot claim any allowance/benefit for this. However - on the good side - it does seem (so far) that she doesn't have M.S. (all her many symptoms were pointing in that direction - and these still haven't gone away).

When it comes to my 'challenge' My Beloved seems unaware of what I am aiming to do - blog-wise. Perhaps because, being a man, he is more concerned about his life than others, and as long as he is well fed, doesn't really care much about the cost. Often he really doesn't seem to appreciate the quality of some of the meals made for him. Perhaps he has just got too used to them. Gratitude for anything is not in his genes, so I ought not to be surprised, but it would have been good to hear him say how much he liked his supper yesterday. This 'thrown' together after the freezer had been defrosted, when I began using up some fish (of which I seem to have plenty.)

His meal was a 'sea-food' risotto (of sorts). It really did taste good as I sampled a little just prior to serving. This time I thawed a pack of 'Fish Pie Mix' (and the amount in this seems now to be far less than it used to be). Cooked this off (more sauteed than fried) in butter, then removed from pan and tipped half a pack of Basmati and Thai Rice (microwave type) in the pan, added a little white wine and brought it to the simmer, threw in a few frozen peas, and then some thawed small cooked prawns, and then put back the fish. There were three large scallops I also found, so had thawed these out (eat with its coral coloured roe) and left these for B to quickly cook as they needed to be 'perfect', and he says he knows how to cook them (having caught them when on one of his scuba-dive holiday, bring back a dozen or so (free) and cook and eat them.

Other than the scallops, there was less amount of a 'fish risotto' that would previously have been served to B when he was not trying to lose weight, due this time to possibly making the meal with only half the rice normally served (the rest of the pack now in the freezer). When he came into the living room I asked him how the scallops were. "OK, but didn't have much taste" he said. "Pity I said, they alone cost over £5! In fact the fish served in your meal came to a total of £8.60p and that's not counting the butter, rice, wine an lemon to squeeze over, hoped you enjoyed it". He looked grumpy "it was too much" he replied "had difficulty eating it all!" I said he didn't have to eat it all, he could have left some and I could either have eaten the left-overs myself or made the remainder into a Koulibiac, or even a fish cake or two. Maybe it was because he had it served on one of the ordinary dinner plates instead of his previous 'meat platter' it just looked more than it was. Have to say even I could have downed the amount made (but not the scallops, don't care for those). Maybe he was just in a bad mood.

Mind you, whenever I've suggested he needn't eat all I've cooked for him, as "I can eat any leftover myself, but you can have it all if you want", he often then eats it all or just leaves a little (like a tablespoon) in the pan. He often leaves just a bare teaspoon of jam or marmalade in the bottom of a jar "as I know you don't like me eating things up without letting you know". Well, why doesn't he just eat up and let me know? So many times I find jars in the fridge with not enough redcurrant jelly or mint sauce left in the pots to serve a flea let alone me. Think a lot of men can be like that. My B is only one of millions. Why did God invent two sexes? Life would be so much simpler with only one. Other creatures manage to reproduce without the complexities of needing another sex. Next time think I'll come back as a snail.

Just as well I don't - at the moment - budget the costs for each meal served, it would have been cheaper to serve B sea bass yesterday than what was eventually made.
But however much B did not seem to appreciate his supper (well at least not as much as I hoped he would), it does prove that when using up what I've got, a really good 'restaurant-type' meal can be still be served. And so hope this will continue for some time as I've found there is still plenty of meat/fish in the small freezer, and several more 'to use up' in the freezer side of Boris.

Much of course depends on 'what I've got', and probably far more than others might have, so I'll
give a run-down of what is now in the small freezer (having written a list), and before you are all disgusted at the amount, do remember that much of the meat was bought on-line WHEN ON OFFER, and as this has a much longer storage life than any bought from the supermarket, some has been there a year - and purchased from money DELIBERATELY saved because I was then doing my 'use up what I've got' month. So like to think of it as almost 'free' meat.
The lamb shanks come from Tesco. These are only (only?) £5 for two, but pre-cooked and with gravy, and just need reheating for 1 hr. 10 minutes. The same bought 'raw' from the butcher would be dearer and take three times as long to cook. Chicken livers also from Tesco - again cheaper than elsewhere. So this way saves both money and fuel.
Some of the beef mince was a bulk buy from Barton Grange, as were the chicken breasts. Fresh (farmed) salmon bought from the Smokehouse at Glasson where they sometimes do sell who fresh salmon very cheaply indeed, and let us know when it is available. Filleted by them, and cut into chunks by me once brought home, tightly wrapped in foil, it freezes very well indeed.

Shirley's frozen 'selection':
Chicken: 2 packs chicken livers; 8 chicken breasts; 1 quarter chicken; 7 chicken winglets.
Beef: 3 packs x 12 meatballs; 3 packs diced steak; 3 packs minced beef; 1 pack 4 mini-burgers; 1 pack ox liver.
(In 'Boris', are several packs of sliced cooked brisket, with and without gravy, also several packs of cooked stewing steak in gravy).
Pork/Ham: 3 pork chops; two chunks uncooked gammon (cut from a larger joint bought for ham); 10 sausages; and - in Boris - 8 packs sliced cooked ham.
Lamb: 5 lamb shanks, 1 pack diced stewing lamb.
Fish: 2 x 520g packs white fish fillets, one pack of smoked haddock; 1 pack small cooked peeled prawns; 2 packs Jumbo prawns; six chunks of fresh salmon, one big pack of fresh salmon 'pieces', one large pack of whitebait.
Vegetables/fruit: I large pack each garden peas and string beans. Three containers of cooked butter beans; one bag of oven chips. One bag of blackberries.
Other: two packs each of shortcrust and puff pastry.

Apart from the meats/berries (which I wrap to the number or weight I need at any one time) everything else is in unopened packs.
'Boris' frozen section is packed full, mainly cooked meats to reheat or eat cold, lots more fruit, grated cheese, desserts, a few home-made 'ready-meals', opened bags of veggies and chips, more pastry, lots of different stocks, 'cubes' of tomato puree, wine, herbs etc. And lots more. Well - think today I should have a sort of these and make yet another list.

Now to your comments.
Did you find the black beans had a different flavour than other canned beans (which I feel taste almost the same) Susan G? Lisa has mentioned using these, and I think a variety is called black 'turtle beans', these maybe having a slightly different flavour.

Coming now to Lisa's reply, myself forgot to mention goose and turkey in my list of 'meat's' sold here. Traditionally, these were cooked and eaten for Christmas (one or t'other, not both for the same meal), but nowadays minced turkey and sliced raw turkey breast' (aka 'escalopes') are on sale as an alternative to chicken, often cheaper than chicken.
Have tried beef 'jerky' and cannot say found it enjoyable. Far too 'chewy' for me (have never liked chewing gum for the same reason, chew, chew, chew and it's still there!!). Perhaps, in the old days, dried beef 'jerky', could be used in a similar way to dried fish - soak to soften it, and then cook where it then should end up like cooked raw 'fresh' beef.

An inn near Glasson is run by a South African, and on the menu he has several S.A. dishes, one salad served with Biltong, which is very similar to 'jerky' and that I found most unpleasant to eat. But that's just me. Perhaps - if younger and my teeth were stronger - I could cope with all that chewing. Not these days.

If anyone does have access to plenty of 'free' fruit and veg, then dehydrating the produce seems a very good idea. Have myself dried mushrooms, and then ground them up to a powder to add to casseroles etc, and this does help to give a very good flavour and also take up far less storage room than when dried 'sliced' or even fresh.
Making our own dried fruits also an excellent idea and possibly (once the dehydrator has been bought) would work out cheaper than bought dried fruits. Over time the 'appliance' should pay for itself.

Les has answered your query re cooking 'sous-vide' in a slow cooker minimiser deb. Knew he'd have the answer. Other than the cost of fuel, wonder if it is possible to 'sous-vide' by filling a casserole with water, bringing it to the right temperature in a very slow oven (say 60C) and then immersing the vacuum packed meat in this to cook on for hours.
Incidentally, have seen many cooks very tightly clingwrap the meat they have chosen to cook, then twisting the ends to get rid of all the air, knot it and then immerse the meat in the water-bath, so maybe a 'proper' vacuum sealed bag is not needed after all.

Myself have found the easiest way to remove air from a bag is to gather the top tightly, then put it to my lips and suck out the air, then immediately twist and then tie the top. Sounds -and possibly is - unhygienic, but no air is blown in, and the squeamish could just stick a drinking straw into the back, gather the top as tightly as possible without squashing the straw and then suck the air out of that. Also have gadget, a bit like a large icing syringe, where the point of that is stuck into the bag, the end pulled out and this also sucks out the air. Somewhat like a bicycle pump - this I suppose could also be used!

Loved the sound of your crocheted rug/throw Eileen. Have to say the one made for my by my daughter is far cosier than any 'throw' bought for me. Also loved hearing about your pirate 'treasure hunt' that proves yet again we don't have to spend much money (if any) to give children a real fun experience.
Don't know whether it is done so much these days, but when our children were young, on Easter Sunday we used to hide quite small Easter Eggs in the garden, and they would have to hunt for them. Only allowed one each, so everyone got their fair share.

By the way, an easier way of making curd cheese is not to sieve it. Instead freeze a tub of cottage cheese, as during freezing this breaks up the lumps and when thawed and mixed together with a fork ends up exactly like curd cheese, and can be used as such.
When cottage cheese is close to its use-by date it is very much reduced in price. This is the time to buy and freeze, then you will always have curd cheese when you need it.

Thanks to Alison for her comment, and also to everyone who has let me know they find my hints and tips useful. Which reminds me the new 'Superscrimpers' will be back on TV, starting next Monday at 8.00pm Channel 4.

Seems that in both America and Canada 'Groundhog Day' is Feb. 2nd. (thanks to Margie and Lisa for commenting on this tradition). It sounds as though the film was about a true and to some extent factual event, set in the town of that strange name (was that the real town in the film, if so it was very attractive?). No doubt it will be repeated again this year, on Feb. 2nd! In which case I will watch it again (and again when it is repeated).

Going back to an earlier comment by Lisa, can't now remember who followed Troy in Midsomer Murders, but think that Barnaby had three 'side-kicks' during the series. The last one is still in the most recent series, where Barnaby - having retired - is now replaced by his 'screen cousin', another Barnaby, who is not (to me) nearly as good as John Nettles, being much slower-paced, and so now don't watch it any more, but still watch the old repeats where every episode is well worth watching.

There are times where the location is not filmed in the Midsomer series 'vicinity', although often supposed to be. Generally it is, but occasionally they have done an episode where the architecture is more east coast (houses with flint stone walls and different shaped roof tiles etc) instead of the more timber and plaster, thatched roof and brick walls that are over to the central and south west where Midsomer area is supposed to be. Mind you, England is relatively small (compared to America), believe you can fit 12 of us into the area taken by Texas, so what difference does 100 miles take? In real life, Barnaby would not step into an area controlled by another police section (called a 'manor' I believe), although they do work together when solving major crimes such as a killing.

Regarding B paying for his own 'treats' Margie. When it comes to 'snacks' such as crisps, lemonade, the occasional fruit loaf, bars of chocolate, tubs of ice-cream, normally he doesn't ask me to pay. However, with this current challenge of mine, food such as cheese, meat pies and the like count as 'proper food', so have to be included in any money paid out for food used as part of a meal, as then this leaves stored goods that would nave normally been used still intact. Perhaps I am too concerned, for the more left in store the longer it will last, it's just that I did hope to last out as long as possible and pay very little to 'top up', and it irks me when money is paid for food I deem 'unnecessary' - at this time. Not that a lot of money HAS been paid out so far, maybe I am just being too strict with myself. After three months THEN it will be interesting to find out just how much topping up HAS needed to be done. Easy enough to make two lists - one for the necessary need-to-buy food and one for B's unable-to-control-himself purchases. Could let him have a bit of a free rein after all and let him prove to everyone how men are unable to stick to a budget and women can.

Lovely day today, sun is shining, a light breeze, and seemingly not quite as cold as before. We still expect colder weather this weekend, but as long as the sun shines, who cares? Me, I'm staying indoors, sorting out the frozen side of Boris, hope also to make a fruit loaf, and maybe some cake.

Last night was allowed to watch only a very few minutes of Heston's cookery prog, (due to a footie match), but enough there to interest me. Seems that men seem to enjoy using far more gadget's than a woman would. Using a spray-gun to coat a gateau with chocolate is something I can visualise Les having a go at. Me, I'd just coat with a sifting of cocoa ( if you wish to coat a gateau evenly, and it can be frozen, freeze it first then it can be held between hands and - like wheel - be rolled over a dish filled with the chosen coating (cocoa, grated choc. etc), the top coating put on after the sides are done. Freezing makes the cake solid, so far easier to deal with than when normally 'soft').

Slicing a sponge type cake in half is often difficult as a knife needs to be kept the same height from the base as it slices, the tendency is for one half to be thicker one side than the other. An easier way is to get a long length of sewing cotton, place the middle of this at the back of the cake exactly where you wish the cut to be, then wrap the ends round the cake, crossing them over at the front so they cross at the same depth as you wish to cut, then just pull the ends to the left and right. The cotton cuts through the cake very evenly and gives a clean finish.

No recipe today as the late start means a late finish. Coffee time break is now long past, so had better finish now in case someone is gasping for a read. Need myself to 'get on' while there is still a little morning left (I work best in the morning). Can't wait until tomorrow to sit down and read all your lovely comments (so please keep on sending them). By now many of you will have reached the end of the first four/five weeks of the challenge (which in my case began after my last delivery, several days before Christmas. Others may have started it once Christmas was over). It will be interesting to find out how many of you have managed to keep those pennies in your purse, or even if purchasing a worthy 'best-buy', if you have still managed to end up spending less that you would normally if not on this 'challenge'. Please let us know. TTFN.

Fighting a Losing Battle?

2012-01-18T07:19:00.002Z

Things were going really well with the current 'challenge'. Still plenty of food left, hadn't run out of anything other than 'fresh' milk - although still have about a dozen cartons of UHT semi and whole milk in the larder. Even though B did bring in more fresh can still move the UHT to a higher shelf and 'pretend' its been used.

Yesterday with an unexpected 'third' for supper, decided to cook cannelloni as I still had plenty of those pasta tubes in the kitchen cupboard, and some ready-made spag bol meat sauce in the freezer to use as 'filling'. Once the meat was thawed, spooned it into the tubes (used a teaspoon but a slightly less messy way would be to have used a piping bag), this filled ten, which just fitted into a recycled foil tin. Poured over the last of the tomato juice from the fridge so the pasta didn't dry and split, then sprinkled over some grated cheese. Made a thick cheese sauce using Bisto Parsley sauce granules (as hadn't any Bisto cheese sauce granules)- mainly for speed and made with water this saved the milk - then into this stirred some grated cheese from the fridge (mixture of Red Leicester, Edam and Cheddar) to spoon over the cannelloni, finishing with a good sprinkle of the last of the grated cheese plus a little added parmesan. Set it aside until ready to cook.
The pudding made was from a new recipe, and absolutely BRILLIANT, but more on this later.

Beloved was ferrying our daughter around that day, and bringing her back for supper '"after I've taken her to Morrison's". So I decided to ask him to bring me a piece of Red Leicester and the same of Cheddar cheese, so that I could make more grated cheese. Suppose could have done without the cheese, but as I hadn't yet spent much (but more than expected because of B's unrequested purchases) thought it would be accepted by you.

In they trooped later that afternoon, dumping a supermarket bag by my feet. "Lemons were going cheap" said daughter "so brought a bag to share with you". Not that I needed them as still had 8 in the fridge, but it was a kind thought and they could be grated and frozen (then ignored for the period of the challenge).

It was when I opened the bag my mouth dropped open. Not only were there lemons, but a Pukka Pie "well, Dad loves these so I put one in the bag" said daughter. And where was my Cheddar cheese? The Red Leicester was there, but so was a good sized piece of Stilton, a wedge of Blackstick's Blue (this is Lancashire cheese with blue bits), and a pack 'special offer' of Goat's cheese with Cranberries. When I asked B what happened to the Cheddar he said he thought the one 'with blue bits' was Cheddar. Apart from the Red Leicester, none of any real use to me, but B likes blue cheese and what B likes he buys. Neither of us care for goat's cheese??!!

Together the cheese, the Pukka Pie and lemons came to £7.63p! Now, I could have said that I wasn't paying for what I hadn't requested, but as it is 'food' and will have to be eaten (very little other than the pie able be frozen/stored for any length of time) what was brought has to be included in the challenge, or the end result won't be fair. This now means (if I remember correctly) that £15.13p has now been spent on food,. none of which we didn't really NEED.

When I pointed out to my daughter and B that the whole point of this challenge was to live off what we already had, not buy more, they seemed to think it amusing. Why? Turns out they felt that if you see something you fancy, then why not buy it if you can afford to. No need to go to such extremes as I've been doing (in the hope to persuade everyone to try), but to me it is the only way to prove the point that we should all be able to make good meals from food in store, and save a lot of money whilst doing so. Surely - in this time of recession - this IS important?
But then, as it is me that pays for food that comes into the house, it isn't their purse that suffers. They know I can still afford to buy 'treats', so why shouldn't B et al, still have what they want?

Don't think the family have ever taken me seriously when it comes to my cost-cutting. They just think it is a rather useless 'hobby', and I'm 'playing at it'. This is absolutely not true. In my eyes it is more a vocation. Perhaps people don't want to know how to save money, or maybe they wish to find their own ways to do so. Maybe I'm just bashing my head against a brick wall, but have to say yesterday felt a bit deflated, and wonder if - after all - I'm wasting my time writing this blog. Perhaps it is just that I like the sound of my own voice - but written, not spoken. But I will continue.

With B's birthday coming up next month the decision has been made (by him) for me to buy him a Chateaubriand as his gift. Reduced in price to £24!!! (serves 2 normal people, probably only enough for B). As he says, the local Italian restaurant have it on their menu at £45 per serving, so it will saving a lot of money 'eating in' rather than 'eating out'. True!

Enough of that. Must move on to the yesterday's pudding, this being Chocolate Fondant. Have made this before but not very successfully as the ingredients were not always in full rounded ounces, and do not like messing around trying to weigh out out half an ounce. The recipe used yesterday was - once understood - extremely simple, it was just a matter of melting butter and chocolate together, then whisking sugar and eggs together, then folding the two together, and finally folding in a little flour. Very easy-peasy.
The joy of this dessert is that it is very cook-friendly, as once 'potted up' the containers can sit happily chilled in the fridge for a day before being cooked, and can also be frozen (and cooked from frozen), so perfect as an impressive dessert for a dinner party when we are normally far too busy to make something hot, so end up serving a cold pre-prepared dessert. Don't forget that the ingredients can be weighed and measured and bagged (butter with choc kept in the fridge) sugar and flour pre-weighed and bagged. Eggs already 'packaged' in their shells. Anything ready prepared in advance saves even more time.

There were two small problems, one was getting the cocoa to stick to the butter-lined mould before filling, but got around this by putting in plenty of cocoa, then shaking it round the mould thenpressing it into the melted butter with my fingers or back of a teaspoon.
The other problem was the size of the container. Dariole moulds were suggested or 'individual pudding basins' (the ones Delia Smith uses). I had three sized, dariole and two sizes of 'individuals'. I used the largest size, the amount filling five instead of six, so allowed a little extra minute cooking time. The recipe was very exact about the timing.

If it's any help, the dariole moulds held 4 fl oz water to the rim, the medium 'individual' pudding basins held 6 fl oz, and the larger ones held 8 fl oz. Think the best to use would be the middle sized ones (only have now given these to my daughter as she wants to make the puds).
Although I allowed an extra minute cooking time for the larger puds, maybe 2 minutes would have been better as then there would have been more 'sponge' and less runny choc. So if using dariole, allow the given time, for the Delia size allow a minute more, for anything larger, allow 2 minutes. Use the volume capacity as a guide. Incidentally, as they are so rich, both B and daughter thought the serving was almost too large, so had better buy myself some Delia size containers to replace the ones given to her.

Chocolate Fondants that Can't Fail: makes 6
6 oz (175g) butter, plus extra melted for greasing
6 oz (175g) dark (79%) chocolate. broken up
7 oz (200g) caster sugar
4 eggs
3 oz (75g) plain flour, sifted
cocoa for dusting moulds
First prepare the moulds by brushing with plenty of melted butter, then placing in the fridge to chill. Once the butter has set, brush them again and then coat the inside with a dusting of cocoa. Best do one at a time to prevent the butter setting on the cold moulds too quickly. As by then the butter was cooling, found it better to reheat to make it very runny so was easier to brush around and also hold the cocoa. It is the double coating of butter that helps the puds to turn out easily. Previous trials (using other recipes) had only greased the moulds once, and coated with cocoa, and they were harder to unmould, some even broke.
When ready, the containers can go back in the fridge to fill later, or leave handy on the work surface to fill a few minutes later.
Put the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of just simmering water, pref the bowl not touching the water, then leave until both are melted, then remove from heat and mix together.
In another larger bowl put the sugar and eggs and - using an electric whisk - beat well until very thick and creamy, it should at least double in bulk. Then fold the chocolate/butter into the beaten sugar/eggs. Finally sift in the flour and carefully fold this in. What began as quite a runny mixture, thickens as the warm choc hits the cold eggs, and adding the flour will thicken it further.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared containers, not quite up to the top, doesn't matter if it only 3/4 fills 6 larger containers, these can then be cooked for the recommended time given for 'medium'. The mixture will normally rise above the rim as it cooks, souffle fashion.
Place on a baking tray (I put them directly onto an oven shelf as I didn't read that bit), and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for EXACTLY 12 minutes (for middle size containers), until the mixture has puffed up, crusty on top (like sponge cake) but still slightly wobbly inside.
Turn out onto shallow dishes, serving each with either a scoop of whipped cream or ice-cream. The puds look like chocolate sponge puddings, but once cut into with a spoon, lots of lovely gooey molten chocolate pours out. A real winner!
The puds can be cooked from solid frozen, but then allow 15 minutes cooking time (16 if larger).
For a variation of flavour, fold a dessertspoon of strong coffee into the mixture before adding the flour, or a similar amount (or slghtly less) of Cointreau. Alternatively, fold in some finely chopped stem ginger and add sift little ground ginger in with the flour.

Back to the cannelloni. This was put into the oven (also at 200C - it's useful to have the same oven temp. for both mains and pud) for 20 - 25 minutes to heat through and the top was golden and bubbling. Had estimated 3 cannelloni each, so left the final four in the dish in case anyone wanted seconds. As per usual, I wasn't eating (due to try to lose a few more pounds weight), but sat at the table and drank some wine!

