Preparing for winter II

mcjordi

thought the winter would arrive earlier its been getting nippy recently.. ohhhs i have a almost new laptop now which is really fast.. thanks to my dad saying he hates tech lol..

sparrer

pinkmami wrote: »

I'm gonna attempt my 1st ever Christmas cake next week. I found an old recipe in my late MIL's house when we were clearing her home after she died.

Just to share, here's the recipe:

1lb of mixed fruit
4oz stoned raisins
4oz cherries

soak above in 1/4 of brandy or medium sherry for 3 days

6oz dark brown sugar
6oz margarine
rind of 1 lemon
rind of 1 orange
3 eggs
1tbs of treacle
2oz blanched almonds
4oz plain flour
2oz self raising flour
1 level tsp mixed spice

150 Celsius (gas 2) for 2 hours
135 Celsus (gas 1) for 1 hour 15 mins


I'm dubious about the temperature! Do they sound OK to the experts out there!?

I don't know about the heat as I cook with elec pinkmami, but mine usually stays in for about 4 1/2 hours. Someone with gas will be along to advise on that.

For anyone who's allergic to alcohol can I suggest soaking the fruit overnight in strong, black tea? It doesn't seem to make the slightest difference to the taste, no-one I've served it to has made any comments (or perhaps they're just being polite?) and are usually surprised when I tell them - after they've eaten it - that it's alcohol free. And considerably less expensive!

tugrin

Purleeease tell me what ETA means I have been trying for ages to work it out and cant get past estimated time of arrival.....

sparrer

tugrin wrote: »

Purleeease tell me what ETA means I have been trying for ages to work it out and cant get past estimated time of arrival.....

ETA = edited to add

rising_from_the_ashes

Confuzzled wrote: »

baked beans with a bit of blue cheese melted in served over spaghetti noodles is surprisingly nice, or use ramen/super noodles (no seasoning packet required)

we make cheesy been burritos all the time, slop in some beans, put some cheese on top, maybe some greek yogurt as a sour cream replacement, i like to add cumin to mine or tabasco sauce etc then fold into burrito shape and nuke for 1-2 minutes til the tortillas are soft

can also mix in shreds of pork, beef or chicken and do the bean burritos that way too

you can use them as a replacement for beans in soups, add to spag bog mix etc etc

mmmmmm I especially like the sound of bean burrito's!

May have to give them a trial run at the weekend;) Thanks!

Rainy-Days wrote: »

Prepper ALERT Prepper ALERT

Daily Mail have now said that they believe the start of the chill will be October and a BIG FREEZE for NOVEMBER

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032450/A-stormy-autumn-follow-grim-summer-say-weathermen-warn-sunny-September.html

:eek: Although I'm not panicking ..... (yet).... it's such a weight off my mind to have started - still a fair way to go but if I woke up tomorrow with a foot of snow outside, I reckon we'd be ok for a fortnight!:o

Have just put a reminder on my calendar to order a couple of bags of dog food 10th October (new visa bill date) and a Mr A extra shop!

It's actually been really warm here today - probably warmer than most of August.


Managed to sell a waterproof jacket on Gum*tree last night - an impulse buy at the market last autumn (never worn:o didn't fit properly & then found one in a shop a few days later) - for £20, which is more than I paid for it.

Really glad as that will pay the bill for my gutters getting cleaned out last week:j

I've just been updating my list and I'm not doing too badly:

In August, I got/sorted:

• warm trousers
• jumpers
• slippers
• wellies
• flannelette sheets
• more warm socks
• snow shovel
• car kit
• filled fuel can
• fixed front door curtain pole & rehung curtain
• camping stove gas bottles & matches
• emergency lights
• batteries
• cat food
• cat litter
• started food store
• loo rolls;)
• kitchen & bathroom supplies
• winter clothing washed
• garage cleaned out
• drawers/cupboards in house cleaned out & space found for winter clothes, food stash etc
• made 1 draft excluder
• had gutters cleaned out
• washed both winter duvets
• Altered dog's winter coat

Dreading next month's visa bill as have got a lot this month (paid in full each month) so will have to wait until after the 9th to get the rest:

Still a few things to get/sort:

• dog food (Oct)
• fleecy pj's
• garden furniture / hose / outside tap / outside lights (having another bash this weekend - think it's going to have to be the hacksaw:()
• few more batteries
• hot water bottle covers *
• 1 more draft excluder
• put winter curtains up in bedrooms
• boiler service
• add to food store
• boots for dog

Has anyone got a pattern for HW bottle covers - I've loads of material?

tugrin

Thanks sparrer - would never have worked that out - I was trying forsomething like IMHO or BOGOF!!!!

abwsco

Forgot to say I've washed all of my jumpers. Bunged them on at around 3pm as it was so warm here today. Just got a few fleeces left to do now.

rosieben

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

...Has anyone got a pattern for HW bottle covers - I've loads of material?

I made my last one out of a piece of old fleece blanket, I just drew around the hw bottle, allowing an inch for seams, and then stitched it together (no fraying with fleece!); it didn't look the most elegant thing but it did a good job of keeping in the heat.

pollys

Those are beautiful photographs in the news item from the Daily Mail - thanks for sharing Rainy-Days.
My Craghoppers arrived, I am impressed with the quality - I spend quite a lot of my weekends in these type of trousers - the joys of spending weekends on the touchline supporting 3 sons who play rugby and football - but have never bought fleece lined ones, I usually put waterproofs on top, this makes them warm but very bulky. looking forward to trying them out.
Winter prep going well, will hopefully stock up on a few more things next payday. My target is to be fully prepared by October halfterm.

Pollys x

CH27

There is a row of birch trees near me & they have started turning silver already:eek: