Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vhalla1478 · 11 February 2015 at 7:23PM

misstara, I do hope you enjoy the sausage recipe - I'd love some feedback when/if you've time . I'm only putting on the ones I think are really good - no rubbish for Makedo and Menders!

Here's an old-fashioned dessert to try.

Peach Upside -Down Pudding

A large tin of peach slices, 3ounces butter, 6ounces brown sugar.

Batter: 4 ounces sifted plain flour, one and a half tsp baking powder, 6 ounces sugar, pinch of salt, 2 eggs, 6 tbsp. hot water, 1 tsp vanilla essence.

Drain the peach slices. Melt butter and brown sugar over moderate heat in a cake tin. Remove from heat and arrange peach slices in rows on top of the butter/sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Then add hot water, a little at a time, still beating, and finally the flour, by degrees. Beat all well until thoroughly mixed. Then fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and pour the batter over the peaches. Bake at 205 degrees/gas 6 for 40 minutes. Let the pudding stand for 5 minutes, then invert it onto a large plate but leave the tin over it for 10-15 minutes longer so that the caramel can drip over the cake. Am I allowed to say it's yummy?

Viv xx

[Deleted User] · 11 February 2015 at 7:41PM

cheerfullness4 I do my rice pudding in the SC and do it overnight so I'll turn it on just before I go to bed and in the morning my kitchen will not only smell nice it takes the chill off.I only turn my CH on as and when needed and never on the timer although my hot water comes on for two hours every morning.I have just had my combined gas & electric bill in and from Nov until this week its only been 193.71 which I am quite pleased with as its the heaviest bill and I have a fair chunk of credit left which they refund to me in June.I only pay £44.00 per month for the combined gas/electric.
Now I need some ideas,my sis-in-law came down last weekend and brought a box of wine its only a 'country manor ' box and I'm not much of a drinker (by she likes a glass or three

:):) and there is about a quarter of a box left as she didn't want to cart it home with her.Apart from chucking it down the sink !!! what can I use it for ,as i say I'm really not a wine drinker at all as I drive almost every day so don't like to have it in my system Its I think about 7.5% in strength.Neither of my DDs are wine drinkers either

GreyQueen · 11 February 2015 at 9:35PM

Hi Jackie0, could you freeze the wine in an icecube tray and use it to add heart to slowcooked casseroles etc?

I'm chuffed to have just this evening finished knitting and made up the HWB cover from pulled out jumpers (3 strands of well-worn once DK acrylic knitted together. Looks good. Haven't any means of posting pix so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Have had a jeweller restring a double-strand of my very late Grandma's costume 'pearls' from into a single strand. Neither Mum nor I could wear the doubled-strand as our necks are too big (Grandma was a twiglet) so they've been unworn, probably unworn since the 1940s. Being worn right now, it's a good feeling and they only charged £2.

I have another 'pearl' necklace of hers which they didn't want to re-string as it would have taken hours with all the very small variable sized pearl beads but the guy in the shop gave me a metre of the nylon thread they use as a freebie and said if I can string them to my satisfaction, bring them into the shop and they'll put a clasp on for me. What a superstar, I shall definately do that, and have two 'pearl' necklaces.

You can call me Hyacinth Boo-kay.

Hard_Up_Hester · 11 February 2015 at 9:52PM

Evening all
Today hubby had YS pork chops for tea, I had LO pasta.
I've finished the last of my paid for sewing jobs.
Next I need to make a start on a costume for a musical, in between I'm crocheting 2 blankets a baby blanket & a chunky one for hubby.
I'm getting more done now I'm finishing work earlier, y'day I cleaned the fridge out, I threw away one small potato, everything else was OK.
Hester

Rose_Wood · 11 February 2015 at 10:26PM

Evening Everyone,

Thank you for the nice comments about the quilt. I now want to make one for my grand daughter - but by machine. I've been given a bedspread and curtains from the seventies that is a design from the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady in cream, pink and yellow. I've shortened the curtains and hung them but the bedspread looked very old fashioned and hotel bedroomish. It was also a double. So I've unpicked the frill from round the edge and now have a quilted top which I thought I would turn into the underside of a sort of throw. I thought I could use the frill as a base to make a patchwork top, with various pink fabrics from my stash. I'm just trying to think of a design at the moment.