With the pasta dish, served a salad made up of shredded centre of Sweet Gem lettuce, a little finely sliced red onion, some cucumber, the last tomato, and finely chopped celery and celery leaves, plus the last of the watercress, and a chopped Peppadew to give an extra 'bite'. Over this drizzle some of my home-made balsamic and cranberry dressing (half balsamic vinegar, half cranberry juice put in a bottle and shaken together - it appears to store well).
Then decided to fry a couple of rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped into pieces, and when just crisped, put them on a sheet of kitchen paper (where they crisped up even further as they cooled). Scattered these on top of the salad.
To the bacon fat left in the pan, fried the last of the chestnut mushroom, my intention was to eat these for my supper later (didn't matter about the fat, as there would be no carb in the meal).

The cannelloni was enjoyed and as both requested 'seconds', between them ended up eating the lot (five each over the course of the meal). Was very pleased about that as the spag.bol sauce (if you remember) was more veg than meat. A tiny bit of 'scrapings' left in the tin which I sampled (well I have to make sure that what I cook is good enough to eat) really did taste good.

Why is it that cannelloni seems to taste so much better than just spaghetti (or other pasta) with the same spag.bol meat sauce served in the normal way? Whether it is the cheese sauce that enhances it am not sure, but then Lasagne is made using exactly the same ingredients (pasta, meat sauce, cheese sauce..) and still feel Cannelloni has an edge on that. Maybe because it is just that little bit ''different' in presentation. This makes the point that whatever we are wishing to use up, there is always more than one way to serve it, often a better way than we might normally.

If you wish to make this dish and have no large cannelloni tubes, then just soak lasagne sheets in water to soften and roll them round a thick 'sausage' of made spag.bol meat filling. You could make the filling in advance and freeze it into 'sausages' ready bring out and wrap around with pasta, then cover with cheese sauce and allow to thaw before cooking.

If I gave 'just' a recipe (of anything) it would take only a few lines - so why do I feel the need to write up a page or two chatting about it? Perhaps hoping this will inspire you to have a go. Apologies if you find it boring, I do go on a bit.

Now must reply to comments. Understand what you say minimiser deb, and suppose problems began once we had stopped hunting the odd mammoth, and begun to farm animals for our food. Suppose if we hadn't begun to do that, we'd never have found time to develop other skills.

Regarding the health issue mentioned yesterday (my belief that all natural foods should not do us harm etc), forgot to mention that it is not the food, but it is our life-style today that is at fault. We now don't need to eat certain foods (usually in season) to keep us warm (we have central heating) and to build up immunity to illness (we now have medication), and if we lived 'old-style' we would probably work a lot harder and for longer hours than we do today, so need the extra calories. We eat more today than our ancestors despite using far less energy (we drive instead of walk, sit at desks during the day, and then in front of the TV at night...). It's no wonder we are becoming a nation of obese people. We are becoming far too lazy and eat far too much. Me included!

You have a much wider variety of meats on sale Lisa than we do here, although we can order ostrich, squirrel and I believe kangaroo from certain butchers (not that I ever have, in any case these are expensive). Not sure what game birds you have, we have pheasant, quail, partridge, grouse, wood pigeon.... also duck (not considered 'game'), but again expensive.
Fish used to be fairly cheap, cod being one of the cheapest, haddock next, then slightly more expensive flat fish such as plaice, sole. Herrings, pilchards, bloaters, kippers, mackerel also cheap. Then more expensive hake, turbot, trout et al. Now all have risen greatly in price and we see pollock and saithe and other less interestng fish the affordable kind. Strangely, salmon -this used to one of the most expensive fish - is now relatively cheap due to it being 'farmed' in great quantities.

Your mention of the groundhog reminded me of one of my favourite films 'Groundhog Day', and this I watch every time it is shown on TV (also enjoy repeat-watching Dirty Dancing, Brokeback Mountain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, High Society, Muriel's Wedding and many others....). The groundhog in that looked a bit like a beaver. Is there really such as thing as 'groundhog day'?

For what reason did you use a dehydrator when cooking the dish you mentioned? Have seen this kitchen 'appliance' on sale (Lakeland have one), and have wondered whether it is worth getting one myself. At the moment tend to 'preserve' foods in the freezer, rather than dry them (although I have dried mushrooms in a cool oven).

You probably know Les that Lakeland sell a 'professional-type' vacuum sealer (if you have their recent catalogue this is shown on the opposite page to the 'sous-vide' that they are now also selling). Possibly the 'seal-a-meal' bags are the set that uses a vacuum pump, and think I had one of these before (but gave them to my daughter). Although this (cheaper) equipment does removes air from bagged foods, am not sure these would necessarily be waterproof, so if you use them to cook in a 'water-bath' best test first as the heat might expand 'bits' and allow water to leak in. Let us know your findings.

Thanks Margie for telling us about the misleading notices regarding meat in your neck of the woods. The same thing happens here, and probably all over the world. We now have to be so careful when we read something that seems to 'prove' that what we are buying is 'quality'. As you say, 'grain fed' does not mean a better class/flavour/rearing of meat. Practically all animals bred to eat are fed grain during the winter month. Yet somehow the wording makes us feel that the meat on sale is sort of 'special', worth paying extra for.

Have mentioned before that 'locally sourced' (another misleading statement) DOESN'T mean locally grown/reared, just bought locally. This can mean from a supermarket who have imported the produce called this.
'Free-range' is another name that can lead us to think all is what it seems If farmer puts a small door in his barn to give his barn-raised chickens freedom to go outside IF THEY WISH (and often very few do), all eggs laid are then allowed to be called free-range, even if the bird who laid the egg never set foot outside in its life - purely because it chose not to.
Many farms do have their poultry running around freely, but even some of these let them run on over-run ground that is so bare of nourishment that they gain nothing from it other than building up muscle - this in itself can make the flesh tough to eat.
Today it seems nothing is quite as good as it makes out. So if we wish to be very careful where our food comes from, we need to look further than what it says on the tin.

Have cancelled my hair appointment today (think this was mentioned a few days ago) so at least some money spent unnecessarily on food can be replaced in my 'food budget purse'. That should bring it back to almost what I was hoping to achieve, although have to say if B continues to be a 'shopaholic' doubt this challenge will end up worth even being started. But I will still keep trying to fight the good(e) fight and persevere for as long as I can.

Regarding fresh foods still in store, have almost all a Sweet Gem lettuce, and most of the white cabbage, and Chinese leaves and not quite half cucumber. Still have the butternut squash, but half the parsnips, carrots, celery, onions, and baby 'new' potatoes have been eaten in one dish or another. Only two baking potatoes left. Also all the tomatoes and peppers have now been used, plus the kiwi, clementines and grapes. Still have some oranges and quite a few apples. Two bananas were put in the fridge to see how long they last, the others ripened ages back and now long gone, but today will use the chilled 'nanas', and see if it this works satisfactorily. It is supposed to give another 2 weeks life to the fruit.

As the unexpected extra 'guest' last night, plus trialling the 'pudding' threw me off track a bit, defrosting the little freezer has been put off until today. B will help me, he defrosts while I make a list of all frozen foods in there. Must also sort the two small drawers holding meat/fish in our large fridge-freezer, then put all the chicken together in one drawer, veggies in another, fish/meat in others, and write down which drawer they are in so that in future the door is opened for as short a time as possible.
As ever will probably be very surprised just how much I've still got in store. Certainly enough to keep us going for a few months (if not years!!!). Do need to make more space, if only to keep my ice-cream machine liners frozen ready to make 'proper' ice-cream instead of the soft-scoop.

Have now to go into the kitchen, clear the decks and find a cold box (one - or two - of DR's polystyrene boxes) to hold the frozen food while it waits for the freezer to chill back up again.
Might even set up my sewing machine on the conservatory table so that I can take in some of my 'smalls' that - because of losing weight - are now my 'large'. Why buy new when a few stitches here and there will make everything fit perfectly again? It's not as though anyone is going to see them when worn. Those days are long gone. Part of me wishes they weren't, and now I'm beginning to feel all nostalgic. Although not THAT bothered about growing old (and I am now very old - at least to my children) there are times I can remember being young, and wish I could experience those days again. Some of them were magic.

After many dry days, some warm, some very cold, the temperature has now risen slightly and it has been raining, quite heavily I think as I heard some water pouring out from possibly a broken gutter during the night. Later this week the temperature is due to drop again and some of the country may get snow. We will have to wait and see.

The little lemon pips are now growing steadily (must take a photo) and soon it will be time to start off other seeds on the windowsill in the conservatory. Can't believe how fast this winter has flown by this probably due to the milder weather, it has recently felt very much more like spring/summer, than summer felt last year. But as it is still January, it can just as fast return to normal weather conditions for this time of year. Not that we get 'normal' weather now any month of the year, we always have to wait and see what each day will bring.

But whatever the weather, make sure that today we enjoy whatever is thrown at us. Do keep sending in those comments, for each of you that writes in inspires the others, and together we will prove that we can cope however much we have to tighten our belts and pursestrings. Join me tomorrow for yet another Goode outburst. See you then.

Variations on a Theme

2012-01-17T07:42:00.002Z

Before I even begin today's 'rambling', must give a mention to what was on my mind (a lot) yesterday. All to do with our 'five-a-day'. Possibly this is the most sensible and healthiest reminder to make sure we eat enough fruit and veg each day, nut have we ever done that EVERY day of the year? And for that matter was that was Nature intended for us?

As you know I'm a great believe in what Mother Nature provides for us - being the right things (aka foods) at the right time of year. In the winter it is the starch carbohydrates to keep us warm (spuds, some root veg etc) with just a few essential 'greens' (sprouts, kale...) and it is in the summer month that we can gorge on as many vitamin packed fruit and veggies as we can take in (salads, peas, beans, berry fruits etc) - all these building up our immune system to cope with the winter colds. Or so this is what I believe.

In my youth the only recommendation was to eat 'a balanced meal' - this being made up of protein (meat/fish, eggs or cheese), carbos (mainly potatoes, steamed puddings and pastry etc), and vitamins (veggies). The amount was not specified, and 'meat and two veg (one of these the potato that provided the carbos), seemed 'about right'. Puddings (according to season) will have contained fruit - if not then perhaps dried fruits in the winter months, but no always. So don't think in those days anyone ate the full 'five-a-day'.
Mind you - people had more colds in those days, possibly due to having to brave the extreme cold during the winter months (why we needed to eat so many carbos), and there wasn't the medication available that we have today to ease/cure certain illnesses.

As I've said (so many times) my feeling also is that all 'natural' food (even processed in some way (milk to butter, or milk to cheese etc) is not harmful. It is now proved that margarine is not as 'good' for us as butter, and we can now eat as many eggs as we. There have been more 'U turns' these last few years regarding what is good for us and what isn't, that I now take little notice and rely on Mother Nature''s bounty instead. She never gets it wrong.

Having said that, there are some people who cannot eat certain foods due to medical issues, so they do need to listen to their doctor, but even the medical profession understand that views differ. Quite a few health problems can be genetic, and not caused by the foods we eat, but also not wise to carry on eating those that can do us harm.

Nature does sometimes throw a spanner in the works when it comes to certain health problems, but they are few. For instance I've been told not to eat grapefruit as it affects some medication I take (for blood pressure), nothing wrong with grapefruit (it is a natural food) but it is the medication (presumably not 'natural') that clashes 'chemically'. Also now have to avoid sugar (you could call this a 'processed' product) as am diabetic. On the other hand drinking beetroot juice (natural) can help to lower blood pressure.

Maybe it is because I trust all 'natural' foods that I feel this way. Am quite prepared to make B a bowl of beef dripping, serve him home-cooked desserts with cream, and let him eat as much butter as he likes, for so far (he will be 80 in a few weeks) it appears to have done him no harm, his cholesterol is normal, also b.p. and his annual checks show him to have the health of a man twenty years his junior. He also seems to gain weight only when he eats 'bought' treats, such as tins of sweets, packets of crisps, manufactured ice-cream etc.

What am I trying to prove? Perhaps that we should stop buying as many 'manufactured' and processed as we can, and go back to making as much ourselves as possible. Also that perhaps, and it is a 'perhaps' we don't always need to eat five-a-day, but at least try to. We can always catch up during the summer months. Now I suppose I'll have all the nutritionists and dietitians on my back. But, as ever, it is just my opinion and not necessarily the right one.

Yesterday was feeling 'oh, so cold' again, so made myself a big mug of soup that was really, really tasty, so will HAVE to make it again. Basically it was a can of carrot and coriander soup (not my favourite but all I had left in the larder other than a Scotch Broth which I've left for B), to which I added the small amount of left-over beef casserole (meat chunks and onion in a bit of thick gravy). Heated together it made a lovely thick and very warming soup, and the beef chunks really added that 'extra something'. Luckily, found some more containers of ready-cooked diced stewing beef-in-gravy in the freezer, so can make up my own carrot soup to freeze, then eventually put the two together - with a few extra flavourings such as hot paprika, etc.

For supper cooked a Chicken Tikka Masala, adding diced carrots and frozen peas to stretch the meat a bit further. The curry sauce came from the larder. Beloved had his served with pilau rice (2 minute microwave rice), and I had mine with couscous which made it taste very similar to a tagine made with chicken but lacked something. As I ate my meal realised if chickpeas and no-soak apricots had been added, then it could have ended up (almost) a tagine in its own right. The Tikka curry sauce not a million miles away from the traditional Harissa sauce that spices up a tagine.

Purists would say we shouldn't mess around with food, just accept a traditional recipe as it is, but watching Dick Strawbridge and Son make Cornish Pasties with a fish filling instead of the normal meat/veg, saw no reason why we shouldn't ring the changes occasionally. After all, it is only the shape that makes a Cornish Pasty, put the trad. ingredients into a pie dish lined and covered with pastry and it becomes a normal 'meat and two veg' pie.

So here is a recipe that is both traditional and also 'different', and depending how it is put together could be another variation on the Pasty. As ever, this is made from (hopefully) what we already have, but you can use a different veg if you wish (not all of us keep artichokes or asparagus), or omit the veg and just add extra mushrooms/cheese/macaroni. Although intended to be the size and shape of a large pork pie (but without a pastry lid), this could also be cooked in a larger and shallower flan dish - more like a hot 'quiche'.
This recipe appears more complicated than it really is, but is very adaptable, so you could play around with it and maybe cut a few corners.
Remember that creme fraiche can be made by blending equal amounts of natural thick yogurt and double cream together, then let it stand overnight. I make the yogurt regularly, and still have several tubs of long-life cream in the fridge, so no excuse not to be able to make this dish.
Macaroni Cheese Pie: serves 4
3 oz (75g) macaroni, cooked
1 oz (25g) butter
1 lb (450g) puff or short-crust pastry
4 oz (1oog) mushrooms, sliced
1 x 200g (7oz) canned artichokes, asparagus etc.
2 heaped tblsp whipped cream
salt and pepper
cheese sauce:
knob of butter
1 tblsp plain flour
7 fl oz (200ml) milk
1 tsp ready-made English mustard
3 oz (75g) Cheddar cheese, grated
parmesan sauce:
10 fl oz (300ml) double cream
3 oz (75g) parmesan cheese, grated
2 tblsp creme fraiche
1 tblsp lemon juice (or sqeeze of)
salt and pepper
Roll pastry to half inch thick (enough to line an 8" (20cm) loose-based or spring-release deep cake tin Prepare the base to bake 'blind' (line with baking parchment then fill with beans) then place in the fridge to chill for half an hour. Bake for 10 -15 minutes at 200C, 400F, gas 6. Remove paper and beans, then bake for a further 10 minutes. Unmould and set to one side whilst preparing the filling.
For the first cheese sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes before slowly whisking in the milk. Bring to the simmer and cook/stir for 8 minutes until thick. Fold in the mustard, cheese and seasoning to taste, and keep over low heat until the cheese has melted.
For the parmesan sauce, put the cream in a pan and heat to the simmer, then - over low heat - whisk in the parmesan and creme fraiche. Add lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Stir in the cooked macaroni and keep over heat until the pasta has warmed through.
Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms in a little butter until soft, then add these (and the other veg if using) to the macaroni mixture, again with seasoning to taste. Pile into the pastry shell.
Warm the (first) cheese sauce and spoon into the pies, over the macaroni, then either return to the oven to cook until the top is golden and bubbling, or pop under a hot grill to get the same effect.

As our fresh foods are now being depleted, time to bring a few more foods from the 'hoard' in our larders. This time beans (almost any kind will do, but not baked beans), and chickpeas. All we need then is lemon juice (from the freezer?) garlic, spices, and yogurt. Don't make excuses that you have none of these. You should have.
The popular name for what I call 'squashed' foods is 'crushed'. This is 'squashed' but I'll be just that bit different and give it my name.
Mushed up Bean Dip: serves 4
1 x 400g can cannellin beans (or similar)
1 x 400g can chickpeas
zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp ground cumin
4 fl oz (100ml) Greek yogurt
salt and pepper
good pinch paprika
Drain and rinse both the beans and chickpeas, and put half of each into a food processor or blender, together with the lemon juice and zest, garlic, cumin and yogurt. Blitz until smooth, then add the remaining beans and chickpeas and pulse just enough to break them down to make a very chunk dip (you can blend the whole lot if you prefer only a smooth dip). Add seasoning to taste, then either pot up in one bowl, or four individual containers, cover and store in the fridge to chill and firm up slightly. Sprinkle the top with the paprika when ready to serve with carrot and celery sticks. bread sticks and/or tortilla chips.

Final recipe for today is that very traditional Yorkshire Curd Tart. Am including this as it is yet another way to show how we can use what we have, rather than go out and buy (curd cheese for example). Ideally we should be using Channel Island full-fat milk, but few of us use that these days (too expensive). Instead we can use ordinary full-cream meal, or use semi-skimmed, enriching it with some double (or even single) cream. To make the curd we have to start the night before - so read the recipe right through before you start.
We could use around 9 oz (250g) basic shortcrust pastry to make the case, but am giving the more traditional recipe for this tart, so we have a choice. Whichever we choose, this can also be made up to 2 days ahead and kept chilled before using.
If we use puff pastry and use small (individual) tins, the end result is not a million miles away from the tarts we call 'Richmond Maids of Honour' (a tart so-called because these were 'invented' and became very popular around the time of Henry VIII and his numerous wives - Anne Boleyn being the his Maid of Honour to his first wife Catherine.
Yorkshire Curd Tart: serves 6 - 8
pastry:
5 oz (140g) plain flour
pinch baking powder
pinch salt
3 oz (75g) butter
1 tsp caster sugar
cold water
curd filling:
2 pints (1.2 ltr) full fat milk (see above)
juice 1 lemon
2 oz (50g) butter (pref unsalted)
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
1 large egg (or 1 duck egg) beaten
1 oz (25g) currants or raisins
Begin the night before by heating the rich milk in a pan until bubbles just begin to appear around the edges, the stir in the lemon juice. Keep over VERY low heat, and gently stir until the curds begin to form. Stirring too quickly breaks up the curds, and this you need to avoid doing. One the pan contents resemble watery liquid with creamy lumps floating in it, then remove from heat and leave to cool. When cold, pour into a sieve lined with muslin (or clean tea-towel) placed over a bowl and leave to drip overnight. You can use the whey for making scones, as you would buttermilk.
To make the pastry, put the flour, baking powder, butter, sugar and salt into a food processor and blitz until just combined. Leaving a few small lumps of butter will help to lighten the pastry. Alternatively rub the butter into the flour and b.p. with the fingers, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Add just enough cold water to just come together to make a smooth dough, then knead very lightly before wrapping in cling-film and chilling for at least half an hour. Then roll out to line a greased 8" (20cm) shallow pie dish or tart/quiche tin.
Make the filling by beating together the butter and sugar until soft and creamy, then beat in the egg, a little at a time. Stir in the drained curds and lightly whisk to break up any large lumps (but don't break up too much). Finally, stir in the dried fruit.
Spoon the filling into the pastry case, levelling the surface, and bake at 180C, 350F, gas 4 for 35 - 40 minutes or until browned and the pastry cooked. If getting too brown on top, tent with foil (shiny side up).
Leave to cool before cutting into wedges. Can be eaten on its own or served with a drizzle of cream.

As ever, many thanks for the comments sent. Was wondering Lisa if you have ever eaten Buffalo (aka Bison) meat? Am sure I saw it on sale in an American supermarket. Or was it Beaver? Maybe saw both.
Over here venison is more expensive than beef. Lamb is becoming more expensive, and pork - once considered a lower cost meat, is also rising in price, although belly pork - a really good cut - is still relatively cheap. Chicken can vary in price - anything from £15 (or more) for an organic free-range bird, to as low as £2 (on offer) for a barn reared one. Don't think battery hens are now sold as food (reared mainly for eggs, then when too old end up as pet food).

Am sure I have read about some alternative vegetarian Christmas dinners pn sale minimiser deb, but probably the usual 'nut roast'. Both you and Ceridwen seem to like the vegetarian sausages, and I've also tried Quorn products (which are quite good) but still as expensive (if not more) than 'real' meat. As the 'Quorn' is made from mushrooms, can't see quite how they can charge so much, but perhaps the processing is costly. But as I said - have a captive audience and you can charge what you like. This is why motorway cafes etc are expensive. Either stop and eat there or don't eat at all until you reach civilisation again - which could be hours and hours away on a long trip.

As am not normally a big meat eater, would happily turn veggi (as long as I could still eat cheese, eggs, and use milk/butter), but having already had several goes, have found lack of meat makes me very anaemic (even though I do then take iron pills and eat plenty of vegetable protein with other complementary foods so my body absorbs all the nutrition), and it is only when I have some (usually) chicken or fish that I feel 'healthy' again and my weakness disappears. So perhaps I'm just one of those that Mother Nature has evolved to eat the full range of her provisions instead of confining myself to the 'herbage'.

Another thought has just come to mind. Why is it OK for (say) fish to eat other fish without anyone waving a banner in disgust, yet it is wrong for us (humans) to catch fish to eat? Or right for wild creatures to chase after other meat, tear it into shreds to eat whilst it is still alive, to satisfy hunger, but it's not right for us to rear animals then slaughter them in as swift a way as possible so that we can also eat the meat?
If we object to killing animals to satisfy our appetite, and as we are also animals in the true sense, then we should also object to other animals doing the same. Or is that just too easy an excuse? Perhaps we mistake 'being civilised' as 'being different from other animals'. Or is the excuse that we don't HAVE to eat meat because we are omnivores (able to live on both meat AND veg, not one or the other).
The way things are in the world at the moment, terrorists killing innocent people, people killed just because they get in the way at sales time - and none of it for food -then we are worse than animals for they only kill to eat, not for 'pleasure'. Bring on a national disaster, or world crisis and then let's see who can remain 'civilised'.

