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

Charis

GreyQueen wrote: »

Charis re your vac hose having a split, is it possible to ask on Freecycle to see if anyone has one? I believe you're in a rural area so it maybe that it's harder to access a group, but perhaps someone has a dead Henry in their garage with a hose going begging? I have fixed up semi-disabled vacs by going to a repair shop; the little ones on the backstreets are often run by the most terrible hoarders and they may well have 2nd hand spares going cheep-cheep.

Thanks GQ, it's worth a try. I've got a couple of items I can Freecycle while I'm on there. Don't think anyone will want my lovely avocado green bathroom suite though

VJsmum

Brood due back in 5 mins. Have made good use of my day tho. ALthough the 8 mile run took up a lot of time. A couple of hours for the run (I never said i was fast!) and then rather a long time to recover.

Still got about 3 loads of washing done and line dried - thanks to the rotaire cover, a pile of ironing done, the weekly shop done and put away, a bed stripped (not yet remade) tidied up a bit, made cold tea cake and a BM ginger cake (thanks whoever's recipe that was). I also had a soak in the bath and read 2 magazines.

Just cooking very exotic egg and chips for the hungry mob.

ceridwen

Food experiments of last few days:

1. The peanut bean sprouts dont seem to have worked out - I had to throw them away. One week after start it became clear very few of them had started sprouting, but quite a few of them had started going mouldy (despite a twice daily rinse).

Not given up totally yet - it may be that the nuts werent good enough for some reason - even though freshly bought and from an independent health food shop. I now have a bag of Sainsburys unshelled monkey nuts and will try and see if ones that came unshelled do any better.

2. WATERMELON RIND - I decided to try a recipe more to British tastes from a watermelon recipes website I came across. So - I made a drink from it.

Rind of half a standard size watermelon (NOT the green outer layer)
teaspoon of honey
tablespoon of freshly-squeezed lemon juice (they said lime - but I didnt have it)
4 icecubes.

all blitzed together in a liquidizer.

Result = enough for one person to drink. Nice:). Smacks lips. Will be doing that again - licks lips again.

Softstuff

GreyQueen wrote: »

Softstuff, welcome back and all is redeemed by the mouse recipe. I have some whoopsied turkey mince in the freezer due to shopping without due care and attention the other week, could I substitute mice mince for turkey mince or is it just lamb which would work? I'm not overkeen on lamb myself, ever since the last time, when I got the wool stuck between my teeth.

Turkey mince is something I end up with from time to time (when it's reduced to within an inch of its life), and it can be pretty strong tasting, so I up the spices and wotnot. So still have the breadcrumbs, egg, tomato paste/puree, add in a tsp coriander, cumin, cardomom, ginger, paprika, pinch salt, pinch pepper, clove of garlic crushed and maybe a bit of chilli if you're feeling adventurous. I use turkey mince for chilli con carne which I serve on homemade wedges with grated cheese or layer in a dish with wraps to make "enchilada pie".

GreyQueen wrote: »

Catch you all later..........and stop staring at that vacuum cleaner, Softstuff, t'isn't Brad Pitt in electrical form......PS what brand is it because I'm nosey.......:rotfl:

I've been staring at it since 7am :rotfl: My Sunday lie in was completely ruined by nervous excitement. As I said to hubby last night, it's very very odd feeling that you're suddenly getting exactly what you want.

It's a Dyson. I've wanted one ever since I read his book (which is a good read btw). It's a new mini version, the DC26, which is good for very small places and hard floors. Think today as I vacuum for the first time in here, I may have to empty it a few times as I go. I ran over a spot on the floor with no visible dust and there's a dust bunny in the clear collecting bit already :rotfl: It has hepa filtration, which should help with hubbys awful dust allergy. It also moves like a dream, and when I have to vacuum as often as I do, that'll really improve things.

If it was Brad Pitt or this Dyson, I'd choose the Dyson. Even if Brad Pitt was naked, covered in chocolate and holding a decent glass of red wine out towards me.

mardatha wrote: »

How do you make cheap Smart Price sponge mix a bit posher or tastier?

- A tablespoon of cocoa and some choccy chips
- Add a blended whole orange for whole orange cake (but cook a bit longer)
- Add a mashed banana, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup dessicated coconut for Hummingbird Cake
- Add 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 cup chopped nuts and an extra handful of sugar for Armenian Cake
- Add an extra egg and 1 1/2 tsp ground cardomom for Cardomom teacake.

