OS Daily Thread - Saturday 19th September

flutterbyuk25

Morning all

I was woken by next door flat having a barney as they slammed their front door shut this morning, I wasn't too annoyed cos I felt liked I'd slept for hours and hours, turned round peeked at the clock.....it was 6.45am!!! :mad: I love my flat but all front doors are firedoors and they have tendancy to slam shut so it can rattle the building! But it's the only noise I can hear so shouldn't complain.

But I put this to my advantage, and put the washing machine on. I'm on Economy 7 which ends at 8am, the WM takes an hour so cheap washing for me . Then headed back to bed to read and doze so not sooo bad.

Since then I've put washing on airer on balcony and the sun is peaking out from clouds so should dry nicely. I've caught up on emails, decanted and frozen the free pint of milk I got from work yesterday (on Fridays whoever washes up the cups gets to take the remaining milk home) and written my shopping list.

Went to see my rugby team play last night (Ospreys), gutted we lost but pleased I only spend £4.40 on a pint and some chips and caught up with some former colleagues who were there from my old job.

Today I'm off to meet my friend at a shopping centre, will have a mooch round shops and some lunch, then off to Mr T to do some shopping. I'm planning on making some cupcakes later so need to find receipe and buy ingredients.

Going to have a nice quiet night in, with my book, a dvd or tv and glass of wine

Have a great Saturday all

x

Curlytop40

Good 'not quite morning'!
I've been busy today. 3rd lot is in WM-some on line that'll dry quickly and others in the TD-we are going out this afternoon and it'll be late when we are back. I have made soup-chicken and vegetable, twinks and tried to make bread. I have to confess its from a mix but I haven't made bread since I was at school and I had this in the cupboard. So far its risen well and is now in the oven. I was inspired by the bread in this weeks EG and if this turns out edible then I shall try some from scratch next week.
Going to mums this afternoon so roast chicken for tea. Hoping to go for a walk this where we got blackberries a couple of weeks ago. There were a lot of unripe ones then but they may have all gone. What we got are in the freezer to make jam/jelly with if we manage to get some more.
Hope everyone has a good day-especially if its sunny and warm like it is here.

Janae

Hi

Well, today's going ok so far. Have done two lots of washing , made a corned beef hash and booked my poor old bike in for a service.

Lillibet - yes, it was Center Parcs and we had a fantastic time, just OH & me (two big kids ). It's the first time we've ever been and will definitely go again. We tried the sailing (OH capsized then sailed into my boat and nearly knocked me out of my boat with his boom :rotfl:) and spa evening, but would love to give the waterskiing and tree-trekking a go another time.

Curlytop - we found some lovely blackberries yesterday. I thought they would be past their best now but they're still really good. Worth a walk.

Off to Salisbury now but not for long I hope as I want to get out on the garden.

Have a lovely afternoon all.

kj x

helyg

Hello everyone, hope you are all Ok and big hugs to anyone who needs them.

I've been MIA again as I went down with flu on my eldest's birthday! Can you believe it! So not having a good month... At least I had managed to get his cake and everything done before I got too bad. Been holed up in bed all week, dr gave me antibiotics and steroids to be on the safe side as she didn't want it turning into pneumonia (this is the third time I've had flu in the past 18 months and both other times I ended up in hospital due to my asthma). But as for the flu itself, well you just have to sit that out! Today is the first day that I have actually got out of bed, I'm still exhausted but getting there slowly...

On the plus side, my younger son's behaviour seems to have improved in school, coinciding with a different teacher covering while his was on a course... now his normal teacher is in her late twenties and the one who is covering (and who described him as "a little angel") is in her late fifties... is anyone else spotting a potential experience problem here? May be worth bearing in mind...

Back on the OS track now I'm starting to feel better, I am craving big hearty stews so I think my SC is going to be well used this week. At least if I'm still feeling tired I can get it all done in the morning when I have a bit more energy. Have got a lovely piece of gammon for dinner tomorrow.

Hope you all have a good day x

Sunnyday

Afternoon peeps :wave:

i`m a bit late on here today as its been a bit of a busy day so far.

Got up nice and early to drop DH off at w*rk and came home and washed the car - i did contemplate washing DH`s car too for about ten seconds then realised that i wouldn`t be able to reach across the roof as its too high for lil old me.

I walked the houndies and picked Dad up then we went off to the supermarket. When i came home there was a letter from Direct line telling me that they were cancelling my car insurance as they hadn`t been paid so that sent me scrabbling around for the cc statement - they had been paid so i had to ring them, panic now over as it was an error on their part but it made me panic just the same :rolleyes:

Doggies went for another walk and i planted my onion sets ready for next year, then i spent a pleasant hour or so in the kitchen and made 4 cottage pies, 2 for DH which were ordinary ones and 2 for moi which were topped with swede instead of potato, i`ve just got to clear up in the kitchen now and then i can strain the elderberries from the juice for the wine.

I`ve organised a couple of peeps to come and give me quotes for clearing our guttering and repairing a corner later this week, it annoys me that both DH and i hate heights and can`t get up the ladders - we are both as bad as each other and it`s not for lack of trying, when we got the ladders out DH managed 3 rungs and i did 4 but thats as high as we got :rotfl:]

NPM - Hope that you`re feeling better and getting some rest.

Hester - Thanks for making me laugh

Redruby - Ouch! hope you feel better by now

Have a good day peeps - whats left of it

SD

thriftlady_2

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Had a lovely delivery from the Boden Catelogue this morning. :j Took advantage of a great offer and while the clothes are expensive they will last forever and are part of my plan to invest in more quality and less quantity. before anyone has a go.

I'm not going to have a go -I bought a brown velvet jacket from Boden this week;) I like their stuff too and it certainly does last.