Apologies to all vegetarians, it's just me being me again, hoping to prove something or other, if only to myself. Like to think I keep an open mind on all things, but sometimes it doesn't sound like it, does it? If I refuse to eat something, it is purely because I don't like it or wish to, with no moral issue. Don't think I've got many morals anyway. Makes life easier if you have only a few!
One thing I won't do though is lie. I find this impossible. I can skirt around giving a true answer if it helps not to upset anyone (such as when someone asks me if I like their hat, and it lookds dreadful, will reply "it's a lovely colour that matches your eyes" or something like that). So perhaps that's a start on the road to moral recovery. I even have to admit to every food purchase made during this challenge, as by not giving it a mention it would be a 'hidden' lie, and would hate to think I'm not trustworthy. So add to the 'already bought' a fruit loaf (B likes it toasted) that I didn't ask to be bought yesterday, and he also bought in a white toasting loaf and a medium sliced. This must have brought the total spent now up to £7.50 since Dec. 19th and I'm very annoyed as none of the purchases were really 'needed', but it could be worse I suppose.

I can feel myself 'rambling' again, so had better call a halt and get on with making a fruit loaf myself (B having demolished ALL of the one bought yesterday - he will never lose weight if he keeps snacking. But if I don't make a loaf he will only go and buy another one and this will add to the expense).

Not sure what supper will be - probably fish as we haven't had that for a few days. Knowing me will change my mind which has suddenly decided I could make Cannelloni, or Mushroom Strogonoff. Or something else. It probably will be something else. Why can't I make my mind up. Life would be much simpler if I could plan a week's meals ahead (although possibly more boring for me).

Weather here is still cold although not quite as frosty. Said to warm up slightly over the next few days, then come the weekend cold again with possible snow. Hopefully we get snow, lots of it, for winter just isn't the same without watching snow fall and lying thickly on the ground. Says she who would sit safely tucked up indoors without needing to step outside. Alright for some!

Whatever the weather, enjoy your day and keep using up your stores and forget where you put the key to unpadlock your purse. But if you do feel there is a bargain to be had, then don't let me stop you. Bargains are bargains and if they can be stored (or save you using food you already have) then why not?
Please join me tomorrow, in the forlorn hope that for once I'll have provided 'a good read'. One day I might just do that. So watch this space.

Not Quite What it Seems

2012-01-16T08:17:00.002Z

Yesterday our family lunch went fairly well. Not quite plain sailing as I had to improvise more than once. What was intended to be a beef casserole ended up more a Goulash as after I had thawed out two packs of diced beef I'd already slow-cooked, realised the flavour of each was not quite the same. One was D.R's diced stewing steak in its own gravy - the meat more tender and with better flavour than the bulk buy diced stewing beef bought from Barton Grange (although very little, if any, difference in price due to D.R's being on offer). Fried a couple of large onions cut into wedges (then broke them up slightly as they fried), added the strained cooked beef, then decided to add half a carton of tomato juice (bought to drink but I hadn't used it since making the Bloody Mary's), THEN added two good teaspoons of hot paprika. Plus the gravy from the two containers of meat. This certainly added extra flavour, but not as much spicy heat as expected. It just sort of made it taste 'warming' but mega-good. Pleased with that.
Oh yes, as by there there was quite a bit of liquid in the pan, shook over the last quarter of a pack of beef casserole mix, stirred it in, and over time this thickened to make a good coating to the meat by the time of serving, with just a little bit of extra gravy.

The chosen veggies were a bit of a disaster. The carrots were OK, this time sliced diagonally for better appearance (also gives more tender flesh around the centre core), these were cooked then set aside. Decided to cook a small cauliflower that had a late December sell-by date on it, so steamed that in the microwave. Felt the meal needed some 'green' so got some frozen broccoli from the freezer and put that in the carrot water to cook to tender - my idea was to mix the cauli and broccoli together to serve.
Unfortunately I went into the living room to read the paper whilst the frozen veg was cooking, and forgot it! When I went back into the kitchen just managed to catch it before all the water had boiled away, but by then the veg was so soft the only way to serve it would be to mash it. I tried eating a bit and strangely it had turned very sweet. Quite liked that, but not the appearance so then and there ate it all myself.
Decided to cook the last of the frozen broccoli left in the bag and start again. The cauliflower wasn't soft enough (for B) so put it back in the microwave, but for too long (obviously) as it had changed colour during the second cooking to a rather unpleasant pale brown. It didn't even taste that good - so rather than waste it, I also ate that up (there wasn't that much anyway). Well, you know me - hate waste!

So, slightly short of veggies for the meal (or so I thought), I slung some frozen Brussels sprouts in to cook with the second lot of broccoli, and when these were tender, added the ready-to-warm-up carrots. After straining, together they looked really good and I put these into a large serving bowl and into a cooling oven to keep hot (along with the stew in another serving dish, and also the spuds (more about these below). I couldn't serve immediately as by then 'the boys' had decided to 'do something on the computer that couldn't be left'. Men!!

The potatoes were halved baby new potatoes, which were then fried these off in a frying pan, squashing them down with a potato masher a la Jamie Oliver, turning them several times to give a good texture colour. These did work well.

During the morning made a fruit crumble, and this time - instead of using blackberries with the apple - made it with sliced apple layered between cherry pie filling. Topped with crumble (flour, butter, sugar, porridge oats - amounts 'guestimated' - it turned out very well, and was complimented on the flavour. Especially good eaten hot with the last of the extra thick double cream bought for Christmas (which had kept well in the fridge).

So at least the above shows that if we have only a few veggies, not enough to serve on their own, when cooked and put together will make a bowful good enough to serve to guests. Any green veg would go together: broccoli, string beans, sprouts, peas, and alone these would look good, but by including carrots (and also cauliflower) the colour effect would be great. Similar to but not quite as stunning as the appearance of roasted veg which I could have served only have now run out of brightly coloured bell peppers.

I sat with the family but didn't eat any lunch as was then full from my broccoli/caul intake. A few veggies and spuds were left at the end of the meal (plus casserole - I'd made a lot of that) so had my share later heated up for supper. Still casserole left so could use this to make a Pukka Pie 'type' for B, or - with added cooked veg it could make a couple of Cornish (type) pasties.

Although I've passed on what I felt to be the most interesting 'reading' from the trade mag, there was a mention of wholesale price of potatoes being cheaper in price due to a good harvest last year, and the price won't go up until after this new season starts in April. If the crop then is good, then the price won't rise. Am always dubious when it is a wholesale price given as when prices are sometimes reduced this doesn't necessarily mean the price will be lower at point of sale.
Probably we will be offered 'reduced price' offers on spuds that are lower in price than a previous 'full price', but really not reduced at all, as the stores will now be payingh less anyway, but the more they can make us believe they are reducing even more basics as 'an offer', the more they hope to keep us as a customer. There are times I feel I'm getting far too cynical and getting a much too jaundiced approach to what the stores are doing for us (or against us) these days.

Another thing that irritates me somewhat (and I know it shouldn't) is the way vegetarian food manufactuers keep coming up with meat/fish substitutes. Maybe this is because I've just noticed a picture in the mag showing a product called Gourmet Meat Free Duck style pieces (no price given so if probably expensive) which sounds good enough, but in the details given it said 'mock duck pieces', and this wording quite put me off. Any other product that is says 'mock' we would think twice about eating. Think about 'mock' chocolate, made to melt and spread over cakes, we would never eat that as we would normally eat bars of chocolate. The original hard blocks of margarine were used as 'mock butter' to spread on our bread. 'Mock' anything usually means it is much lower in price than the real thing, so considering the vegetarian substitutes - you would expect these to also be less expensive, but generally they are not. Just because the manufacturers have a captive audience I suppose. Doesn't seem quite fair.

Perhaps this is because I'm not fond of eating second best - which is a strange thing to say when everyone knows I normally buy grade 2 fruit and veggies etc. But these are as good as grade one, just mis-shapes. Often better flavoured for half the price. Maybe if 'mock' meat protein ready-made products were cheaper than the 'real thing' I'd be more inclined to eat them!
I've probably upset many vegetarians with my thoughts on this, but possibly my reasoning comes from old recipe books where they gave 'substitutions' so that we could make and serve 'mock turtle soup', or 'mock goose', 'mock cream' etc. Many such made in war-time where possibly the first 'meat-substitutes' came onto the scene. It is difficult for me to believe that today anything 'mock' can be as good as (or even better) than the authentic.
In a way, it's the same with furniture, fabrics, jewellery etc. 'Reproduction' is never as good as or worth as much.

Seem to have got one of my bonnet bees today over 'mock meats'. Sorry about that. It's been several days if not weeks since I had my last outburst, but then was 'off air' for quite a while, and probably an outburst would have been more appropriate then as was verbally venting my spleen over BT et all during that time. Anyway, said my piece for today, so let's get on with replying to comments.

One thing where we differ Lisa, is that in summer we don't get bugs to annoy us - at least in most of England, in Scotland they have swarms of midges that continually bite people, but this is only for about one early summer month. There are two good 'protections' against these creatures, one is to rub elder leaves over our skin (it is the juice the insects hate), and the other is to rub Avon Skin So Soft bath oil over our skin - this being a known deterrent and used often in many countries.
Couldn't quite understand what you meant about the 'texture' of meat. Surely this is the same whether cooked on or off the bone? Also venison is very similar to beef in texture, although slightly more 'gamey' in flavour (but not always - depends on which deer it is). Possibly, if enough rich stock could be saved after cooking deer, then diced beef cooked slowly cooked in this, the beef would then taste of venison. This is just an economical suggestion as here in Britain venison is very expensive compared to beef, maybe not so in the US.

Susan and Ann have both managed to get reduced prices from Aldi. Tesco sells a value 'net' (70p) of lemons, but not sure how many in the 'net', the photo on the website shows four, but I've previously had them with five lemons, but they are waxed - the unwaxed always being dearer. So looks like Aldi is a very good place for bargains (yes, I know readers have already told me this, so perhaps I should try and walk round our local branch one day).

Regarding eating our 'five-a-day', which should be seven (Urbanfarm girl's comment). Believe that in Italy they usually eat at least 12! Thinking back, yesterday's serving of fruit and veg over lunch was: onions, tomato (juice), broccoli, sprouts, carrots, apples and cherries (the potatoes served don't count). So better than average, AND I had an orange later. It's not that difficult to keep to the five-a-day I suppose.
We often forget that things like baked beans, canned tomatoes, canned fruit, fruit juices also count, so with a little forethought, we should be able to make sure out families eat the correct amount, although unfortunately many children are so picky they they refuse to eat some - if not all - veggies, other than chips (which don't count). On the other hand they often wolf down pasta dishes with a tomato sauce, and we can easily make this 'pasta sauce' by including other veggies, then whizzing them all together. As long as the sauce is red and sweet enough, it will be eaten.

Yesterday forgot to mention that I did go out for a scoot with Norris. The frost was still sparkling on the footpath as I went along, and facing to the west my face was almost frozen solid! It was very cold indeed. A bit warmer when sheltered from the breeze, especially in the sun, and as was well wrapped up with two scarves, and a blanket wrapped round my knees and feet, wool gloves on my hands, was fine - except from my face. Even though I had take my purse with me and really, really wanted to go into the butcher to buy something (by now I am getting withdrawal symptom from not shopping), I couldn't face unwrapping the blanket and getting up from my scooter to cross the pavement to enter the shop. So went home, contents of my purse still intact, then immediately made myself a hot drink and cocooned myself in three blankets and one scarf to sit in front of the TV, and even with the central heating on, couldn't get warm again for ages.
We still have frost on the lawn today, so the cold weather is staying with us. Yet next-door's magnolia, my geraniums (now brought inside), and outside crocuses are blooming, and even my pot of mint is now full of new green leaves - unheard of before March! And still a couple of weeks to go before February! The birds had been more active and it did seem our country was almost ready to start reproducing as nature intends, but this year far too early. Let us hope this cold spell will hold things back to where they should be. If things get earlier and earlier (as they have been doing) we will soon be getting our summer heatwave at the end of March (instead of most of April as last year).

How I'd love a summer of drought. This happens about once every 11 years - due to sunspots or something. This year we are supposed to be getting major solar flares, so maybe this could lead to us having a very hot and dry summer. It would be nice to have at least one more before I pop my clogs! But then with drought already in many parts of this country, a dry summer could cause all sorts of problems. Perhaps we should tow a few icebergs over here to thaw out and use for spraying onto crops.

What terrible news about that huge cruise ship that toppled over onto rocks. It was only the other day that I said to B what a disaster it would be if one of these 'floating hotels' capsized like the Titanic, and he said that could never happen, they were too well built to turn over, even in very rough seas. Never crossed our minds this could happen if one hit a rock. Thankfully, only part of the cruise ship ended up under water, but what a dreadful experience for all the passengers, let alone the crew. And there was me fancying going on a cruise. Am now giving it second thoughts (couldn't afford one anyway).

First recipe today is vegetarian, and can be made in less time than it takes for take-away to be delivered, and - of course - far cheaper. Although courgettes are one of the ingredients (not seasonal at the moment), alternative veggies could be used such as butternut squash, onions, baby turnips, potatoes... or use courgettes that you may have grown-to-freeze last year.
The curry paste used is vindaloo, and this may be far too hot for some palates, so choose the curry paste you prefer, but pref. not korma as this is too mild. Omit the spinach if you wish, and instead us another 'green' such as frozen peas, or chopped string beans towards the end of the cooking time.
Spicy Hot Vegetable Curry: serves 6
1 tblsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, sliced
3 tblsp vindaloo curry paste (see above)
1 tblsp soft brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2 courgettes, thickly sliced (see above)
11 oz (300g) cauliflower florets
14 fl oz (400ml) passata
4 fl oz (100ml) water
1 x 4oog can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 x 250g bag baby spinach leaves, washed
Put the oil in a large pan and fry the onion for a few minutes until softened, then stir in the curry paste. Fry for a further minute then add the lemon juice and sugar. Simmer for a couple of minutes before tipping in the courgettes and cauliflower. Cook for 2 minutes then stir in the passata, water and chickpeas. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Just before serving add the spinach (or other chosen 'green veg' - see above) and as soon as the leaves have wilted, remove from the heat. Serve with rice, chapatis, or naan bread.

Next recipe uses mainly storecupboard ingredients, and perfect for what I (at least) have already in the kitchen although leeks are not my favourite veg, would substitute onions. There is a variation to this recipe that uses pastry instead of pasta, and this is given below the main one.
If you haven't macaroni, use pasta penne or another small pasta, you could use a mixture of pasta shapes.
Bacon Macaroni: serves 4
14 oz (400g) macaroni
6 rashers streaky bacon, pref smoked, chopped
2 leeks, finely sliced into rings
1 tblsp sunflower oil
4 oz (100g) frozen peas, thawed
1 x 200g pack soft (Philly type) cream cheese
3 oz (75g) mature English cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp English mustard
Start by boiling the pasta as per packet instructions (you will need to reserve 5 fl oz/150ml of the cooking water, once it is ready).
Meanwhile, fry the bacon in the oil in a large frying pan for one minute, then add the leeks and continue frying for about 10 minutes or until the leeks are soft and the bacon golden and slightly crisp, then tip in the peas and heat through.
Drain the pasta and put the reserved liquid (amount given above) in a bowl with the soft cheese, half the Cheddar, and the mustard then blend together to make a soft creamy sauce. Stir the drained pasta into the bacon mixture, then add the cheese sauce and fold together. Scatter the remaining cheese on top then place under a preheated hot grill and cook until the cheese topping is bubbling and turning brown. Serve with alone or with a crisp salad.
variation:
Cook the bacon, leeks and peas as before. Take a 375g pack of ready-rolled puff pastry and lay out flat on a pastry board, scoring an inch border (2.5cm) around the edge.
Mix the soft cheese with the mustard and spread this over the centre part of the pastry, then top evenly with the veg and bacon and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 20 minutes, then sprinkle over the Cheddar and bake for a further 5 minutes.

A query re alternative breakfasts has prompted me to include this recipe (an adaptation of the 'grab and go breakfast sandwich') although have to say my version of breakfast would be something that is almost 'instant' - which this is not (but then neither is the 'full English'). However, this meal would also make a good lunch or light supper dish, so no need to confine it to breakfast.
Eat-on-the-Hoof Breakfast: serves 2
4 oz (100g) chorizo sausage, diced
4 oz (100g) cherry tomatoes, halved
2 spring onions, sliced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper
2 bread rolls
Put the chorizo into a hot frying pan (over medium heat) and fry until the oil is running and the chorizo lightly browned, then add the tomatoes, cut side up, and spring onions and fry for a few minutes longer until both are softened. Pour the eggs over the top, add seasoning to taste, and once the eggs have begun to set around the edge, gently stir and turn with a wooden spoon until the eggs are just set (similar to scrambled).
Split the bread rolls and divide the chorizo/egg mixture over the lower half, cover with the top of the rolls and then eat at the wander (or cover both halves of each split roll, and sit at the table to eat).

Time has caught up with me again, looks like being another sunny day but will not venture outside until it warms up again. Even then feel I'll be feeling cold as today will be defrosting our smaller freezer (the American style fridge-freezer we have is frost-free). Could have bought one that never needs defrosting, but it would have been over £100 more for the same size, and this is a lot to pay for just the convenience, although today am wishing I had. How lazy can I get?

Please join me again tomorrow, and keep those purses tightly closed!

Keeping On Track

2012-01-15T07:23:00.002Z

Before my usual 'chat', first replies to comments sent in during last 24 hours..

Interesting that your husband doesn't like mean on the bone Frugal Queen. This may be that if he does the carving of a joint, he doesn't find it easy. Myself never can sort out how to carve a leg of lamb successfully. However, cooking meat with its bone does give it a MUCH better flavour, and we can always ask the butcher to remove the bone, but still give you the bone with the meat, and then we can tie it back together again for cooking, and the bone is then easily removed after cooking.
One joint that B love 'on the bone' is lamb shanks. But the the meat is so tender it just falls off the bone without any difficulty.

Am pleased your polytunnel stayed in place during the recent gales Urbanfarmgirl, perhaps we should throw nets over glass or hard-plastic greenhouses and tie them down to hold the bits in place during the winter months. At least we removed our soft green plastic cover from our small greenhouse, and the frame managed to stay in place. This year am thinking of growing beans and other climbing veg up the frame and doing without the cover altogether, the tomatoes last year were not worth the trouble. They would probably grow better in a much warmer spot where they get all day sun against a wall (unfortunately not a place where B will allow me to put the greenhouse)

Like you Lisa, quite a lot of England still has 'drought conditions'. Here in the West we get a lot more rain, so wish it was the other way round. If we don't get a lot of rain soon over towards the East much of the country will ban watering of gardens and washing of cars using hose-pipes. They will have to make do with watering cans and a bucket!
Pleased to read that you make use of some of your soya 'leavings' after making the milk. We often discard 'stuff' like that instead of finding a use for it (and these can be useful). When I used to make barley water (cook the barley then use the cooking water - discard the barley etc) the cooked barley was always added to a soup or used instead of rice in a risotto etc.

Seems that most husbands are very weak when it comes to shopping. They have no self control. When they see something they like, they pop it into the shopping basket even when it is not on the list they (hopefully) take with them.
Yesterday Beloved brought back 2 x 4 pint containers of milk "because Morrison's were selling it for £1 for 4 pints". Tesco charges more, so probably worth the purchase although I'd just opened the first of my containers of UHT as we'd run out of the fresh, and my plan was to continue using these instead of buying 'fresh'. But it's only £2 (MORE!) to add to the £2.50 he had already spent without my authority, so can't grumble. It's been a month since food was bought, so spending under £5 (total) this week is pretty good.
I've even cancelled my hair this week, so could put the 'hair' money into my purse to replace B's expenditure. There are more ways to skin a cat and so on and so forth.

It's probably silly to expect everyone not to buy SOME fresh food as it runs out, and just live of what they have. It's an interesting challenge, and the longer we can do this the more money we can save, but as long as we are aware of what is happening, and we try to keep on track, then almost certainly we will end up with more money left at the end of the week, month, three months or however long your personal challenge will last (or the food stores run out).

You are giving us much inspiration Margie, for you too are curtailing your purchases to only the very necessary, then making do (beautifully) with what you already have in store. Sounds as though you are enjoying it too, this being a very important part for if we can't enjoy our 'challenges', then what's the point?

Although my Beloved also grew up in wartime Sairy, living in a large family and his mother very chummy with her butcher (allegedly!) they seemed to have plenty of meat (they also kept rabbits for food, and chickens - although these were mainly for eggs, but B remembers his mother going out into the back yard and wringing the neck of an old boiler), and enough of th other rations to manage. In those days, like now, the more you have to feed the easier it is per head.
It was more the way his older brothers took more than their fair share that I think B has not been able to get over, so he now wants more than his share of almost everything to make up for it I suppose. Also, when he started work as a salesman, travelling the country most of the week, he was able to claim expenses, so 'ate out' quite a lot, and got used to what was then restaurant quality meals. Quite different to the very plain meat and two veg that was served my me (not being able to cook much at all at that time). So I was asked to learn how to cook better meals, but unfortunately not given the money to do so, so it took time and probably managed it only when money was very short and I began to cook everything (and I mean everything) from scratch. Suddenly the meals got a lot better. The family commented on it. The rest is history.

Alternative breakfasts and recipes have been mentioned many times on this blog Ceridwin, and these have covered making our own muesli, yogurt etc, American pancakes, various ways of cooking/serving eggs, even Kedgeree, through to the 'healthy' full English. If I can come up with some different ideas will put them up. Maybe not today - but will try to do so this week.

The trade mag is gearing up for the start of a new year. Apparently Easter products (choc eggs etc) are already now on the shelves (my belief is that Hot Cross Buns never left them), whereas in 2008 the eggs did not appear on the shelves until mid-March. Does that mean Easter is earlier this year. The good news is that 90% of Easter eggs sold by the 'major multiples' will be on promotion this year, as it seems last year customers 'shied away from shelling out of full-priced products'. Sounds as though we might just be beginning to control supermarket pricing for once.

Not such good news when it comes to fruit and veg. as Brits are near the bottom of the class when it comes to eating our 'five a day'. "On average, Brits eat 258g of fruit and veg a day, compared with a European average of 386g". Overall, just four European countries achieved the World Health Organisation's recommended minimum intake of 400g."

This is interesting on several points. Firstly we expect southern Europe to eat more fruit and veg anyway as they have the right climate to grow a lot of what they want, even in their own gardens (Italy eating 452g). Yet the three of the four top countries that ate the most were Poland (577g), Germany (442g) and Austria (413g).

Have to confess that I have never weighed the fruit and vegetables that I have chosen to serve/eat. I assume there is enough, yet rarely do I manage a deliberate 'five-a-day', although on certain days consume a lot more than that. We have to remember that canned fruit and beans can be counted, although not potatoes (being a starch), also canned tomatoes, so probably - over a week - we get enough vitamins and minerals. As well as potatoes, almost always serve at least two veg with a meal, often three. With some fruit as a pudding (hot or cold).
Perhaps it might be a good idea - maybe just for a week - to see if we can match the recommendations. At least we can then be sure of just how much we will need to serve in the future.

