The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

kboss2010

I agree, it's so difficult juggling family. I live 300 miles away from most of my family and since I can't get a permanent job I'm always short on money so I can't afford to fly except at Xmas. Driving takes a day each way so I can't really pop down for the weekend either. My mum has also moved even further south (Devon) which makes things even more difficult!

Aberdeen is cripplingly expensive (almost on par with London for house and rent prices and flights) but it's where I'm most likely to get a permanent job eventually with my degrees so it would be pointless moving back "home" to England.

I honestly don't know how other people manage, I feel guilty all the time for not seeing/speaking to people enough but there's nothing I can do about it. My friends and family are scattered across the UK/Europe. Ideally I'd like to move to the Central Belt eventually as rent is cheap and transport links (trains, buses, roads and airports) are better and much, much cheaper and it's the halfway point between my family and my OH's but finding a job in Edinburgh or Glasgow in my field is really difficult when you're just starting out with not much experience.

nuttyp

Hi all had one very busy weekend. As I have already mentioned DD has finally moved into her house, so all weekend we have been moving her and her fianc! stuff. Today I ended up having to house and puppy sit as the carpet fitter returned to do to the stair carpet and landing. He even bought an off cut for free to do the little entrance hall for her. I ended up giving him £10 for a drink as tbh I felt guilty him doing it for free. I didn't have any more money, so that was my lot.


Mum is back from her cruise, she said the staff and food were good but the entertainment was shockingly bad, that's something for a 74 year old to say!!!! Apart from that it was a good break. She even manged to go on a gondola in venice.


Time to do tea x

[Deleted User]

KIDCAT I remembered you wanted a slow cooker Christmas pudding recipe so here's the one I've made before, don't know where it's from but it works very well and makes a 2 pint pudding

Christmas Pudding
2 oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
4 oz shredded suet
4 oz fresh breadcrumbs
the rind and juice of a lemon
2 oz dark soft brown sugar
2 oz flaked almonds
4 oz seedless raisins
4 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
2 oz mixed peel
1 apple, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon of black treacle
3 tablespoons of spirit, brandy or rum
1/4 pint of beer
2 medium eggs

Sieve the spices and flour into a large bowl, add all other ingredients and stir very,very well you can add a little bit of milk if the mix is too stiff.

Butter a 2 pint basin, put mix in and make a cover of pleated greaseproof paper followed by pleated foil and tie it on tightly. Pre heat the slow cooker for a quarter of an hour on high put the sealed basin in and fill with boiling water to come 2/3 up the basin put on the lid and cook for 12 hours. Remove from the cooker and leave to cool completely then remove paper and foil used for cooking and replace with fresh for storing. To reheat use same method in the water bath and reheat on high for 3 hours on christmas day.

Hope you like it, Lyn xxx.

fuddle

Evening

Well done Docky for taking the thunder in his stride. I saw the flashes over my way on but didn't hear anything. Enjoy your SC Lyn I have to admit to not knowing what a tower slow cooker is. obviously a slow cooker :rotfl: but I can't picture it.

Just devoured SC braising steak in gravy. It tasted just as good as an expensive cut of beef.

It's gone colder. The winter bedding will be in place come the next 30 minutes.

Got DD's pizza ingredients to sort then research wool. I am going to crochet


I like drops wool as is quite reasonable in price/quality and 100% wool. That cardi will be my go to [STRIKE]never off my back[/STRIKE] weekend cardi. I'm into browns, greens and blues but wondering whether to go dark yellow tweed

:eek:

I quite like the mix in the picture but it's name 'army' suggests it might be a bit yuk.

Decisions to be made when children people are in bed and I have a hot choc by my side Have a lovely evening everyone.

mcculloch29

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I've just picked up my new slow cooker, I must say the Tosco click and collect really worked well too, they said it would be in the shop after 3pm today but actually texted to say it was ready at 2.15 this afternoon,so away we went and within 10 minutes were driving away from the shop with the cooker. It looks fine, is an oval Breville 4.5 litre capacity and has low, high and auto settings. I'll try it out tomorrow and make a chilli or something like that and see if it is much quicker than my old Tower one. RESULT!!!

