Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Hopefuljoy

It's half term at last!!! DD and I are off at the same time and we are going to puppy proof the house and garden ready for Pirin to arrive. But first SLEEP!! The alarm clock has been hidden for the week. I forgot about Jack's book. To be honest I've found that she hasn't blogged very much since the last one and so I've felt a bit disengaged. I shall have a look at the library and see whether it's worth asking for Christmas.

Love to you all!!! I'm off to get into my onesie and watch Bluebloods followed by googlebox. Keeping it real in hopefulland!

supersaver1000

Hopefuljoy, that sounds Absolutely fandabbydozy !

Have a lovely evening all 😄

mothernerd

Love the smilies, but the comment about the splits made my hip twitch with pain.

Upsidedown_Bear

mothernerd wrote: »

Love the smilies, but the comment about the splits made my hip twitch with pain.

for the hip comment. Hope it's feeling better

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Pippi - thank you for your warm wishes - it's always good to *see* you here

Beanie - Ay up! Are you keeping well? Jack's book is supposed to be a reflection of her 'journey' over the last year or so - in recipes. I'm wondering, and perhaps mcculloch could pour some light on this, whether the nature of the recipes has changed - reflecting her newspaper column? I'm certainly not expecting it to be as lazer focused on budgets, as her first tome, but then Jack's life has transformed in the past year, and I'm all for standing up and :T her on to glory and a fabulous life

Hopefuljoy - Does this little dawgy know how much effort it's new humans are going to on its behalf??? That little pupster is so going to be loved I know what you mean about losing track with Jack. Something I'm guilty of, for exactly the same reason.

supersaver - hope you have a relaxing evening too, after all you have been through today. Sorry you didn't get the job, but so glad that options are just queuing up for you. And besides, has the other candidate actually accepted the post....... you never know.......

mothernerd - sorry from me too


Well, we spent cash today. Got some bargains though, so not too bad. We also managed to get some 'C' cards from a specific charity that DP wanted to support. We did succumb to another chip butty. We went to a pub [gasp! At lunch-time, I know!] that is 'famous' for it's chip butties. Erm, £3.50, for some catering chips and 2 slices of bread....... with some dried herbs strewn over for 'effect'..... Hmmmmm. We did have a beer with it, that was raising money for charity - 20p for every pint sold We did shove our change in the collection box too We won't be rushing back to dine there again though....... Still, charities have gained today That's probably all that matters...

We have also got all the 'admin' done too. Anyone else find it disconcerting that you now hand over a wodge of cash at the PO and they just hand you a receipt - no lovely disc to tell the world that you car is legally able to be on the road? You don't even need to show your documents anymore, purely a one-way financial transaction

We've decided to go out on a long bike ride tomorrow :j We'll take a picnic :j It's nearer to home than our destination last week, but the cycle path is longer Hopefully it won't be too muddy, it certainly would have been last week, but the wind should have dried it out a bit. I'm really looking forward to it, it is a trail that I've wanted to do for a while, so hope it lives up to expectations Plus I need to shift excess chip butty!

Dinner this evening was 'as billed' I put a whole stack of beans in, so it was more 'stew' than soup, but nice none-the-less. Pic here;



If you'd like to follow the recipe properly, and make a soup, you can find it HERE

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for a nice time, spent in DP's company

for having enough to help charity - if only in a small way today...

that DP tackled more painting today :j

Thank you so much for popping in, reading and contributing. I remain grateful.

See y'all later.

Greying

supersaver1000

Thank you GP

We had 'oap' cod and chips - basically small chips with a very large cod - for £3.75 one night this week. Sounds like it was better value than your butty and it was delicious. Our other meals have consisted of a huge vat of of lentil soup, home made rolls, jacket spuds, omelettes and twice cooked HM chips. GP I could make you both a much nicer chip butty for sure.

I also made flapjack, but DD scoffed most of it and I have now run out of sultanas so we are Sweet-free tonight. I've also made some lemon curd out of 3 Lidell lemons that were taking root in the fridge. It's vry yummy. I may need to make lemon cake to morrow and a few biscuits.

I really need to sort some GP style menus though for a more interesting plan. But I am very restful for some yummy Scrummy food, my DD and my DH and of course my wonderfully supportive MSE friends. :)

Greying_Pilgrim

supersaver - I am absolutely sure that you could make me a nicer chip butty £3.50 is steep anyway, but that much money for 'catering ingredients', rather than handcut chips, or artisan bakery bread...... nah. But still they get our money......once

Whilst it has been nice to have 'treats' this week, I've come to the conclusion that eating out probably just isn't for us. This makes a rod for my own back, as the cook of the household, but value-for-money is more important to me than an 'easy' life, so......

I'm now even more determined to devise a November meal plan that has frugality, freshness and fantastic! at it's heart

Greying

mcculloch29

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good Evening :hello:

Pippi - thank you for your warm wishes - it's always good to *see* you here

Beanie - Ay up! Are you keeping well? Jack's book is supposed to be a reflection of her 'journey' over the last year or so - in recipes. I'm wondering, and perhaps mcculloch could pour some light on this, whether the nature of the recipes has changed - reflecting her newspaper column? I'm certainly not expecting it to be as lazer focused on budgets, as her first tome, but then Jack's life has transformed in the past year, and I'm all for standing up and :T her on to glory and a fabulous life

Greying

Looking through the Jack Monroe book, yes, much has changed but enough has stayed the same. The first book was a softback, this one is a Jamie/Mary/Gordon style hardback with rather lovely layouts. It's designed to appeal to her new Guardian readers clearly, but I rather hope that a mass market softback follows. The fact that the book was actually advertised on Am@zon as a paperback makes me think one might be planned.
As for the recipes themselves, they follow a seasonal pattern with a definite focus on eating seasonally and therefore economically. Jack traces the year through a year in her own life and what she was doing at that time, so the summer and autumn recipes, whilst she was still cash-strapped and in a house share, reflect that. Jack had access to a herb garden and some fresh veg.

Jack's autumn-winter courtship of Allegra is traced and as Allegra is also a chef, at that point the recipes do take a upturn, but the eye is still on frugality. Several freddo - type recipes involving half a litre of cream for example, but with peanut butter to flavour. Breads and soups feature again, as in Book 1, but with some interesting combinations. A chestnut soup for January, as they are always reduced post -Christmas.

The super-duper cheap recipes of the first book couldn't be as evident - there's only so much super cheap food out there - but there are still some, like a recipe for oatcakes (same as Jocasta's, I think), carrot fritters and a potato sandwich, which turns out to be a home made crisp sandwich. I have a urge to make this, and I don't eat bread, as a rule.:D

You won't be disappointed if you do get it, I promise, just be prepared for some differences.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

mcculloch - thank you for that comprehensive review! I agree, the second book was never going to be the 'Version deux' of AGCJ - and 99.9% of me says that it shouldn't anyhow! As I don't want people to live in abject poverty, so that they can, first hand, write a book about it - cookery or memoir But a book that at least acknowledges that there are ways of making tasty, nutritious food, using simple ingredients is still (unfortunately) a rarity on our bookshelves, so bravo! Jack

Right, I'm running late - I need to shower, but at least the snap is packed - PHEW!

Have a great day.

Thanks for popping in, reading and commenting. Always, always appreciated. By me

See y'all later.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Smilie of the day.