Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Ho hum. What a day. Ho hum. Best summed up, I think, by folks unrealistic and overly ambitious claims to *entitlement*. *Because I am* seems to be the mantra of the day, irrespective of whether folks bother to add in *worth it* or not..... *sigh*.

little_sweetie wrote: »

Greying, you lost me on the Jimmy Young thingy....:think:

Ta little_sweetie - i'm a fossil - 'tis official.......... :rotfl:[Greying pulling own leg there ]

moneyistooshorttomention - thank you for your post. Oooh, cavity wall insulation - what a boon....... Very, very much the type of homestead, with productive garden, that I hope that I will sometime inhabit Thank you for sharing.

iaps - hello and welcome. I don't have the *advantage* of living in the Principality, so is it Wales only? I know that our *senior* librarian dismissed e-books when the library was going through re-development. Not too sure if they're now retired to their booze and ciggies and someone a little more cosmo is in charge, so not too sure where we stand on the digital age. I personally don't have a 'device', so summat of a dino meself


*sigh* really haven't dismissed my grump. At all...........

In an effort to try to dismiss the grumps when I got in, I put the last 35mm print photos into the photo album, as part of the *de-cluttering* strategy. It was nice to bring up memories, I went to Perch Hill (Sarah Raven's garden), Firle, Charleston Farmhouse and Great Dixter - there was plenty of sunshine there too That was all in 2010, funny how a pic can bring it instantly back

I did however, manage a NSD :j

Dinner this evening was *relatively* simple. I had (luckily) opted for Jack Monroe's Feisty Soup. It was reasonably straightforward to prepare, and I made some red pepper scones to accompany, with a rhubarb crumble (rhubarb donated by parentals on Sunday) to fill the oven up. Picture here;



And yep, the scones were *free-form* coz I was in that kinda mood........ :rotfl::rotfl: Although scone 3 amazed even me :rotfl:

I thought the soup was good. I was surprised. I'm not a fan of tomato soup, I have to say, but usually make it without following a recipe. The last tomato soup I made was delicious, but I can't repeat it, coz I made it up as I went along. Whereas this recipe made a perfectly enjoyable soup. Thank you, Jack

The scones were *be-ro* (with additions) again

Jack's soup recipe can be found HERE

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

tasty scones - the soup was nice, but the scones were.... right

for self-reliance, self-determination and accountability - on the whole, for the most part, my life isn't someone else's *fault* nor *problem*. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

for digital - as I put the last photo *prints* in the album, see how electronic format is transforming reading, struggle to find a welcoming home for my old SLR camera, and post pics of 'me tea' for y'all tonight....... I recognise the *normalisation* of digital.

Thank you so much for popping by, reading, commenting and sign-posting us to good things I remain grateful.

See y'all later.

Greying

mcculloch29

Big catch up there. Thank you, Greying.
Libraries: For any fellow northerners reading, County Durham Libraries Online have free online magazines for you to download and read, if you register. I miss the paper copies of the magazines that our library used to have.
I have been doing Jack too, though not back to back this week. Every review of the 'not-a-tagine' I've read has given it the thumbs down, so I won't make that one.
That's the bad news out of the way.
The good news is that if you can spare a bit of tikka masala paste, the peach and chickpea curry is even more delicious. (Agree with Jack being a light eater, we polished off two large platefuls at one sitting).

The creamy salmon pasta with chilli lemon kick is divine.

The sausage, bacon and lentil casserole is top notch, though making it with Tesco's 'ready minced' cooking bacon probably added greatly to the flavour.

How to make tinned potatoes taste wonderful (for 2):
Onion, Bacon and Potato Hotpot

Ingredients

500g onions
500g cooking bacon
Large tin potatoes
1 pint cheese sauce. I use c. 150g grated cheese, a pint of milk and cornflour for speed.

Method.

Slice and gently fry 500g white onions with 500g cooking bacon, chopped.
As this cooks, slice up the potatoes from a large tin into fairly thin slices. I have used a slicer in the food processor for this, it did pulverise them a bit, but they were OK. Also make about a pint of cheese sauce with whatever method suits. Roux, cornflour, packet mix, whatever.
Butter a deep oven proof dish. Layer in the onions, bacon and potatoes. Season with pepper. No salt, bacon has that. Cover with the sauce and shake the dish to get the sauce through the layers. Dot on a bit more cheese. Cook at c. 200 centigrade for 30 mins to brown cheese. Or omit cheese on top and just heat through in micro for 5 minutes.

Recipe based on Jocasta Innes' Onion, Bacon and Potato Hotpot.

Pippilongstocking

Free form is good.

Hope the grump is shood away by the weekend.

Dare I ask the adventures planned?

Well jell of the gardens you've been a haunting in previous years.

