Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Beanie - thank you so much for starting us off so cheerily this Friday

mouche wrote: »

Are you using shop bought paneer or making your own Greying? If shop bought, please be aware that the cakes of rubber they call paneer in the shops bear very little resemblance in texture to real, soft , crumbly paneer. They don't taste too dissimilar though. Making paneer at home is a bit of a hassle though, squeezing and straining to solidity takes time. Hope you enjoy it however you make it - I love the dish myself!

Ah. Um..... oh..... Greying deftly flicks the paneer packet off the side into the bin...... Hi mouche ta for dropping by. Ah, ya got me - totally busted.

Yep, I used shop bought paneer However..... I read your comment and thought mmm, I wonder how you do it. So I looked it up, hadn't realised it was relatively straightforward and would like to give it a go sometime. Thanks for the inspiration

As it was, I used mands paneer this time, I used SAvera (I think) brand last time. Interesting to see the difference in the product - I would of said that the latter was possibly more like homemade. However, I thought I was going to be going 'boing' a lot tonight, but I have to say, on cooking the cheese transformed and the end result was better than the fried ones I did for the katsu curry - could just be the cooking technique, but still, it softened quite nicely - but i'm going to love comparing homemade

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

unless I'm being all do-eyed about neep love up here

I'm getting worried about you...... :rotfl:

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

And mind its none of your hail stone sized neeps here. We have proper giant neeps like the story.

Bragger.... :rotfl:

Well, what a day. A day of two halves definitely, but we've ended on a high, that is the main thing

I didn't achieve a NSD - I'd forgotten we needed a couple of things for tomorrow....... because we're going on a bike ride and winter picnic :j:j and yes, hot chocolate is involved :j:j

Dinner this evening was palak paneer - although I think I need more practice at this one, I definitely didn't get it pureed enough :rotfl: However, the taste was good. If I have a bash at making my own paneer, then it is definitely a reasonably cheap dish to make. I think it is normally a 'side' dish, but you know how I like to buck convention, and so I served it as a main with rice. We'll be peddling like mad tomorrow i'm not going to link to the site that I got the recipe from, when I clicked to print the recipe, it set my anti-virus off and all sorts of things, so I don't want to direct anyone to somewhere that may not be safe - but it could also of just been 'one of those things'. I would definitely make it again - DP liked it, so with a few tweeks, we have yet another reliable vegetarian dinner dish to add to the repertoire

Picture here (and yes, it should be more liquidy )


I have made some bread baps for tomorrow and an apple crumble (using the donated apples) to use the oven efficiently. We will have a portion of crumble just now - an Indian/Anglo collaboration too far? Who cares - both foods are lovely :D

So, I've got a load of things still to do, so I had better toddle off. Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

to people who make a difference

for bumping into an old school-friend and having a laugh

for the sound of DP's laughter filtering in from the living room

All is truly good in our world.

Thank you so much for dropping in, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

Right. Apple crumble. Name on it. Laters.

Greying

maddiemay

Chapter 2 in the WH* road kill story:-

ventured into same store today, to get to till I had to step around female SA and male customer, both squatting on floor and demolishing shelves of individual choccie bars (not eating type of demolishing!), as I carefully made my way past, trying not to tread on them I spied 2 x 20p and 1 x 10p glistening on the floor behind and to one side of them - yes you got it - the "lost" coins they were hunting through the dozens of choccie bars for:rotfl: Good deed of the day for me:j, suppose it might be called a near road kill incident!

I hope that you have a lovely bike ride and picnic, sounds chilly but fun.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

maddiemay - loving your adventurising in WH* bet the customer and the SA were glad of your eagle-eyed spotting work. Well done :T

Picnic is packed. Warm clothing on and packed Bikes about to be put on the car. Then we will be on our way :j

I shall be aiming for a NSD, but we'll see how it pans out. We shouldn't have to pay for parking, as we now have found a 'free' car park.

Dinner this evening is going to be a 'new' recipe from JaymeeO's 15 mins. I made the sauce several weeks ago and froze it, so tonight it will just be a bringing of components together job

Have a great day, whatever you are up to.

Thank you for dropping in, reading and commenting. You know I appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Karmacat

Have a wonderful day, Greying! I'm off out too a little later - I bought an annual pass to Wakehurst Place (its only twice the price of a single admission, and its literally 10 mins on the bus from me ) so its a bargain, and my sister gets in free as a Waitrose pensioner tho she won't call herself a pensioner just yet, she's younger than me ...

Piquant_2

Have a lovely day GP, the weather is lovely here today just as long as you have warm clothes on. Look forward to reading up about it whilst I'm at work this evening.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening (just) :hello:

oooo, Karma - Wakehurst Place - not heard of it, what is it, what is there to see, have they done anything 'seasonalified'???? - SPILL

Piq - lovely to see ya as ever Wish you weren't on the evening shift tho

Ah, Dear Reader, what a day out I have had :D

I was assuming that the weather was going to be just plain cold and dressed accordingly, however, there was a bit of rain forecast for our location, but it should of blown over by the time we got there. Cue me deciding to take only the 4.99 ski top I'd bought t'other week (windproof and showerproof, but not waterproof). The weather was fine, until we got to about 20 miles away and the heavens opened........ Anyway, it did stop by the time we got there - apart from a really spiteful short sharp shower for about 3 minutes just after we set off. Thankfully, we were shielded by an avenue of trees, so missed the worst of it, plus we were both in walking trousers that dried quickly as we 'flew' along (on spinach power.....:D).

We got to the end of the trail after about 1hr, so we wandered along and found a good little spot, out of the breeze for our picnic. Can I just say, I have no idea how I have got to the grand old age of 810 and have never taken hot chocolate on a winter picnic before - it rocks people YOU were all right! That will definitely be on 'rinse and repeat' for winter outings henceforth!

