Memorygirls - Make Do and Mend

Memory_Girl

csarina wrote: »

I have only just found your posts having read your original post, I wondered what had happened to you, then someone pointed me to this post. I have only read a few of the first pages, it will take me a while to read them all, but felt I should say how much I admire you. I need to adopt some of your ideas myself. Having moved earlier this year so OH could live out his remaining days in his home Country I have a rather large overdraft and also an almost maxed out credit card, I need to pay them both off, but with only our pensions its not going to be easy, I think I need to adopt your Tree.....we do get CT & HB and AA for OH, but its not easy.

I changed the car before we moved not knowing that we were going to move 360 miles north, however I did get a Skoda Greenline which is only £35 a year to tax. I have seperate accounts to pay the car expenses, insurance, tax, repairs etc and I pay both car and house insurance annually so I do not attract charges for paying by DD. All our bills are on DD's.....I was spending £100 a month on groceries, menu planning and shopping for a month at a time, but recently its shot up to £140......I have a store cupboard and I am stockpiling against rises in flour etc and a bad winter, we live in a rural area a mile from the nearest village.

way to go csarina:T i'm with you on the storecupboard - esp on the flour and stuff, even our farmers around here are saying its pretty grim - and i can't live with out my lovely bread.

welcome aboard - and ignore the craziness thats going on:D i'm sure things will calm down somewhat when i get back to work and we get on with some serious make do and mending.

in fact i am waiting for some raisin bread to come out the oven, pitta bread is already made, chicken leg is simmering in the slow cooker for tomorrows soup and i've just cast on the second wellie sock for ds1. - so i guess the mdam stuff is still happening its just we are playing with some new bits too - so just jump in where you feel comfortable.

and moving that far north means you must be up our neck of the woods - right??

mg

maryb

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-11305410

have just seen this on the BBC website - there's clearly demand

hypno06

maryb wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-11305410

have just seen this on the BBC website - there's clearly demand

One of the pilot schools in that is the one my DD goes to for her A levels

Memory_Girl

baking_mama wrote: »

p.s I am on a hunt for the perfect sourdough, anyone any ideas? Ty.

OH YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! if you like a chewy, tangy, sour stcik to your ribs san-francisco sourdough i am your gal.

ok first thing is this will taste different depending on where you make it, what the weather is like, what time of year it is..... everything. but it is the closest to the artisan sourdough i fell in love with in the us.

STARTER

1 oz plain bread flour
2 tbsp water

mix together to make stiff dough. knead well for about 5 minutes then put in a bowl and cover with a damp tea-towel.

Now you've got to be patient and wait 2 - 3 days (longer in winter) until the top goes a bit crusty and underneath is full of tiny bubbles. When that happens remove the thin crust and place the wet centre dough into a clean bowl and stir in:

2 tbsp water
1 tbsp milk

when you have a smooth thick paste mix in

2oz plain bread flour

and knead for another 5 minutes. cover with another clean, damp towel and leave for another 2 days.

then remove any crust and place the wet centre dough into another clean bowl. add

6 tbsp water
2 tbsp milk

when you have a smooth mix again, knead in

6 oz plain bread flour.

knead for 5 minutes - then leave covered in a warm place until it is really well risen for about 12 hours.

this dough is now your sourdough starter.

put the following into your breadmaker:

7 tbsp water
6 oz plain bread flour
7 oz of your starter

put your breadmaker on "dough" setting and run for 10 minutes before turning off and leaving the dough in the maker for 8 hours.

put the following ingredients into your breadmaker:

7 tbsp water
6 oz plain bread flour
2 oz wholemeal flour
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

then run the breadmaker through its dough cycle completely.

when the dough cycle finishes, out the dough on to a floured surface, knock back gently and shape into a tight round ball. put on a baking sheet and cover with oiled clingfilm - you need to let the dough now prove until it has well doubled in size - about 2 hours or so.

preheat oven to 220 c - dust your ball of dough with flour and slash the top with a star pattern.

bake for 25 minutes - spray your oven with water three or four times in the first 5 minutes to create your authentic crust, then reduce the temperature to 200 c for another 10 minutes until the loaf is a pale gold and sound hollow when you tap its bottom.

such a palaver to make - well actually it only takes a few minutes for each stage - but you could serve this as a meal on its own.

i like it with pastrami (lidl special) and sour dill pickles, or with garlic mayonnaise and a fresh tomato (eaten over the sink:rotfl:) - but it also makes the most fabulous toast.

OMG!!!! now i've got the munchies:D

mg

Memory_Girl

hypno06 wrote: »

One of the pilot schools in that is the one my DD goes to for her A levels

what a brilliant opportunity hypno - wish it had been around when i was in school.

mg

tellmeitsfriday

How do you store the "starter" that you don't use in the first loaf? How long does it last for?

It sounds a hassle - is it worth all that effort?

Maybe you should write a cookery book in your "spare time"! How do you get the time to do all of that?

(Hope my book arrives tomorrow )

Sleep well xx

Memory_Girl

oops spot the missing info - lol

store the starter in the fridge in a tupperware box - just let it come to room temperature before you use it.

every time you take out the 7oz to use to make a loaf, add

6 tbsp water
2 tbsp milk
6 oz flour

and knead for five minutes until smooth - then store in the fridge again.

it a real potch to make your first batch - but really easy to throw the starter into the breadmaker with the other ingredients to make subsequent loaves iyswim???

its worth it though cos it is so tasty.

mg
one day - the "how to feed your family on nothing cos the ctx peeps have mucked up and you have no money for 7 weeks" will be written.................


............. but i think the title needs a little work - lol

Memory_Girl

tellmeitsfriday wrote: »

... and I am making Sock Monkeys Yay to snuggly Tuesday evenings x

does anyone else want to join us in a spot of nesting???

mg

macgirl

I was in TK maxx today and saw some great little "Stitch and B*tch" books - like a diary to write down knitting ideas with graph paper inside to plot intarsia patterns.
Only about £5.99 and really cute, they would make a nice little crafty Christmas pressie!

csarina

Memory_Girl wrote: »

and moving that far north means you must be up our neck of the woods - right??

mg

Yes - OH was born in Edinburgh, we lived here for a while, my job took us south and then we moved back to the Midlands to be near our families.

We moved, in a snow storm, in February to a Hamlet in East Lothian, just across the water from you.:D:D

I have got the sock bug too, knitted my first pair a few weeks ago and cannot stop.....DD2 and her two have socks for their Christmas stockings, OH has 2 pairs and I have 2 pairs, just on a third pair for OH.

My atavar shows my other passion, quilting........I am on a mission to use up all the fabric I have in stock, trying not to buy any new fabric....correction I cannot afford to buy any more fabric until I have paid down the OD and CC.

Book???? What book?????? I haven't got to that bit yet. Need to read the other book you mentioned too......