Sat 17th/Sun 18th October - what small DFW things will you do this weekend?

foxgloves

Yes, am happy to share recipe for brown sauce, but I can't take the credit for it. It's a recipe from 'Good Housekeeping Preserves' by Joanna Farrow, published by Collins & Brown. I don't know if it's still in print to buy, but if not, it's really worth trying to get a copy from the library if you like preserving, or would like to get started, as it's an excellent book. I use it loads, & all the recipes I've made have worked well, & several of them, I return to every year.
To make the brown sauce, you need:
750g cooking apples (I just use windfalls from our own unspecified apple tree)
250g onions, peeled & chopped (don't need to be done too finely)
1 hot green chilli, de-seeded & chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 level tsp paprika
15g fresh root ginger, peeled & grated
100g sultanas
250ml vinegar (recipe says red wine vinegar but I've made the sauce with cider vinegar & this time, I used half cider vinegar & half Aldi malt vinegar. Works fine)
2 level tsp salt
250g light soft brown sugar

Peel, core & roughly chop the apples & chuck into large pan with all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil, stirring to ensure sugar is dissolved. Turn pan down, cover it & simmer for 40 mins, Check it now & again, & if it's sticking, add 4 or 5 tbsp water. Cool the mixture a bit, then blitz it up with a hand-blender or liquidizer.
Then push the blended mixture through a sieve, before bottling it in sterilized jars. The instructions in the book recommend to then sterilize the filled jars in a large pan of boiling water. I must admit that I never do this, because the sauce gets eaten reasonably quickly, we have a very cold pantry & we always put it in the fridge after opening. We've never had any issues with mouldy sauce or fermenting or anything, but we do have a very cold house, & so I wanted to point out that the book does say that the sterilizing should be done prior to storage.

Oh, & don't be put off by the inclusion of a hot chilli. This isn't a hot sauce at all. The chilli does add to the overall flavour but it doesn't seem to add a hot kick.
Hope this helps. It's such a good book. I've made the mint & apple jelly, seville orange marmalade, piccalilli, spiced tomato chutney, redcurrant & apple jelly, blackcurrant jam recipes from it, & several others. I love preserving & have really fond memories of my Nan's cherry jam. I really do recommend this book for anyone new ro preserving or who would like to increase their confidence and/or repertoire.
f x

WantToBeSE

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Morning All

I was so lazy yesterday...we sat and watched Dr Who pretty much all day.
We are going to get things done today though.

I have already cleaned the kitchen, done the dishes and put some washing on. I need to still do:

[STRIKE]-Take boys for a walk
-Encourage youngest son to do homework
-Baking (vegan choc chip cookies, cinnamon rolls)][/STRIKE]
-Hoover and mop downstairs
-Hoover upstairs
-Clean bathroom
-[STRIKE]Washing out on line[/STRIKE]

Have a great day everyone!

Not too bad...getting there! And haven't watched any Dr Who today :rotfl:

Bobarella

Good luck in your new position Ally. Also hope night shift won't be too draining for you. Is that still 4 days on?

Princess -it's amazing what you can save for your wedding. We had the expensive venue I wanted but a friends mum gifted us a cupcake wedding cake made from chocolate and lemon cupcakes, my good friend who is an excellent stylist did my hair and makeup and the hair of all the bridesmaids. My husband wrote and designed our invitations and place settings and I managed to get my dress in Debenham for £500. Which sounds loads to me now but when you consider so many of them cost thousands. It's about cutting back on what you can to get the bits you are bothered about just right.

Determined -sounds a good plan to get the garden sorted. Little and often.

Wanttobe - A day of Dr Who sounds like it would be very relaxing. Everyone needs to chill once in a while.

Foxgloves - I am a die hard brown sauce fan. My absolute favourite is Stokes but it costs about £3 a bottle!! So I normally have HP never seen the appeal of Ketchup. So many people love it though. I'm going to try your recipe.

Nimmi- well done on such a profitable clear out.

Well as planned we were first at the hospital drop in session which was very satisfying as we were in and out in 30 mins. She is now 8 pounds 11. Up from 7 pounds 15 at birth. They were therefore happy to sign us off.
Next step will be the 6 week check in around 4 weeks.

I went for a nice walk back through the park with my family and then home for a sandwich.

Edited to say found 1p today.
I even managed my nap which is incredible as I never sleep in the day. So feel rested and ready for the rest of today.

The pumpkin is being carved as we speak. I will keep the flesh for a soup.

Bye for now.

Bob

lego_mum

Bob, Great news from the hospital

Ally, Good luck with work tonight

foxgloves

Bob - I like 'Stokes' too. Good upmarket brand. Think you will like home-made too, though. Give it a try if you get time. It's good to eat straight away, but it does continue to mellow over the next weeks.

