As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

Reverbe

dollydaydream07 wrote: »

i don't much care for celebrities but, oh my word, that poor child, why on earth have the beckhams decided to call their new baby girl Harper Seven??????

right off to go and give the kitchen a quick tidy before i go to work

Harper Lee???

Wasnt 7 Beckhams squad number of choice???

Softstuff

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

yes the choccy does suck massively
you've just not found the cake shop i knew of (melbourne tho)
yes there is (also in melbourne and perth tho)

Well, I've never been to Perth or Melbourne, and if I have to get on a plane for a cream cake or a chip barm I may as well visit my mum in England at the same time I did see there was a British chippy opened in Queensland, but it's about 3 hours drive and a toll road from here. And then if I did make it there it'd be about 20 quid for fish and chips twice. This is why I'm a size 10-12 in Australia, and a size 16 in England.

ifonlyitwaseasier

Softstuff wrote: »

Well, I've never been to Perth or Melbourne, and if I have to get on a plane for a cream cake or a chip barm I may as well visit my mum in England at the same time I did see there was a British chippy opened in Queensland, but it's about 3 hours drive and a toll road from here. And then if I did make it there it'd be about 20 quid for fish and chips twice. This is why I'm a size 10-12 in Australia, and a size 16 in England.

lol i found i was always on the go out there, whereas here i'm definitely inside more, hmmm wonder why that is lol

GreyQueen

Softstuff wrote: »

Ok, it's definitely a mouse, and it's very much alive. Spotted it walking behind a vent we have. I'm officially the woman in the tom and jerry cartoons now, mentally stood on a chair hitching up my skirts and screaming :rotfl:

Pest control are coming tomorrow. I haven't called yet, but I know they're coming tomorrow even if I have to drag em here with my bare hands.

I lost 6lbs, so nearly at my pre visit to England weight. No particular diet, just not 3 gigantic meals a day with plenty of treats, snacks and dessert Happier at this weight and below since on the BMI scale it puts me in the good weight section, as opposed to the overweight one. I swear though I couldn't be slim in England, too much tasty food to hand. The choccy here in Australia sucks. Thankfully. And there are no real cream cakes here. Or Thorntons. Or Seabrooks crisps. Or decent fish and chips.

I think I just lost another lb in drool.

I noticed that in NZ, too. Had a passing acquaintanship with an employee of a major choccie company and he told me that the same brands are made to different formulae for the Oz and thus NZ markets; to do with the heat.

Whatever. It's vile. Whoever visits an ex-pat friend of mine has a standing instruction; Bring Galaxy chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!

mardatha

Your aren't taking the entire tops of them are you? A couple of "greens" from each would be OK, but I'm having a panic in case you scalp them and lose your onions.[/QUOTE]
**********
Instead of my marbles? - No not the whole lot, just the many bits snapped off by the torrential rain

Softstuff

GreyQueen wrote: »

I noticed that in NZ, too. Had a passing acquaintanship with an employee of a major choccie company and he told me that the same brands are made to different formulae for the Oz and thus NZ markets; to do with the heat.

Whatever. It's vile. Whoever visits an ex-pat friend of mine has a standing instruction; Bring Galaxy chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!

They add a kind of wax to stop it melting in the heat. To me it makes all the choccy here feel like eating edam rind. Lindt here doesn't seem to be too bad, but the price of a bar of that makes me feel a little queasy. I always bring back a couple of big dairy milks and we ration it for a while.

I can't help but think that the choccy being bad is another reason I'm meant to live here.... since I have zero resistance or self control when confronted by the British kind. Over here my weight is more of a management issue than an out and out battle.

flowertotmum

Hi all...hugs and kisses to all those that need them..

Just a quickie..things are hectic here..getting used to hubbys new job..and being on my own all night..mind you i have been reading lots and doing a bit of sewing knitting etc...

Allotments are doing well..new potatoes are gorgeous,lots of fresh raspberries and strawberries,the blackberries are coming along lovely too..got some logan berries ,i have never had those so will be interesting to see what they are like...got lots of frozen fruit to make my jams....been making my own bread on a daily basis,going to have a go at bread rolls..

The tots are ok..fern is going up a class at school in YR1..can't believe its gone so fast...her new teacher is absolutely brilliant and fern adores her so hoping the transition will be easy for her...had a look at a nursery for iris..not impressed with it at all..dirty,snotty tots running wild...not a lot of supervision at all...so will be looking elsewhere..if i can't find one then i will not send her at all....my DS has finished college for this year so her has taken over care of chickens and allotment weeding bless him...
I'm getting 4 eggs a day from the girlies..so got an egg overload...making lots of cakes to use them up..freezer is full of them..

Going to get fern's schoo luniform next week..left it late year and didn't get half of what i needed as it had sold out...

