Preparing for Winter V

dingdongsaving

I adore this thread and the seasonal anticipation it brings!

I'm a teacher and always used August to prep everything to the end of the Autumn Term, and this year has enabled us to do just that whilst enjoying our family break.

So far we have:
*Washed each throw and blanket to refresh them before adding them to baskets beside each bed and sofa.
*Aired our warmer duvets. (These are still only a 10.5, but we really dislike being too warm when we sleep and would rather pop an electric blanket on for 15 minutes before going to bed than be too warm throughout the night)
* Washed/cleaned/waxed each coat for school and dog walks.
*Purchased & tagged new school trousers and tights to replace the shorts and summer dresses.
*Polished and water sealed one set of school shoes which had not been outgrown (WIN!) and purchased some new leather ankle boots for our youngest who only had fabric 'doodles' otherwise.
*Had a day of batch cooking to stock up the freezer with savoury dinner delights.
*Spent a morning prepping 'hot' breakfasts for the new school term for all of the family. Including a host of things that can be toasted in the toaster or zapped in the microwave...pancakes, blueberry pancakes, bacon and egg muffins, french toast sticks. Throw in some fruit, a little honey and a pot of coffee and these really make my mornings when I fancy something even more splendid than my chilly weather oats with a dollop of stewed apples or baked with pumpkin and spices...YUM!
*Cleaned the wellies and boots.
*Serviced the boiler and fireplaces.
*Purchased my cooler month (cold and flue season) essential oil favourites of cinnamon, clove, orange, eucalyptus and the Tisserand Winter blend to diffuse and apply directly to the skin as needed with a base oil.
*Washed and aired the curtains to add to the front and back doors.
*Blanched and jarred our seasonal fruit stash...apples and blackberries still to come.

We do have oil to purchase, but are tracking prices to make sure we get as much as possible at the current pleasing prices.

I've also just sat and planned out the key dates in our diary to the end of December! I always love doing this, including noting a weekend to decorate our front porch with pumpkins and noting when we'll go and pick our tree for Christmas.

Happy prepping!!!

Laura_Elsewhere

I've had a hectic day today but the end result is nearly thirteen pounds of fruit cheese, blackberry, red Mirabelle and yellow Mirabelle, all foraged from hedgerows as I walk to and from the shops!

We buy the sugar in 5kg bags from Sainsbury's and we reckon up a half-pound jar, inc sugar, electricity and washing-up water-heating, works out at about 30p. You can buy a jar of "jam" for 30p but it's mostly glucose-fructose corn-syrup and flavourings and colourings!

(Recipe for fruit cheeses: simmer fruit, sieve fruit, blending or whizzing if need be, so you end up with a load of something like a smoothie; one pint of gloop to one pound of sugar and one teaspoon lemon juice; heat and stir til sugar has all dissolved, then bring to a rolling boil and continue until you reach setting point. Much more forgiving than jam or jelly recipes, as it is so thick it does itself, really. It takes longer to boil than jam/jelly, and ime it doesn't reach 105 degrees, so you will need to learn to do the wrinkle test on a cold saucer, or the flake test off a spoon, or best of all just learn to read the way it bubbles, which changes when it's ready
We re-use Branston pickle jars, so we don't need to buy wax discs of cellophane covers; I sterilise the jars and lids in the oven, then pour jam in, then put the lid on tight and it depresses the 'button' in the top as it cools)

fuddle

Pooky wrote: »

I really do need to tackle my knitting demon....I can knit but never really mastered it and would love to knit socks.....my Mum used to knit the most amazing things but would never entertain the idea of socks and since her brain haemorrhage she's stopped knitting altogether which is such a shame. I'd love to see your results Cheap and Fuds

Will post a pic when done pooky. Still on sock one but will post when that is finished because it maybe Easter before sock 2 is finished.

DH made a store for the our wood but it's full of unseasoned free tree chop down wood and nowhere for the seasoned stuff. A nice dilemma I suppose but not a very practical one.

Laura loving the preserves! Your skirt sounds fab. I'm going through a bit of a damson phase myself and have never worn purple.

Lyn you've hit on an annoyance of mine in terms of consumerism. Supply to the masses when the masses want it not when it's needed. It's the same in the spring - try finding wellies and coats at the end of March when the storms-a-blowin' but find the swimming costumes and and flip flops have taken up residence because folk start to think about hols so must, must buy now! I'm all for a little prep but when it's influenced buy spending, must have and marketing I get cross.

