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

short_bird

Broomstick wrote: »

There's a book called 'You Can't Ration These' by Vicomte de Mauduit, 1940 (with a preface by Lloyd George) which has all kinds of wildlife recipes. Maybe as a vegetarian/wildlife-lover one could read them in a loud and menacing voice to certain garden 'pests' eg. squirrel (grilled or roast, or maybe 'squirrel tail soup'); wood pigeon (pie or roast); edible snails (consomme of...). He doesn't seem to mention rodent cookery which is surprising, unless hedgehogs count as rodents (graphic detail on that one) and I'm not sure that wild birds' eggs cookery or roasting cygnets would be legal nowadays. But if you are on the lookout for wartime recipes for various types of game birds, rabbit, hare, rook, sparrow, starling, various forageable sea creatures etc, this might just be worth looking at.
Can't remember how I got started on all this? Cooking mice...?

There was a marvellous programme several years ago about Elvis Presley's favourite food, including a "how to cook squirrel" section as the Presleys were poor and squirrels were free... And the people of the Andes mountains do love their fried guinea pig. After they've dressed the guinea pig for a fashion show. Yes, really.:eek:

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/227479-guinea-pigs-are-dressed-up-for-dinner

floss2

Broomstick wrote: »

.... 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...

Have they swapped the list around so you are near the top? It wmay be 2-3 years before I get one

Skint_but_Optimistic wrote: »

Whats happened? Cant your hubby register instead?

Was just about to suggest that!

redlady_1

I was wondering why cant you register under a different name?

grandma247

Broomstick wrote: »

They reprinted another book that was originally a Puffin children's book - I've got the original - called 'The Children who Lived in a Barn' by Eleanor Graham, 1938. It's about a family of children who, left to fend for themselves, set up home in a barn - very OS. It also has some fabulous descriptions of how a haybox works.

I read this to my 11 year old last month and we both enjoyed it. I doubt it would be allowed to happen now, Social services would be jumping up and down having a blue fit. I'm not sure that it could have happened when the book was written either.

grandma247

Was really upset by it the other day until my friend said that she loved being in my house as it felt relaxed and she didn't need to worry about spoiling anything.

I have known men who say they feel they cannot relax in their own home for fear of creasing the cushions!They can relax in a "lived in" home.

starsandmoon

Havnt posted for a while as have been in/out of hospital. Im now off work sick for a week after a monir op (lady stuff, not nice). Carnt lift or hoover so doing things like sewing and sorting mountain of paperwork.

Have had a run of good and bad luck. Good luck was some extra money off tax credits. Rang to ensure it wasnt a mistake but they said it wasnt :jBad luck is a 20% drop in my salary from October onwards and my lady parts falling to bits:eek:

Still saving the pennies though. Have got my DDs winter wardrobe sorted thanks to 70% sales, charity shops and car boots:T

Hugs to everyone having tough times.

scottishminnie

ginnyknit wrote: »

Scottish minnie, enamel should last for ever, and as its good quality even longer I have enamel ware thats withstood the elements in my garden after long service indoors and its got barely a mark on it.

Thanks for that -I've decided to go ahead so I ordered it, Using the free delivery and a 10% code from the discount board I got it for £18.90. I'm not sure who would pay £71 for a stock pot however I'm happy with less than £20. Will report back when it arrives.

Larumbelle

jediteacher wrote: »

Well I'm feeling pretty cheesed off today. I know it's nothing compared to what others are going through or feeling but ebay has banished me forever. This is a real upset for me as that was where I was making extra money to pay debts and to use to cover my maternnity leave. :mad: There is no grounds for appeal and they will not reverse the decision. I will have to find somewhere else to sell the mountain of stuff that I have lying around but no-where has the same coverage as ebay.

If it's any consolation, I got banned from Ebay 'forever' once (for selling Ann Summers products, I was a rep at the time). If it's any consolation, they let me re-register after about six months.

Maybe try ebid, it's lower traffic but free listing, so the two may balance each other out?

