Where do we go from basics?

sparrer

Feel I missed out now! It all sounds so warm, and 'family' iyswim. My mother was a career woman, step-father a butcher so money and meat were freely available. He would trade meat for groceries etc with other traders so we never went without. But I did travel to school on my own at 8 years old, 8 miles on a double decker bus, as they'd gone to work by the time I left home. I also came back to prep the veg and turn the oven on at 5pm(mother would put a chicken/chops/steak/whatever in before she left) so it was cooked when they got home. If there was a problem I was to go to my 'Aunty Edie' who worked in the shoe shop round the corner, but every time I set foot in the shop she put the fear of God in me! It was a long time before I realised it was just her way.

Today I know I was a latchkey kid but as I'd never heard that expression it didn't affect me. Labels are invented by adults, just as well children aren't aware of them!

Funny thing is I never once had a job where I wasn't there for my own children, eventually buying a business where I could live where I worked. One time when my then husband and I went three doors up to a barbeque my 15 and 12 year old daughters were on the point of calling the police because we got back at 10 past 10, not the 10pm we'd promised. We were obviously far too overprotective as parents - talk about going from one extreme to the other!

firesidemaid

ok, i'm not meanining to go over old ground here, but just wanted to offer an alternative view regarding the school cooking ingredients.

public sector depts, be it a school, hospital, town hall etc are run locally, and a good manager or headteacher may be very good at getting good deals on stationary and decide to spend the money saved on something else. or, the manager/colleagues or even a local shop may bring/provide any number of things to a workplace.

anyway, my tip is, although it's not quite so easy these days, is to weigh stuff in the supermarket - that includes meat etc as well as bags of veg! even if packs say 400g for example, that is a minimum - i generally hand-weigh a few items to choose the 'heavier' ones and then weigh them using the fruit n veg scales

bluebag

redlady_1 wrote: »

bread and dripping! Yum....but tripe??? Wrong on so many levels!

I remember running down the field to my great grandma (we lived with nan for a while) jumping over the strawberries, over the ditch, dodging the dead pheasants hanging and to the bread with proper butter! I used to scalp that bread but the price was I had to have my hair combed!!! :eek:

Oh gosh, I forgot about bread and dripping.. as a child I hated butter and used to ask for dry bread, I was a skinny pale thing so mum insisted I had it buttered, but dripping was far, far worse as far as I was concerned. I tried it once and was sick, so mum didn't push that.

She used to meet me from school with a pigs trotter and we would share it in the park together. I can't imagine that happening today.

My great aunt owned a farm, butter would be put on the table in a great big earthenware bowl, she used to churn it herself. The bowl was about as big as a mixing bowl and everyone plastered the bread and spuds with it, no thoughts of cholesterol in those days.

[Deleted User]

my mum used to buy bacon bits and slowly fry them. It turned to dripping with bacon bits in it and we loved it, spread on a thick piece of crusty bread

we had our main meal at lunchtime and walked home from school for it. Teatime was always a couple of slices of bread and something in the middle

My dads income was very eratic and I remember that after christmas it was very bad indeed. He was self employed. My mum would struggle then to afford a half a pigs head and a bag of potatoes and carrots. Potatoes were a big staple. There were 9 of us in all and I was the oldest so could cook a full meal in a pressure cooker before I was 11 and I could cook fish and chips for everyone by then, using 1 1/2 lb of haddock and fat in a pan. I was safe too. Fish was relatively cheap then. I do remember getting the `rations` in ie queueing. 3/4 lb mince used to do a good meal for 9 and pea soup made with a hock was always very welcome

sugar between 2 slices of bread, oh yes and now we all have mouths full of metal fillings

I remember the long washdays and the days of drying clothes in winter, on a ceiling rack, in the one room that had a fire. Frost patterns on the inside of windows and a coat on the bed, old rough army blankets. Walking to school in deep snow with my one pair of shoes on my feet, so had wet freezing feet all day

Playing outside all day in the next street, which was a playstreet. Lots of children and a couple of mums standing at their doors watching. Cockroaches coming from the dirty house next door so we would stamp to make a noise before putting the light on, then we would see them scurrying away

