shop like granny

cathy_3

I think most of them had to wait for that weeks wages before doing the bulk of the shopping, but remember they didnt buy anything like the amounts we do

I can remember going to the market with my grandad christmas eve to get a cheap turkey at the end of the day lots of bargains to be had

toys she bought all year and we only got one each off her and a mars christmas stocking.

everyone ate well, and shed do a lovely tea shed make lovely soup out of the carcass of the turkey etc

shed make the christmas cake weeks before and ice it christmas week, bake lots and lots of mince pies christmas eve and "bunloaf" a huge trifle and a bottle of sherry and everyone was happy

lol

filigree_2

My Granny's Christmas spending consisted of dinner, pud, a box of Peek Freans cheese footballs, a box of Twiglets and a bottle of Bols Advocaat for making Snowballs. My Mum and Dad would go mad and splash out on their annual bottle of Asti Spumante.

A traditional roast dinner isn't really that expensive, things like roast potatoes, carrots and lots of stuffing are pretty cheap, and the turkey feeds an army for a week!

When I was little we didn't have half the luxuries I dish up for Xmas, but I don't remember feeling deprived.

Nowt wrong with shopping trolleys, use mine all the time :P Sadly I'm still unfit ???

Bogof_Babe

I wish people didn't take the mick out of shopping trolleys too, and I fully intend to have one if and when the need arises. Living up-hill from the local Co-op, it makes perfect sense.

My mum was nearly 40 when I was born so in this context she is the equivalent to other people's grannies.

There was no fridge at home for a long time, just a pantry, so milk (from the milkman) was kept in a bucket of cold water in the summer. Fresh foods had to be bought daily, and meals were always planned ahead. She cooked "proper" meals for us for both lunch and tea, so must have spent ages in the kitchen. Laundry took a whole day too - no machine obviously, just a big Belfast sink in the "scullery" and a mangle.

We used to walk nearly every day to the local row of "proper" shops - you know, greengrocer, butcher, baker - don't think we actually had a candlestick maker, but nearly everything else. On Fridays she bought a tail-end-of-cod (I always thought it was one word, tailendacod :-[) from the fishmonger. She always had a list, and we went from shop to shop buying only what she needed. I don't think impulse buys had been invented. Everything was sold loose and weighed out into paper bags, or greaseproof paper for bacon etc.

We walked home together, mum, me and my sister, and I remember neither of us wanted to hold "the shopping hand" so we had to take turns!

I remember she kept an emergency ten shilling note in her purse (50p!), and sometimes at breakfast before my dad went to work she would ask if he could let her have five shillings for the shopping.

For 40 years, before she gave up through old age, she used to make the same Christmas cake every year - it was a standing joke as the recipe was entitled "A Bride's First Christmas Cake".

Sorry for waffling on, but a lovely thread for a trip down memory lane

cathy_3

I remember all that

your shopping consisted of

the butcher where you bought maybe 2 days meat cos no fridge
the baker for a loaf no rolls or cakes or anything fancy like that unless a sunday when youd all get ONE cake
and a half lb of mixed buiscuts out of various tins (like pic and mix) fed an army of about 12 people cos you only got ONE buiscut

the general store for bacon eggs 1/4 boiled ham and some corned beef

then the dairy for milk and butter sometimes buying 1/4 of best butter

greencrocer who sold spuds cabbage carrot and onion turnips all year round. caulis, lettuce tomataoes etc were only available in season

fruit in season

sprouts at christmas

my granny fed 9 of them on that lot for about 2-3 days all big six footers and hefty girls all now in their 70s approaching 80s, nobody overweight, nobody ever sick or ailed a day, the only one who died was my uncle (76) a few weeks ago because he had asbestosis.

these days we have such a choice we spend spend spend in the shops and hardly any of it is any good for us.
when you go into a supermarket there is the fruit and veg aisles first and have you noticed there is NO smell at all, that should smell lovely all fruity and vegatabley if you know what I mean
put your nose right up to an apple

---

nothing

cathy_3

shopping trolleys are great until a pensioner rips your ankle off with one as she goes past

lol

16011996

or uses it to get you out of the quene at the post office on a thursday moring.

shopping trolleys are great  until a pensioner rips your ankle off with one as she goes past  

lol

Bogof_Babe

Another good reason for becoming a pensioner! Can't wait

Talking of the (lack of) smell in the fruit and veg aisles, you are so right. We have had three tomato plants this year (wonderful crop btw ;D) and even just touching them in passing put a great, fresh, healthy smell on our fingers. Finished now but plenty still on the window ledge in an endeavour to avoid the green tomato chutney last resort ::).

Going off topic a bit, but I do wish houses these days weren't built with such tiny gardens, as you really can't beat home-grown produce, and with the benefits of a freezer nowadays it is the best of all worlds. We had loads of green beans from f-i-l's garden and they took us all through summer and probably saved us about £50. We grew the toms in a plastic trough from a garden centre, so you can do it in a small way, and it all helps. Even herbs in a window box would save a few £'s.

cathy_3

green beans cost a fortune and I love them tried to grow them but failed a couple of times must say I wasnt paying that much attention to them though

tomatoes dont you need sun for those

???

Bogof_Babe

tomatoes   dont you need sun for those

???

They started really slowly then all came at once! That is a bit of a drawback, but we live on salads in the warm weather (and even in the cooler weather ) and I do pasta things a lot too, as hubs is a vegetarian.

Having said that, I'm off to peel a few sprouts for supper now ;D Winter drawers on, as they say

jaybee

Used to be able to buy broken biscuits in Woolworths.
I can remember Sainsburys when they were a tiny grocers shop and you had to queue at each counter for your butter and cheese, then to another one for your bacon etc.
Feeling really old now - haven't got a shopping trolly though. . . . . .yet!