Broomstick wrote: »

There's a book called 'You Can't Ration These' by Vicomte de Mauduit, 1940 (with a preface by Lloyd George) which has all kinds of wildlife recipes. Maybe as a vegetarian/wildlife-lover one could read them in a loud and menacing voice to certain garden 'pests' eg. squirrel (grilled or roast, or maybe 'squirrel tail soup'); wood pigeon (pie or roast); edible snails (consomme of...). He doesn't seem to mention rodent cookery which is surprising, unless hedgehogs count as rodents (graphic detail on that one) and I'm not sure that wild birds' eggs cookery or roasting cygnets would be legal nowadays. But if you are on the lookout for wartime recipes for various types of game birds, rabbit, hare, rook, sparrow, starling, various forageable sea creatures etc, this might just be worth looking at.

Actually, there's a collection of other really interesting stuff in it, including preserving and drying food and natural remedies. The 'handicraft' section made me smile. It sounds as if it ought to be quite genteel but doesn't cover things like making lace edges for hankerchiefs but gives details of how to make charcoal, extract peat, a really good description of how to make a haybox, make a clay oven, dress poultry, make bait... ie real handicrafts!

http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/ republished it a few years ago (Persephone's books - mostly fiction - are worth looking out for second hand or in the library. They've got a very interesting list and lots of the WWII type books chime well with OS thinking.) They reprinted another book that was originally a Puffin children's book - I've got the original - called 'The Children who Lived in a Barn' by Eleanor Graham, 1938. It's about a family of children who, left to fend for themselves, set up home in a barn - very OS. It also has some fabulous descriptions of how a haybox works.

Can't remember how I got started on all this? Cooking mice...?

I love old books like this. To my mind their history is a lot more relevant than who was king etc. I have an old housekeeping book from the '50s called "Modern Homes and Homemaking Illustrated" which includes all aspects of homemaking, from building your house onwards! One section mentions pets for the house; it feels the need to explain what a hamster is ('a very minute type of guinea pig', apparently :rotfl:) but take it for granted that a monkey is a common pet for a child (they recommend marmosets, but caution that they are 'very responsive to atmosphere, and are prone to pine and die unless completely happy'). That said, it is my favourite resource for OS advice on cleaning.

Huge hugs to all who need or want one :grouphug:

I can't remember who advised using the potato cooking water to make bread with plain flour, but wow! Thanks so much! I haven't baked bread much lately, as only OH eats it right now and it worked out too expensive. But with value flour it is very doable!

Skint_but_Optimistic

Larumbelle wrote: »

it feels the need to explain what a hamster is ('a very minute type of guinea pig', apparently :rotfl:) but take it for granted that a monkey is a common pet for a child (they recommend marmosets, but caution that they are 'very responsive to atmosphere, and are prone to pine and die unless completely happy').

I want a baby monkey thing!! I am a child (ish) wrong side of forty, and I have an affinity with tiny monkeys!! I wouldnt put them in dresses or anything I would just love one and look at its tiny monkey hands!.

I know its wrong and I should stick to German Shepherds and cats.

Its thrown me quite off kilter, and I shall have to "calm down".

[Deleted User]

Big thanks to ceridwen for letting us know abvout the readers digest book, 1001 home remedies. I got one from amazon for 1p and it is like new and a fab read, even dh has been looking at it

I have been siphoning wine this am for storage in a wine box in the fridge, it was just a white kit and was cheap so is ok (for cooking) but it was meant for me to practise on and get confident again. Next one almost ready in a pet container is a wine called wow, made from grape juice and orange juice, it is a very popular recipe by someone on the net called wurzil. That one is very good so far and I have just added stabilkiser to make sure that there is no more fermentation and I`ll bottle that one in a few days. I started a red rioja beaverdale kit today and that looks promising and I also looked up an elderberry recipe, which I like the sound of and that one starts from the berries. I had to order a few more things but I am ready to tackle any wine from scratch now. My elderberry 25 years ago was to die for and I am hoping to reach the same standard again. It is a good hobby just different these days as we are now using pet plastic containers. Sterilisation was getting to me today as the old way was sodium metabisulphate which is nasty. I got rid of the 500g of powder that I had and am now going to use milton or a cleaner/steriliser in one

I think I`ll experiment with tear and share bread this afternnon. I`ll make the enriched dough in the panasonic and I think I`ll spread choc spread or choc chips and/or chopped roasted hazels before rolling. The cinnemon one I made was excellent and stayed very soft right to the last bite. I suppose I could do banana and maybe syrup or apricot pieces