Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

If you've not done so already, could you go and jump up and down on supersaver's thread, there is good news to celebrate

little_sweetie wrote: »

Do get your Christmas spirit back, dear heart, I live with a 'bah humbug' OH but will not have Christmas spoiled by him or anyone else. I LOVE Christmas. If necessary just shut your two selves away from the world for a few days and enjoy.

Oh to be fair, we don't have to spend time with the IL's, it's just that they 'spoilt' things. DP and I tend to spend Christmas on our own, and are much happier that way. But I was pondering today, about when DP and I first lived together, the little house that we had lent itself to getting gussied up for Christmas, and I made so many decorations for our home. All that stopped and I've not made anything for this place - and I shan't tell how many decades we've been in residence...... However, all that may change this year, as in planning, plotting and playing with a little crafty idea may be taking place :whistle:

little_sweetie wrote: »

Thanks to all the tips and advice on this thread (and others) I have accumulated £15 leftover from the food budget, the meal plan is done for this week so I need to buy very little on my shopping trip today (mainly kitchen roll and other non-food items) which will leave more for the Christmas food pot. For the first time in ages I feel under control financially.

:T:T:T:j:j:jWHOOP! :j:j:j:T:T:T

This is absolutely brilliant little_sweetie. Well Done YOU!

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

The in laws are one of these families who sit silently seething and resenting whilst being outwardly charming. Absolute lunatics.

This seems awfully familiar, along with, 'Do as I say, not as I do....'

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Greying do please make sure that there is room in the budget for a few little luxuries. They can be homemade and not cost much... Curry is fab, but how about Christmas Pud? Brandy butter... Mince pies. Miniature petit fours, and Mr L's delightful stollen?

Oh, I shall Dear Heart We were actually talking about pud yesterday. DP is a real fan, but we had one of the Ald* ones a couple of years ago - the one that won all the plaudits, and was...... about £3??? I have to say, I wasn't overly struck. So I'm not too sure what to do this year. Go cheap, or go back to making my own. The only trouble is, it is so costly, and you can bet your bottom dollar that we'd be too full to eat it on Christmas Day! :rotfl: And yes, I've got plans for mrL's mini stollen. I'm not a fan of marzipan myself, but adore almonds, but I know a little someone, who may, or may not, reside at Greying Towers, who adores marzipan, so some may make it's way (legitimately) through the checkout in mrL just now :shhh: Santa's Secret

greenbee wrote: »

But I think that solution probably came into the 'common sense' category, which is why it never occurred to anyone...

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Ay up greenbee - I laughed out loud at that one! Lovely to *see* you as ever

And Upsidedown Bear - I would like to know if the 'brown' brown bear, as opposed to the 'beige' brown bear, in your avatar, is a Wimsey animal - as in the porcelain collectables that were all the rage in the 1970's

Well, I snagged a NSD. Didn't bother taking my money out, so couldn't have bought anything anyway. But have been having a bit of a ponder and a looksee, to see what 'luxuries' may well find themselves residing at Greying Towers in December.......

Also, with mention of foodbanks, I took a look at our local one and they have updated their list of 'most wanted' items. They are suddenly asking for a lot of stuff that I would be more than happy to provide :think: i'm not too sure if they are pre-empting the mrT collection, but there is some similarity to the Trussell Trust list. Mrt have also sent us through the usual £3 or £2 off a £20 shop vouchers today. I was speaking to DP about it, and if we could make maximum use of the voucher one week, we may well try to make another donation to the FB in December - I'm sure they won't mind

Dinner this evening was a SLOW COOKER recipe (but I didn't notice that until I came to make it ) that can also be made on the stove top Making it one day in advance is advised, and it does enhance the flavour *slurp*. I made Staffordshire Lobby which is a beef soup/stew. I'm sure I've had a conversation with Karmacat before now, about it being a dish derived from Liverpool's famous dish 'Lobscouse', and the reason that it ended up in Staffordshire was as a direct result of the canal network between the two areas I made mine with mushrooms instead of beef (mrAl S6) and a few shards of dried mushrooms. It had a lovely depth of flavour I served it with buttery caraway seeded cabbage and a slice or two of stotty cake. I must admit, the stotty cake didn't quite work out, I think I rushed to make it, and didn't make it wet enough (lesson learnt). I did however, put about 50g of toasted ground up porridge oats in the dough (leftover from coating the Glamorgan sausages) to make an oatcake influence (and no, I'm not claiming that they were anything like Staffordshire Oatcakes, but I'd not time to make proper oatcakes). I'd certainly try the stotty cake recipe again - I think it can work as a flatter dough, it just needs to be made correctly in the first place Picture here;



As the oven was on, I have also made rhubarb crumble. DP is currently debating whether he has 'room' to accommodate a slab and custard, and it has enabled me to free up about 2mm squared in the freezer in time for my Christmas preparations...... :rotfl:

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

being able to share in the good news of others - :j

for planning and plotting and having DP as a (mostly) willing accomplice -

for mishaps - guaranteed to make me try harder next time

Thanks everso for popping in, reading and commenting. I have greatly enjoyed your posts today - THANK YOU

See y'all later.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

And Upsidedown Bear - I would like to know if the 'brown' brown bear, as opposed to the 'beige' brown bear, in your avatar, is a Wimsey animal - as in the porcelain collectables that were all the rage in the 1970's

Nope - I am not a Whimsy :cool::D

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

:footie: tonight - Scotland v England. I care not who wins, nor what the score (but a score would be nice, no - No Score Draws please) Let's just have some great football and sportsmanship, eh? Kick off at 8.00pm, so I may, or may not be around this evening.

