Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

PasturesNew

Sage and crumpets.

Well, turkey and trifle too ... but I had sage and crumpets on my list to get. Things were on my list as I'd tried/failed to find them previously, so I set out pre-8am this morning to get turkey/trifle and sage/crumpets.

Managed to get turkey/trifle in Tesco (no ideal choices, but decision was made so that was job done. Turkey is some breast thing, £10, but I had it, owned it and it was job done.

No sage, no crumpets in Tesco.
No sage, no crumpets in Lidl.
No sage in Asda.... but they did have crumpets.

So that's tough t1tty...... all I was after was a few miniature tops to stuff into 2 small onions .... so it's not worth the hassle of going out of my way to track down sage. This is the thing if it's YOUR Christmas, at YOUR house .... you can buy stuff ahead of time, ready. Turn up at somebody else's 200 miles away and make the list at the last minute and there's faffery galore.

tomterm8

Garden center?

I've no idea what sage is, really. The closest I've got to it is in pre-made stuffing.

Using actual fresh sage sounds like a posh alert to me.

PasturesNew

tomterm8 wrote: »

Garden center?

I've no idea what sage is, really. The closest I've got to it is in pre-made stuffing.

Using actual fresh sage sounds like a posh alert to me.

It's not worth the hassle.... I think it must be a posh alert.

It started years ago when I suggested we bake an onion beside the meat.... one onion, shove it in, job done.

My sister buys far too many "posh people's cookery books" and has cupboards stuffed with fresh spices and all manner of packets etc that she'll never get round to using because she's a serial buyer.....

So, my "shove an onion in, that'll be nice" quickly morphed into: slice the top off carefully, squeeze butter into the onion (which has to be a red one), then take the tips of some sage and push that into the onion/buttery bits .... replace the "lid" of the onion .... and bake. (It might be in foil, I don't know) ......

I'm happy with a random onion lobbed in....

PasturesNew

The fridge here is perpetually stuffed to the gills with expensive food that will never be used, goes out of date and gets lobbed. I bought a lettuce/cucumber ... there were already one of each in the fridge, which had to be lobbed as they were best before 18th. There's a whole shelf dedicated to spuds.... a few of which have gone manky/rotten. She just buys random food, without a thought for what she's already got ... and never "uses things up". Complete opposite of me and my style. If I sorted out the cupboard I'd probably find 30 jars of pasta style sauces.... and she probably uses 2-3 a year.

tomterm8

I tend to keep a lot of tins, premade sauces, and dried pasta. As a general rule I don't do spices or tricky cookery...

I'm trying to move towards a healthier lifestyle. I really should learn to cook 'properly' but it all sounds like a lot of faffing about.

PasturesNew

tomterm8 wrote: »

I tend to keep a lot of tins, premade sauces, and dried pasta. As a general rule I don't do spices or tricky cookery...

I'm trying to move towards a healthier lifestyle. I really should learn to cook 'properly' but it all sounds like a lot of faffing about.

The trouble comes due to quantities you have to buy -v- what you can eat. And how much time you want to spend faffing.

Even a simple cheese/potato pie can be easy or faff.

1] Easy: boil mash, grate cheese, mix together in a bowl, eat out of the bowl with a fork.

2] Faff: boil mash, grate cheese, mix together in a bowl. Maybe add in some softened onions. Put into a dish, top with more grated cheese and some sliced tomatoes. Put into a preheated oven and bake until top cheese crust is golden.

So, I COULD make [2]. I always make [1]

My limiter is not having a freezer, not having my stuff unpacked, not having saucepans.... could cook.... CBA just for me.

My sister's portions are HUGE. Monstrous. She's much bigger than me, in every direction, and exercises HARD every day. So eats like a trooper.

tomterm8

I've got a large freezer... it is the only way that cooking makes any kind of sense to me. Cooking more than one single persons meals worth and then freezing it. Otherwise, you waste loads of time and money.

without a freezer it'd be cheaper just to go entirely premade.

PasturesNew

I had to go out of my way last night to get groundnut oil.... so we could do Hugh F-W's roast spuds...... me, I'd have been happy with regular sunflower oil.... that is already here in the cupboard that contains about 12 oils...

silvercar

PasturesNew wrote: »

I had to go out of my way last night to get groundnut oil.... so we could do Hugh F-W's roast spuds......

Couldn't you just say no? and manage with ordinary roast spuds?

That programme last night was all about kids growing up with clueless parent. Funny/ sad in parts.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I had to go out of my way last night to get groundnut oil.... so we could do Hugh F-W's roast spuds...... me, I'd have been happy with regular sunflower oil.... that is already here in the cupboard that contains about 12 oils...

I am well known for my roast potatoes. I have several friends who I suspect are a little jealous of them.

Their spuds get roasted in this and that and get treated in one way or another.

If you want to make amazing roasties then do the following if you live i England:

1. Buy some spuds, preferably King Edwards or 'jacket potatoes'.
2. Boil them thoroughly. Not for 10 mins like they say in cook books but as if you were making boiled spuds/mash.
3. Drain in a colander and leave to dry for a few minutes.
4. Roast in oil/fat for 50-70 minutes having added salt & pepper (and maybe thyme too). If they aren't going brown after 50 mins then crank up the temperature.