:-)

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Gosh, visitors overnight - how absolutely fab

iaps - thank you for the clarification. Although I guess this progress is the start of the demise of library buildings- unless they get converted into *playing stations* as per kem 10's local The good news for in need of direction is that you can get hold of books without needing to enter daycare..... :rotfl:

mcculloch - thank you for the *tinned potatoes* recipe - I'm sure that folks may want to give that a go I'm pleased I'm not the only one dissing the 'not-a-tagine' I do feel a bit mean, as I think what the gal has done is monumental, but that one just wasn't for me I concur about 'adding' to her recipes, but for this trial through, i'm trying to stick to her recipes 'as writ' to gain an insight as to what is possible. I'll review at the end of the trial with my thoughts..... Actually, the peach and chickpea was ok as is, but yes, improvements can always be made.......

Pippi - YOU'RE BACK :j Exciting times eh? Scary biscuits! But you'll be developing the Great Dixter of the north just now - and charging us all to walk around it! :rotfl:


Right, hopefully the grumps have disappeared with yesterday.

I'm going for another NSD today. Nothing I need. The Jack recipe is familiar - it's the same recipe that I currently use, but in a different format...... I've made the main component, so less work come dinner time

Right, as brizzy ain't about, I'm gonna shift a tail feather and get up and at 'em :rotfl:Snap is packed, so we're set to go.

Thank you so much for popping in, encouraging, sharing good recipes for others and being all-round good eggs this easter-tide I greatly appreciate it

Have a good day, y'all.

See you later.

Greying

sonas_baby

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

For years I thought I'd like to work in a library. Any recent visits though made me rethink as they now appear to be used as unpaid crèches.

As I work in one I totally agree, that and basic computer helper/teacher without any real training:eek: The job has changed so much over the years but its the banter with the regulars is what keeps us sane:j. We have e-books and e-magazines to lend just trying to find our place in the changing world, shame amazon don't like the lending so can't use kindle for it.:(

So nice to find so many people who appreciate libraries:)

moneyistooshorttomention

Thought there was some memory tapping at me as to why I've not tried to access library e-books. That would explain it. The fact that they wont transmit them to Kindles.

As its a Kindle I myself have and I wouldn't have the foggiest how to set my computer up to receive any other format just to suit Amazon's (unreasonable) whims then that's why...

Seem to remember my last thoughts on that subject were "I'll just wait for obstacle/s to be cleared and those library e-books to come through to me on my Kindle without a problem".

Pippilongstocking

Great Dixter indeed. I fear not dear girl but its going to be fun trying.



Hope today was good and that if 'pizza' was the name of the game, you made a right braw one.

Have a great weekend - hope you have sunshine wherever you all are.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good evening :hello:

Well, what a day I have had today :D:D:D:D 'tas been a good 'un

I bagged a NSD :j

I decluttered my auld SLR camera to a charity :j Hope it raises a few £'s for 'em

I decluttered 2 'items' that were welcomed by a local charity, that will directly benefit their service end-users :D :j:j

And there have been visitors to the thread :j

How much better does life get?

The job has changed so much over the years but its the banter with the regulars is what keeps us sane:j.

sonas_baby - is you saying that having library staff give marks outta 10 for my library book choice is keeping them sane??? :rotfl: I'd half believe you.... if it wasn't for the fact that they mostly comment on......... the pictures!!! :rotfl::rotfl: I know we're normally talking the calibre of David Loftus and Jonathon Lovekin... but still! :D thanks for popping in - lovely to *see* you, as ever

moneyistooshorttomention - things will change, the download royalties or something will make sense in a business model just now. You'll get to download your dream library just now

Oh, and I forgot to mention - We've had sun - hope y'all did too. It was an absolute joy to wander over to the charity base with my couple of items this afternoon, in blazing sunshine

So, to dinner this evening On the menu tonight, were Jack's Smoky Red Lentil Burgers, accompanied with sweet potato fries, lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot, and half a tomato.

Verdict? Smashing. Knew they would be, as they are not dissimilar to the Turkish dish of red lentil kofte - which I always cook anyway (but are normally served 'raw'). The only real difference is the carbohydrate - Jack used bread, I normally use whizzed up oats, or bulghar if I have no oats

Picture here;



The only *amendments* I made, was that I made them at the start of the month - when I had no lemon. So you can see the wedge of the lemon on the plate to add after Plus, I was a bit confuzzled by the name *smoky* burgers. I couldn't see what of Jack's ingredients would impart this - so, Dear Reader, I did *cheat* and used smoked, rather than sweet paprika to impart smokiness. Was the right choice - they were good

If you'd like to make these burgers, see Jack's recipe HERE As I *knew* the recipe, I made double, it made 7 1/2 burgers (each full burger 100g of mix).

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for kind people who are interested only in my welfare - when clearly they are going *through the mill* with health worries of their own and their partners. Thank You

For an interesting conversation with my 'Nonagenarian' near neighbour - struggling since the loss of their spouse, their life partner and perfect fit. But an inspiration, and role-model none-the-less

for the early morning fly-past of 2 swans, pure white against a clear blue sky - majestic

I do hope that today has been brill for you.

Thanks so much for popping by, reading and joining in. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi Greying, I'll give those a go, they look lush xx

beanielou

Happy weekend GP & friends.
Have a good one