Good and bad in those days but the diet and lifestyle must have been good because we were all very fit and healthy. No-one had heard of blueberries, kiwi fruits and so on and we were lucky to have an apple a week

I was so bored when we did needlework lessons at school, all the very basic stuff. I could already sew a skirt on a machine by 11. Cooking was much the same and first lesson was to make toast and tea, I could make a full cooked meal by then. I gave up those lessons by 14 and went on to do physics instead but I did envy them when they took their lovely christmas cakes home and I did have my gondola basket for years afterwards

ceridwen

firesidemaid wrote: »

ok, i'm not meanining to go over old ground here, but just wanted to offer an alternative view regarding the school cooking ingredients.

public sector depts, be it a school, hospital, town hall etc are run locally, and a good manager or headteacher may be very good at getting good deals on stationary and decide to spend the money saved on something else. or, the manager/colleagues or even a local shop may bring/provide any number of things to a workplace.

anyway, my tip is, although it's not quite so easy these days, is to weigh stuff in the supermarket - that includes meat etc as well as bags of veg! even if packs say 400g for example, that is a minimum - i generally hand-weigh a few items to choose the 'heavier' ones and then weigh them using the fruit n veg scales

Errr...thanks for the food tip - but that first couple of paragraphs IS "going over old ground" I feel.

Personally - I think it would be best if all mention of childrens' cooking expenses being borne by the State disappeared from the thread - because it IS controversial (as is any mention of any childcare expenses/child allowances). I know its a common viewpoint to regard this as a State expense - but its controversial, because a lot of people don't agree with it. There will always be arguments any time anyone thinks its okay for that to happen - because those who dont agree are then dutybound to point out that there is another viewpoint on this and lots of people arent happy with this happening.

To restore this thread to "non controversial" can I suggest that there is no further mention of who funds child-related expenses?:)

donnajt

Gigervamp wrote: »

Lol, same here!

me too! I hated sugar on bread - just the thought of it sets my teeth on edge, wld have much rather just had a buppie - bread and butter

donnajt

donnajt wrote: »

my gammon joint (covered in cherry coke) is in the slowcooker

OMG the gammon joint is amazing - i absolutely hate ham in any form but this is delicious, just fell apart. I cannot believe how much meat i have, we have all had a few tasters (erm!) and made sandwiches for the hoards lunches and i still have a tupperware box (securely hidden) in fridge full to the brim

...can u advise how i cook a chicken in slowcook, how much and what liquid should i use? stock?

quintwins

i don't put any liquid in witha chicken the one time i did the whole thing feel apart as soon as i touched it and was more like chicken soup, and i leave it on full for about 2 hrs then turn it down to low for 5 hrs

shop bought ham is horrible compared to real gammon, if you love your gommon you should try get a ham hock from the butchers it's just as yummy gammon never lasts in this house, because our tasters turn into half the roast, and any left from tea are in sandwichs by 10 lol

[Deleted User]

Ah memories of the dreaded tripe and onions God I detested the stuff but in our house if it was in anyway edible then it was eaten with no arguements .The worst thing I think was tinned fish called snoek, I think it came from South Africa and Mum made us eat it and it was revolting I honestly think I would rather go hungry than eat that again.Dripping toast filled most hungry kids up and 'conny-onny 'sandwiches Condesed milk spread on bread.No wonder I come from a generation of fillings in the teeth dept.:):)Even though a lot of the food was basically stodgy as a child I was a skinny rake of a thing and my Dad used to say no matter what I ate I wouldn't make a decent meal for the dog :)Now I eat heathily with lots of fruit and veg no sugar, butter or fat at all and am on a constant diet to try and get rid of the excess,life is so unfair somehow

donnajt

quintwins wrote: »

i don't put any liquid in witha chicken the one time i did the whole thing feel apart as soon as i touched it and was more like chicken soup, and i leave it on full for about 2 hrs then turn it down to low for 5 hrs

oh that doesn't sound so good - the meat was like soup? blast we are going to the caravan for a week on sunday and i was planning on slow cooking a gammon and a chicken to take for lunch sarnies!!