Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Evening all.

sorryImoved, grinning at the thought that suet puds are a concept which hasn't travelled. They're v.old-fashioned even here in the UK but we are the old-stylers after all.

Mum's 1940s-1950s childhood featured a lot of suet in both savoury and sweet forms and she vowed that she wouldn't inflict it on us kids. It was cheap food for poor people, real stick to your ribs stuff.

We might eat salads in the UK but with a climate that tends to dankness for, oh, about 11.5 months a year, puddings are a major part of our culinary tradition. With custard, in an ideal world.

The leading brand of suet is ATORA and the packaging has remained unchanged for generations. Check it out: http://www.atora.co.uk/

Funny about the bread - i'm about to rustle up some bread rolls. I never chuck salt in with the dried yeast, flour, touch of oil and hot water and never have any problems. I just thought it was a way of commercial bakers covering up the tastelessness of low quality flour.

My flour (check out the halo) is lovely nutty organic stoneground wholemeal from the watermill which was around since the time of the Norman Conquest. Or at least, there has been a mill on that site for 900+ years.

Bruised my arm again at archery (two steps forward and one back, hey-ho). We're having special Xmas archery next week. I asked if I'd be able to shoot a reindeer but was told I'd have to supply my own.

Here, Rudie, Rudie, here boy, nice bunch of hay over here, my laddo.

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

Evening all.

sorryImoved, grinning at the thought that suet puds are a concept which hasn't travelled. They're v.old-fashioned even here in the UK but we are the old-stylers after all.

Mum's 1940s-1950s childhood featured a lot of suet in both savoury and sweet forms and she vowed that she wouldn't inflict it on us kids. It was cheap food for poor people, real stick to your ribs stuff.

We might eat salads in the UK but with a climate that tends to dankness for, oh, about 11.5 months a year, puddings are a major part of our culinary tradition. With custard, in an ideal world.

Sorry GQ, I refuse to eat steak and kidney or bacon and leek puddings with custard - not even if Heston Bloominheck recommends the combination.
Suet pastry has long been a favourite round here. Indulged less often than it might be as I'm not burning off enough calories to eat it everyday - modern life not being as physical as it used to be (thank the Lords).
I think tomorrow's menu might well include a Sussex Pond Pudding served with proper custard.

Incidentally, grated cold butter will work as a substitute for suet if you're stuck, or the pastry from this recipe makes a canny replacement using vegetable oil for the fat.

GQ I'd go for Muntjac, is far easier to manage with a modern oven, unless you have a band of merry men you need to feed (or just a band of folk and a couple of barrels of mead - in which case can I have an invite )

GreyQueen

:rotfl:Lol, and there was me so focussed on the jammy suet puds of school dinner infamy that I forgot about the savoury ones. Wasn't Heston the nutjob who did snail ice-cream or was that an urban myth?

jk0, many moons ago an young and proper poorly GQ presented her suffering self at a GP in Scotlandshire, where the good doctor recommended taking a bottle of whiskey and retiring to bed until I felt better.

Quick as a flash, I demanded to know if one could be had on prescription but, alas, twasn't so and there was no way I could afford one.

Dad takes a small medicinal whiskey for a cold, and my Nan a small tot of brandy in her bedtime H0rlicks. Apart from these degenerates we're a mostly tee-total family.

I always say that even if it doesn't actually do you good, it seems to blot(to) out some of the misery. Cheers! :beer:

ETA; If I bagged a reindeer we could have a partay!!! Funniest thing happened in the sports hall yestereve; there we were all lined up on the line shooting at the targets down the far end when, suddenly from nowhere, came the distant sound of a hunting horn, a la Robin Hood!

It was a seriously WTH?! moment and we have no idea where or how it came from. RL is bliddy weird at times, or perhaps it is the ability of GQ-ness to warp the probability continuum in my immediate surroundings.

westcoastscot

Nuatha, thanks for your input - hadn't thought of taking it out of the chef and having a play with it :-). Shall try that. Shall also try your linkie recipe thanks.

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

:rotfl:Lol, and there was me so focussed on the jammy suet puds of school dinner infamy that I forgot about the savoury ones. Wasn't Heston the nutjob who did snail ice-cream or was that an urban myth?

Among many other things, he's done snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream (I believe separate dishes)

jk0, many moons ago an young and proper poorly GQ presented her suffering self at a GP in Scotlandshire, where the good doctor recommended taking a bottle of whiskey and retiring to bed until I felt better.

