Old Style things you can't or won't do.

melanzana

Just to mention....I realised recently that I can freeze hummus, and pât!.

I have tiny little Tupperware style containers for this.

I am made up! Specially with Christmas stuff leftovers. I only use what I need. Great for me.

Lilyplonk

For anybody who doesn't make their own stock due to length of cooking time required - that's where my Pressure Cooker comes in very handy indeed .

trolleyrun

melanzana wrote: »

Now that's someone after me own heart! Easy soups are delish and quick. And as you say, you know whats in em!

Stock making at home is ridiculous when you think about the amount of energy used to produce the stuff. Let someone else do that, and enjoy the result.

All my soups are quick and easy Like my sweet potato soup. Peel sweet potatoes and chop. Chop an onion. Add a peeled, chopped white potato if you like. Add to stock. Boil until potatoes fall apart. Sometimes I add aduki beans at the last minute, then blend once the beans are heated (I use tinned ones). At the beginning of cooking just add whatever spices you like. Cajun seasoning works well, as does adding garlic.

melanzana

Lilyplonk wrote: »

For anybody who doesn't make their own stock due to length of cooking time required - that's where my Pressure Cooker comes in very handy indeed .

No worries! But what do you do with the mountains of fat that rises to the surface!

And sorry, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of pressure cookers. I just see them exploding no matter what! And I know that's not the case, but I am in need of therapy for that fear now.

melanzana

trolleyrun wrote: »

All my soups are quick and easy Like my sweet potato soup. Peel sweet potatoes and chop. Chop an onion. Add a peeled, chopped white potato if you like. Add to stock. Boil until potatoes fall apart. Sometimes I add aduki beans at the last minute, then blend once the beans are heated (I use tinned ones). At the beginning of cooking just add whatever spices you like. Cajun seasoning works well, as does adding garlic.

Hi trolleyrun, have never used sweet pots, are they really sweet?

Must try them out and then either love or hate!

trolleyrun

Not sugary sweet, no. Kind of like a mix between butternut squash and carrot. They cook quicker than normal white potatoes as well. I love love love them! Can't get enough

Lilyplonk

melanzana wrote: »

No worries! But what do you do with the mountains of fat that rises to the surface!

And sorry, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of pressure cookers. I just see them exploding no matter what! And I know that's not the case, but I am in need of therapy for that fear now.

I strain all the stock through a sieve to get the pieces of bone and yukky bits of meat out - then allow it to go cold and refrigerate. The fat automatically goes to the surface as it cools and then solidifies completely when chilled. That's when you can very easily scrape it off the top.

The result is a 'jelly stock' that's great for soup/casserole making.

I've been using a pressure cooker since around age 13 when my grandfather had one bought for him on retiring - I'm now 62, so that's almost 50yrs of using one with no accidents whatsoever . My grandmother quickly took to using it and taught me at the same time. In turn, I taught my mother to use the same PC when she inherited it after grandmother died. Mum and Dad used to take it on holiday with us whenever we went camping - when everybody else on the camp-site was living off fried bacon with tinned baked beans, we were eating pans of freshly made stew :j.

VfM4meplse

trolleyrun wrote: »

Not sugary sweet, no. Kind of like a mix between butternut squash and carrot. They cook quicker than normal white potatoes as well. I love love love them! Can't get enough

Funny, I have never taken to them myself. Not keen on starchy soups anyway.

seabright

lostinrates wrote: »

I used to make lace as a teen, after learning on pins at school. Wasn't that a great thing to have learnt? I'd quite like to refresh that skill, but don't really have the dexterity or patience now. I was quite crafty as a kid.

Just waving hello to another lacemaker - ther aren't many of us about!

lostinrates

melanzana wrote: »

No worries! But what do you do with the mountains of fat that rises to the surface!

And sorry, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of pressure cookers. I just see them exploding no matter what! And I know that's not the case, but I am in need of therapy for that fear now.

Fat....either I freeze it and chuck it out on bin day ( i do this with and food waste rather than have it sit in the bin being revolting for two weeks and attracting flies / maggots. We are on a farm and flies can become a plague like quickly)
we don't need to hang on to it for cooking.

. Or through winter stick it out for the birds. Sometimes I mix seeds in to make fat balls other times they just get the fat....

That said, they had half the goose fat ( yes, I know people would think its sacrilege but we just would never use it all) and haven't shown much interest in it.