Oops. Sorry. Time for the beef stew and mashed potatoes I think!

shanks77

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Hi CHEAPY same method for Elderberry and for Blackberry syrups. With the elderberry you add in spices, a cinnamon stick/ I teaspoon ground cinnamon and also 1 teaspoon ground ginger (can be exchanged for a few cloves if you prefer the taste).

Fruit Syrup

1/4 pint of water to every 3lbs of blackberries/elderberries
12oz of white sugar for each pint of juice
spices as above for the elderberry

put the fruit and water in a heavy based pan and heat until the juice flows freely. Drip overnight through a jelly bag. In the morning measure the quantity of juice you have, pour it back into the cleaned pan and heat up to simmering, add in 12oz of sugar for every pint of juice, stir continually until it is fully dissolved and doesn't 'crunch' under the spoon on the bottom of the pan, bring it back up to a slow boil and simmer for 15 minutes stirring once in a while. Leave it to cool, remove whole spices if used, pour into sterilized bottles and store in the freezer (leave a space for expansion in the plastic bottles so they don't 'pop'. To use fresh keep it in the fridge for up to 6 weeks, kept at room temperature it might ferment, if frozen keep in the fridge afterwards and use up within 6 weeks. Frozen syrup will keep in the freezer indefinitely.

Blackberry is lovely as a hot drink and also just poured over ice cream, yoghurt etc.

Elderberry is really good as a hot drink and is well known for helping with colds/sore throats in the winter time.

Prob a sill y question but could you wait til syrup cools and pour into bags to save room in freezer or would that not be advisable?

mardatha

I don't like knitting socks, I actually hate them. But the family all ask for them. And I really really could go a nice plate of stew and mashed tatties...

[Deleted User]

I don't see why it wouldn't work but you'd have to have a container to sit the bag in to make a stackable shape. You'd still have to pour the syrup into a storage bottle when you defrost it and still need to keep the defrosted stuff in the fridge until it's used up though.

Primrose

shanks77 wrote: »

Prob a sill y question but could you wait til syrup cools and pour into bags to save room in freezer or would that not be advisable?

Having once stored blackberry compote in a bag in a freezer and suffered a freezer defrost and bag leaking , the mess and staining in unbelievable. However I do successfully store my dark coloured fruit syrups in one pint plastic milk bottles. They are very sturdy. I also store stick blender blitzed soups in the same containers but do have a separate freezer in garage so may have more space than you (having said that at this time of year I,m ateull struggling for space with all the home grown crops being picked)
Small Plastic milk bottles solve the freezer problem and fridge storage problem afterwards at the same time
The risk of storing in bags is that they get torn if you overpack the freezer and don't notice while the product is still frozen. . Ok if you thaw them out in a bowl to avoid leaks

dingdongsaving

Oh Primrose! I don't envy that clean-up! I'll def. remember to use sturdy containers for my low viscosity liquids...esp. the purple and red ones!

Talking of mapping 'what's where' in a large freezer when some things may be quite small, here's what we do with our chest freezer in the garage. I saw the idea at a neighbours house and loved it and it's been working well for us for years.

Freezer Organisation
We have a white board/wipeable pen stuck on the lid of the freezer with a lump of bluetac and a 'grid' taped-out on it with thin black electrical tape.

We just use the pen to note what's going in and rub off what we take out.

Our grid is 2 rows of 4 squares and we try to note what's in each section of the grid from top to bottom of the area...eg f cod/date, f prawns/date, f salmon/date would mean the cod was at the top and the salmon was at the bottom of that section. (We note f for fresh and c for previously cooked)

Generally, 1 whole area of the grid is just bread/rolls/wraps that we find y/sticker and 1 or 2 is/are for frozen fruits/veg. The rest of the space is a mix of fresh meat, leftovers, freezer meals and their parts.

*Any spare space is filled with carrier bags of scrunched newspaper.

shanks77

Thanks for the replies folks looks like it's better to freeze the way Mrs LW suggested in the first place. Why oh why did I bother to question you please forgive me I have learned my lesson lol xx

LadyhavershamLost

A lovely sunny morning in Berkshire today. Came downstairs about 6.30 and it was chilly! Have been opening the doors to the back garden and having a cuppa in the great outdoors.... stayed in the kitchen this morning!

Hopefully the weather will stay nice - will wash the fleecy blankets and throws from the lounge