It is predicted that on-line sales will remain the fastest-growing part of UK grocery, with sales set almost to double in the next five years. This may be because it is becoming increasingly expensive to drive to the supermarkets on a weekly basis, and far easier for young mothers to have food delivered than have to battle with young children constantly wanting to run round the supermarkets, or drag foods from the shelves THEY want, and then scream when they can't have it. Myself find that I have always spent less when shopping on-line than when previously buying in-store where I always lacked self-control and was easily tempted.
Unfortunately, on-line shopping - although still providing food on offer, some of them for on-line shopping only - is limiting in that the big reductions that appear late evening or just before closing, never are available on-line. So when shopping in store we really do have to make sure we buy only what we need, but first check out to see what has been drastically reduced in the hope they can replace what we intended to buy.

From comments sent in, it seems that many of you are already doing that, so keep on letting us know for it is very inspiring and then others will follow suit.

An interesting article about 'the diet trap'. A scientist has said that the notion "fostered for decades by the nutrition establishment and self-interested processed food industry..." is that calories matter, not the form in which they come. In other words it is what we eat that counts. Different types of food have different fattening potential "because of their impact on fat storage hormones'".
"Governments and health professionals have dispensed duff diet advice for decades, promoting a formula that dooms many to a life of excess weight......Processed food manufacturers have exploited the idea that it it's excess saturated fat that is fattening - in order to sell us an array of 'low-fat' or 'fat-reduced' foods that are based on sugar and grain, cheap enough to produce, but bad for our health."
Anyone interested in the above should read "Escape the Diet Trap" by Dr. John Briffa.

One of the main features this week is "Putting the veg into vegetarian". As 'healthy foods' and 'eat five-a-day' is being heavily promoted over this coming year, and as meat prices rise, we will be seeing more veggie meals on sale (at a price of course - seems we have to pay to be healthy).

According to a spokesperson at the Vegetarian Society "Not all 'meat-free' food is totally vegetarian, and consumers have been telling us and the food industry that these details do really matter".
For those who still eat meat, the emphasis will now be on the higher vegetable content in a 'ready' than the lack of meat it will now have (but bet the cost won't be less because of it).
The Veg. Soc. says just 3% of the population are vegetarians, but a further 5% regularly eat meat-free meals, and "vegetarian food - if not vegetarianism - is a growing market". The article ends with "The days of meat and two veg could be numbered".

The above of course is good news, we could all do with eating less meat, maybe more fish, and the more five-a-day the better, but what of the cost? re"Meat-free is a relatively affluent market reflected in Waitrose's overtrade. Upmarket shoppers have not been deterred by price rises and penetration within this group has risen, upping an already strong demographic share".

Reading between the lines it seems that supermarkets and manufacturers will soon be pulling out all the stops, and 'providing' us with very healthy meals in future. And if we can be convinced this is what we need, then - of course - we will be happy to pay over the odds for it.
All I can say is follow the trend of healthy eating, but make the meals from scratch using fresh ingredients, and if at all possible, grow as much fresh produce as you can yourself. Only then can we keep our costs down.

With making a meal to serve four this lunchtime, will now have to take my leave as the meal will shortly be needing my attention, and wish to get this edited and published before Gill phones me at 9.00am. Even her hour-long call will have to be much shorter - as I need to 'get on'. She won't be pleased, but then sometimes she doesn't phone at all when she 'has things to do', so 'sauce for the goose etc."

Hope you can join me tomorrow when I will be able to spend a bit more time at the comp. See you then.

Struggling to Keep Up

2012-01-14T08:38:00.002Z

The anniversary copy of trade mag has so many historical facts about the way we both eat and buy food over the last 150 years. Suffice to say, as it is written FOR grocers, not consumers, much is pointing the way to how to get us to keep buying more variety, not less. As Theresa commented: 'the more variety we have, the more we seem to want'.

A large article in the above issue covered advertising and celebrity chefs, each pushing us (consumers) more and more towards the food the stores wish to sell. Even to the extent of making us feel we are something we are not, a Birds Eye campaign in the 60s encouraging housewives to pass meals off as all their own work. 'They'll make a dishonest woman out of you' was the pay-off line.

Today we see oven-ready chips and instant microwavable meals, and cook-in sauces. With 'ethnic or quasi-ethnic food in ads. With the strong following for the most respected cooks such as Delia or Jamie, they now appear in supermarkets ads (no doubt for a respectable fee!) and show us what to cook, where to buy the products (from that particular store of course). Now - perhaps to appeal to men who cook, we see the 'powerful pairing of Delia and Heston/

Many of us can remember the OXO campaign about giving food 'man appeal', and even before TV the Bisto Kids with their 'Aaah Bisto' appearing in periodicals. I myself was an 'Ovalteeny/Ovaltini' (can even remember the song!). And - as the mag says, where do we go next?

Well, the latest mag has just been brought to me by B (it comes with the newspaper) and the headlines on the front cover are 'our new campaign to revive your old forgotten favourite'. My heart almost leapt with pleasure, at long last we can start making our own Plum Duff again....but when I take a peek at the article, it is headed by 'Bring Back a Brand', with such once-loved and now lost items as Camay Soap, Spangles, Vim, Sunlight Soap. Many that have stayed the course such as Heinz tomato soup still at top 'sellers', but more often these days sold in a different package (the trade call this 'the future is in the past'). Thankfully Marmite still seems sold in its original shapely jar, yet I believe it can be bought in 'tubes' (or was that just an idea that never really got off the ground?). Whatever the future holds for old favourites, you can be sure it will be packaged in some way (old or new), and we are still persuaded to buy rather than make anything ourselves.
Even I have a (very old) tin of Colman's mustard powder on my shelf, yet still buy the 'ready-made-in-jars', for our use (and it is also sold in tubes!). But then they did say that Colman's made its millions from the mustard left on the side of the plate, so perhaps we do use less than if made 'as needed' from the powder.

Do sympathise with you Rachel having a husband that doesn't always want to eat what you have lovingly cooked for him. Perhaps the easy way out is to do what I do and ask your OH what he would like for his evening meal. If he then doesn't like it, explain you can't afford to waste food, so next time will give him the ingredients, then he can make it himself and show you how it should be done. If a meal (made by you) is really disliked, then again explain it costs not only the ingredients but also the time you have spent in making it, so the least he can do is give you a rise in housekeeping. OR suggest that from now on he has his share of the food budget and buys his own meals from that then he can eat exactly what he enjoys (take-aways, ready-meals etc). By the end of a week he will probably have run out of money and have to spend the next three weeks using his own money to keep up 'his standard of eating'.
Sometimes I think that men have this attitude of 'I don't like' just to put us down, it makes them feel more powerful, in control. Well, if that's what they want, then let them be like that - just so long as it hits them where it hurts - in their pocket.

Have just remembered a time - many years thrifty years ago - when my B began to dislike much of what I cooked. He wanted 'meat and two veg and none of that fancy stuff'', so one night made the meal he wished for, but for myself a superb 3 course meal with a big glass of wine to drink as well. He was really miffed, as he thought my meal looked really appetising, and thought I was spending a whole lot more on my meal than his. He wanted wine too AND a dessert. 'Sorry' I said, 'these meals have been costed out, and my 3 courses in total - including wine - actually cost less than yours, so the kitty doesn't run to giving you wine with your meal as well . Try eating the same meals as me and you can have the lot!. From then on he ate the same as me, and was then able to have a glass of wine now and then.
As I always say "what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" and "all's fair in love and war"...

Your weather is interesting Lisa, for each time it seems you are having the same weather as us. We too are now having much colder and frosty weather.
Jerk Chicken is something Jamie Oliver seems to enjoy, he has been seen making this quite a few times on TV (and gives recipes in free booklets).
As you commented, it does seem that older men (and probably women too) prefer to eat the meals they ate as a youngster. 'Meat and two veg with gravy" almost certainly. Unfortunately the meat - in those days- was from a roast joint, and myself find this too expensive to buy, so served only once or twice a year from the actual joint, although when I do buy a joint, buy one large enough to slice (giving many slices) after cooking, then pack in containers in its 'gravy', to freeze, so this can be served later with Yorkshire pudding, Brussels sprouts etc in the old fashioned way.

It is a great pity minimiser deb that if we really need to be mega-thrifty, we then have to topple off our pedestals and buy less organic food, free-range, Fair Trade, and animals that have lived life as nature intended. When it comes to the crunch, we have to decide what is important, feeding the family healthily within a small income, or serving much less of the best.
People with a high moral issue about what are the 'right' things to eat, can make their own choice as to what they buy for their own consumption. Or - when money is tight - they could buy only the best for their children and eat foods of lesser worth themselves. Myself have to sit on the fence here, for when money is really short then I'm not THAT concerned as to the provenance of some foods, it is only the nutritional side that concerns me. 'Quality' foods admittedly have better flavour but it is this is that we pay for, not what the food contains nutritionally.
In the old days, everything had good flavour, for almost all fresh foods (meat, veggies, fruit, fish etc) were grown, reared, fished for in and around this country. So you could say we were definitely eating the best, everything organic, free-range, rare breeds as well. Now that such a lot is imported, the flavour of all fresh produce seems to have been lost in the race for perfection in appearance.

My one great wish would be to buy 'only the best' when it comes to fresh produce. But no way could I afford to do this. I do buy free-range eggs for B, but the cheapest eggs for my baking. Quality meat yes, but then save up for this and buy it on-line only when the price is right (which it often is when bought in bulk). Wherever possible I make and grow as much as I can (although garden space is very limited), and hopefully will be able to increase my crops this year by sowing seeds of 'upward growing' veggies (beans etc) as these take up less ground.

The words 'locally sourced products' in the comment, reminded me of how careful we need to be when it comes to understanding what is actually being said (maybe on notices in a shop window etc). Meat pies (say) sold as 'made from locally sourced products' only means that the ingredients have been bought locally - often from a supermarket a few miles away, who themselves have imported the meat, veg etc. Yet we all tend to believe it means made from locally grown (and we can often be charged more because of this).
The owner of a local 'eaterie' recently told me that on his web-site he put his meals were made from 'locally sourced' ingredients, and admitted that it was only the beefburgers made by his butcher that had anything to do with 'local', the rest of the foods he used being bought 'locally' from a supermarket or Makro etc. But he knew he wasn't stepping outside the law. He said it as it is, and - as ever - it was up to his prospective customers to understand the true meaning behind the words. We can all be swayed by what we think a notice or advert says, but clever wording can mean it means something entirely different, so we should always be on our guard.

A welcome to Jim, who is interested in the trade mag I read. Although interesting at times, not really useful for a normal consumer, as it is not cheap. Extracts can be read for free by logging on to The Grocer website. A local corner shop may have an old copy (most grocers seem to have them), so you might be able to get one free, or pay a few pennies for old ones they have once they have finished with them (they aren't the sort of mag that can be referred to again and again, the anniversary edition being the exception).

Looks like being another lovely - but very chilly - day. Will probably brave the cold as I need to scoot out with Norris for half an hour or so, not having been out for weeks, aiming - of course - to keep away from any retailers that sell food!!! Perhaps I should leave my purse at home.

The money-saving recipe today is based on food I have in store, so easy enough for me to make, but the ham (well you know I've now got LOADS of that), can be replaced with flaked canned tuna or salmon, cooked peeled prawns, or maybe some chorizo or even crispy bacon rashers. If no meat/fish, then use chopped or grated cheese.
One way to make the most boring of salads (mainly lettuce leaves) taste good, is to drizzle the leaves with salad dressing, then toss with grated cheese. The cheese then sticks to each leaf so each mouthful then has at least some flavour. And food is all about flavour despite what I've said earlier.
Myself would use one 'vacuum pack' of cooked beetroot, but freshly cooked beetroot could be used instead. If you haven't horseradish or tartare sauce, use a bit of mustard (English if you like it hot, Dijon if you prefer milder).
Ham and Beetroot Salad: serves 3 - 4
6 oz (175g) frozen peas, thawed and cooked
4 - 5 cooked beetroot, chopped
half a small red onion, finely sliced
3 tblsp Greek yogurt
3 tsp horseradish sauce or tartare sauce
1 tblsp boiling water
half an iceberg lettuce, shredded
6 oz (175g) thinly sliced ham, cut into strips
Put the peas, beetroot and onion into a bowl and toss together. Blend the yogurt with the horseradish, then stir in enough of the hot water to make a 'pouring' dressing.
Pile the lettuce into 3 - 4 individual bowls, then top each with a share of the beetroot mixture. Drizzle over the dressing, then plonk the ham strips on top.

For a hot meal why not try this one for size. It has few ingredients, yet together are a marriage made in heaven. Simple enough for even a husband to cook. So why not let him have a go?
Sticky Apple, Bangers and Bacon: serves 4
8 rashers smoked streaky bacon
8 (quality) pork sausages
1 tblsp sunflower oil
2 red eating apples, each cut into 8 wedges
mashed potatoes for serving
Wrap each sausage with a rasher of bacon. Heat the oil in a flameproof roasting tin on the hob, then place the sausages/bacon in this while the oil is hot, then immediately put the tin in a pre-heated oven 220C, 425F, gas 7, and cook for 20 minutes. Tuck the apple wedges between the sausage and roast for a further 10 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the apples are caramelised and sticky. Serve with mashed potato.

For a sweet treat (dessert or tea-time cake) worth bringing back an old favourite. Most of us have an apple or two in the fruit bowl, and if they are Bramley's all the better. Butter will give a better flavour, but a soft margarine could be used in its place. If you haven't the spices as given, then use 1 tsp mixed spice, or instead you could use cinnamon, ginger....
Spiced Apple Cake: serves 6
5 oz (140g) butter, softened
8 oz (225g) caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
8 oz (200g) self-raising flour
half tsp ground cloves (see above)
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 lb (450g) Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
icing sugar
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, a little at a time. Put the flour in a sieve with the spices and sift this over the creamed mixture, folding it carefully in with a spatula or spoon.
Spread half the mixture over the bottom of a greased and lined deep 8" (20cm) round cake tin, then cover with slices of the apple, then dollop the rest of the cake batter on top of the apple, levelling the top without disturbing the apple slices.
Bake for one and a half hours at 180C, 350F, gas 4 or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean). Don't be concerned as to the colour as it will get quite dark on top before the centre is cooked. Leave the cake in the tin to cool - it may sink a bit in the middle, but that is normal - then turn out. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Well, that's it for this sunny morning. Will now go and wrap up well and scoot off before returning to a bowl of hot soup or maybe will even pop into the cafe and have one there. Why shouldn't I treat myself for once - or does this count as coming out of my not-allowed-to-spend food budget for this month?

Beloved informed me yesterday that his sailing club would like me to make 20 portions of Tiramasu and 20 portions of Sicilian Cassata for their 'Italian Evening' (these being his 'donation' to the meal), but thankfully that is at the end of February, and so I won't need to buy the necessary for several weeks. Am hoping that B will offer to pay for the ingredients. Trouble is - if I order from Tesco on-line, then they will be part of my bill. If I send B to buy them from Morrison's he will pay for them but almost certainly bring back the wrong things. They need to be fairly exact, and exact B is not. Anyway, that's in the future. Today will be dealing with the present.

Tomorrow hope to bring you up to date with more trade secrets. So see you then.

Life Doesn't Run Smoothly

2012-01-13T08:22:00.002Z

No sooner has the phone line been repaired that I understand there may be problems with my Broadband connections in the near future, the 'server' if that is what they are called, having its own problems. Possibly I may need to change the 'server' which will probably mean a further delay before it is all sorted. This is just to warn everyone that the blog may disappear again for a time without me being able to give advance notice the day before. But be assured I will be back.
Hopefully, the problems will be sorted and my connection stays with me, but just thought I'd give it a mention. Eileen will, I'm sure, always put up a comment to help keep us all together if necessary.

Yesterdays trade mag comparison of the cost of food 150 years ago and how much we pay for it now was - I think - a bit misleading. For one thing they based this on the 33 items in last week's 'shopping basket', and not all products listed would be available in those days, or even if they were would not be considered as 'necessary' by the average working family.then - as they seem to be today.
Just for interest am showing the items in the list (in alphabetical order), the ones coloured blue are what I consider 'possibles' (some may wish to buy, others wouldn't want to pay the money), the ones in red considered by me to be too expensive for the average family. The ones in black would almost certainly have been bought. My thoughts written at the side.
Bread (possibly might have been made at home)
Demerara sugar (similar in price to white granulated)
Dove Cream Bar
Drinking chocolate
Dry London Gin
Eggs
Extra Mature Cheddar
Garden Peas (might be home-grown)
Garibaldi biscuits (could also be home-made)
Gouda slices
Grapes
Guinness Draught (possibly drunk only in a pub)
Ham slices
Hand-rolling tobacco
Lard
Lettuce (possibly home-grown)
Loose tea
Macaroni
Melon
Milk
Onions
Original Sherry
Pineapple
Raisins
Rice
Root Ginger
Salted Butter
Self-raising flour
Squeezy Honey (whether squeezy or not, too costly)
Toothbrush
Whisky
Whole chicken (chicken was a luxury)

Today - with the increase in food prices - we believe by buying a little less we are depriving ourselves, but believe me there is still plenty of food out there we can afford and that our ancestors would believe to be pure luxuries that they could never have afforded to buy in their life-time. We have just become far too used to eating what we want rather than concentrating on buying only what we need.

Here are more extracts words from the trade mag. please read them for it gives us a chance to think 'outside the box' rather than carry on living the way we do.
"Last year was a challenging one for the consumer, with rising unemployment, tax increases and high inflation squeezing disposable income."

The first of a series of reports was conducted to provide an insight into the latest consumer trends, as well as to understand more about consumer spending habits...."The findings in the first report were stark. One to five households has seen a reduction in income in the last quarter alone, while 7% of households have experienced someone losing employment. Fifty three percent of consumers feel pessimistic about their disposable income, 28% negative about personal debts, and 23% about job security."
"Consumers are responding by aggressively cutting back....41% spending less on entertainment, 36% spending less on clothing, and 28% are cutting back on holidays. About 17% of consumers say they are making fewer impulse purchases and one in four say they are spending more time at home".

Food apart, hope you all agree that entertainment, clothing and holidays do come under 'luxuries', and it almost seems to suggest that spending more time at home is something people prefer not to do, but forced into it because of lack of money. To me - spending more time at home, with the family, is a GOOD thing. But back to food.

"Partly as a result of this last point (spending time at home) food retailers and consumer packaged goods industry were relatively sheltered last year. More than 40% of people are spending more on groceries than they were three months ago, and while this is largely driven by inflation, a significant minority of people are spending more because they are cooking at home more."
"While there has been a drive towards value, we are also seeing some consumers treat themselves to a DVD, a bottle of wine and food from supermarket premium ranges."

Another article also points out that "Sales of chilled ready meals have risen 24% in the past two years as shoppers swap eating out for eating in......and there is an increasing trend for consumers to grow and cook their own food, inspired by TV chefs......Indulgence will be a major sales drive, although there is a longer-term trend towards health.....and, convenience will remain key for shoppers, but health is also becoming influential in impulse."

However we feel about the above (which to me seems to prove we prefer to live a life of luxury and will do anything to keep it going), my own thoughts are it proves beyond doubt that we still are being almost force-fed the idea that we can still eat well as long as we buy the stores premium products, and that we don't even need to have to learn to cook when we decide to 'eat in' rather than 'eat-out'. Also I don't believe we are spending more because we are cooking at home more (as mentioned above). We are spending more only because everything costs so much more. The more we can cook - from scratch - at home, the less money we will end up spending on food 'products'.

The way our tastes have changed since 1862 have also been mentioned in the trade mag, and it makes interesting reading, Here are some snippets from a very long article:
"Variety was for the wealthy, whereas eating for most was purely a matter of practicality - and for many, a matter of survival.
The national diet was based around cereal crops, vegetables, dairy, beer and a little bacon.
Meats were more an occasional ingredient than a daily expectation - prime cuts or offal, depending on what you could afford.
Pies and stews were often bulked out with vegetables, and a joint was not one meal but a few. Soups, bread and dripping, potatoes, pastry and cheese were the daily supplies. Sugar was expensive.
Women on the whole did most of the cooking and for all - whether in town or country - our far more physical lives meant food was a commodity to keep the human engine burning, rather than a snack-munching distraction in a swivel chair. This is not to say we did not enjoy our food, but it was monotonous by today's standards and a space age away from the confusing range of flavours we experience between breakfast and dinner in 2012."

"Today, seasonality is a buzzword that implies common sense, becoming an aspirational idea of anti-choice and the good life. In 19th century Britain, despite imports, British cooking was seasonal purely by necessity."

"People living in rural communities rarely travelled out of their localities. Each county was famous for its fruits or meats, dairy or fish, and regional dishes evolved from these. On the whole, people ate what they were immediately surrounded by and little else. Practices and recipes were handed down from generation to generation."

Due to the growth of cities, with more people moving away from the countryside, more food was imported and available to be bought, but even so over the next 100 years the foods we ate as a nation did not change much over this time. Until the First and Second World Wars....

"Rationing after the Second World War continued until 1954. Dig for Victory had been a huge success, with people growing vegetables in every available space, and the pre-war poor who had suffered serious malnutrition had benefited from the assurance of weekly rations. Maybe not through choice, but the nation was healthier than it had ever been."

"Then came the 60s. Boom! A rush from famine to feast....we had never seen anything like it, and this was the beginning of the food renaissance that we only credit with beginning now.... To have fun was to have taste. British food was suddenly boring. Now it was fondue, avocado, Chicken Kiev, garlic, baked Alaska, eating out and keeping up with the Joneses. Foreign food was no longer 'muck', and cooking was the in thing. But not necessarily prepared from scratch the way we had before."

"Immigration was encouraged to help mend the British economy......leading to increased numbers of Chinese and Indian restaurants open and flourish. This was the new age of Italian restaurants, and Pizza take-aways. American-style fast food was new and fun, with KFC 'hatched' in 1965 and Wimpy flipping burgers since the mid 1950s."

"The supermarket concept had evolved from individual grocers to chain stores such as Sainsbury's and firmly taken hold by the 1960s. Purchasing power giving affordability and choice meant that, where once prime cuts had been the privilege of few, now they were all to be enjoyed. Why have ox-tail when you could afford steak or a cheap frozen chicken?
This era of convenience in abundance was the dawn of the throwaway culture and squeamishness."

And so it goes on, and on, and on. We are told of the help given us by scientists to save us time in 'the post war hive of activity'. Many instants and ready-mades ended up on our kitchen shelves, such as Fray Bentos pies, Smash, Angel Delight, Arctic Roll, Vesta curries and numerous canned products 'to relieve the laborious domestic duties of women, so they could enjoy more time to themselves or find cooking easier when returning from work'. Cheaper prices meant we could eat more too. We had never had it so good.

