It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

Mrs_Chip

Good Morning (and what a good one it is - fabulous weather here in the SE)

So sorry for all of you with very hard decisions to make about you loved animals, such a difficult thing to do.

I had my finger shut in a car door when I was about 10 - the scream was heard up and down the village high street! As this was over 40 years ago, and therefore a very old car indeed, I did get a nasty cut and still have the scar to this day. I did get two days off shcool though .

GQ - the cardamoms for everyday cooking are the green ones - not sure how much it matters, I think the black ones are stronger flavoured and a bit more obvious in the food (some would say this is a good thing as biting into a whole cardamom hidden in a curry is not a nice experience!). 32 is A LOT of cardamom pods:rotfl:. did you pick them out? I dont think you could have chomped through them all without wondering why the curry tasted like mouthwash! .

Going to spend the day converting 5kg onions into pakoras to freeze and experimenting with making onion bhajias - I love those crispy balls of oniony delight that you get from the takeaway, and need to find out how to make them!

Hobsons_Choice

Rosanna, so very sorry about your little cat. We have to let go when the time is right though, don't we? Spoil her rotten and remember the happy time she spent with you. Then go off and have a good cry!

GreyQueen

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Good Morning (and what a good one it is - fabulous weather here in the SE)

So sorry for all of you with very hard decisions to make about you loved animals, such a difficult thing to do.

I had my finger shut in a car door when I was about 10 - the scream was heard up and down the village high street! As this was over 40 years ago, and therefore a very old car indeed, I did get a nasty cut and still have the scar to this day. I did get two days off shcool though .

GQ - the cardamoms for everyday cooking are the green ones - not sure how much it matters, I think the black ones are stronger flavoured and a bit more obvious in the food (some would say this is a good thing as biting into a whole cardamom hidden in a curry is not a nice experience!). 32 is A LOT of cardamom pods:rotfl:. did you pick them out? I dont think you could have chomped through them all without wondering why the curry tasted like mouthwash! .

Going to spend the day converting 5kg onions into pakoras to freeze and experimenting with making onion bhajias - I love those crispy balls of oniony delight that you get from the takeaway, and need to find out how to make them!

:j Oh wow, thanks for the info; I did think they looked a bit conspicious and I didn't actually eat them. I kinda assumed they and the lemon grass were for flavour not actually to eat.

One more question; is a cardamom pod ONE of those round thingies or are they individual SEEDS and there several of them to a pod? I may have overdone them by a factor of 6:1.:o

Good luck with the cooking!

kidcat

Thanks everyone for the good wishes.

Once again its a beautiful day here and I have windows open blowing through.

Rosana - am so sorry to hear of your poorly cat its devastating when its time to let them go but at least you know its the kindest thing.

Am spending today searching for a new rear light for our people carrier, someone has smashed the light but its all one unit and its no longer available!! Hard to understand how I can still get parts for my little car that is 17 yrs old but cant get one for a ten yr old car. Have tried all local scrap yards as far as Manchester and resorted to ebay but still no luck so far.

Yet another school meeting tonight - means I have had one school meeting per day for over a week, and I am finding it exhausting. I find it very enlightening seeing the differnences though, having attended two different primary PTA meeting - one headteacher is aiming to buy flip cameras for each class and a further £7000 for play equipment whilst the other would like enough money to subsidise school trips - to make sure that every child in the school can get one trip outside of the town this year - cost £500!! My dad summed it up - one school is all about show and flashy stuff the other - all about loving the kids.

Gigervamp

GQ, a cardamon pod is filled with lots of tiny black seeds. Some recipes call for using the little seeds out of the pod, but other recipes just use the pods whole.

taurusgb

Well the sun is shining! what is that all about? 9.30am and I've got the french doors flung wide open along with all the windows.....I keep hearing Victor Meldrew's voice in my head shouting "I don't believe it!"

