50p a day til Christmas - healthily?! Weezl's next challenge...

Lesley_Gaye

munchki wrote: »

I know my DH would love a recipe for Stollen.....which means in turn that I would like one as well :rotfl: Just cant see DH making it!

As for runner beans, when in the past mine actually did something, not like this year:mad: I used to just blanch and pop in the freezer. When I lived in the states I actually used to jar/preserve them, but freezing so much easier!

HTH

Kath xx

never tried bottling runners, what do they taste like, aren't they a bit soft and overcooked? Used to do lots of bottling, but always of fruit. Would have liked to do tomatoes as grow lots, but scared of botulism!! Have tried freezing runners YEARS ago and didn't like the taste when defrosted. Might have another go at freezing as tastes change over the years, but have lots of beans and no freezer space.

BTW if your toms aren't ripening, you don't have to use them green. I keep them in the dark and some in a bowl with a ripe apple to ripen off. They keep us going until Christmas like that. Fried green tomatoes are yummy, but we usually just have them red.

munchki

I used to bottle runners on a reg basis when I lived abroad. however the weather here I have had no luck!! They were never mushy or soft, but suppose that depends on how you do them. If you are interested just let me know or pm me. always happy to help

CW, apologies on not being able to get you a cheaper set of jars. I can only say that I am very happy with the lot that I bought and have thought about buying some smaller jars as well. I have been very very happy with the service and communication of the ebay seller but if you can find them cheaper, I am always interested as well!!!

Thank you for sharing
All the best
Kath xx

Herewegoagain

OMG, step off the forums and this thread goes on and on, god knows when or how I will catch up, weel here goes, I'll just dive straight in;)
HWGA xx

cw18

no need to apologise Kath -- it's always useful to have a choice of suppliers even at different prices. you often get the service you pay for, and I notice the cheaper people accept no responsibility for breakages in transit due to glass being a fragile product !!! You don't say !!!

Money_saving_Diva_2

Originally Posted by munchki
I know my DH would love a recipe for Stollen.....which means in turn that I would like one as well :rotfl: Just cant see DH making it!

I did skim thru but couldn't work out if someone had done this so I am posting a recipe here too just in case..


1kg ( 2 lb 4oz ) plain ( all-purpose flour ) flour
200 g ( 7oz ) sugar
110g ( 4oz ) fresh yeast
1/2 L ( 18 fl oz ) milk
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
a few drops of almond extract
a pinch ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of salt
400g ( 14oz ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled down
110g ( 4oz ) finely chopped almonds
400g ( 14oz ) raisins
200g ( 7oz ) currants
250g ( 9oz ) chopped mixed orange and lemon peel
450g ( 16oz ) good quality marzipan
extra unsalted butter, melted
powder ( icing ) sugar for dusting

• Melt the butter and put aside to cool
• Break up the fresh yeast and place in a bowl with a teaspoon of sugar, and then add the slightly warmed milk and let it rise
• Sift the flour into a large bowl together with the sugar and spices, plus the vanilla, salt and almond extract
• Mix it all together and add the melted but cooled butter and the yeast and knead it well.
• When the dough has been well kneaded, add the chopped almonds, dried fruit and chopped peel, this will take some time and patience and strong arms!!!
• When everything has been mixed well in, place back in bowl, cover with cling film or a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place, for about 1-2 hours or more.
• Divide in halve, knead it again well and roll out
• Knead the marzipan and roll out, placing the marzipan into the centre of the rolled out dough
• Fold the Stollen over with marzipan inside
• Place on an greased baking tray and leave to rise again for 1-2 hours or more
• (at this point you deserve a cup of tea!)
• Put a piece of greaseproof paper on top of the cake to prevent from burning and bake in a preheated oven: 190 C ( 375 F / gas 5 ) for 1 hour or more
• When ready, while still hot, brush generously with melted butter and dust with icing sugar
• Leave to cool on a wire tray
• When cool, wrap in foil or place in an airtight container and keep cool

If you don't like marzipan, exclude it

Hope that helps!

Diva.x

munchki

cw18 wrote: »

no need to apologise Kath -- it's always useful to have a choice of suppliers even at different prices. you often get the service you pay for, and I notice the cheaper people accept no responsibility for breakages in transit due to glass being a fragile product !!! You don't say !!!

I know what you mean and my DH always states the same...you get what you pay for! I know with where I bought my jars if any had arrived broken all I had to do was take a pic and send to them and they would replace the broken ones. I thought that was pretty good. Working my way through the first box of jars and so far not a cracked one.

Well off to slice some onions now going to try my hand with chutney!:T

In_Search_Of_Me

oo munchki try the old dowager recipe I posted...its deeelicious. Weezl says you can make it cheaper with ground spices but I quite like the texture...
Weezl sends love and says she misses you all. They are definately getting there and really are on the final bit now. Have to say I'm impressed with their ability to do it properly I would have cut loads of corners to get it done quick but can confirm it looks lovely and not even finished yet. wonder if they would like to do some of mine...(think I know the answer)
shaz will do reipes for you later - going to doc to get more pain killers and friend taking me to lidl as out of tea bags...life of excitement me!! email just said thank you!

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Well hubby is in a reme golf comp today -so won't be back until about 8pm..so im doing diddly squat all day -no need to sort out meals as he will get fed there ..ohhh I have got a bowl of dough proving though.. then after this im going to park on the sofa and x stitch:j

I have been rummaging through that site for beans/pulses etc... and they work out quite a bit cheaper... But I have emailed them with a couple of questions -that may or may not save me a few more pennies .. Firstly I have asked if they do VAT free for forces in BFPO addresses..a lot of companies do -and now im quite happy to ask -they can only say no .. and i have questioned the postage to, as BFPO is usually charged the same as mainland UK as it only gets sent to the london MOD sorting office -then they take over..so its a bit strange that they are charging more -quite a bit more -my order so far would be £43.14 + postage of £13.96 :eek: it still works out that the produce is a bit cheaper including the postage.. but i will be much happier if i can get it reduced

I have a tried n tested stollen recipe..That i will dig out later (although MSDs recipe sounds very similar)-im still in search of my recipe for mincemeat for mama67.... haven't had to make any for 2-3 years as i still have 2 big jars left .... opened it yesterday and its still lovely -so i gave it a drink of port and put it back again

right i had better get of and get some sewing done :j ..have a great day everyone:D

munchki

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

oo munchki try the old dowager recipe I posted...its deeelicious. Weezl says you can make it cheaper with ground spices but I quite like the texture...

I actually had a look at that this morning, need to buy some more plums first! It does sound very nice.:D

Just chopped up loads of onions here and they are now sat in the pan til I come back later. Going out to lunch (yeah a treat to get out of house) with DH and friend. Then will come back and make the chutney, not enough time to do it this morning.

sooooooooo many nice things to try and soooooooooo little time. Please someone explain to me why work always has to get in the way!!:eek:

In_Search_Of_Me

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

ISOM, how do you work 'selling' the jam to colleagues. I'd love to sell some stuff, like HM cards and jam and chutney, not for masses of money but as I often give stuff away I am sure I end up out of pocket. Sorry if I have misunderstood!

Mine was word of mouth...someone asked for a jar when I said I'd made some and word spread and now people ask me for it on a regular basis! someone I hardly knew from the 4th floor even asked for some and it made me feel all fuzzy inside! I sell a small jar for 1.50 and a large kilner style on for 4-5 depending on the fruit. Doesent make a huge profit but I enjoy it...also did bread for someone recently! The no knead recipe and it was a doddle!