Now - it seems - we can, pretty much, have all the food of the world, at any time, wherever we are. When once we ate just to keep ourselves alive, now we rarely experience hunger. It does seem (to me) that too much emphasis IS being given to food (and maybe I'm at fault here too), but when I read that "my butcher told me the other day that he changes his display daily according to what foodie programme had been showing the night before" it makes me wonder just how 'brain-washed' we can become.

You would think, by now, the manufacturers would avoid giving us more 'temptation', not that a jacket potato is THAT tempting, but it seems that we are now able to buy a frozem ready-cooked jacket potato that just needs heating up in the microwave "to save all that time we have to wait to cook one ourselves". Presumably they believe we cook 'jacket's' only in the oven where it can take at least one hour (more like two - although if you boil a large potato in its skin for 10 minutes before putting into the oven it will then take only half an hour to cook through). Personally I cook mine in the microwave anyway, which takes no more than 8 minutes, which is probably not much different to cooking the frozen pre-cooked spud. What's the point of paying four times a much for a spud (if not more) to save maybe a minutes cooking time?

Do hope that you have not been put off by all the extracts given today in place of my usual 'ramblings', but it covers so much British food 'history' and the way we have developed (not for the better) in the way we approach our food and shopping, that I have found so interesting and hope you will too.

As Susan G (and others) are needing to supplement their stores from time to time (fresh foods only I hope!), it is a good idea to write down everything bought and the cost, so that at the end of (say) three months we can then work out if we truly have been able to spend less than normal, and also work our way through many of the supplies already in our larder. Then perhaps we will be able to be more selective about how we re-stock and only buy what we need - and only when on offer. Which is another way to keep costs down in the future.

It was only yesterday Les that B said he thought he'd like to have a go at fly-fishing. Think he fancied catching trout for his supper. He hoped he might be allowed to fly-fish at trout farm locally, the only thing he can do is ask. Myself would prefer to have him catch some sea-fish - such as mackerel.
We do see many fishermen with sitting with their rods along the prom, presumably - as the water is fairly shallow even at high tide close to shore, they will catch flat fish. Not my favourites, I prefer 'chunky'. But I might have a go myself as any 'free' food is worth striving for, and you can't get fresher fish than any just caught.

You got some good bargains Woozy from the supermarket, and it does sound as though it really is worth going to the supermarkets after 7.00pm to find knock-down prices. Probably this is a slack time as most people by then have returned home and either eaten their supper (or preparing it), and preferring to sit with their feet up watching TV rather than go out again. It is not the time I myself would wish to go grocery shopping, but if it is worth it - then why not? (just let me make sure there is nothing I want to watch on TV at that time on that day!!!).

Yes, yogurt can be used to make 'ice-cream' Lynn. I've successfully made a frozen dessert by folding together equal amount of flavoured yogurt and Italian meringue. It can be frozen without any further stirring, and although very similar to 'ice-cream' in texture/flavour it does not include any cream at all (so officially cannot be called ice-cream). I've also made ice-cream by using half whipped cream and half yogurt as this makes the end result less 'rich'. Worth experimenting.

This weekend we have a couple of our offspring visiting us for the day, so am looking forward to cooking for them. Think it will end up as a casserole as am not sure of time of arrival due to one living a long distance away (the other lives locally) Casseroles can sit happily for hours in the crockpot. Must think up a nice dessert, although have to say it will possibly be a trifle as that is a family favourite. Or maybe a Sticky Toffee Pudding. Could make both!

Yesterday's meals were as mentioned the day before. I had the Minestrone. Can't now remember what I cooked for B but he ate it anyway without a grumble (I would have remembered if he had grumbled). Not sure about today, B is leaving early this evening for his club social where they have something laid on (think it is a talk, but food might also be provided), at least this means I can watch ALL the TV progs that I want, normally would have to give some up so that B can watch his favourites. But that (I suppose) is only fair.

If the 'server' doesn't throw a spanner in my works, then hopefully this blog will continue tomorrow, if so - hope to meet up with you all again. If I 'disappear', then just keep in touch with each other via the most recent comment box. But fingers crossed.....TTFN

Catching Up...

2012-01-12T08:23:00.002Z

Am finding it difficult to get back into the old routine, having had the luxury of spending an extra hour in bed each morning due to not needing to rise to start writing my blog. It was still dark at 8.00am today, and there was me thinking each day dawn would be earlier. Anyway, it is now just 8.30am and am now back in my seat starting today's chat.
Still plenty to catch up with, so will begin with this and reply to the comments towards the end.

Made a batch of Greek yogurt (always useful) the following day a batch of Blackcurrant yog - both store well in the fridge for (recommended) at least two weeks, three in our fridge as it is set below 5C.
Cooked Lemon Chicken for B's supper last Thursday with udon noodles. On the Friday he had lamb shank with baby 'new' potatoes, peas and the usual redcurrant jelly and mint sauce. Defrosted the gammon that day ready to cook later. Also made a big pan of vegetable soup for B's lunch and my supper.

Also on the Friday defrosted some chicken wings and toasted these in the oven with half the veggie trimmings I'd been saving. Then put the lot into a big pot, covered with water and simmered to make chicken stock. Unlike the 'normal' stock made by simmering raw chicken and veg, this time the stock was very cloudy but set extremely well once cold - it is true, chicken winglets make exceedingly good and concentrated stock. Even better than when using just the main carcase. Tip. Save winglets when you can and add these to a carcase to make the best stock ever.

Discovered the lemon pips I'd planted the other week and placed in a warm spot had begun to sprout, so covered the pot (initially in a plastic bag to keep it moist) with half a lemonade bottle and put it onto the conservatory windowsill. Am hoping each pip will - when transplanted - grow into a mini-tree that just might bring forth fruit, but even if not will make a good 'house-plant' to give as a gift.

Saturday saw me baking another loaf of bread, and this was the day I sorted out my kitchen drawers and organised my 'collection' of foil, freezer bags, baking parchment etc.
What I did do that I thought was sensible (I'll get there in the end) was collect up all the jam-making 'things': new lids, pack of waxed circles, labels, special funnel to fill jam-jars, thermometer etc and put them all into my preserving pan (kept on one shelf), so that I wouldn't need to hunt for them all (as used to do) next time I make preserves.

Was annoyed with B on Saturday - he had been to the supermarket with his daughter - and brought back a Pukka pie (£1) and a bag of watercress (£1.10p). I mentioned the idea was we bought NOTHING until we had used up a lot of what we already had. "But it's only watercress" he said. "It may be watercress to you" I replied "It's "£1.10p to me that didn't need spending".
Could have frozen the Pukka Pie I suppose, but put it in the fridge to cook later. The watercress won't keep anyway (unless made into soup).

Also on Saturday made a big tray-bake chocolate sponge, then cut that into strips and layered it together with some chocolate ganache, drizzling each layer of sponge with a little Cointreau that had been mixed with the orange 'syrup' saved when making candied peel. Very, very rich. Most of it frozen to keep it out of B's reach.

The ham having defrosted, this was then cooked on the Sunday - as mentioned previously with veggies and star anise - and left in the stock to get cold (this helps to keep it moist) and then chilled in the fridge. Monday it was sliced.
Watched Superscrimpers on TV (although it had an 'R' against this in the TV mag, had not seen it before) and believe this will now be on every Monday (around lunch-time? but best check). It is well worth watching, even though some ideas seem a bit naff (at least to me). Think I might send them some suggestions.

B. had Pukka pie with peas, carrots, and parsnip for his Monday supper. Had made a blackcurrant jelly which he now eats with b.currant yog. for one of his 'snacks'.

As B had only managed to lose half a pound more (he can't control his snacking), yesterday decided to make him a really nice supper from a recipe in a recent cookery mag. This being smoked salmon with sliced cold beetroot and a salad which should have been red chicory but I used Sweet Gem lettuce, and watercress, with horseradish sauce, only I served it with tartare sauce as this was less 'hot'. Even had a small bit myself and thought it was real luxury.
But not B. For him it was tasteless "the beetroot killed the flavour of the salmon" (I said the idea was to eat a bit of salmon with the sauce, THEN have some beetroot and salad, not fork up a bit of each - as he does - and then shove it into his mouth). But he didn't enjoy it, and it wasn't filling enough. At least the last of the individual Christmas puddings he was able to eat (with cream) as his dessert. Then,, of course, during the evening he got himself more snacks.

Asked B last night what he considered to be a 'luxury' meal, considering most of the time he was served what I considered to be 'luxury' anyway (smoked salmon is for a start). He said could he have a Chateaubriand (steak), or a Lobster Thermidor, or even just a whole Dover Sole? Does he think I'm made of money? I said of course he could have that - just as long as he went and bought what was needed and paid for it himself. Doubt very much any of his 'needs' will ever cross our kitchen threshold.

So that has just about caught up with the Goode life as far as food goes. The trade mag - last issue has 218 pages plus a 32 page supplement - is mainly about how the grocery trade has changed during the last 150 years.
The supplement (a copy of the first issue published Jan 4th 1862, shows that most of the imported food was cocoa, sugar, coffee, tea, spices, and you wouldn't believe how many different varieties of each there were in those days. Far more than there are now.

In 1862 it seems that almost all 'fresh produce' was grown/reared/made in the British Isles, we a much smaller population then, no need to import more. Also a lot less food was eaten then as we seem to eat today (one reason why obesity is rife), and it was - relative to earnings - far more expensive.

Just this small extract from one page of the main mag should give us food for thought. The mag "compared this week's 33 items in their 'shopping basket' - today costing £93.95p - with an equivalent basket from 1862. This would then have set the customer back an eye-watering £1,254 - 13 times the amount paid today, based on an average earnings measure of inflation."

"Once-exotic items have unsurprisingly come down in price the most. In 1862 pineapples were rarely traded, but when they were sold for 5 shillings (that may be trade price as Mrs Beeton has them down as 15/-). That's £149 in today's money, or nearly two days' pay for a builder working in 186d2, who earned 2/10d for a day's work."

"The average UK family - in October 2011 - spent £58.42 or 7.7% of their income on food. This percentage has risen since January 2007 when families spent 6.8% of their gross income on food. However, if a labourer in 1862 spent this proportion of their income on food, they could have only afforded a single ham sandwich (two slices of bread, 100g ham, 10g butter, and a few lettuce leaves) - per day."

Other interesting facts given are that eggs NOW cost 768% LESS than 150 years ago. Consider this...
Melon cost 4/- in 1862 (equivalent to paying £119 today)
2012 price : £1.96. (a difference of 5,971%)
Cadbury drinking choc: 1/- per lb in 1862
equivalent price today £16.41 for 250g
2012 price £1.99p, costing 725% more in the old days.
Tea: 1862, 3/- per lb. Equiv. price today £49.12.
2012 price £1.75, costing 2,713% more in the old days.
Chicken: 1862 a chicken cost 1/3d.
Equiv. price today £37.20p.
2012 price £4.87. 715% difference.

For all that we grumble about the rising cost of food, we have to admit that we are a darn sight more fortunate in what we can afford to eat than our great grandparents. So we should stop feeling sorry for ourselves when we can't now afford to buy what we want, and instead just buy what we NEED and then we'll probably have enough money left over to afford a treat now and then (maybe more than once a month), which is something our ancestors probably could manage only once or twice a year.

We cooks are always aware of price increases and even more so when prices go down - as this is when it makes sense to build up our stocks. Seemingly not so 'in the trade' for the mag says "bakers holding back on wheat purchases in anticipation of further price falls have missed out after prices unexpectedly rebounded over Christmas. Prices have shot up by 10% over the past couple of weeks after reports that prolonged dry weather had damaged the South American maize crop. This making wheat more appealing to feed buyers, prompting a jump in sales.
Despite the 30% fall in price, few food industry buyers had taken advantage of the opportunity, with a lack of demand for forward buying, waiting in the expectation that prices would fall further.
Which - of course - means we consumers won't gain, as manufacturers will not then be reducing prices as originally hoped for. Probably wouldn't anyway as lower prices mean more profits.

Final comment from the trade mag for today (more tomorrow). "Predictions for 2012 may be grim, but the real worry is the long term. What happens when our use of resources outstrips what the planet has to offer?
When it comes to food, the problem is twofold. As well as having more mouths to feed, the industry will have to adapt to a richer Asian continent where demand for meat and dairy is expected to rocket.
Some argue that if the rest of the world adopts our eating habits, supply would be unsustainable. 'An affluent country like Britain eats as much as if there were two or three planets' says a professor of food policy.
Whether prices go upwards or downwards, one thing is certain: as a country that imports about 60% of its food, the UK will be more affected than most. It has been predicted that a 10% increase in world agricultural prices would increase UK food price inflation by 2.42%. The industry is just keeping its fingers crossed that no such rises materialise".

Nothing there that should concern our happy band of cost-cutters. The more we can make/bake/grow ourselves, the easier it will be. Just like the good old days - but even better. Maybe we spend far too much time today reading cookery mags, watching cookery progs on TV and drooling over photos of wonderful dishes/meals, that we have become far too obsessed about eating, and not spending enough time just cooking the simple meals our parents used to eat. Maybe, once this challenge is over, might go back to living the 'old way' and buying fresh food several times a week to cook as my mother used to do. See if it works out cheaper. It just might. The meals may be slightly more boring than today, but certainly would be healthier.

Now replies to your comments.
No point in me pre-packaging B's 'snacks' Lisa, for he would then feel he is being 'controlled'. He likes to eat what he wants when he wants. However, he is limited to some extent by only able to eat what is there. As long as I stop making cakes, biscuits, and instead make individual desserts instead of giving him a whole dish of apple crumble etc for him to help himself to, this does help to cut down his intake. At least am hoping so.

Yes Sue15cat, of COURSE I meant Jilly Goolden (the wine 'expert') not Jilly Cooper (the novelist). Thanks for pointing out my error, would not wish to mislead readers.

Difficult to give suggestions on how to lose weight Kay, other than sticking to the WW 'points' system of dieting. It is pretty popular and having seen some of the recipes do find them worth serving whether on a diet or not. Trouble with any diet it can be so restricting and we all get fed up sooner or later not being able to eat what we wish.
Myself have found the 'Atkins' type diet is a great way to lost a fair amount of weight in a short time. My version of this is basically omitting all carbos from the diet and eating plenty of protein (no need to count calories, I eat all meats, fat, cream, cheese, eggs, butter etc and as much as I like) with vegetables (not the carbo root types like parsnips, spuds, but the green ones and salads). Absolutely no bread, pastry, biscuits, cakes, rice, pasta, grains.....

Usually manage to keep the above going for a week (due to the novelty), then slowly begin to introduce a few carbos such as rice, small spuds etc, still keeping off wheat products. This worked well for me, then maybe because proteins are very 'filling', and so I never get the urge to eat more, have now decreased my meals, needing only a late breakfast (brunch or early lunch), and an early supper (and a small one at that). This keeps my weight down and also still slowing losing (if I don't suddenly decide to go back to eating three times a day).

Was very interested in the way your solar panels are saving you 'fuel' money Lisa. You say they were 'free'. How on earth did you manage that? We are often contacted by solar panel m'fctrs who try and sell us solar roof panels, and as we live in a ground floor apartment, not really very useful to us!!), but none are offered free. But am sure solar heating is something more people should start thinking about.

We come to Charlie. A new name? So welcome. As to EasyYo, I swear by it, but other readers find it rather expensive, and many who do use the dry yogurt mix often use only part of it, and make it with milk instead of water (which they say still works). Lakeland sell the equipment and recently it was on offer, but maybe not always. It certainly seems no dearer there than sold elsewhere, so worth checking their website before you make a final decision.
The Greek yogurt 'mix' is excellent, but sometimes the fruit flavoured ones don't seem to set as firmly (even though I make it up with a little less water than recommended), but what I have found is that if it is not fully set after the 8 hours, then I now refill the 'thermos' with hot water again and leave it for several more hours, and then its perfect. Once forgot I'd done that, and it was 12 hours in total before I remembered to remove the container, and the yogurt was perfectly set and after chilling kept for as long as it should (longer in fact).

Normally I make a 1 litre container of yogurt once every two weeks, always needing to have a Greek yog. in the fridge, and one or other of the fruit flavoured yogurts. As these can be strained through muslin to turn into a 'cream cheese', these can then be used to make cheesecake or curd cheese (for curd cheese tarts etc). Mixing half natural (Greek) yog with half double cream will turn it into creme fraiche.
A half and half mixture of natural yogurt and mayonnaise makes a lighter and more refreshing salad dressing than pure mayo which is a bit too 'rich' for my liking. Fold in finely diced (or grated) cucumber with finely chopped mint makes a lovely Raita to serve with a curry.
My B likes a good dollop of Greek yogurt on top of a spicy over-hot curry or chilli con carne as when mixed in, or eaten a bit at a time, this helps to take away some of the heat.

Reading back some comments sent in whilst our land line was down, see that some of you have succumbed and BOUGHT FOOD!!! Well, if there is a good offer, then it (presumably) makes sense not to miss out, although not really helping to prove we can manage without needing to shop at all. Maybe the hunter-gatherer instinct in our genes is far too strong to control.

It is far easier for me to avoid buying food as I normally don't go out to shop. My groceries mainly ordered on-line and delivered. On the other hand it is going to be difficult to control my Beloved as he just can't resist a bargain. Yet, perhaps I've not done too badly so far as my last order was delivered the mid-week before Christmas (can't remember the actual date) and so far nothing has been bought other than B's Pukka Pie and the bag of watercress (neither of which was needed). Still have several containers of UHT milk, and about 18 eggs (10 of which are in the fridge). Plenty of meat/fish in the freezer. Plenty of veg in the fridge. Umpteen cans of assorted food products in the larder (you have seen photos), and have enough flour/yeast etc to keep making bread (made a granary loaf yesterday).

In the fridge have several tubs of long-life cream which should last longer now that I'm trying to get B to pour less than half a tub over each helping of whatever dessert he chooses for a snack. Also still have several packs of butter (don't know how long these will last as B loves butter). Even a couple of packs of bacon. If I can last out until 18th February before anything needs to be bought, will have managed to keep going for nearly two months and should then only need ot spend less than £10 to 'top up' to see me into at least early March. With any luck should only have spent £25 or less on food since mid-December. Obviously the food we are eating at the moment has already been paid for, but by buying when 'on offer' and building up a good store, have never needed to spend a whole month's food budget previously, and at the present time will have saved at least two months food budget by not needing to spend any of it at all (or at least not more than £25 of it).

Anyone who reads this should not be concerned if they have decided to do the same challenge as me, but then bought food that is on offer, for - like the bakers above who decided to wait for further reduction on wheat prices, then missed the boat - we too shouldn't miss out on a good buy, especially any that have a good shelf-life for they can be put on a high shelf and used once this challenge is over. As long as less of our normal food budget is spent than normal, this month, next month, every month in the future, then we will always be on the winning side.

With that thought will leave you and get on with my own saving ways. Not sure yet what supper will be tonight, but do have some good beef stock that was thawed and needs using up, so might make a good thick Minestrone soup that B can have for his supper (with some granary toast) and maybe a fruit crumble to follow. Quite fancy that myself.
Or I might make a Mushroom Strogonoff for B (as the mushrooms need using, if not will probably dry them), and make the Minestrone for ME! Join me tomorrow and find out. See you then.

Should We, Shouldn't We?..

2012-01-11T10:07:00.005Z

Before I even begin my blog proper, just want to show the pics I took of a gammon cooked whilst the phone line was down. Have shown similar before, and as this time I paid full whack (£7) for the 1.5 gammon (it weighed slightly more - and normally buy these only when on sale at half-price), am not comparing prices of home-cooked ham against pre-packed bought (per 100g). This is just to show our recent readers how many slices come from it.The photo above shows the gammon after cooking (now called 'ham'). Although normally simmer it in just water, this time added some of the veggie trimmings saved (and mentioned in a previous blog), plus a couple of star anise (as recommended by chefs). This seemed to darken the ham, and - personally - I did not care for the slightly different flavour, although Beloved liked it - and I have to say the more I eat the more I do like it.
The pic above shows the ham after it had been sliced, and because of the way it was rolled, it fell into half slices as you can see. This was enough to fill 8 packs of ham, 7 half slices in each - each quite enough to feed two if served with other cold meats (Cold Meat Platter), or for sarnies.
This wasn't the end of the story, as (annoyingly) there was a pile of ham scraps left (this doesn't usually happen, but again the way the gammon was rolled, and maybe even the way I set it on the slicer), so photographed these separately (see below) with the made up packs of ham placed behind, and one pack of ham at the side (for that night's CMP), and as I made myself a ham sarnie with some of the scraps, have to say that these were perfect for the job, giving a good thick layer that seemed so much more substantial than when using sliced ham. Enough 'scraps' to make about 8 rounds of sarnies if not more. The bits could also be used in pies etc.

Now to the blog proper, and it is so good to be back with you again, and thank all those who sent in comments. So many that it's another 'blanket' thank you, with just a mention of the comment sent by Marjorie (is that the M who lives in Canada? If so, a very welcome back, have missed hearing from you. Expect you are still knee deep in snow. Here it is unseasonably warm at the moment).
I used to have a flour shaker, made it myself by making lots of holes in the plastic lid of a round container by stabbing with a hot skewer (heated over a gas flame on the hob). Used it for many years then suddenly it disappeared! Must make another one.

A very big thank you to Eileen for holding the fort whilst I've been 'off line'. She is my rock. Was not sure whether Stevan had managed to put up a message as he has been ill with the flu. Another problem last week was - after the land line was disconnected - was my mobile also suddenly stopped working. It was then I realised how much we take the communications system today for granted, and for a day felt very insecure. All sorted now thank goodness.

A reply to Lisa who asks if we can buy bottled beetroot juice in the UK, and yes we can, it is quite expensive,but only a small amount needs to be drunk each day to aid blood pressure. No doubt eating cooked beetroot each day would work out cheaper.

Over here we can have a kitchen gadget called 'Sodastream' - that works a lot like a soda syphon. It hold a container of compressed 'gas', and you fill a bottle (that comes with the equipment) with water, and fit it into the holder and press a button, then the water become 'fizzy'. We can then add all sorts of different flavours to make the drinks we like (bitter lemon, orange, etc. etc.). The gas cylinders are expensive, but can be returned and the next cylinder is then very much cheaper.

The Jilly Cooper I mentioned is not a chef/cook (as far as I know), she is a wine 'expert'.

Beloved threw a curved ball at me last Tuesday. As I was preparing his supper of sausage, egg, chips and beans he said he didn't want any chips as he wanted to lose some weight (apparently he had gained half a stone over Christmas, not surprising as he ate a huge family-sized tin of mixed chocolates all by himself over three days, not counting all the other treats!!!).

I explained it wasn't the food served for his suppers that made him gain weight, it was all the snacks he kept making for himself after that was the problem. My suggestion was that from now on his meals would be served on a normal sized dinner plate (instead of the large meat platter he preferred - as it held more food!!). He agreed to that.