Edited to add another favourite - Add a couple of tablespoons of very strong coffee for coffee cake

And all of these can be turned into muffins, or spread with a cream cheese frosting, or drizzled with melted choccy.

I start most of my cakes with the same base mix, which resembles a simple sponge mix.

Churchmouse

Sorry I don't post much on this thread but just wanted to say that I have courgettes :j:j:j:j OK they're tiny no more than a couple of inches but they are definitely courgettes So thanks to those people that reassured me I would eventually get female flowers that would bear fruit I must confess to having grabbed a male flower and having a bit of a "poke about" with the male flower on the females :rotfl:

Now if someone could advise how to stop the bl**** snails and slugs eating my entire french bean crop :mad::mad::mad:

The workhouse may be approaching, but at the moment I'm outrunning it :D:D Hope you're all managing to keep a few inches ahead :T

Pink.

Churchmouse wrote: »

The workhouse may be approaching, but at the moment I'm outrunning it :D:D Hope you're all managing to keep a few inches ahead :T

Churchie, it's lovely to see you posting again...I've missed your wise and grounding posts. Though may I add that your best ones are usually after a glass of vino.;) Long may you outrun the workhouse.

Pink x

7_week_wonder

Softstuff wrote: »

- A tablespoon of cocoa and some choccy chips
- Add a blended whole orange for whole orange cake (but cook a bit longer)
- Add a mashed banana, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup dessicated coconut for Hummingbird Cake
- Add 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 cup chopped nuts and an extra handful of sugar for Armenian Cake
- Add an extra egg and 1 1/2 tsp ground cardomom for Cardomom teacake.

Edited to add another favourite - Add a couple of tablespoons of very strong coffee for coffee cake

And all of these can be turned into muffins, or spread with a cream cheese frosting, or drizzled with melted choccy.

I start most of my cakes with the same base mix, which resembles a simple sponge mix.

Thanks for some brilliant suggestions! I might try the Hummingbird cake later today to christen my new electric hand mixer:D The old one died last week, but as I suspect it was older than me (inherited from MiL) I can't really complain!

Does anyone have a recipe for cream cheese frosting that doesn't go all runny? Every time I make it (with icing sugar, butter and cream cheese) I end up with a liquid mess that won't stay on top of the cake:(

mardatha

Thanks for all inventiuve suggestions re rolling out pastry! I have no foil and only champagne glasses - I will just buy a bloody rolling pin
I like the sound of the hummingbird cake, and the cinnamon & nut one, ty.
I was born at xmas too but I was called Mary. Holly or Carole would've been a tad better !

Softstuff

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Does anyone have a recipe for cream cheese frosting that doesn't go all runny? Every time I make it (with icing sugar, butter and cream cheese) I end up with a liquid mess that won't stay on top of the cake:(

I just do 2/3 cream cheese and 1/3 butter, smoosh them well together, then add sieved icing sugar, mixing it in bit by bit. I keep adding sieved icing sugar until it is pretty stiff, and it continues to stiffen in the fridge. I use ricotta usually, but that's just because I like it to taste really cheesy.

GreyQueen

Good morning campers, hope everyone is well today. I'd offer you a share of the yellow ball but it didn't come back to the city until about 6 pm last night and I still need it for while longer.

Totally maddening day yesterday; my newsflash was a bit premature as I hit the streets and it started to rain again, quite heavily, after 15 minutes. Fortunately, I had the wit to take the brolly. And, wouldn't you just know it, by 6pm the clouds beggared off to leave a flawless blue sky. It'll take the best part of a week for me to get my trainers dried out and I could have waited til evening and done the harvesting in the dry.....grr!!!!!

Today's cunning plan is to ease into the day then head off to the lottie via L!dl on the offchance they have anything bargainous which needs to come home with me.

kidkat, you shocked the heck out of me by telling us that the Tesco cheapest pasta is now 32p a pack. I wasn't aware as the very cheapest lines seldom show up in the Little Mr T where I shop. A couple of months ago I made an excursion to Big Mr T over the city limits and stocked up on those 500g quills at 20p a pack then went ballistic when they were briefly reduced to 9p each. GQ doesn't like to be wrong-footed like that, I was beside myself.:o I have enough of the 20p ones to see me into next year, I think.