Quick as a flash, I demanded to know if one could be had on prescription but, alas, twasn't so and there was no way I could afford one.

One can imagine the queues for prescriptions and the MP's outrage if it were.

Dad takes a small medicinal whiskey for a cold, and my Nan a small tot of brandy in her bedtime H0rlicks. Apart from these degenerates we're a mostly tee-total family.

I always say that even if it doesn't actually do you good, it seems to blot(to) out some of the misery. Cheers! :beer:

ETA; If I bagged a reindeer we could have a partay!!! Funniest thing happened in the sports hall yestereve; there we were all lined up on the line shooting at the targets down the far end when, suddenly from nowhere, came the distant sound of a hunting horn, a la Robin Hood!

It was a seriously WTH?! moment and we have no idea where or how it came from. RL is bliddy weird at times, or perhaps it is the ability of GQ-ness to warp the probability continuum in my immediate surroundings.

The Wild Hunt looking for new recruits?
I suppose traditionally we'd need a greenwood glen, several big fires and a minstrel (would have to keep moving or they'd be eaten, given the appetite for chocolate round here)
Perfect chance to check the bugout kit.

nuatha

westcoastscot wrote: »

Nuatha, thanks for your input - hadn't thought of taking it out of the chef and having a play with it :-). Shall try that. Shall also try your linkie recipe thanks.

You're welcome.
My hands aren't always good enough to knead, hence having some possible answers for you - been there, done that, made dwarf bread.
I was very surprised by just how long the dough took in a medium speed Chef. I'd started off thinking it would be much faster than by hand and its not.

The Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes is almost a religion in some parts of the world, but it generally works and is the least physically intensive method I've tried that produces a decent loaf.

Shropshirelass

Definitely needs more experimentation - though OH reckons could be used for house-building. :rotfl:Yeast looked good and frothy, but it was difficult to estimate how much water to add (recipe said 'sufficient...') and I probably added too much... I want to crack this, as want to be able to make bread if yeast or baking powder should be unavailable.

I also made mince pies at least they came out well, I just never seem to make enough. BTW does anyone else think mince pies are a ridiculous price this year?

Weatherman keeps saying it is very mild for December, but it is very cold and damp here. Have brought the pot plants inside, as they seem to be suffering from cold and gloom although we've not had frost yet.

GreyQueen

OK, here's a question for my fellow females (gents, pls avert thine eyes).

You measure for a bra by going around your ribs with a tape measure + 5 then round up to an even number if the result is an odd one and that give you the band size. Then you measure round the fullest part of your bosom, and subtract the band-measurement from the boobage and you get, according to a formula, your cup size.

Eg 1/2 inch larger = AA cup, 1 inch larger A cup, 2 inches large = B cup etc etc until your cup runneth over or you wander into Benny Hill Territory.

How the hell can I end up with a cup size 1" smaller than the band size? My head hurts. I checked the interweb for the technique and everything. I know you can get professionally measured but I've had that done by M & S and it was rubbish; I ended up in a changing room with about 10 bras of the "right" size according to M & S Lady which all fitted extremely wrongly in about 10 different ways.

I had a meltdown in the changing room and stormed out of the shop in a temper. I will be back in a shop tomorrow with a similar mission. Is it theoretically possible to have an un-bra-able figure? I swear I look relatively normal...........:rotfl:

DawnW

nuatha wrote: »

GQ I'd go for Muntjac, is far easier to manage with a modern oven, unless you have a band of merry men you need to feed (or just a band of folk and a couple of barrels of mead - in which case can I have an invite )

Yes, and very nice they are, too. On quite another note, some friends of ours used to keep one (a muntjac, not a barrel of mead ) as a pet. It had been injured in a road accident, and the vet had thought it was brain damaged, so passed it on to them (mad animal folk) to take care of it in its declining years.

Well, it wasn't quite right in that it couldn't have fended for itself in the wild, but it actually did very well for itself. It lived in their (posh) house, and used a litter tray in the corner of the kitchen. When we were invited for dinner, our youngest DD was delighted to discover that it lurked around under the table at meal times, and was an ideal solution for disposing of unwanted items such as brussels sprouts :rotfl:

Shropshirelass

nuatha thanks for the 5 minute recipe looks scrummy, another one to try out.