Supper was then two thin sausages instead of two thick ones, a few less chips, one egg instead of two, and the normal baked beans. Quite enough to fill a normal plate.

For afters made him a huge fresh fruit salad (clementines, kiwi, apples, grapes....) enough for two helpings but he ate the lot during the evening, but managed to stay away from anything more 'fattening'. Also made him some blackcurrant jelly and blackcurrant EasyYo yogurt for desserts later in the week. By Friday he had lost 3lb!

Am still trying to keep his food within normal levels, but he is sneaking back into the kitchen to snack again, so am just hoping he has enough self-control to hold off from time to time. Even using a smaller plate might just be enough. Let's hope so.

At least the 'free' time I found myself with was used sensibly. I sorted out all the drawers in my kitchen cupboard (a little one that just fits under one end of the table, handy for me to reach) where I keep all my baking 'aids' such as different sized plastic bags (for freezing, boil in bag, for soup etc), the foil and baking parchment, cling-film and layering tissue, and also my scone cutters. Now I know exactly where everything is.

Even found time to go into the bedroom and sort out boxes that hadn't been cleared since we moved in over 2 years ago! Found the booklet that explained how my camera works, and now realise I can zoom in and out and also take close ups (even videos and sound if I want). Hopefully better photos will soon appear on the blog because of this.

Perhaps the best thing to happen during the past few days was when I decided to cook salmon for B's supper, served with spicy couscous in Sweet Gem lettuce 'cups'. I'd made too much couscous, so made enough for two helpings of the 'spicy', with still half a bowl left over.

Having saved one helping of 'spicy', decided to experiment with that first, so added a beaten egg and popped it into the frying pan in the hope of making a type of 'tortilla/frittata, but the couscous was too moist, so broke another egg on top and stirred this in, and as this began cooking immediately it touched the hot food, it ended up very similar to egg fried rice. This I found worth a mention as the idea could be used if you have run out of rice.

Next day decided to use up the plain couscous, and again make it into something 'that would fry'. So to firm it up added some dry Smash (instant potato), which then made it far too crumbly, like breadcrumbs, so then added a good gloop of brown sauce, which then made it a bit too moist, ending up tipping in a little plain flour which made it just right. You will understand by then I felt as though I was Goldilocks.

Have to admit the reason why I was able to add the above was that I'd left all of them on the table (begin too lazy to put them away at the time), so was reminded to use them. Another useful tip. Keep things where you can see them!

The mixture was able to be moulded together to resemble a beefburger (or two), and these I fried. Because of the brown sauce they looked like they were made of meat, even tasted as though they were, so this is another useful 'make-over' that might suit vegetarian palates. I certainly enjoyed them. Very much.

The trade mag this week is massive, being a 'special' due to it celebrating its 150th anniversary, so have marked the interesting bits, and will be mentioning these over the next few days.

What is perhaps more useful is this bit of info read in our Sunday newspaper - from an article about the rising cost of food, this showing the best time to shop to get the cheapest prices. As I buy on-line this is not something I've checked myself, am presuming the discounts are on fresh and chilled produce, but any readers who have shopped during the times below and have discovered them to be the most 'money-saving', then please let us know for it seems we can save a heck of a lot of money once we get our timings right.

Tesco:

25% off between 12 - 1pm

50% off between 4 - 6pm

75% off after 7pm

Sainsbury's:

25% off 1pm

50% off 5pm

75% off after 7pm

Asda:

25% off - individual stores decide

50% off 4 - 6pm

75% off, after 8pm

Morrisons:

25% - varies, but run discounts all day, and...

...an hour before closing time up to 95% off

Waitrose:

Individual stores decide, some can cut 15%...

,,,as early as 8.30am

Can make cuts up to 80% between 2.30 and 3pm

Due to a late start (Norma doing my hair etc), will wind up for today as have a loaf of bread to bake, plus B's supper to plan (also mine) and also have to reply to the many emails sent to me (when off line) that have not yet been done. There are times I think my life is more like unpaid office work than being 'just' a housewife.

Still with a feeling of insecurity, am just hoping the gremlins stay away to let me have my normal chat with you again tomorrow. If so, hope to see you then.

Reconnnected!

2012-01-10T11:51:00.002Z

B.T. have just text me to say our phone line is now working again. The problem has been theirs, nothing to do with us - and it was a massive problem that has now only just been sorted. As my mobile phone also wouldn't work at the end of last week - was just about ready to throw in the towel. Stress I can do without!

With no way of connecting up to Broadband/Internet whilst the phone was off, I have now discovered nearly 100 emails waiting for me to read and reply to. As it is nearly lunchtime, and Eileen visiting this afternoon, it will be tomorrow before I have time to 'blog', and not necessarily early as Wednesday is Norma the Hair day, so it will probably be late morning before I manage to start writing.

At least have kept copious notes of everything interesting that has happened and that I've done, and as the trade mag was delivered on Saturday (first fortwo weeks) - along with a copy of their very first issue printed 150 years ago - have plenty to chat about. It will all take time, so bear with me until I get myself back into my old routine.

To all who have stayed the course, will later today be catching up with your comments and replying to as many as I can. Hope to meet up with you all tomorrow (if nothing else goes wrong in the meantime).

Phone still down

2012-01-06T14:16:00.000Z

Hi,

Shirley has informed me that her phone line is still down and may be for a few days yet. This has been caused due to the recent high winds taking down some phone lines in her area.

I will keep you informed as I hear any more.

Steve

Technical issues

2012-01-05T16:32:00.000Z

Hi,

Shirley is currently having issues getting on to the internet. It appears as though her phone line is not working correctly.

She will be back as soon as possible!

Steve

Disaster Strikes!

2012-01-03T08:35:00.004Z

Yesterday ended up not as planned, so before I go into the supper (and other) details, must first admit to a disaster. Even then don't think it was my fault as I followed a Jamie O's recipe as written.
My intention was to make some candied peel using some of the orange and lemon peel that I'd got in the freezer. One thing I did find after it had thawed was that it was very easy then to remove the pith by just flattening the peel on the work surface and sliding a sharp knife between pith and peel - somewhat like removing fish from its skin!

Previously had always believed that 'candied peel' (as used in baking) had some pith left on, but Jamie's recipe needed it removing. His recipe was speedy, no need to cook the peel, then leave it, then cook again, then leave it - taking two or more days until finished, this time it was first simmer the peel to remove the bitterness, the bring to the boil sugar and water, put in the drained peel then simmer for 1 hour - by which time most of the sugar syrup will have disappeared.
This I did, and discovered the peel seemed to have gone very hard, and the syrup setting as it was removed from the pan - sitting at the table, lifting each piece of peel from the syrup I ended up with fine strands of syrup all over the place - looked like I was spinning a web.

Terrified that the remaining syrup in the pan would set and be unable to be scraped off, then put some hot water into the pan and was able to bring back the thick syrup to boil into something like runny golden syrup - this then stored this in a hot sterilised jar to use later.
The empty pan then immediately filled with hot water, then placed upside down in the washing up bowl (as the sugar has set like enamel around the rim - luckily it all dissolved in time and the pan was OK to use again. Whew!)

Because I intend treating triumphs and disasters the same, thought you'd like to see a photo of the failure. I call it that, but those pieces of peel - this morning set in rock-hard glaze (which is strangely still very sticky) might - after it has stood to 'dry' for a few days (as Jamie recommended), might be able to be blitzed up in the food processor or blender to make a sort of orange/lemon flavoured fine caramel that can be sprinkled over ice-cream or on top of fruit loaves, even added to cakes as a 'flavoured sugar'. The one thing I intend NOT to do is throw it away.

Whilst taking the photo (did it this morning while the water was boiling for me to make my coffee - B is still in bed - was also show two pots and a bowl behind the tray. One of the pots now hold the white lard that I saved after roasting the potatoes last week, the other holds a slightly 'pinker' fat that came from 'roasting' sausages. B had put the tins back into the oven without cleaning them, so I was able to put them back into the cooling oven after making my bread and so re-melt the fat to save it for frying.
The third dish (a plastic tub), holds some flour. This is another of my little money-saving ideas. When making bread I first grease and plentifully flour the tin, then shake the surplus flour from the tin onto my pastry board, this I then use to dump the dough onto, giving it a final knock-down before shaping and putting it into the tin. Any surplus flour on the board is carefully swept with a soft brush (specially kept for this purpose) into a small container (the plastic tub as seen above). When making pastry, and flouring the board, surplus flour is again swept off the board and put into the same tub. This I then use again to flour tins, boards etc.
You see my problem, I can't even throw away a teaspoon or so of already used flour!!

Supper yesterday was not the chicken curry after all, mainly because (for once) I thought before I acted. It has occurred to me there was no point in using up a pack of chicken fillets because it could barely fit into the freezer, when my intention was to make a big enough batch-make with them that would lead to one or two surplus home-made ready meals that would then needed freezing? I just didn't have the space to do this. The previous day - just using 1 lb minced beef - led to me to having to find a lot more space than the beef had taken to store FIVE portions (3 chilli con carne, 2 spag bol meat sauce) in the freezer. Better I used what had already been prepared. So suggested to B (as I have so much already cooked beef frozen away) that I'd be using beef (again) so he could choose between beef curry or beef casserole. He chose the latter).
So supper was simply a matter of slicing one carrot, cutting one onion into wedges (then breaking these up), and frying them off in a little bacon fat left in the pan (Beloved having made himself some bacon sarnies for lunch). Added four baby new potatoes (cut in half) and one parsnip, cut into chunks. The thin end of the parsnips were removed and put into my 'saving for stock' bag of veggies, along with the parsnip peelings, and parsnip cores, onion and carrot trimmings. Soon will have enough veggie 'scraps' to make that stock.

Having thawed a pack of cooked diced meat (previously cooked in the slow cooker before being frozen) and also thawing a tub of its 'gravy/stock (saved from the crockpot)' - the 'tub' being a small tub that once held cream cheese - see I even keep my empty tubs - then poured the tubful into the veggies so they would cook and also soak up some of the beef flavour. When cooked these were removed from the pan and the 'stock' from the container of beef added to the pan with a spoon of Bisto Best granules to thicken, then added the beef and heated it through.
As my aim is to make even the spuds last as long as possible, had decided to make myself a bit of instant mash spuds using Smash from the larder, B then having all the 'real' ones with his meal.

Made the 'mash' whilst the meat was heating through, put the other veggies into the microwave to reheat, then put the mash into a bowl, some of the meat and gravy on top, a few of the now-hot veggies and also some peas that I'd cooked in the microwave. The rest of the veggies were put into the pan with the remaining (and most of) the meat and gravy, peas sprinkled on top, lid on and then left on a very low simmer for B to plate up for himself. He was playing games on the computer at the time, so I took my bowlful into the living room and ate my supper watching TV.

Even the small amount of veggies plus the meat, gravy etc made enough for both of us - possibly having the mashed spuds made a difference, but again a lot from a little. Not sure how it would have worked out re cost as the meat was some of DR's that had been bought AGES ago and paid for at that time with money that had been deliberately saved from a challenge such as the one starting this week (so I tend to think of this as 'free' meat - well isn't it?) The veggies (incl mash) worked out to no more than 50p total so you could say this was a 25p per head casserole.

Another thing I didn't do was make cake/biscuits, yesterday ( as planned to do) after realising that if I did, in two days they would all be eaten. When any baking has been done - and however much there is - B just can't resist it, and every time he wanders into the kitchen he just helps himself to some more. Even if in one day I've made four things, say Bakewell tart, biscuits, heavy fruit cake, and a fruit pie/crumble, he can make them last a bit longer (say three/four days), but it isn't easy for him to control his love of snacking on 'treats', and as long as he has a good supper, don't feel he needs much more. Cooking too much for him will run down my stocks too low (here I'm thinking eggs, butter, milk, cream etc - have plenty of flour), and only wish he would gain weight on all the 'goodies' he eats, then maybe he would cut down, but he never does. It is me that gains lbs just nibbling the crumbs my lord and master leaves for me. And often they are crumbs!

From the comments sent in it seems that some of you are enjoying the blow-by-blow account of my daily cooking, possibly the photos help too. So will continue, although maybe not every day as some meals are just basic enough for you to know what I'm talking about.
A quick reference to your comments before I give a recipe.

Sounds as those those small red and yellow plums grow in your local park Campfire, and free for the taking? The only thing I've seen in the very large Roundhay Park in Leeds (close to where we lived) were elderberries. Picking any 'edibles' seemed to be frowned on, maybe even not allowed there, perhaps because of the danger of eating fruit and berries that could be poisonous (horse chestnuts look exactly like sweet chestnuts when fallen from the tree), fungi could be dangerous, also many berries.

Have seen the Bento boxes being used in Japan (but only in a documentary) Lisa, where they are made and taken all over the city to various offices etc as a 'packed lunch' for the workers there.
Do love the concept of Japanese food, it is extremely flavoursome and attractive to look at, but so far have not got around to making any of it myself. Chinese I can just about manage because it is more of a mixture (in my case mess) than every 'component' being arranged decoratively.

Was interested in the American way of canning (aka 'bottling') as a way of preserving jams, jellies and pickles, especially as it seems to cause more work than necessary, because over here (and presumably in other parts of Europe et al) we just fill hot sterilized jars (first wash then dry off in the oven, then fill whilst still hot with the just cooked preserves (mentioned above), screw on the lid (these also sterilised by boiling in water - we recycle jam and other jars and lids and then when cool, label these and store). Cooked properly (as per a recipe) most of these preserves will keep for a year, and often longer without any need for further sterlizing. The hot-water method of sterilising is usually for tomatoes and fruits (and also tomato ketchup, sauces etc). Myself prefer to 'store' these by freezing anyway, cutting out the need for the more laborious 'bottling/sterilizing', so no need for any special equipment.

Cutting out 'soda' (by this I think you mean all fizzy drinks Lisa), I've been doing myself, not as a New Year resolution, but after finding the bubbles always made me feel 'bloated', gave the diet lemonade a miss and went back to drinking tap water, and feel all the better for it. My tummy must have shrunk several inches! Sometimes I dilute blackcurrant concentrate to make a drink, also occasionally drink cranberry or apple juice (bought in containers), but normally stick to water, green tea or coffee for 'refreshment' now. Yesterday - because I felt cold - stirred a teaspoon of Marmite into a mug of just-boiled water - this as good as any soup (I call it my vegetarian consomme) for warming me up, tasty too.
Mustn't forget the beetroot juice that I aim to drink daily for a week before going to have my blood pressure checked (beetroot juice helps to lower blood pressure), but it is only about an eggcupful each time, hardly worth calling a 'drink'.

Thanks also to others who wrote in. Love hearing about the meals/savings/way of life you have and everything else you share with us. Have mislaid the notes I wrote down (re replies) so am sure I've missed some names today. Forgive me if this is so. I've read all anyway, and - as ever - think of this as a head-to-head chat with each and every one of you even though don't always give a response.

My little book of 'cookery quotes' has come up with another gem: "True gastronomy is making the most of what is available, however modest".
These words from Claudia Roden, who I once was able to meet in person. We were both at a BBC arranged book signing, me with one of my BBC books, she with her 'Mediterranean Cookery' (also another cook who I'd never even heard of) . Miss Roden gave me a copy of her book, signing it: "For Shirley, to a great cook, with admiration. Claudia Roden." I was overwhelmed, this great cook thinking I was even worth speaking to. let alone 'admiring'. Me, I felt I should be the one to curtsy. Perhaps it was the way my cooking was based on making the most of 'what was available' that she found worthy, for she seemed to have read my book which was surprising to say the least.

Can't say the same for Jilly Cooper (Michael Barry, Jilly Cooper, Michael Smith and myself met up at a photo session for a Christmas cover edition of the Radio Times many years ago). She asked who I was and when I mentioned my series, turned up her nose and sniffed saying 'I never watch programmes like that!" Thankfully, I'd worked with M. Smith and we got on famously. Even Michael Barry (don't know if he knew of my prog or not) who I met for the first time was very pleasant, but J.C. ignored me for the rest of that day.
Oh, I do love name-dropping, even if it's not always to my benefit. It helps me to remember that once I might have nearly been 'someone'. Unfortunately not that memorable.

In memory of the above am today giving a slightly adapted recipe from 'Mediterranean Cookery.
as it is forwarded by "Stories abound of the Ottoman Sultans eating a whole lamb at one sitting so as to be able to satisfy the wives (and concubines) in their harem. This pilaf - the Sultan Reshat's favourite- is on record in the archives of the palace of Topkapi."
So - if you wish to serve this meal to male guests (or even just husbands), am sure they will be impressed with its history, and feel that after eating it they will have gained a few more 'macho points' to add those they already think they have.

Sultan Reshat Pilavi: serves 4
1 large aubergine, diced
salt and pepper
1 large onion, chopped
3 tblsp sunflower oil
12 oz (350g) long-grain rice
1 pint (600ml) lamb or chicken stock, boiling
1 lb (450g) minced lamb
half tsp allspice
1 tblsp pine-nuts
2 tblsp flaked almonds
1 tblsp pistachio nuts, halved
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
Sprinkle the aubergine with plenty of salt, place in a colander and leave to let the juices drip away.
Fry the onion in the oil for a few minutes until softened and just beginning to colour, then stir in the rice until it looks translucent. Add the boiling stock and a pinch of salt, stir well and cover the pan. Simmer for 18 - 20 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender (more boiling water may need to be added towards the end of the cooking time).
Season the minced lamb with salt and pepper to taste, add the allspice and knead together. Roll into small balls (the size of a hazelnut).
Fry all the nuts in a little oil in frying pan, keeping them stirred and turned so they turn a light gold without burning, then drain in kitchen paper. Add the meat balls to the oily pan and quickly fry until brown. As long as cooked through, the meat can stay slightly pink inside the balls.
Lastly, fry the tomatoes until slightly soft, then drain before mixing all the fried ingredients (nuts, meat balls, tomatoes) with the rice in the pan, giving final heat through before serving. Alternatively, serve the rice on a heated dish and pile the fried foods.

As I keep hitting a wrong button and have had to edit this three times (when it goes into draft it usually leaves wide gaps between each para and every listed item in a recipe, which means I have to lift everything back where it should be - each time I edit) am signing off before I hit another wrong button.
Today I think is the first (outside) working day of the New Year, to us domestics every day is a working day. Every holiday we seem to work twice as hard. Just wish members of the family would realise this. Am sure some do (although know of one not a million miles from where I am sitting who doesn't).
Please join me again tomorrow, and keep those comments coming.

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned!

2012-01-02T08:37:00.006Z

Yesterday saw me cooking up minced meat and veg (plus flavourings) to make up a
a batch of spag bol meat sauce, and also a batch of chilli con carne. I'd barely got the veggies on the table before I decided to write down what was done because my tendency is to use so many cost-cutting ways that are not usually mentioned with recipes given. With me it is just automatic, but realised - perhaps for the first time - it is these hints and tips that help me save the money.

Although the photos are not THAT interesting, at least it gives an idea of what was used, and - although costing out a meal is not part of the challenge, this time have done so as it proves how we can make food go even further than what we already thought.
This first photo shows the
ingredients. One and a half
large carrots, two cooking
onions and three sticks of
celery chopped up finely in
the food processor. The veg
trimmings were put into a
jug to later make stock.

The veggies (when chopped) nearly filled a 2.5pint bowl. At the side of this bowl is another containing 1 lb minced beef. Behind can be seen a packet of Mexican chilli 'Beanfeast', a can of chopped tomatoes, a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, ditto HP sauce, a can of red beans with a Bovril stock cube sitting on top.
You can also see a glass of water containing little bits of vegetables. This is my first tip. When blitzing up veggies in a food processor etc, after emptying it, there are always a few bits stuck to the sides and blade. I put cold water into the bowl, swirl it around and it rinses out the bits and the bowl is then clean enough to either just wipe dry or put into the washing up bowl with no bits to clog up the drain. This water and 'bits' I add to what I am making (needed extra water anyway)..

I've also cost out the ingredients to within a penny or two (rounding up makes it easier for me to divide, and this means the portions won't have cost quite as much as they seem (much? ha, that's a laugh - wait and see). The total comes to less than £2.00!! And that's including the 'extras' added to give more flavour (mentioned later).

How I cooked the meal (which includes more tips) comes after this next photo which shows the end result - three good portions each (that's B size portions) of chilli con carne, and three portions of spag bol sauce. Each weigh a fraction under 8 oz (say 220g) and work out at around 34p each. Compare this with the cost of a similar 'ready-meal' (some may include pasta).

The three 'chillis' and two spag bol meat sauces were cooled and frozen. One tub (the open one on the right) was saved for B's supper. Intending to be served with pasta penne and a sprinkling of Parmesan, expected this would make a good helping to satisfy B's appetite. Then suddenly had an inspiration.
For a change why not fill some cannelloni (pasta) tubes I had in a kitchen cupboard (been there months and never uses), so I got down the pack and there was enough meat sauce in the one contaner to fill 8 tubes (each about 5" long) - silly me didn't take a photo, but can assure you that after putting the filled tubes into a shallow and greased ovenproof dish, then covering with a cheese sauce, more grated cheese on top, and - after cooking in a hot oven until the cheese was brown and bubbling , this - served with a small side salad - made a very good supper for both Beloved AND me (B had five tubes, I had three - and believe me three was almost too many). So that 34p 'portion' of spag bol sauce served as 'cannelloni' then worked out at 17p per head.

Now the way I cooked the above. The veggies were put into a frying pan with a very little little oil (not costed) and sauteed for several minutes under cover (this way they 'steamed' rather then fried). The meat (normally fried) was put into a saucepan with the veggie 'rinsings', plus the can of chopped tomatoes and the beef stock cube. Cooking mince this way keeps all the 'grains' separate (then tend to clump together when fried).
After simmering both pans for about 10 or so minutes, then removed a third of the veggies from the frying pan and set this aside. Got a slotted spoon and removed most of the minced beef from the saucepan, adding this to the 2/3rd veggies in the frying pan. Stirred together then added a good dash of W. sauce and also HP sauce. As it tasted a bit bland, did add a couple of teaspoons of Bisto Best gravy powder to give a more meaty flavour, also a couple of 'ice-cubes' of tomato paste that I'd frozen with some chopped basil. It then tasted fine.

To the saucepan of 'tomato liquid' and beef 'grains' left in it, added the pack of Beanfeast. Cooked that for 15 minutes (needed to add a bit more water). Felt it lacked 'umph' so added a little chilli powder (could have used Tabasco), then finally added the can of (drained) red beans. Job done on both counts. All that was needed was to divide the two up equally between as many portions as it would make. (There was probably enough for half a portion more, but as I kept 'taste-testing' as it was being made, blame me for eating that!).