Has anyone ever tried to explain to a man how to hang out washing? My DD2 has been dealing with the laundry while I've been ill but she's now back at uni. DH changed the bed linen last night, washed it and hung it out this morning...OMG :eek::eek::eek: I nearly had a fit when I looked out the window (quietly of course - he's being so lovely, I don't want to seem ungrateful at his efforts). I know I'm probably OCD about washing - I like socks hung with socks that sort of thing, but blimey if you could have seen the duvet folded into quarters then hung over the line so that there were 8 layers for the sun/breeze to dry (apparantly he was trying to save space, can't think why, there was ample room for duvet cover, pillow cases and sheet)

Has anyone else seen even more fuel price rises where you live? Here, the price of diesel is getting really beyond reason. My DH worked out that the cost of a Sainsbury's delivery @ £3.50 is less than the cost of driving to the nearest store 14 miles away and back again (and we don't have a fuel guzzling vehicle either). We do have a small and a medium sized Co-op in our small town, which used to be great when the larger one was Somerfield and they were in competition with each other, but now the competition element is gone the prices are so high I simply cannot afford to shop there, which upsets me greatly as I really like to support local shops. We still have a greengrocer and 2 butchers which aren't too bad though so that's something to be grateful for.

Apart from food becoming a luxury item, housing costs are also a scary amount locally. We bought our home almost 20 years ago but looking at the prices houses are selling for here we couldn't afford to buy our house now. A local house has just been sold to a couple who have updated it and moved abroad leaving the house to be rented out by a local agent. It sold at 6 times what we paid for ours in 1992. Out of curiosity I looked on the internet to see what the monthly rent is ... it is £795 per month plus council tax and bills :eek: I nearly fell over with shock. How on earth do families afford to live if they have to pay rent this high? I can't think how our 2 youngest are ever going to be able to leave home.

Right - painkiller time...shall I take with water or have juice for a change? :rotfl:


edited to add my condolences to all of you with very difficult decisions to make about your animals, such a hard thing to have to do - pets become part of the family so quickly it is heartbreaking when they leave

Mrs_Chip

Got diverted from onion duties to do a bit of garden putting-to-bed. had to stop - too blimming hot :rotfl:. Thought doing it early doors would mean nice gardening temp, but I am sitting here sweating cobs! Not that I am complaining, just amazed that it is so hot this late in the year. Sending OH out to get emergency ice creams from Lidl (Gelatelli cornets and Almond 'M*gnum' are delish!).

So I think slaving over a hot stove will be the cooler job today.:cool::D

maryb

Mrs Chip,
If you find out how to make decent onion bhajis, let me know. I struggle with it. I think I've got the texture of the onions right by now but frying so that they aren't soggy in the middle is proving challenging. I had the best results so far when I fried them in oil that was not too hot until they just started to go golden and crisp up a little bit, then fished them out and squashed them a bit flatter, reheated the oil a bit hotter (the way you do to finish off chips) and put them back in - that seemed to enable the heat to penetrate to the middle Fussy Piece (AKA DD2) said they were almost OK but could we still have takeaway next time (Grrrr!)

Mrs_Chip

Hi Mary

I can make onion pakoras ok, but I was those lovely round bhajias that some restaurants do - where the outside is pretty much just onion,and a spicy pakora-like inside. No idea how they do it, so will be trying several versions - if I crack it will let you know!

For regular ones, I think its just a case of as little batter to hold the onion together as possible, combined with having the oil hot enough to cook them through without browing them too much.

Edit: and yes, how infuriating is it when the non-cooks are so picky!!!

GreyQueen

taurusgb wrote: »

Apart from food becoming a luxury item, housing costs are also a scary amount locally. We bought our home almost 20 years ago but looking at the prices houses are selling for here we couldn't afford to buy our house now. A local house has just been sold to a couple who have updated it and moved abroad leaving the house to be rented out by a local agent. It sold at 6 times what we paid for ours in 1992. Out of curiosity I looked on the internet to see what the monthly rent is ... it is £795 per month plus council tax and bills :eek: I nearly fell over with shock. How on earth do families afford to live if they have to pay rent this high? I can't think how our 2 youngest are ever going to be able to leave home.

Right - painkiller time...shall I take with water or have juice for a change? :rotfl:


edited to add my condolences to all of you with very difficult decisions to make about your animals, such a hard thing to have to do - pets become part of the family so quickly it is heartbreaking when they leave

:eek: I found out yesterday that the market rate for an ex-council house rented out in the private sector (4 bedroom) is currently £10,000 per annum in this city. :eek:

Thanks for cardomom info; it's a wonder I'm still alive how I cook, isn't it?.........:rotfl:

Post and rush as am on break...((hugs)) to all.