No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

katep23

Thanks MrsL, got a mason jar full already, just freed up a cereal Tupperware container for some more, other jars are earmarked for chutney this year so will try some in the freezer as they are.

Hard to believe we didn't get a single courgette last year :rotfl:

scottishminnie

I don't think we have Wilkos nearby which is a shame as that sounds like the kind of place where I could pick up some bargains.

We had gloriously unexpectedly good weather today. Hope it continues tomorrow so I can finish some of the things I didn't get to in the garden. I hear that the big DIY store have 3 for 2 on wood stain so think I will be going there at some point tomorrow (off for the bank holiday - yay!) and goodness knows what else I may pick up.

Hubby is in the process of building himself a massive workshop (thanks heavens for living next to parent's land so we can do what we like). I'm delighted as I will get some of my garage space back and I'm thinking it will make Christmas gifts easy for a year or two as I can buy him a fancy tool cabinet etc. It does mean I may have to do some wood staining though which I'm not wild about -small price to see him happy though,

I cheated this weekend and bought the M&S dine in for £10. I did manage to get an Oakham chicken which was £5.50 alone so it's in the oven now and will provide many meals for us and a carcass for the farm cats (once I've made some chicken and rice soup). I managed to get £18.96 worth for the £10 which I thought was quite good. I'm enjoying the wine now:D

Hope you are all enjoying our last bank holiday before Christmas (what a sobering thought when some of us still have summer holidays to come!) - make the most of the late August sunshine!

Kate - I've spent a lot of time in Tennessee where they mainly use mason jars to drink beer from. I had to read your post twice before I remembered that isn't their primary purpose!!!!

charlies-aunt

katep23 wrote: »

Not wishing to repeat myself but when you freeze courgettes, do you blanch them first or just freeze?

Sorry to say that I have tried both ways and have given up trying to freeze them in any way, shape or form.

We had a glut the year before last (zilch last year here too!) and . . . . convinced by what I had read in "The Tightwad Gazette" ......I diligently froze pounds of them - sliced, whole, blanched, un-blanched, cooked etc .... convinced that I'd be able to use them through winter in all sorts of exciting ways

Unfortunately - they were vile! I ended outing the lot - even the HM ratatouille and stirfries maybe it was the variety that we had grown but freezing had turned the skins mouth-shrivelling bitter and the rest just went to sloppy mush.

Very disappointing - never again!

I think a dehydrator is going to have to go on my Christmas wish list after reading everyone's success stories with these!

[Deleted User]

It's a super device CHARLIES AUNT I had mine as a joint christmas pressie last year from the whole family. It uses a fair amount pf electricity in the initial drying process but from then on you have stores that are completely independent of a power source. I'm constantly amazed at how much bulk is lost when the stuff is dehydrated. I have a 9 tray Excalibur and it's very efficient, they cost round about £300 so not cheap but I did have a cheaper model that never worked properly and this one will last me through the rest of my life as long as there is electricity to power it!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

katep23

Thanks for the feedback re freezing. I have frozen them blanched before for casseroles and they were okay but mushy. Will keep dehydrating them then!

My dehydrator was about £50 off @mazon and has a timer and temperature control. If we get the use out of it we will upgrade to the excaliber later but didn't know how much we would use it.

katep23

Oh and I forgot as well as drying I will be pickling some more, done several jars already but can never have enough and I'm hoping to do home-made hampers for everyone this year (same as I hope to do every year but has never happened) so they will get used. Sorting out my preserves in the larder and I found 3 jars of pickled courgettes from last year when I thought I had run out so that's good.

I keep meaning to tell you about my good luck recently. Our neighbour's son runs his own landscape gardening firm and dropped us off a load of decking for firewood. Some of it is in really good condition so OH is going to use it to replace our raised beds which got destroyed by the builders recently. We will offer some to my folks as they were looking for materials for a planter and the rest will be chopped up for winter.

And my really exciting (for me) news is that I picked up a bargain on Facebook selling page this week. I got 7 pieces of Le Creuset ovenware plus 2 soup bowls and 2 ramekins for £50 - some of it is new and has never been in the oven. When I priced it up, the square skillet on its own sells for £60! I can now replace lots of my pyrex which is chipped and battered and hopefully this will last me for years.

I felt bad about spending so much on something non-essential (and worse when I got my credit card bill in this month, it has been a very expensive month with one thing and another!) but it really was worth the money and so I will be making sure the next few months are as cheap as possible.

OH and his friend are currently working on my new old car so we can hopefully MOT it tomorrow then tax it from 1st September and that will nearly halve my fuel bill each month. Lots of tea and marmalade cake being provided regularly.

Have got a big pan of courgette chutney on the hob, it smells lush!

Hope you are all enjoying the bank holiday and the weather is good for you x

[Deleted User]

KATE how can you possibly say the Le Creuset is NOT essential? It is top me!!!!! What a find, well done you, it's the mainstay of casserole and stew cooking in my kitchen, Brilliant about the firewood too, you're on a roll kiddo, on a roll and long may it continue!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

v1ckyt

De-lurking to say hi, and can I join you all please?

I m an intermittent old-styler. We fall of the wagon into the takeaway sometimes (ok a bit more frequently than sometimes:eek:) but currently have very good intentions, especially after 2 days of shed de-cluttering, meal planning and budget spreadsheet reviewing.
This winter is going to be a testing time for lots of people, and am picking up tips here that will be very useful I am sure.

Anyway, thought I'd stop just reading and say hi.
Vicky

PS Also have to confess to being Katep23's big sister, am looking forward to the Xmas Hamper, easy on the courgettes please. :D:D

[Deleted User]

Hello VICKY welcome aboard the thread, nice to have lots of new friends joining us, it all adds to the fun and friendliness of thread life, I'm afraid there is no avoiding the courgettes, dehydrated or otherwise, they're being so enthusiastic this year that ALL christmas hampers will have many courgette based products in them, if you're really lucky you might get something canard related with them though? Mmmmmmmmm lovely!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

katep23

v1ckyt wrote: »

PS Also have to confess to being Katep23's big sister, am looking forward to the Xmas Hamper, easy on the courgettes please. :D:D

Hey sis :hello: will marrow rum do instead

charlies-aunt wrote: »

If you have a Wilk0's nearby - its worth popping in as they are starting to mark down their gardening things. I got a small but sturdy propagator today - reduced from £11 to £2, a set of solar garden lights reduced from £5 to £2.50 and fibre seedling pots reduced from £1 to 43p Lots of seeds and other bits and bobs were half price or less

Off into town tomorrow as car is in for MOT so will drop at MOT centre then walk into town. Having lunch with OH at Stradas courtesy of Mr T and clubcard vouchers then will be going to Wilkos for a wander but can't (mustn't) buy much as I have to lug it back to the car!