When it came to using the can of chopped tomatoes, a little cold water was put into the can and rinsed out to be added to the pan. Same with the beans. The HP sauce bottle was just about empty. But the dregs have been kept, as next time will remove the lid, rinse it out with water and add this to either a casserole or next batch of 'meat sauce'. I do the same with almost empty tomato ketchup containers, as all 'gloopy' sauces leave residue stuck at the bottom and sides, but easily rinsed out (add a bit of warm water and give a very good shake). All these add flavour. Why throw it away?

I'd mentioned to B that I was aiming to make his portion of spag.bol sauce for 50p. Think he felt he'd not get much for that. However, his five cheese-sauce coated Cannelloni with a small side salad (the salad being the end of a bag of w'cress, baby spinach, rocket (needed using up) with the last third of an 'old' red bell pepper, really made a good plateful (and now wish I'd photographed it for you to see, but will make it again from one of the frozen spag.bol portions, so you can see a pic then) and he came and told me how good it was. I'd even dressed the salad with some balsamic and cranberry 'drizzle'. Our daughter gave me a bottle of this bought at Barton Grange some many months ago, and it was really gorgeous, so when the bottle was empty, filled it with half and half balsamic vinegar and some cranberry juice (from a carton) and after giving a good shake it made my own version, and it really tastes very good.
To make sure B felt he'd had a good meal, suggested he microwaved one of the small individual Christmas puddings we have left and eat that with some extra-thick cream. Which he did. He was quite a happy bunny after all that! Think he was even too full to make himself his usual snacks, even though I had cooked a loaf during the day. Yes managed to do that to - the whole supper from start to finish, plus a loaf, all done in less than 3 hours. Ues. well, suppose if you are a reader who prefers to shove a bought ready-meal in the microwave for speed, suppose 3 hours is a long time, but then as the above has made five more meals that will thaw and reheat in the microwave in about the same time a 'ready-bought', have plenty of days when I too can sit and twiddle my fingers, so yah boo and all that to those who just can't be bothered.

This current challenge - just making do with what I've got - isn't really a matter of how much any meal/portion will cost, it is just making the food go as far as possible. Yesterday the 1lb minced beef (normally the amount to feed four) was then - with the help of veggies, beans and TVP made into six portions. One portion now proved to feed two (a la cannelloni). Just thought you might find the costing interesting, and how it came about. Don't expect a blow by blow version of every meal made. Sometimes may only give it a mention. But you will know what is made each day so you can - if you can be bothered - work out how fast (or slow) my stores are depleting.

Regarding the absence of costing, as another meal may cost LOADS more than the above (example a lamb shank in the freezer will have cost me £2.50 (Tesco's packs of 2 for £5 - still cheaper than from the butcher and take less time to cook) not counting the cost of any veggies, the cost of each meal comes under 'swings and roundabouts'. Some are cheap, some very cheap, some almost free. With an expensive one served now and again. With this challenge it's all about how long the foods already bought will last, not how much each portion cost. As long as my money stays in my purse, that's all I care about.

Incidentally, as I'd filled the cannelloni tubes in the morning, and knowing the pasta would swell and split if left as-is, made up the cheese sauce and spooned this over the filled tubes (ready in the buttered dish) to keep the pasta moist. When cool, sprinkled grated cheese on top. When ready to cook supper, put the dish in a cold oven so it would heat up the filled pasta as the oven warmed up, and then brown off the cheese topping when at the right heat (200C). This saved a few minutes 'fuel' time when cooking.

Today am making up some candied peel. Probably also some biscuits/cakes. Maybe some crumble mix to store in the fridge, and that may mean a fruit crumble for supper.
By the way, forgot that there was a punnet of seedless green grapes in the fridge, these should have been included with my fruit 'display' yesterday. B tends to eat some with his cheese and biscuits, so doubt they will last that long.

Have not yet decided what the main meal will be tonight. Not beef as we had that yesterday, so probably chicken. Maybe a chicken curry as pack of chicken 'fillets' (trimmed from the back of chicken fillets bought in bulk a month ago - so counted as 'almost free') fell out of the freezer when I opened the door yesterday. Shoved it back, but it obviously is unstable as it doesn't have a place to fit securely so might as well use it. Should make enough for me to have some too, and if the curry is padded out with carrots and onions, could even make an extra portion to freeze (and yes, it's OK to freeze meat that had already been frozen as long as the meat is frozen raw, then thawed and cooked). All I have to do is decide which jar of curry sauce should be used. Am beginning to enjoy this challenge. Let us hope after the first week is over the fun won't go out of it. We will have to wait and see.

Some (sort of ) good news. B came back from his social this weekend where one or two ladies there said how gorgeous my marmalade was, and my gingerbread was to die for (both made recently for their 'craft fair'). Towards the end of this month the club is having an 'Italian' meal, so B has suggested I make the Tiramasu, and he also asked me if could I make more marmalade and gingerbread for him to take? He said he would pay me for the ingredients, but as I already have them, said it would be my donation (if necessary he can pay for the eggs and fats, the rest of the ingredients - sugar, flour, spices, syrup, Mamade....have in abundance). Am then hoping to get orders for marmalade and cakes in the future. Costing much less than any sold over the counter.

Think I'm getting the hang of this 'use it up', better this year than in previous years - ideally using some fresh veg, some frozen meats, some cans or ingredients from the larder, then put the lot together. Otherwise the fresh - which includes frozen meat/fish - goes too soon and all I'm left with are cans and dry goods.

Some interesting comments today. Lynne has mentioned making spag.bol to use up some mushrooms. Myself toyed with the idea of adding mushrooms to yesterday's spag bol sauce, but decided against as I can use the mushrooms in another dish. Anyone who has mushrooms that are almost past their best can either dry them off in a low oven to keep in airtight containers and reconstitute in water later, or very finely chop them, add them to a very finely chopped shallot, and gently fry off in a little butter until all the moisture has evaporated (can take up to an hour), this makes a type of mushroom 'pate' (aka 'duxelles), which can be then frozen away in ice-cube trays to later be added to a beef casserole to add flavour, or thawed and spread on top of beef fillet before being coated in puff pastry (Beef Wellington - although I can't afford to buy fillet so it's just a suggestion), or even - when thawed, used as a 'toast topper'.

Where do I store my veggies asks Campfire. Lettuce, white cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese leaves, bags of small spuds are all kept on one shelf in the fridge. Still in their wrappings, although some (like cauli) are partly wrapped. With the wrappings off they would dry out too fast. As there is room above, place on top of the heavier veg the lighter ones such as the punnet of mushrooms, maybe a bag of mixed leaves or watercress, bell peppers, cucumber....
In the salad drawer beneath the shelf store the carrots - still in bags, but the bags split to allow some air, otherwise the carrots can go soggy and mouldy. Removed from bags they then dry out, so do need some protection. Same with parsnips also kept in the drawer. Celery kept there too - in its wrapper, one end open. Vacuum beetroot kept in the drawer although it could be anywhere in the fridge. Bell peppers keep better in the drawer than on the shelf above for some reason, and I also keep individually cling-wrapped lemons and limes in the drawer.
The food photographed looked quite a lot, but apart from that kept elsewhere, it all fits onto one square shelf and in one small square drawer.

The onions are kept in an open basket on top of the washing machine in the kitchen. Unused butternut squash also kept in the basket (once cut it will have the cut end covered with cling-film and then kept in the fridge). By piling up the onions towards one end of the basket gives me more room, so can also store my tomatoes there too, as don't like to keep them in the fridge - it doesn't improve their taste.
Large baking potatoes are kept in a small cloth sack (bought from Lakeland) this at the moment sitting in a small deep basket on top of our small freezer, although the bag is often put elsewhere, even under the kitchen table. As I said before, the baby 'new' potatoes are kept in the fridge.

It is said that keeping spuds in the freeze eventually makes the starch change to sugar. Perhaps it does, but I find that even six weeks or so in the fridge doesn't seem to change their flavour. These are also kept in their bags or they tend to soften.
The small potatoes, especially the 'salad' spuds are waxy. The large baking potatoes are floury.
Sometimes we are able to buy bags of cheap spuds that are middling size - or small - and don't really know which they are. Although not always necessary to know it can help for the 'floury;' ones break up easily when cooked for a long time, the waxy ones don't, and so use the floury ones for thickening a casserole. Some recipes use both, the floury to thicken and the waxy to stay whole.
So - if you're not sure which type of spuds you have (floury are high in starch so good for mashing and baking), or waxy (lower in starch, so good for boiling and salads), dissolve 2 tblsp salt in 11 fl oz (300ml) water and drop a potato into it. A floury spud will sink, and a waxy one will float (you can store this liquid in a bottle for testing many times - but remember to label it). Medium-starch potatoes, commonly described as 'all-rounders' are best for roasting and for making chips.

The TV prog 'Housewife '49' has Victoria Wood playing the part of Nella Last (the housewife) and anyone who saw the programme would certainly enjoy her books (diary of her war years and beyond).

Thanks for letting us know about Heston B's programme (series?) on Channel 4 Les. Am sure you will be interested to know that the new Lakeland catalogue is showing a kit where we can do Heston-type experiments, such as making food bubbles, foam etc. It comes with a DVD to show 'how to', this I believe can also be watched on the Lakeland website. Am sure you - of all our readers - will the one most tempted.

Know what you mean about finding fruit etc at the bottom of your freezer that needs using up Alison. The easiest way with a glut is to make jams and preserves.
When we lived in Leeds had 100lbs of apples from just one tree each autumn, and add to that a garden infested with bramble bushes growing under every hedge and also right down the drive,(giving lbs and lbs of huge juicy berries), we also had loads of redcurrants, raspberries, rhubarb, blackcurrants so you can visualise I too then had shelves and shelves full of different jams and jellies, not to mention marmalade, many of these having to be given away. At that time I hadn't been diagnosed with diabetes, so could happily work my way through at least some of them side by side with B.
Still love making jams and marmalades, although - perhaps luckily - we don't now have so much home-grown fruit, so the supply is just about right for B and some 'give-aways'.

Not sure how heavy your £6.99 gammon weighed Susan G, but have a 1.5kg one in my freezer that cost me £7. (This was top price as it was close to Christmas, previously have seen them sold at half-price, and this is when I would normally buy). Having an electric slicer means this size ham goes much further than when sliced by hand. Some months back took a photo to put n my blog that showed how many slices could be got from one of this weight, and can always show it again if anyone wishes. The idea then was not to cook the gammon as a 'roast', for eating in 'chunky' slices, but to compare with the price of pre-packed ham slices. Naturally the home-cooked worked out far, far cheaper.

So that's it for today, now must toddle off into the kitchen to start today's 'use it up' and tomorrow you can find out what I've done. Hope you will be interested enough to log on and find out. If so, see you then.

More Stores!

2012-01-01T07:12:00.005Z

Managed to get most of my fresh produce on the kitchen table to be photographed, the only things missing are a small fabric sack of large baking potatoes (8 spuds but each large enough to feed two), and 7 lemons and 7 limes that had been cling-wrapped and are kept in the fridge.
All the produce in the photos, except the onions, butternut squash, and fruits are stored in the fridge, and have to say in there most of them keep for weeks.

The first two photos show veggies/salad etc that were put on two trays side by side, so to get close enough for everyone to see what was there, took two photos - this means the produce on the right side of the first photo will be the same ones as seen on the left of the photo following. Think you will understand this when you start looking.

The first pic shows two cauliflowers, (one delivered recently, the other delivered in a previous order - shows how well they keep). The outer leaves/core of these will be kept to later turn into 'cauliflower soup'. On the same tray (left of picture) is a bag of six parsnips, and next to that a bag containing Chinese leaves (this also from a previous delivery). In front is a white cabbage, and three 'clumps' of celery hearts.
Between this tray and the next is tucked a whole head of celery (I find celery one of the most useful veggies to have and it keeps so well).

On the second tray (on the right) is a bag containing two 'Sweet Gem' lettuce, at the side of this a bag of Baby 'new' potatoes. Below are four tomatoes resting on a punnet of chestnut mushrooms, on the left of this are two red bell peppers. Below are four packs of vacuum packed 'long-life' cooked beetroot.
Continuing with the second photo, we see some of the above again plus two cucumber halves, a butternut squash, 2 kg carrots, some more baby spuds (total 2 kg baby spuds in all). You can just see the bottom of my balance scales at the top right.

There was not enough room to show the onions as I keep these in a very large basket that sits on top of the washing machine, so took a separate photo of these (seen below), have just a few red onions, a few shallots. one large mild flavoured onion, and the rest are just 'cooking onions' (cheapest to buy and a stronger flavour so only need to use one at a time).
Next is a photo of the fresh fruit (remember this does not include the lemons and limes). Basket on tray on the left holds four large oranges, seven clementines, four kiwi fruit and two avocados. Four bananas in front (there are two more unripe bananas in the fridge - they last a bit longer when kept in there, flesh still firm although the skins discolour).The basket on the right holds 3 Bramley apples, four red Gala apples, the rest are a mostly Granny Smiths with a couple or so Golden Delicious.

Suppose frozen veg could be called 'fresh', so have to include the ones in the freezer as 'produce'. These being two bags of garden peas, one of Brussels sprouts, a part-bag of broccoli, and the same of string beans. One bag of oven chips. Frozen fruit in containers or bags, separately holding blackberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, and raspberries.

Even the above is now a bit depleted as last night I ate one of the clementines and a kiwi fruit. Also B and I shared a pack of the beetroot as it was past its date (still OK though). Myself also had a jacket potato.

It even grieves me to start using what's in store. How silly is that? Yesterday Beloved wandered into the larder to get himself a can of Baxter's Scotch Broth, and I had a can of baked beans (with the jacket potato). So alread a gap here and there has appeared.

At least I have an unopened pack of dried haricot beans, these - when soaked and cooked in a tomato sauce will equal several more cans of baked beans, so won't feel that deprived. Must give a mention to Tesco's cheap baked beans, to me they are ALMOST as good as Heinz Beanz, so from now on will be buying the cheapos instead of the more expensive (unless my home-cooked turn out even better AND cheaper).

Although the 'challenge' has to some extent already started (as no food has been bought since the delivery before Christmas we've had to eat SOMETHING), today it really HAS to begin. Last night brought out two packs of minced beef that I intend turning into spag bol meat sauce and also chilli con carne, with the hope of making enough to freeze away several portions for B's suppers. Probably we will eat some today. I might even extend the chilli by using a pack of 'Mexican chilli' Beanfeast. Not forgetting the can of red beans that makes the meat go so much further.

Also intend making a chunky soup using carrot, celery, and onion, maybe even turning part of it into a Minestrone. We are running out of bread, so another loaf needs to be baked today. Also have run out of cake, biscuits and desserts, so looks like being a busy day for me today.

There are 2 x 10 boxes of large eggs in the fridge, plus another 10 at room temperature. Plenty of fresh milk (I always buy 3 x 4 litre containers semi-skimmed fresh milk - keeps well in the fridge - and also have at least 6 litre packs of UHT milk, some semi some full cream milk. Plus a large packet of dried milk. Also four tubs of UHT double cream and four tubs (assorted) of extra thick double, ordinary double, and whipping cream. Plus a can of 'squirty' cream.

In the fridge are 3 packs x 12 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, plus a few more rashers left in an opened pack. Half a pack of thinly sliced chorizo. Plus plenty of butter (for B) and unsalted butter (for baking) and Stork marg (also for baking), plus a large tub of Clover. Not forgetting three tubs of low-fat cream cheese, and one each pack of Cheddar, Red Leicester, halloumi, and Feta cheese. Two tubs and one block of Parmesan. So now it is just a matter of putting things together to make 'things to eat'. Think its going to be fun.

Must thank you all for your comments, mainly New Year greetings, so a 'blanket' thanks to all who sent these. Les has given details of a soy milk maker, and although this 'milk' ends up dearer than cows milk, the home-made may work out less than buying 'ready-made' soya milk. Or it could be the US 'maker' is cheaper than those here in the UK.

Was gob-smacked when I read that Alison has 76 jars of assorted preserves stored in her garage. Thought my shelf full of jams was a few too many (forgot at the time of writing up the larder contents to mention the marmalade is kept on one of the shelves across the end of the larder). But then, as it is only Beloved that eats the sweet stuff, and as I do give some away when freshly made, it will take him a full year to work though what I have stored (although do need to make more marmalade - he prefers that to jam on his breakfast toast).

Must have hit the wrong button somewhere for I now can't type out a recipe without a double or triple space between each line, so will have to wait until tomorrow, then will begin with 'things we can make from what we already have', in the hope of filling up any gaps that will keep appearing on our shelves. As I've said before, gaps on larder shelves makes me feel uneasy.

We had planned to have a fairly quite evening watching TV yesterday, but 'upstairs' had a party, which included children who seemed to be spending the time jumping over things and landing on the floor with great thumps. All night long. Beloved came into our dining room (which is under their kitchen), but the children still kept running from room to room so not a lot better. In the end he went to bed. I stayed up to watch Stephen Fry's 100 favourite gadgets - quite interesting, and as this ran into New Year heard 'upstairs' singing Old Lange Syne, then other houses in the street let off fireworks. Watched a bit of Poirot (but seen it before) so then took myself off to bed. Peace and quiet everywhere so expect all the residents of our small street are sleeping off their celebrations. Myself - once Gill has phoned me at 9.00am - will be busy working in the kitchen, and you will hear more about that tomorrow.

With New Year's Day normally a Bank Holiday, and as this time it is on a Sunday, no doubt that means tomorrow will be the Bank Holiday. Still no trade mag, so it may well be next weekend before they begin publishing again. Can't wait to see what we have to look forward to (not!) these next few months.

For those who feel that to cook well we need to have the right equipment, then you might be relieved to read these two comments written by renowned chefs and cooks:

"The dangerous person in the kitchen is the one who goes rigidly by weights, measurements, thermometers and scales. All these scientific implements are not much use, the only exception being when making pastry and jam, where exact weights are important."

"The fact is that it takes more than ingredients and technique to cook a good meal. A good cook puts something of himself/herself into the preparations - cooking with enjoyment, anticipation, spontaneity, and always willing to experiment. "

Something worth thinking about. Enjoy your day, join me tomorrow and - over the coming year - together we will work culinary miracles and save loadsa money whilst doing so.

This Time Tomorrow!

2011-12-31T08:00:00.002Z

This time tomorrow am just hoping I'll be a lot more organised than I have been this year. So far only my larder gets that treatment. I need to be more focused when deciding what meals to make each day. Having already got the 'makings', it would make more sense to plan a weekly menu, esp as I do tend to make my mind up almost at the last minute - which doesn't always help.

As I still didn't get around to photographing the 'fresh produce' (see what I mean about not doing things when I had planned to), this will definitely happen today. The camera was showing 'low battery' when last used, but on checking this morning (it is kept in the desk drawer by my side) it seems to have enough power to take the photos, but if B is going out will get him to bring spare batteries back with him (he uses them too). He may already have some - somewhere! If so he probably won't remember where he put them anyway.

Was pleased that B eventually did the washing up, although not all of it. As per usual he left all the pots and pans and dishes used for mixing, boiling and roasting, just washing the plates, serving bowls and cutlery. But at least that helped, apart from he had stacked all the clean ones onto the kitchen table for me to put away, and left all the cutlery still in the draining tray. It was because of that I was put off doing the produce photo as the table needed clearing first, and I didn't feel like doing it right then. Most of it has now been put away, so if I can keep B away from the kitchen this afternoon (hopefully some footie matches on TV or a film he can watch) then I can stay in the kitchen to 'have a play'.

Also planning to sort out my freezer/s and find out just what I've got left in there (they are both full), also plan to bulk-make meals using some of the beef mince (chilli con carne, spag bol, curry etc), so that there is a meal to re-heat for B rather that having to make one from scratch. Quite often there are good cookery progs on (or repeats of Midsomer Murders, or Poirot) on when I should be doing the cooking, and really don't like to miss watching them. We don't have a DVD recorder or anything like that. I know that many repeats of progs can be watched via the various TV websites, but somehow find this not as appealing as when sitting watching the TV in the normal way, perhaps because there is no easy chair in here to snuggle into, also the room is quite cold.

Thanks to those who send New Year Greetings, and although they may be taking a day off from 'comp. reading', hope they manage to catch up with any posts they have missed.

It was Lisa who has sent several comments, and these have prompted a reply. How different cooking can be from one country to another. The black (turtle) beans sounded as though they had a lot more flavour than the normal (dried) beans. Not sure if these are the same as the small black beans we can buy. Do hope so.

The soy milk maker sounded an excellent buy as it appears to make soy milk for one fifth of the price of bought. Am presuming it begins with soy powder that is diluted with milk, or maybe even soy beans are used. Please describe it further Lisa, it may be the same 'equipment' is for sale over here.

Your mention of red sky in the morning reminded me of an old (traditional) saying of ours. Maybe the Pilgrim Fathers took this saying with them. "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight, red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning". Having said that, noticed over the last few years, when dawn rose showing a very beautiful red/orange sky (looked like a magnificent sunset), the weather stayed very fair. For days.

As to my storage jars. At one time always used to label them, now - if storing dry goods that I need to be reminded of cooking times 'as per instructions on packet', just cut up the packet and keep the instruction bit and put that in the top of the jar before sealing with the lid. Sometimes I cut the name of the product from the front of the pack and slide that into the jar between whatever and the glass, so I can read what it is.
Instead of now using labels, I write the name of the contents directly onto the glass using a black marker pen. This can be easily washed off when the jar is empty and if wishing to store something else inside. If I don't like seeing the labels or writing, I just turn the jars round so the clear side faces outwards.
Nothing wrong with labels, but I'm so finicky about everything looking good on my shelves, if the labels aren't exactly the same height on each of the same-sized bottles, it really irritates me.

Obviously some bottle-contents don't need labelling, but when there is such little difference in appearance between 'soft brown sugar' and 'light muscovado sugar', they jars need marking.

Still with Lisa, I now ask what are 'bento' lunch boxes? An am presuming the boiled eggs you mentioned are soft-boiled so the whites are soft enough to be pushed into shaped moulds (but wouldn't the whites tend to break?). Another question coming up. What is a Mexican Wedding Cake? And not sure what a 'tamale' is (something about hot chilli peppers comes into my mind, and maybe something to do with tortillas, but that's as far as my brain can reach at the mo.)

When the Amish series was show, we saw many of the women 'canning'. Now to us, 'canning' is storing in tin (or metal cans). Do remember that we could buy canning equipment to do just this. Now it seems that the US canning is what we always call 'bottling', and perhaps because of the danger of not doing the sterilising correctly (tomatoes not done correctly can cause botulism), few rarely bother doing this. Maybe we find the freezer is a simpler alternative.

Liked the idea of a 'rice crispies' cake as a base for icing, minimiser deb. It doesn't have to be a tier for a wedding cake, it would make a perfect birthday cake for small children. 'Crispie' cup cakes could also be decorated as we would normal cup-cakes.