The other thing I fancy trying is felting an old jumper and maybe turning it into a bag. Its a really pretty pink striped one but has gone a bit past wearing so I thought I'd put it in a very hot wash and see what happens.

Rose

cheerfulness4 · 11 February 2015 at 10:35PM

JackieO, it would be so convenient to use my slowcooker overnight but I am so scared of something going wrong. I know it stems from having a house fire many years ago when the boys were younger.
I'm paranoid about the washer on too at night because the fire chief had a fire two weeks after ours through his new washer catching alight during the night.

Its silly as I know it would be fine and its something to get over. I wouldn't use my sewing machine for years because I'd been sewing at the table just prior to the fire and when I went back in the house I remember seeing this awful dark, black room and all my lovely lace still in the machine all sooty and dirty.
I used to load the breadmaker too so we had fresh bread in the morning but I've not done that since the fire either. Maybe this year is the time to set it all behind me.

Viv, love upside down puds. I've a tin of apricots in the cupboard that have been lurking for yonks. Wonder if I could pass those off as peaches to the lads as they won't eat apricots if they know.
They'll be so carried away by the sponginess they might not notice.:p

GQ, I adore pearls and was given 2 pairs by a friends elderly mum. Pearls are just so classy and really give me a lift when I wear them.

I've got to ask Hester because I'm nosey but which musical is the costume for? That must be so much fun.

I've had a little spend today on bargains.:D

DAY 11

Money Spent Today - £5.75 Vouchers Spent - £0
Money Spent in Total - £32.20 Vouchers Spent in Total - £0
Money left in purse - £0.80 - Float left- £3.73/£15
Jan non-foods left- £1.85/£15

Grocery spends came to £5.75 tonight and we got some YS bargains again to build up the stocks. Store brand Marmite @ £1.89, 2ltr millk @ 88p, 2x custard tart @ 69p, YS pk of 6 fruit teacakes @ 19p, YS pk 8 All butter crossiants @ 25p, YS Jacksons Bloomer loaf @ 19p, YS large piece Somerset Brie @ 49p, YS Marmalade Ham (large amount was £3.29) @ 49p, pk bakery 4 sesame burger buns @ 19p, Frijj chocoalte shake @ 50p (half price offer)
and finally 2 x pk 5 New York bagels @ 19p each but the cost of these was cancelled out at the till when an offer link kicked in and minused 38p from the total, making them FREE.:T

I've portioned up my bargains and froze as usual. The crossiants will be lovely for weekend breakfasts with coffee, the teacakes will be had for a supper in the evenings, DH wants the burger buns for his lunches (they were still warm when we bought them!).
The ham and Brie will be used for lunches and they woofed down the chocolate milk and custard tarts before I got in from the kitchen after putting the shopping away.

Ches · 11 February 2015 at 10:44PM

Beautiful patchwork Rose. Gives me slight hope that one day I may finish a hand stiched tumble blocks quilt ( I think thats what the pattern is called) that I started to make for my first GS when he was born and he is now 24.

Ches · 11 February 2015 at 10:48PM

I wish I could get YS goodies. We rarely get more that 20/50p off anything around here and thats for something that was probably a couple of quid before the SBD.

Rose_Wood · 11 February 2015 at 10:49PM

Cheerfulness,

I use a home made slow cooker on the principle of a hay box so no electricity. It's a polystyrene box filled with old pillows and quilts. I use it quite often for stews but have also used it for a rice pudding. I prepare everything in a pan on the hob, make sure its piping hot and simmer for about 10 minutes then transfer it to the box, nestle it in the quilts and put a pillow on top and then the lid and leave for the day or overnight. It works really well. Lots of people have made thermal cooking bags on the same theme. Memory Girl has full details on her blog Mortgage Free in Three. Perhaps you could make yourself something like that.

Rose

meritaten · 11 February 2015 at 10:51PM

I have restrung pearls since someone showed me how to do itproperly. after putting the clasp back on your Thread (you do need proper jewellery thread), you thread on your pearl, then taking a needle you make a single knot over the needle while holding the needle above the hole in the pearl, and push the needle down against the pearl and slowly tighten the knot as you release the needle. the knot should sit snugly against the pearl. then thread on another pearl and repeat.
I love real pearls - and have done this with charity shop necklaces that look a mess and cost just a pound or so. (because the shop hasn't realised the pearls were real) restringing them and WEARING them makes them look so much better.

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Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

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