I gave my old Breville to my daughter, it was a really fast slow cooker as it had a steel crock, which had to make it quicker going on the laws of physics alone.
I will dig my current one, which has a ceramic crock, out soon. Last year my soup maker was such a novelty that the sc hardly saw any use.

Bigjenny

Fuddle, Tower is a brand of slow cooker.

kidcat

Mrslw thank you so much. Can't wait to get started now

An odd day here, all the kids went to school including DS10, he wasn't keen and when we got there he clung on but his teacher anticipated it and met us at the entrance, she managed to talk him into going into class with her.
I was left on edge all day waiting for a call, was so relieved to collect him, especially as he had a good day.

nursemaggie

It was a brand of lots of cookware back when MRS LW and McCulloch bought there slow cooker. I think they made the first one. I was living in Singapore at the time so I did not need one nor could I have bought one there but I did learn to cook Chinese food, Malay food and many other far eastern cuisine. I also learned to cook from Mrs Beaton and lots of Indian stuff too. I even made what was called a Russian meal which was actually the soup Polish and the the main course Ukrainian. Shows you how much the Americans know.

I had a servant who cleaned up after me after I leaned all this cooking in very high temperatures. Not the cooking the climate.

I have a bottle of German wheat beer DS did not like, not this bottle he bought two. The shelf in Ald! did say it was barley beer or he would have bought it.

Have you any slow cooker recipes to cook something in German beer Mrs LW. I will not be cooking it before Saturday as I have an appointment at Wythenshawe Hospital again at 9am tomorrow so I can expect to be picked up just before 6 am tomorrow. Time I went to bed. Market is closed Wednesdays and I have an appointment at the Christie Hospital on Thursday so they are likely to pick me up 5 mins after my appointment starts and bring me back late at night. Either way it is exhausting. Need to go to Market Friday to get something unless it is chicken.

Had a nice young man come this afternoon to fix my dripping toilet. I left him to it. When I went upstairs he had cleaned the bathroom! He can come again. I think I will make him a cake or something next time.

I am expecting him back for 4 more jobs because they sent him for the wrong jobs. I could scream though the toilet is dripping again. I have a lovely clean bathroom though.

KBoss Mar and I would see no more of our sons if they lived next door. Mine is not short of money he spends more per week on his son than his brother and I have total income. They are workaholics mine goes to work with a serious stomach bug. Being a boss he gives it to the whole factory.

I share my DILs frustration. I warned him last month he could kill someone doing that, if someone was developing a life threatening illness. I have not had a reply. He still went to work.

Pooky

Evening all

My goodness we had a wild night last night (oh er missus!) The rain lashed down, the wind was horrendous and there was hours of lightening, some distant thunder to add to the general "how am I suppose to sleep through this" scenario. Finally got to sleep around 3am and the alarm went off at 5.30am.....roll on bedtime!

Had my first veg box delivered today - a freebie but I was shocked at how little there is for the value of the box. It was set to feed up to 5 people but it's probably 1/4 of what the 4 of us get through in a week. I appreciate it's organic (not that has any bearing to me at all) but it's not justifiable for us. I got 6 tangerines (all green), 6 small apples, 5 bananas, a lettuce, 6 tomatoes, 3 onions, 4 small parsnips, 4 small beetroots, 5 carrots, a swede, a small punnet of mushrooms and 1kg of potatoes. We must eat a lot of veg compared to average.

Had an email from AF to say I had some unused credit to use up so took advantage and made an order for some more store cupboard staples....I've seen the long range weather forecasts from 2 different reputable sites and I want lots in store as I think we might have a few weeks of difficulty getting out of the village.

nursemaggie

I buy more than that a week and there are only two of us.