Not sure what the 'sausage thingy' was that you mentioned Campfire, but possibly was the one mentioned in the book that I'd 'invented'. This came about when I realised that flour, when mixed with protein and liquid was able to be poured out and cooked as a pancake. Normally the protein in pancakes would be egg and milk, so I experimented using other proteins, mashed up baked beans with flour and liquid... and the same with one sausage/liquid/flour. Believe me, this also worked and with one sausage was able to make three thin 'sausage flavoured' pancakes, each served wrapped round a filling of salad (as we make a tortilla wrap) and made a good snack for three people.
The same pancakes - served wrapped round a veggie filling - could be put into a small oven-proof dish, have cheese sauce poured on top, grated cheese scattered over, and this would make a substantial lunch or supper dish for one - maybe two if served with a side salad. Another way of making a little go that very much further.

Am always hunting for recipes that can use up what I've got. The problem is - do YOU have the same bits and bobs in your cupboard? Sometimes I wonder if I should write up a list of ingredients we should ALL keep in store, then give only recipes that use these.
Many old cookbooks do list up foods 'we should have', and even cookery mags today (esp at this time of year) list up all the foods we need to buy to make the recipes in that particular issue. Myself find this off putting as it would encourage me to buy those I don't already have, and would prefer to use a different (but similar) ingredient in its place.
This is one reason why I try to suggest alternatives in many of the recipes posted on this site, and the one that follows can easily be adapted in this way.

Basically, this recipe is a fruit loaf, but you could use less fruit, or vary the dried fruit you use (instead of using the recommended sultanas, raisins, or mixed dried fruit, chop up dried dates, prunes, apricots etc), or mix any dried fruits together to weigh the amount shown, and you don't even have to stick to that weight, use less if that's all you have. Keep the other ingredient weights the same if you can.
Many recipes suggest using golden caster sugar, I normally use the plain white caster, or - if you have a blender - you could whizz demerara down to make your own 'golden' caster sugar (whizz granulated down in the same way to make caster sugar, whizz this down further and it will make icing sugar).

Many tea-loaves are made with cold tea. Ordinary cold tea is fine. If you have flavoured tea (Earl Grey, Green Tea...) or herbal teas (the fruit flavoured kind are best), use these as they will give a much more interesting flavour to a cake, and if you are like me - you probably have some 'herbal' teas that you never really fancied and they have ended up sulking at the back of a shelf.
A whole orange is used in this cake, but no reason why just the zest isn't included (esp. if the orange is large as this will add enough flavour) then use the segments for something else. Instead of juice just add a few drops of vanilla extract with a little water. Another adaptation would be to use half the zest of one large orange, half its juice, and then use the remaining zest and juice for the syrup and omit the lemon.

Right - now I've given some suggestions as to how to adapt the recipe (it being my adaptation of one of Jamie Oliver's), let's begin, then you make up your own mind what to do with it.
Tea Loaf: serves 12
6 Earl Grey (or other - see above) tea-bags
half pint (300ml) boiling water
14 oz (400g) dried mixed fruit (see above)
zest and juice of one orange, or zest only (see above)
1 large egg
11 oz (300g) golden caster sugar (see above)
14 oz (400g) self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
half tsp ground cinnamon
7 fl oz (200ml) water for the syrup
zest and juice of 1 lemon
Take four of the teabags and put into a jug with the half-pint of boiling water, then leave for 5 minutes to brew. Remove the bags.
Put the dried fruit into a bowl with the orange zest, then pour in the hot tea, give a stir then cover and leave to soak for several hours - even better leave to soak overnight - so most of the liquid is taken up by the fruit.
When ready to make the fruit loaf, whisk the egg and stir into the bowl of fruit, adding 7 oz (200g) of the sugar. Sift together the flour and spices and add the orange juice (if using). If there is some tea left in the bowl that the fruit hasn't soaked up, this could take the place of the orange juice, or add a little water. The aim is to end up with a dough-like mixture that is very slightly dry.
Spoon this into a greased and lined loaf tin (a size that would hold 1 ltr/1.75 pints water) and bake in the oven for 1 hour 10 mins (give or take a few minutes) until cooked through. Test it is done by sticking in a skewer in the centre and if it comes out clean it will be cooked. If not, cook for a further 5 or so minutes.
While the tea loaf is cooking, make some syrup by putting the remaining 2 teabags into a pan with the 7 fl oz (200ml) water, and the zest and juice of the lemon. Over low heat, bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes, then removed the teabags. Raise heat to medium then - without stirring -let the liquid for 5 - 10 minutes or until reduced by half to give a golden syrup. Remove from heat and set aside.
As soon as the tea loaf is baked, use a cocktail stick/skewer or fork prongs to make lots of little holes on the top, then slowly pour the syrup all over it. Leave the loaf in the tin until all the syrup has been absorbed, then turn out, and place on a cake airer to cool completely.
Serve sliced, plain or buttered, at tea-time, or later with a good wedge of cheese (Wensleydale goes well with this) for an evening (or after dinner) snack.

As B has managed to finish all the ice-cream, Bakewell Tart, and triple cheese quiche, feel it is time for me to make him another 'treat', and possibly will make the above (due to the soaking of fruit it won't be ready to eat until tomorrow), and probably some biscuits to keep him going in the meantime. Or maybe another cake, apple pie, fruit crumble, trifle, or, or, or....

I just can't keep pace with the amount B eats, and just wish I could eat that much - he never seems to gain weight on it, other than a few pounds. Me, I've put back a good half-stone over the last month, due to eating 'normal' meals again (despite my helpings being smaller than average). Too many carbos and not enough protein I suspect. Come New Year I will eat less again, lose those pounds and by doing this, the food stores will last that little bit longer. No doubt most readers will have gained a bit of weight over Christmas, so eating less can help lose both sorts of 'pounds', the lbs and the ££s. What I call a 'win-win' situation.

Watching recent documentaries and requests for help for the starving nations on TV, made me feel that many readers would think it is obscene of me to keep so much food in my larder and fridge/freezer when so many have to do without. Have even thought that myself, but then as I give monthly AND annual donations to various charities (Oxfam, and charities that help/teach Third World nations to grow their own produce etc) feel that it's not just me, me, me that I'm thinking about.
Having stores in my larder is my 'survival kit', and strangely find that when I take on my usual 'start the year' challenge of using them up, despite all the money that is being saved by doing this, find it also rather unnerving as the shelves become empty. It will take a lot of self-control not to start filling them up again, although if there is a chance of making a 'very good purchase' (say one of Donald Russell meat offers) may use some of my savings to buy these, but then put them away in a special freezer drawer to be untouched until the rest of my meat/fish stores are depleted.
We will just have to wait and see how long I can stay the course. And it isn't even New Year yet and already I'm feeling the stirrings of terror when I see a shelf that has space.

At least, filling bottles with freshly made candied peel, mincemeat, more marmalade (made from stocks already in the larder) will take up some of the empty space, as will (now empty) sweet tins) full of home-made biscuits. Or others with gingerbread, fruit cake.
Yes, that's the best thing to do - another role play for me 'be my own manufacturer' - and fill those shelves with my own 'stuff', then the larder will still appear to be full and my stress levels will fall.

Time for me now to get on and start 'manufacturing'. Hopefully fitting in the role-play 'photographer' sometime during the day. If I feel like 'tarting up' a dish, that means role-playing 'food stylist' as well. Looks like next year will be more acting than living a normal boring life. Could be fun.

Time now for me to give (again) Happy New Year greetings to all, for when we meet up again (hopefully you can fit in a read tomorrow), it will be January, and this time tomorrow you will see how my frugal, miserly, downright thrifty year has begun. With bells on. See you then.

Nearly New Year!

2011-12-30T08:44:00.002Z

Only a couple of days now and it will be January. Let us hope we manage to keep all our New Year Resolutions.
Many thanks to those who wrote in sending (advance) New Year greetings - mine will be sent to you in this posting, and probably again tomorrow, but being the weekend, and with maybe more parties in the offing, am sure not a lot of you will be sitting at the comp. until perhaps Tuesday (hangovers permitting!!).

Was not able to spread out my fruit and veg to be photographed, due to my belief that B would do as he said. After lunch (which went very well by the way, even B seemed impressed with the 11 different items on the plate cooked and dished up by me with what seemed hardly to be no effort at all). After lunch, I went to have a sit down whilst B took our daughter to a garden centre where she wanted to buy some half-price Christmas decorations etc (got some really good bargains too, she did). Before they left B said he would do the washing up, I said I didn't mind, I could do it while they were out, and he very firmly said No!!!", he would do it. I was to leave it for him on his return.
Far be it from me to go against my lord and master's wishes, so I left it. Didn't need to go into the kitchen again, for he even brought me some 'supper' (an orange, a piece of quiche and a slice of Bakewell). Went to bed early leaving B to carry on with his life.

This morning went into the kitchen and all the dirty plates, glasses, cutlery, pots and pans are still on the conservatory table, all over the kitchen table, on the hob, all over the place. Am assuming he decided to leave the washing up until this morning, but still have to wait before the table is clear enough for me to spread out the 'fresh' produce for it to be photographed.

It wasn't that B forgot to wash up, he could see all the mess each time he went back into the kitchen to get himself another snack (like several times during the evening), he just didn't want to do it THEN. He always likes to do things when HE wants to, never when asked. Think this gives him a feeling of power, but it is very annoying when other people are having to wait.
Yet - when B asks me to do something for him (like sew on a button or iron a shirt) he expects me to do it immediately. After many years, then told him he was a good teacher and now I'd begin to do things his way, so from then on started not doing what he wanted when he wanted. He - of course - was not prepared to wait days/weeks/years (like I had to) for an urgent job to be done, so meekly gave up and now does any of his stitching or ironing himself (not that there is much ironing to be done - think since we moved in the iron has only warmed up twice).

Good idea minimiser deb to stick on jewels, glitter etc on those crowns. They could also be sprayed with gold and silver (aerosol) paint.

Welcome back Wen, hope you are now able to reach this site again after having difficulty. Not sure how you normally get to it, but if you type in Shirley Goode in Google, it usually comes up at the top of the page listings with a mention of Taste The Goode Life, and then click on my name etc to reach the current posting. Perhaps once reached, if you can get it onto 'favourites' then it might then be easier to find.

Do hope the ice-cream is satisfactory Lynn. Let us know. A mix of eggs and single cream can also be used for a quiche (with cheese, or other filling), or poured over bread and butter (with fruit and sugar) to make a Bread and Butter pudding.
A really good dessert (my cheat's panna cotta) can be made by dissolving a packet of fruit flavoured jelly in about quarter pint (5fl oz/150ml) of hot water, cooling for a while, then making up to the pint with cream. Pour into individual moulds, then leave in the fridge to set. Unmould onto a plate and garnish with a little fresh fruit or fruit coulis if you have some.
If you use orange jelly, you could also add a dash of Cointreau (opt) and garnish with grated chocolate.

Single cream is also good swirled into a smooth soup ('cream' soup), and - if a tub of cream has been kept chilled, and not yet opened it should keep for several days beyond the date shown on the tub. I've found cream still usable a month after the date, but not suggesting others should do this. We keep our fridge at 3C, this being lower than normal and helps to keep dairy food fresher for longer.

Your mention of the houses on Sunderland Point Campfire, reminded me that when we first visited Morecambe to 'house-hunt', we were taken to S. Point and there was a house for sale there. We were tempted, but knowing the houses could be cut off twice a day due to the tide, felt that because of any sudden illness, was concerned how a doctor/ambulance could reach us (n time!). Also, it was quite a distance in road miles from the nearest (large) shops, and doubt a Tesco van would deliver. However, it would be a lovely place to live if you like the type of solitude that sea-marshes, bird-life, fishing, has to offer.

Eileen's mention of having a small kitchen and no space for (extra) storage, made me have another think. Every kitchen must have four walls (maybe two doors, one internal, one back door). Possibly one wall has a window. Other walls usually have some fitted cupboards or are just blank walls. Removing cupboard doors (even those below units), does seem to help to give more 'usable' space, for we can then instantly see what is 'in there', and arrange accordingly. Anything that will be hidden behind closed doors is more often than not just shoved inside at the front of everything else, so hides what is behind. With no doors, it is far easier to keep 'stores' more neatly arranged (be it foods or baking equipment). Narrow shelves might be able to be fitted to blank walls without protruding into a room enough to bump on them as we walk past (w have a small 'dresser' type of shelves that hang over a central heating radiator. Useful for standing on narrow loaf tins to warm up the bread when rising, also for storing other things that can stand a bit of heat.

The mention of a bookcase (to store foods) in your larder Margie, was a great idea. Even the old style, glass fronted bookcase we have in our living room, this could also hold canned and packet foods if more shelves were needed. We often see photos in mags of bookcases that have a gathered fabric placed behind the glass (hiding what is inside), so by placing a 'curtain' (could be net) behind the glass, then we too could keep stores in our living room. As to where we then keep our books. Well, that's another matter.
Luckily we do have a large floor to ceiling wall to wall cupboard in our narrow 'hall' (a now enclosed - what used to be open - porch. The bottom cupboards house the gas and 'leccy' meters, fuse boxes etc, but plenty of shelves in the cupboards above, but the top two far too high to reach without a step ladder. We store books and loo rolls and various other non-foods in there.

Daughter and I were talking yesterday about 'what to do next'. She was planning to make more Christmas decorations, crowns, tags etc from her cards, plus a new batch of mincemeat ready for next year. Think I'll follow her example. Prepare for next Christmas even though this season's Twelve Days are still only half-way through.

Was given a book on cakes (at first thought it was a book on decorative icing), that our daughter got me from M & S. She had one the same - they give them away. Realised why they were 'for free' as they were not an instruction book, it was a booklet of celebration cakes that we could order from the store.
Anyone who likes making cakes and enjoys decorating them would find this booklet very inspiring. There is no cake in there decorated beyond what most of us could manage. The soft fondant icing used makes it so easy to cover a cake (unlike the royal icing which took more time, patience and a certain amount of skill).

What really stunned me was the price we would be expected to pay for these M & S special occasion cakes. Well, we always DO have to pay a LOT when we expect other people to do the work for us, but now, with the recession, it seems a waste of money to pay for something that we should be able to make ourselves. Some of the cakes in the booklet are just plain icing, with a trimming of a couple of (real) cherries on each tier, or maybe a couple of fresh roses.

To help you start thinking about improving your cake 'skills', here are some prices. In most cases the cakes can be either all fruit, or chocolate cake or plain sponge cake (or for a three-tiered cake a combination of all three, the fruit layer being at the base to give support).
fruit cake:
small tier (10cm dia) £10 (12 portions)
medium tier (15.5cm) £24 (24 portions)
large tier (22.5cm) £40 (44 portions)
extra large tier (27.5cm) £56 (64 portions)

sponge cake (choc or vanilla) same dimensions
Small tier (£8) 8 portions
medium tier (£16) 16 portions
large tier (£30) 30 portions
ex. large tier (£44) 44 portions

One of the easiest decorated cakes to follow is a Chocolate Ganache Wedding Cake. A three-tier set of chocolate cakes, filled with chocolate ganache and covered in a choice of white or milk 'rough plaster effect' chocolate (looks exactly like the white icing we used to thickly smear on top of Christmas cakes to give a rocky, snowy effect. Nothing could be simpler to do). Top cake is 16cm dia, middle tier, 20.5cm, bottom tier 25.5. Comes fully assembled (one cake on top of another, no pillars needed), and cost one pound less than £200 (if I put the true price of £199 it would sound to cost a lot less, but isn't). The cake gives 100 portions which is just about £2 per serving.

The booklet then has a few pages of other 'special occasion' cakes, starting with cupcakes - some displayed in tiers (for a 'wedding cake' instead of the traditional tiers). The cakes are sold as 'sets' of 48 (four dozen), just vanilla sponge with an icing frosting and edible glitter. Cost £48 (£1 per cake).
A triple layer classic Victoria sandwich, filled with jam and cream and a dusting of icing sugar on top, would set us back £17.50 for 14 slices. A triple layered carrot cake filled with cream cheese, decorated with walnuts and marzipan carrots, als0 £17.50.
The rest of the booklet shows 'personalised' cakes, and these are really worth looking at for inspiration, showing all types of simple cakes that have been decorated with coloured fondant icing to make anything from dinosaurs, to fairy tale castles, pool tables and handbags. Enough ideas there to keep a family of children happy from baby-hood to the wedding feast.

Have just seen at the bottom of a page see how to handle and build your cake online: marksandspencer.tv/cake so the above might be able to be seen. Also worth looking at marksandspencer.com/foodtoorder where they might show photos of the cakes.

It is the same with many ready-meals/cakes/biscuits/preserves etc, that we might normally be prepared to buy, instead of purchasing, just let them inspire us to try making them ourselves. We all need to get our ideas from somewhere, even I can't conjure up a 'new' dish without something having lit my fuse.

When our children were small, I always made their birthday cakes, and over the years improved enough to be asked to make celebration cakes for others. Used to make (or just decorate) quite a few wedding cakes and other anniversary cakes - never charging that much. Do know that many people do the same for family, friends and neighbours, so if you have small children, use their formative years to gain the skills necessary to make their wedding cakes. Learn to sew and then you could also make the daughter's wedding dresses. You could also provide food for the reception (maybe grow your own flowers for the bouquets!!). Then no need to worry about the money when a wedding is planned. Your own could be a cut above the rest, even if the cost is low.
We home-cooks, over time, can become as skilled as any that sell their (culinary) wares. We just don't appreciate our worth. It may be much easier to employ someone to do everything for us, but this doesn't mean it is any better than we can do. Having read some of the menus for wedding buffets, have to say we should be able to provide much better for a fraction of the cost (and I do mean fraction).

There are people who will jump on me and suggest by saying all this could start to put 'people who cater' out of business. Think M & S can afford a few less cakes sold. They have other string to their bow.
Anyone who watched the TV series 'The Goode Kitchen' may remember the wedding cake I'd made, where the third (top) tier was formed from two empty packs of icing sugar stuck together (made a square shape 'block'), these then icedto match the two tiers beneath. Looked really good, and useful, especially as the top tier is never cut at the wedding (traditionally kept as the christening cake for the first child usually born within the twelvemonth following - and even then usually has to be re-iced due to the icing discolouring). Had a really unpleasant letter sent to me from the wife of a man who made/decorated wedding cakes, and said my suggestion would cause him a big loss of earnings as people who saw the programme would now not want to pay for 'proper' cake on the top, as some were already requesting this false tier.

Good that sometimes my ideas save some people money, not so good if it does harm to others. On the other hand, think a cake-decorator would get even more orders if he suggested he could provide a three-tier cake (when only two could be afforded) if he charged very little for a third false tier. Not quite 'having your cake and eating it too' but very nearly that. Every bride wishes for a three (or even four) tiered wedding cake, it's all part of the magic of the day. Now she can afford to have one (and if only the bottom tier need be 'real', the remaining tiers can all be false).

Iced 'special occasion' cakes in some confectioners windows are quite often a polystyrene block (round or square) that has been iced for display purposes only. These blocks are very useful to practice our ice-decorating skills. They can be bought especially for this purpose, or we could just upturn a pre-formed piece of polystyrene that a gift might have been packed in, and practice icing the bottom and sides (which would be flat).

Instead of making a thick (royal icing) we could make a very stiff mixture of smooth mashed potato (made with Smash is best) so that we can practice 'icing' those blobs, shells and sqiggles that tend to be used to decorate cakes. Children may also like to practice 'icing' using mash. It's cheap, it's fun, and as long as the surface is kept clean (decorate the surface of a clean plate), the potato could still end up being used (in fish cakes, potato scones etc).

Yesterday's turkey dinner, despite it having 11 different 'foods' on one plate (cranberry sauce the only one already prepared), was no harder to put together than the traditional Sunday roast of 'meat and two veg, with gravy'. As ever, it is all to do with the timing, and for this a list is necessary, start with the food that takes the longest to cook, then keep adding more to the oven when the time is right (or on the hob). Told B that cooking the meal was almost boring, as there was nothing to 'stretch' me. Even found that with no stress was able to sit down and eat a plateful myself (this being unusual as when cooking a big meal for others usually find that when it comes to serving, am too exhausted to eat).

When nearly time to serve, just wanted to re-heat the bread sauce in the microwave and the flippin' thing wouldn't work. It had been OK up until then (fortunately). Tried several times and it still wouldn't start. Suddenly realised why. I had forgotten to turn the clock dial on to the time needed. Doh! What am I like? Suffice to say it did work when I remembered what to do. Am getting as bad as B.

The last of the Amish progs was shown last night. Reminded me even more of the J.W's religion. My friend's son had been thrown out of their church due to some man telling lies about him.
He then had to be 'shunned' by his family, and they weren't allowed to have any personal contact or speak to him on the phone. A month or so later, the person who accused the son admitted to the church elders that he had lied (because he didn't like their faith and wanted to stir things up), and so the lad was then allowed back, but he refused saying that if they weren't prepared to believe his word against that of a non-believer then he had no wish to stay in the faith. Good for him.

The problem is with many of these slightly 'off-centre' religions is that too many rules are made by man-kind. The Mormans have a 'leader' they call 'the living prophet', who passes on advice/rules that come directly from God (or so it is thought), they also have their own version of a Bible. The J.W's stick more closely to the Christian Bible but still have their 'headquarters' and leaders who give their own 'advice' on how things should be done.
As was mentioned in the prog. yesterday, the young men who still agreed with the basic Amish principles, did not agree with several of the rules and regs given to them by their 'elders', who had made their own decision as what was right and wrong, and nothing to do with bible teachings. Even setting up a tent and camping out was forbidden to these young men, yet am in Biblical times many people travelled long distances and sleeping in tents (as the nomads did and still do) was an acceptable thing to do.

Think my favourite Amish family was the couple in the first episode. Others too were lovely, it was this last Swartzenbrueger (or some such similar name) branch that tended to make us think twice about their faith. It is always very dangerous when humankind put themselves into a position of giving 'godly advice' but with nothing remotely spiritual to back it up. But whatever, still admire the Amish and hope they continue living the same way for many more year (with maybe a few electrics thrown in to make life that bit easier).

No recipe today as time has run out, but maybe tomorrow. Am not taking any more time off as New Year (for me) is less about celebrating (learned yesterday that B will be out seeing the New Year in with his sailing club mates at their club house, so I'll be tucked up in bed by midnight no doubt), and a lot more about girding my loins ready for the Challenge. Just can't wait for the fun to start.
Hoping that as many readers of this site as possible will also be 'making the best of what we already have', like for weeks, even months, not days. As long as we keeping giving moral support to each other, we can work miracles. You'd better believe it!

If we don't meet again until January, Happy New Year greetings. But once 2012 is here, please keep logging on, for who know what the future has in store for us, as we may find we need to tighten our belts even further, and every tiny cost-cutting hint or tip will be needed.

As ever, I'll be back again tomorrow (you may like to know it is around noon and I can hear B starting the washing up - yippee!!), if you can join me, see you then.