As bread prices are getting silly, I've spent the past few weeks cooking a 500g pack of pasta on Sun night/ Mon morning, keeping it in a covered bowl in the fridge after stirring thru a spoonful of olive oil, and making a pasta salad each morning to take to work. It works well for me and is fast and easy and a great way of adding random veggies into the diet.

I didn't finish blanching and freezing peas and beans until 9pm last night but then, I only started at 8 pm.;) The dwarf french beans will be ready any day now and the runners are flowering profusely and I have high hopes of them. Must keep an eye on them as they always have one or two pods which mature well before the rest and these get old if you don't watch out.

I have no idea what variety of runner beans I grow and they are saved seed handed down from Nan and Grandad's garden, possibly Scarlet Emperor. Last year I decided to ring the changes and buy (I know, whatever came over me ) some different seeds so I grew Painted Lady which are pretty but didn't seem to crop as heavily. I've kept some of the Ladies back for seed and will make sure that I grow them at least every 3-4 years to save anew to keep them viable. Apparently, if I'd grown both together, they could've cross-pollinated.

As the broad beans, they too are "Nan's Beans" and goodness knows what the parent strain was. We think they're 2 varieties jumbled together as some have 4-seeds to a pod and some have 6. Still, they're tasty. I also have "Mike's Strawberries" and a few other things which are known by their donor's name. The strawberries have been passed from hand-to-hand over the many decades which our lottie site has existed for and I have taken them across to the Far Side and spread them laterally to the neighbours. My reasoning is, they're tried and tested and obviously don't mind being on silty sand on the top of a windy slope.

Anyone else growing anonymous family varieties? It was great that I had more than enough saved as Nan was a bit short of her own saved seeds for both runner and broad beans this year and I was able to donate them back again.

Softstuff, I'm gonna google your Dyson; if it's hotter than Brad, I need the visual. Glad you're thrilled. I very seldom buy anything new and am like a kid at Christmas whenever I do. Thanks for the tips about the turkey mince; I scooped it up in a hurry among several other whoopsies in the chill cabinet and didn't realise it was turkey until I got it home so it's lurking in the freezer waiting for one of those "oh flip I'm skint weeks".

Water bill came yesterday for the past 6 months and my metered supply has cost me 21p a day. SuperGran across the block is also on a meter and is more than a little cross that's she's had a watertank overflow virtually running water because it's b*ggered up and the council haven't been able to get a new one yet to install. It'd be a £2k jobbie if she was a leaseholder instead of a tenant. :eek: Shoebox Towers is plumbed to the Mothership, my nickname for the communal heating and hot water, and the tanks are a bit specialised. Still, she's savvy and will work out what extra water has disappeared over and above predictable consumption and invite the council to compensate her for it. Anyway, she has the same insurance policy as me and we're covered for loss of metered water.

Oh, forgot to say, they finished renewing our water main last week, so no more swimming pool episodes on that side of the block, we hope. Goodness, big blocks of flats are complicated entities.

The Towers moved slightly on its foundations during the Great Lincolnshire Earthquake the other year and now has some exciting cracks. I chatted with the surveyor who's come to look at them and learned some interesting stuff about the Towers ( I have been afflicted with galloping curiousity since birth and always want to know what's going on. I get especially good value from the civil engineers who work with the water company and we always chat if they're digging up the site. Never met an un-civil civil engineer yet).

The cracks didn't seem to phase the surveyor and haven't worsened and I suppose the council will fix them one day, probably after they've gone down the back of the sofa to find some spare change.

Another round of cut-backs imminent in this city as local government tries to balance the books so that they can discharge their statutory responsibilities within the ridiculously small settlement given for this year and next. I don't have too many worries about my job as I'm small fry and manically busy in Customer Services but I do worry how all of us will manage when the State, in it's various incarnations, will have to do less.

:mad: Burger it, the temprature's dropping and the sun has gone, which of you snagged it from me?!

:DThere's nothing for it, I shall have to have another cup of tea!:D Hope everyone has a good Sunday and for goodness sake, ladies, remember to rest as well.

EDIT; I have seen the Dyson and it IS hotter than Brad Pitt.

Nice to see you back welshcamper.