We then took some 'selfies' - um, I can hear sniggerings from the back..... *ahem*, all respectable, above board and in a public area....... Which is always nice to look back on, but we're so wrapped up in warm togs, it's only us who'd probably recognise us! We were then meandering back to the trail and bumped into.... someone who lives in the same area as us - typical eh? The ride back was nice, as the wind had died down and the sun was on our backs.

We saw so much wildlife - at times it felt like you were actually in a Christmas card, as there were that many robins and plenty of holly and ivy trees/bushes dotted about. Thankfully no snow though Whilst I don't ever want to come across as 'bah humbug', DP at one point exclaimed how quiet it was - and we both thought how different it was to a shopping centre at this time of year I'm not anti-Christmas, just anti-retail excess I guess. Oh, and bike riders were few and far between - plenty of walkers though, some with dawgies - two most popular breeds seen today? Border collies and greyhounds......:D The greyhounds were sporting natty dawgy coats, the BC's not.... :DBut everyone we encountered said 'hello', which was nice. Not something you get on the M25 really is it?

Dear Reader, I cannot convey how much pleasure we have derived from today. It cost very little in monetary terms, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely. I am so glad that we are able to be satisfied with simple pleasures. It's the way forward I think. With our plans for moving, we have decided to not re-join the National Trust in 2014 - despite the great pleasure we got from visiting properties this year. But I do hope that we remember to take time out to have trips like this - low cost but highly restorative.

I didn't spent any money today, so definitely claiming it as a NSD I did however manage to take 113 digital pics! No not all of 'us' - tons of the view and loads of DP smiling and enjoying the day

Right, well all that fresh air has got to me. I'd better go and make dinner. Pics - if it's not too beige - tomorrow, as there is a glass of wine with my name on it and a spot in front of the log burner available - can't pass up either

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

all the lovely walkers we encountered - we tinkled our bike bells to just let them know we were around, but without fail, they moved to the side - even though they have priority. Thank You

For our car and a little bit of diesel - it took us to another 'place' entirely

to our friends who loaned us their bike carrier....again - Thank You

Thank you so much for popping in, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Pippilongstocking

Glad the hot choc did the trick was it in flask or DIY - hot water in flask, sachet in bag - mix too. We often take soup/hot choc etc (generally the latter scavanged from hotels/etc over the years) and have something hot when out - its yum!

Bike ride sounded lovely always fun to tinkle a bell.



Log burner on here too -- not much in the way of 'actual logs' - we've got chopped up old kitchen pine cupboards from womble hq - paid some money and filled my car a while back when a water damaged kitchen came in. Its dried OK if a bit warped but the wood's (wonky) but grand.

have a lovely evening.

I'm having a wee glass of vin chaude here to get me in the mood for snow

patchwork_cat

I have been following your thread from the beginning GP and feel that I have to say with your talk of chillis I followed your link and am now buying a grow your own chilli kit for my kitchen window sill!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Oooh, we had a lovely lie-in this morning - heaven

So, dinner last evening. Hmmm, JaymeeO's Winter Squash Penne Pasta (from his 15 minutes book). Well, on the plus side, I liked the fennel taste that came through strongly in the dish..... On the down side, it is far too carby a dish for 'normal' eating. It was purely fluke that I made it last night after our cycling adventure - because I had made and frozen the sauce some time ago, and it just needed some pasta boiled, a tin of chickpeas opening and some feta crumbling over the top - bingo. But if we'd of not been ravenously hungry, it would of been too much. Sorry MrO

Picture here;



The plus sides for me were that the pumpkin was donated, the pasta was mrT edv, the feta A$da SP - so it was a very inexpensive dish to make. I have fennel seeds and chilli in the storecupboard and I did sprinkle some chipotle chilli powder on the top - but that is not as per recipe. I'll keep the recipe, but will be mindful of when I 'serve' it. Still, the sauce freezes well, so as I say, it is a great 'standby dish' (as it is simple to make) - it'd be a great après ski dish I reckon

I'm sorry I cannot link to a recipe for the dish. I found 2 blogs that had made the dish, but they didn't include the recipe. We had a cheapy chenin blanc to accompany it, and it worked well - purely fluke, I can't food match wine

So, today. Hopefully it will be a NSD. I cannot think of anything that we need.

I had better get on with the 'C' cards and some other correspondence that needs dealing with before the Christmas postal rush starts.

I'm not sure whether we'll have what is on the planner for dinner - may make a substitution.

Pippi - hot choc was made up from powder and put in a flask. The 'real' stuff would of just been awesome Wonder whether I could pull it off for a 'C'mas walk ???

patchwork cat - nice to 'see' you again. Oooh, I hope the chillis work well for you. I know several people that have really got the bug of growing exciting varieties - hot and sweet - so let us know how you get on

Right, better get going. Have procrastinated enough already

Thank you so much for popping by, reading and commenting. I appreciate it greatly.

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Gosh, another start to a new week - where do the days go?

Today should be another NSD. We will be out of bananas after today, but that is no calamity, and I can get them tomorrow with the TV guide

The 'C' cards were written, and stamped, so they can be popped in the post today. But I am sure as everyone else finds, if you buy your cards in the sale - even charity ones - the postage is worth more than the card Can't really see that as the spirit of the season somehow.......

Dinner this evening should be stew and dumplings according to the planner. In some ways I hope it is 'not' the weather for it

Well, best get up and at 'em.

Thank you so much for popping by, reading and commenting. You know that I appreciate it - greatly.

See y'all later.

Greying