Quick tip from my farmhouse cook book..when you use tomato puree..instead of screwing the tube up and putting it back in the fridge..squeeze it into a glass jar with a screw top and cover it with olive oil or veg oil and pop in fridge..when you need some drain off oil into a cup,take the puree you need then put oil back on top...this way it will last for yonks..
right go to go..

p.s. hubby is doing a little war dance as i have just taken delivery of lakeland lock and store boxes:rotfl:..
love to you all...will be back later when i have read all posts properly..
ftm

[Deleted User]

start to look out for marrow as the new types are tender and a better size than of old. My one plant has already had its 3rd one cut and I am in the middle of making marrow and ginger jam

http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/12/vals-recipe-for-marrow-and-ginger-jam/

It is a very easy recipe and I have doubled the quantities. The steaming part at the beginning just means cook very gently with the lid on with no water. I am using my very tall pressure cooker without pressure as it will reduce in volume and then I`ll transfer to the maslin. I got the ingredients in weeks ago and I vac packed the ginger in portions and canister vacuumed the lemons as I knew I would suddenly be jam making

GQ I finshed sowing every last one of my boltardy seeds today and what immense value at 99p a packet, thanks for the reminder. I picked 4 good size ones and twisted the leaves off but didn`t feel like slaving away doing things with them, so I took a leaf out of grandma`s book re spinach and I am dehydrating leaves and stems to crumble into soups

Other than garden stuff, I haven`t done much except pick more mara des bois strawberries which are only growing in those stacking things. They are absolutely fantastic plants considering I only put runners in during late spring. Highly recommended. Dh and I have had strawberries from them every day for weeks and the plants are so healthy being fed on the very good tomato food from gardenorganic shop

I was browsing on DM site for a bit and see that we are in for our `normal` wet summer. I hope scotland and up north gets some sun, you must be so fed up with the rain after that snow

diamond_sky

Kimitatsu wrote: »

Here you go Dee

Ingredients:

• 1½ lbs (675 g) fresh apricots or 1 lb (450 g) dried
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 4 free-range eggs
• 1 lb (450 g) sugar
• 4 oz (112 g) unsalted butter

Method:

1. Wash fresh apricots in hot water Soak dried apricots for 24 hours in water.
2. Cook the apricots in a pan with just enough water to prevent them burning. When soft, push through a strainer into a medium-sized mixing bowl, pressing down on the fruit with a wooden spoon. Throw away the skins left in the strainer.
3. Put another heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and melt the butter. Beat the eggs lightly and stir into the bowl with the sugar, apricot puree and the juice of the lemons.
4. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, for 25 to 30 minutes or until it thickens.
5. Remove the bowl from the heat and pour the curd into clean, dry, warm, sterilized jars.
6. Seal and cover.
7. Label with date and contents when fully cooled.
8. Keep in a cool, dry place or refrigerate.

Easily makes 2 lb (900 g) of Apricot Curd.

I'm a lurker but had to say thanks for this recipe Kimitatsu! Made it for my brother (bit hard up so this was part of his b'day present!) and the smile on his face said it all, ha. :T

Broomstick

I'm having a very mixed sort of day.

:)The house is lovely and clean. Flylady-type clean which is brilliant when we get it like this. I can actually see the decluttering that still needs to be done now.

:(However, I'm feeling very stiff and sore, muscles and joints, and it's definitely not from overuse with doing cleaning! I had a grotty allergic reaction to mustard over a week ago and then reacted to something else - as yet unknown - after that and I think my body is still grumbling. The joints in my hands feel really itchy. I think we are going to have to go onto a strict make-everything-from-scratch phase to give my body a break and to help me identify problem foods a bit more easily. We're pretty close to doing that already so I just need to clear up the dregs - mostly baked stuff and stopping cooking with quorn for a bit.

:)That should drop the food spend a bit and at least my cupboards are now full, organised and label free and beautiful.

:(Which is just as well because my landlord has just put the rent up another £50 a month. That, on top of the rise in fuel, is not good news at all.

:)I've already talked to the DSs about the fuel situation and they seemed suitably shocked - for teenagers to say 16%...18%.... that's massive - it must be bad. So I think they are now on side in terms of starting to see where we can cut fuel costs more. And I rang the council to see where we are now placed on the allotment list because growing our own is the next sizeable money bit of saving we could do which was just as well,

:(because we were not on the allotment list. Somehow our names had dropped off the list when they revised it early this year.

:)I'm so pleased I rang because the lovely woman at the council said that she could see where we had been before and if I returned another form she'd reinstate me where we should be now.

:(Which was lovely but I don't know whether to be pleased or fed up that we have dropped from a place in the hundreds to just into two figures. That's an awful lot of allotments for them to find before we get one...

Ho hum.:)