I will probably spend money today, as I need a few items, and I'll get the TV guide too. Dinner will depend on what I get in terms of Kale and or a Savoy cabbage. I need both technically (for different meals).

Thanks for popping in, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Upsidedown_Bear

Smilie of the day.

Upsidedown_Bear

If you haven't already seen this you might need tissues. OK, I needed tissues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNTdWbVBgc

Karmacat

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

I made Staffordshire Lobby which is a beef soup/stew. I'm sure I've had a conversation with Karmacat before now, about it being a dish derived from Liverpool's famous dish 'Lobscouse', and the reason that it ended up in Staffordshire was as a direct result of the canal network between the two areas I made mine with mushrooms instead of beef (mrAl S6) and a few shards of dried mushrooms. It had a lovely depth of flavour I served it with buttery caraway seeded cabbage and a slice or two of stotty cake.

Yes we did :j and your modern version sounds absolutely delish **slurps** somebody mentioned something about licking the screen after reading one of your posts ?

Another fan of marzipan here along with the person who may or may not reside at Greying Towers

little_sweetie

Me too upsidedown Bear, I remember seeing that on TV at the time and thinking how brave they were to risk it.

Hi GP :wave:

This is absolutely brilliant little_sweetie. Well Done YOU!

Aw, shucks, thank you. I have to say it's a great feeling especially knowing what the new year entails for DD and her family. The news there is that Son-i-L has been asked to stay on until March (the bitter end) 'cos they need him :cool: but that means that they will both be redundant at exactly the same time instead of it being staggered :shocked: However, perhaps March is a better time to be job hunting rather than just after Christmas, eh? We will see...

Last night's tea looked scrumptious as ever...crumble too...yum!

Right, I'm off to locate supersaver's thread.....

See you later x

PS I LOVE stollen too

liltdiddylilt

I narrowly avoided a whimsical (well whilst we are using the word!) trip to Mr L's Christmas section today. I was so delighted the last time I went in and it was all there. They even have such things as ready made packs of arborio, with all the required ingredients in the bag to make a super easy risotto. I'm not convinced of its place in Christmas Dinner, but was tempted to pick one up just to be lazy one day :rotfl: so I guess their idea works... I do LOVE Stollen. Germans do cake best I think.

With the Jellytot at home and still a tad peaky, not to mention feeling a touch off colour myself today I instead took a trip to the doctors and came back with an extra tablet a week to add to my 7 a day minimum. :eek: - anyone would think there was something wrong with me. We went to the pharmacy afterwards where the blasted 'electronic prescriptions' that will be so much faster have still to this moment not arrived at the pharmacy computer. So no tablets for me. Went to the park and had a good old time on the swings and slide (Jelly, not I) and then came home where she tearfully announced she would like a 'HoChocolate' and took herself off to bed with a cheery 'nanight' and closed the door behind her. Not a peep since. And no lunch... hmm. Good thing to keep her off nursery methinks much as it rearranged my Me Day.

Its funny you should mention the lack of common sense in those seeking to mess with the gas/elec companies tariffs. I was given a refund of the credit I had amassed with my Direct Debit throughout the spring and summer... in September. £172 back into my pocket. And when I rang to ask what they were doing, they advised that if I was over £5 in credit at my ONCE YEARLY billing point, which just so happens to fall at the beginning to Autumn, then I would get a refund. They proceeded to explain that it was ok because they were putting up by payments to cover it, from £63, to £82 per month. I moved companies. What nonsense, and how illogical to up a DD that has accumulated £172 credit over 12 months by an extra £19 a month!

Rant over! Sorry for the gibberish. Hope you get some bargains on savoy/kale GP. 2 of my favourite veggies there!! xx

liltdiddylilt

http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbanks-new-financial-programme

Our very own Mr Lewis putting his money where his mouth is. EagerElephant mentioned that many people who use foodbanks have issues beyond just needing food. Now Martin is personally funding financial advice support for those visiting TT foodbanks. Bless him

greenbee

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Its funny you should mention the lack of common sense in those seeking to mess with the gas/elec companies tariffs. I was given a refund of the credit I had amassed with my Direct Debit throughout the spring and summer... in September. £172 back into my pocket. And when I rang to ask what they were doing, they advised that if I was over £5 in credit at my ONCE YEARLY billing point, which just so happens to fall at the beginning to Autumn, then I would get a refund. They proceeded to explain that it was ok because they were putting up by payments to cover it, from £63, to £82 per month. I moved companies. What nonsense, and how illogical to up a DD that has accumulated £172 credit over 12 months by an extra £19 a month!

That's why I'm now on a tariff with exact billing. If I submit a meter reading in a given window before my billing date (they text and email reminders) I'm billed for the number of units used between the last reading and this one. I've been on this tariff for several years now, and although it isn't the cheapest, it makes the most sense for me.