City living Old Style?

marvalous

juliapenguin wrote: »

Thanks for all your great ideas - sadly I can't put anything on the walls at all - not if I want to get my enormous deposit back when I move... My work surface space is literally just enough to put down a chopping board, but I find that I can use the draining board as long as I've dried the last lot of washing up! The wheely butcher's block is a fantastic idea which I will definitely look into, though. I've got rid of all my extra pans and gadgets, but I do miss the food processor for making yummy cocoa, date and walnut balls. I've got a wheely bag - it folds up nice and small and lives in the hall on the coat rack. It's nowhere near as good as my lovely granny trolley, which was really easy to pull even when fully loaded, but it beats carrying bags.

The awful truth is that we've not yet found tenants for our house, and I've still got piles of stuff to bring over. I've just finished my MA this week and I've been working harder (teaching a university summer school) than ever before in my life, so I've only just started to sort out the flat even though I've been here two months already. I'm feeling overwhelmed...

Can you tell me how to make the cocoa, date and walnut balls?

juliapenguin

siaoeh wrote: »

just a thought, assuming the wall units are right above the worktop, maybe you can get a shallow bookcase short enough to fit under the high up wall units and sit that on the worktop? a 20cm deep one will still leave you 40cm of worktop to use but will provide quite a bit of shelving for jars and bottles, could even look pretty! or a stack of those box shelves or wine crates?

or even something like those mini chest of drawers from IKEA http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20095083 storage inside the drawers and on top.

I definitely second(or third/fourth) a butcher's trolley. My kitchen is tiny and I really can't do without my trolley. Chopping board on it, pots and pans underneath, baskets for onions, garlic etc and even my baking trays fit on the lowest narrow shelf (meant to be a wine rack) its got a rail for teatowels and drawers for knifes. I'm going to put in some hooks for other stuff too, just haven't got round to it you can even a rail on for hanging cooking utensils? as its your own, no restrictions on what you can screw into it

abit out of topic and non MS.. but the chinese roast belly pork in Arndale market is well lush!!! I so miss it

Yes to the butcher's trolley - I can't wait to get one now!

I have almost no work surface - there's no cupboard big enough for the Remoska (the cupboards are half-size) and I also keep out the kettle and toaster, so that's all the work surface gone! There's room for ONE chopping board - it's fine when I'm not cooking as I can put another chopping board on the cooker, but a bit dangerous when the rings are hot so a bookshelf wouldn't fit, sadly.

Oh boy, do I love that Chinese roast place - I teach foreign students and some of the Chinese girls initiated me into the joys of that place! The day I moved here they not only came to help us move but also brought duck and pork roast for us to have for lunch. Lovely girls.

juliapenguin

sugarcultsweetie wrote: »

Lucky you! In my apartment tenancy contract, blu tack is forbidden... :rolleyes: Also, I'm all for a OS city group

It's unbelievable, isn't it. But they won't enforce the 'not leaving **** all over the common areas' rule.... Probably because they don't have to live there.

Somebody has locked up a bike in the foyer - fair enough and very green and MSE, I hear you say, except for the fact that HALF the tenants now cannot access their post boxes...... Maybe that will stop them leaving their unwanted mail in the foyer :rotfl:if nothing else does!

juliapenguin

marvalous wrote: »

Can you tell me how to make the cocoa, date and walnut balls?

For that I have to thank the 'going vegan old style' thread which I used to follow - they linked to some website somewhere and I then adapted a recipe which I can no longer find... so it's a bit vague, I'm afraid.

Basically (and I'm guessing here) put about a dozen stoned dates (not on cannabis :cool:) and a good handful of nuts in the food processor with a spoonful of cocoa and a spoonful of water. Whizz, taste and add more cocoa or whatever you think it needs. The original recipe suggested coconut milk instead of water. When it tastes lovely, make it into balls and scoff. You can keep them in the freezer and eat them from frozen - they don't go really hard. They taste gorgeous and you can fool yourself that the more you eat, the healthier you are....:p

I love them dearly and am wondering again whether I should throw out my husband and keep the food processor on his side of the bed :rotfl:. I can't bring myself to freecycle it just yet.

juliapenguin

missychrissy wrote: »

I'd love to come and play juliapenguin but unfortunately I live in North Yorkshire.

I second your support of 'trendsetting' and not giving a b----r about what anyone thinks.:T

I think North Yorkshire sounds lovely. You can be an honorary city girl if you like

Being a trendsetter is great! I've found that the less I care what people think, the more relaxed I am and therefore the more people are nice to me ... Being over 40 is brilliant and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! I've had more fun in the last 5 years than in the previous 25.

Fire_Fox

May I be an honorary Mancunian if it's a Manchester city group? I am in Bradford city centre ...

juliapenguin

Fire_Fox wrote: »

May I be an honorary Mancunian if it's a Manchester city group? I am in Bradford city centre ...

Of course :beer: As long as you're very good

Fire_Fox

I have a couple of questions .... do you all have doorstep recycling collection? If not how do you transport your recycling? How do you store your recycling prior to collection when you only have limited space?

I think that is an Old Style question, IMHO throwing anything away that is useful isn't Old Style.

missychrissy

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I have a couple of questions .... do you all have doorstep recycling collection? If not how do you transport your recycling? How do you store your recycling prior to collection when you only have limited space?

I think that is an Old Style question, IMHO throwing anything away that is useful isn't Old Style.

I keep my recycling boxes outside my back door. If it's very windy though I bring them in for a while. We don't have plastic collection yet, though it is apparently coming soon, and I keep them in a plastic box in the boot of the car and drop them off whenever I am working near to an Asda that has a collection site. I just have to remember to take any plastic out with me when I am going to the car.

Primrose

We too have doorstep recycling although not for plastic as our local council recycling authority has told us there is no money in plastic recycling collections so we have too have to take it to a local recycling bin. It's difficult to do this without your own transport. Fire Fox - do you have any neighbours with cars who could take yours away to a recycling point on a periodic basis?