Cookbook review alert:D

I've spent most of the day reading River Cottage Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which I recommend heartily. I think it's going to be very well used chez Thrift, in fact it is being used now.

Chapters and sample recipes;

Making Breakfast -perfect pancakes, baked breakfast cheesecake, homemade yogurt, nut butters, fridge jam.

Daily Bread -no mention of breadmakers anywhere:D recipes for; sour dough, focaccia, pizza, flat breads, oatcakes.

Weekday Lunch(box) -sardine niçoise, tomato, chipolata and new potato lunch with mustardy vinaigrette, leftover stew pasties, lentil and squash pasties, a variety of pestos and 'hummi', frittatas.

Fish Forever- info on which fish are sustainable plus recipes for curried fish pie, kippers and crushed new potatoes, salt and pepper squid, thrifty fish soup with cheaty rouille.

Thrifty Meat - info on easy to source thrifty cuts plus recipes for devilled lamb's hearts, baked chicken curry, burgers, roast breast of lamb, slow roast shoulder of lamb and merguez spices, Tupperware Mexican chorizo (a mixture of minced pork, smoked paprika, red wine which can be kept uncooked in the fridge for 2 weeks -got to try this), sticky glazed spare ribs, home cured bacon chops -another one on my 'must try' list. Lots of slowcooked recipes but no mention of slow cookers:D

Vegetables Galore -a big chapter this, five root soup and bacon, fried halloumi salad, mushy squash, roast carrots with butter, cumin and orange, stuffed butternut squash.

The Whole Fruit - elderflower pannacotta with gooseberry compote, Bramley apple compote, quince and bramley apple sorbet (I am making this as I type), blackcurrant trifle -he concentrates on fruits that can be grown here.

Treats - honey wholemeal cake, lemon trickle cake, foolproof crème brulee, apple and walnut crumble, fudge, rich chocolate cake.

Thrift is a strong theme in the book which sits very comfortably with eating local. Throughout the book he makes suggestions for using leftovers particularly in the lunchbox chapter. I think it is a better book than Economy Gastronomy- that's not to say that EG is a bad book, I just think this one is better.

I'm off to put my sorbet in the freezer.
Supper tonight is roast chicken, roast potatoes, gravy, carrots and peas followed by quince and apple sorbet with lace biscuits.

Leftover chicken will be made into coronation chicken salad to fill sandwiches tomorrow. We're off to Kemble airfield to see the BBMF. Hoping to see the Lancaster take off (it makes me cry -I'm a bit peculiar like that:o).

MSD, I agree about Arlene too, disgraceful treatment.

helyg

thriftlady wrote: »

Cookbook review alert:D

Hmmm, looks like I need another cookbook shelf in my kitchen... :rolleyes:

HariboJunkie

Chicken run is nearly finished and house is in situ. :jCan't pick up the hens for 2 weeks but it will give us time to get everything ship shape.
Haven't even got the hens yet and have lots of orders for eggs. :rotfl:

A friend has just called in with a huge box of foraged bullaces which I'm going to turn into bullace gin :drool:
She also gave me a bucket of cooking apples and a huge batch of rhubarb this week so tommorrow is definitely preserving day.

Also popped into the charity shop and bought a knitting book, 2 brand new with tags pairs of HSM slippers for the girls, 2 pairs of sparkly party shoes (also new), 2 girls' dresses (new) and 2 girls' outfits (new), all still with tags, ex Woolworths stock for the grand total of £6. So I have officially started my Christmas shopping.

Not sure there's much else I can do to help OH at the moment so I'm going to look at my plans for making thrifty chicken feeders and do some knitting.


Enjoy your evenings

Haribo x

ivyleaf

I went into Waterstone's yesterday hoping to have a look at River Cottage Everyday (so that I could then order it from somewhere cheaper :D) but they said it "isn't published until 5th October" :rolleyes: so DH has pre- ordered it from Amazon anyway. Glad he did, Thriftlady and tru, you make it sound very enticing I don't espect it to arrive very soon, as they must have a heck of a lot of pre-ordered copies to deal with - I'm waiting for the new Terry Pratchett, too, so perhaps they will arrive together! However, although I couldn't get that one from Waterstone's, I did feel impelled to buy Gill Holcombe's new one "Fish pies and French fries, vegetables, meat and something sweet", as I realised I had all but two of the ingredients needed for her version of chicken tikka masala, so I bought those (cayenne pepper and yoghurt) on the way home......guess what's for dinner tonight I bought that one about wartime waste-not-want-not too, "Sucking Eggs", which I think a couple of folk on here have mentioned - I know I'll enjoy that and read it many times.

What a lot of poorly peeps on here atm - I wish you all better soon (((HUGS)))

Not done any real OSing today , unless you count washing drying on the line! One thing was that really awkward item of bedding, a fitted sheet with elastic all the way round I've yet to find a satisfactory way to hang it on the line! I scrubbed the loo this morning, but didn't do it Hester's way (hope your OH has got over it now Hester )

My DBro and his OH are visiting on Friday - looking forward to seeing them as they live in Germany, but the house has become cluttered again, so hoping I feel up to sorting it out during the week! Have to book a table for Friday evening too - I hope I can manage to find a local restaurant which doesn't proudly boast "Live Music on Friday nights!!!", as we'd like to be able to chat!

All for now, see you tomorrow :wave:

Dinner tonight - chicken tikka masala. Tomorrow - roast leg of lamb. Then probably dinner on Monday or Tuesday - Shepherd's Pie

ivyleaf

Haribo Junkie -just seen your post - what are bullaces? There's a road in a nearby town called Bullace Lane, so i guess they used to grow there!