*Finished investigating the Presents Box. Quite a lot of stuff already in there, so off to a good start. Made a list & started researching a couple of potential gift items online, tho' would prefer to buy presents from our small local independent shops where possible.
*Entered a competition.
*mr f phoned ahead to say he does INDEED have free cake from work. Yay!!
Must go, can hear cat destroying something.
f x

dizzyblnd

Jono how have u got Christmas presents already. I haven't even started a list.
Ally- good luck for ur night shift.

Bob- glad baby dd is gaining weight well.

I had a very unexpected nsd. Went to meet my friend for coffee n she offered to pay. My treat next time.

xxxJOJOxxx

Evening all


Another week I've not been around. Had one good day after my time in hospital, then was taken down with crazy tooth ache, which turned into a abscess. On last day of course off antibiotics but still in pain and its still hanging around. Its madness how pain can take over so much been a bad week.


Next two weeks are going to be really tough as only a days wage in each packet :-| However I have plenty of food in, all bills covered. just 2 social events and 2 children's parties to budget in


Bits from this week:


~ lovely Autumn today walk with little ones collecting leaves, twigs, acorns, flowers etc Turned these into pictures. Free entertainment for little ones at no cost.
~ Found a penny :-D
~ Used up some fresh stuff for little ones tea and planned what to do with the rest tomorrow. (nearly went to waste as I've only been eating soup)
~ One bag of bits sorted for the charity shop
~ Spoke to little ones Dad, he is going to sort Halloween with the girls this year so no cost to me. Well were still get pumpkins and make toffee apples the wed before
~ Noticed a mis priced toy at Mr A. £15 toy with 2 for £14 sticker on, so grabbed that & another Item. Didn't come on till obviously but they honoured the offer.
~ Made use of free dental care :-D
~ Got loads of clothes for little ones in G sale (been popping a little away each week so have some pennies when the sale comes - saves a lot of money)
~ Sorted through eldest clothes, bagged and tagged for when youngest is older
~ Couple of Christmas presents brought
~ Sister downloaded & brought some new on books on Kindle so free reading for me when I get the chance. (her kindle linked to mine, money comes from my accounts but she always passes the cash on)
~ Made hanging wardrobe inside bedroom cupboard from leftover items in diy cuboard
~ gave away dd1 drawers as no longer needed. Normally I wouls sell but put together badly and wanted cleared that day. Had bad luck in the past with similar items with people saying they want them but actually having no way of getting them.
~ Decluttered 30 things from my bedroom, more to go..
~ Bank current account going through now so will use £125 to pay off holiday which will leave £150ish to pay (maybe slightly less)
~ Picked up some conkers up the other day, another free bit of entertainment for girlies


That's all I can think off for now. Need to get organised for tomorrow, after a cup of tea though! Night all

crazy_cat_lady

Evening all
Jojo - hope you are feeling better soon.
Foxgloves - thanks for the recipe. I too am a brown sauce lover so going to give that a try.

I am happy to report that I've had a lovely day today spent some time with my mam, being looked after and generally spoilt, which is always good.

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

[STRIKE]:) check latest noddle report
update Natwest with the fact that they are still in the wrong (only 20 days until I can escalate to FOS)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) tutoring[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) dd to tumbling class[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) visit my mam and get quality time and a free feed[/STRIKE] :D:D:D
[STRIKE]:) big batch cook for the week ahead[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) one hour of school work.[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) another load of washing[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) leave the heating off as long as I dare[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:) nsd [/STRIKE]

Ooh, I've done the full list. Yay! No heating, lots of food prepared for next week, and my home made chicken goujons went down a treat. All prepped for my observed lesson tomorrow as well. Now I really just need a good night of sleep.

ziggy2407

Good Evening Everyone

Foxgloves - recipe sounds fab, just checked our library don't have the book in stock
Bob - Glad your appointment went well, mine were always a nightmare, DS weighted 6lb 4 when born, we stayed in hospital for 5 days, weighed 5lb at 7 days old and then seemed to take him forever to put weight on but he's healthy and happy and still only weighs 4 stone (at 12) :rotfl:
Ally - God Luck for tonight, we all believe in you - you'll rock it!

Hi to all of the regulars and a BIG welcome to all the newbies, this is a really FAB thread with so many lovely, caring, considerate and supportive people.

Today we:

Met buyer for remote control car DS wanted to sell (£15 in his pot)
Bump all sale listings/freecycle
Watched DVD's while playing/sorting Lego
Continue purge on Emails
Surveys
Check Banks
Enter a few comps
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer
Read book (from groaning shelf)
Check https://www.freepostcodelottery.com - Remember there are now 5 chances to win
Check Lucky Phone

Good night all,

C x

Baileys_Babe

foxgloves wrote: »

Yes, am happy to share recipe for brown sauce, but I can't take the credit for it. It's a recipe from 'Good Housekeeping Preserves' by Joanna Farrow, published by Collins & Brown. I don't know if it's still in print to buy, but if not, it's really worth trying to get a copy from the library if you like preserving, or would like to get started, as it's an excellent book. I use it loads, & all the recipes I've made have worked well, & several of them, I return to every year.
To make the brown sauce, you need:
750g cooking apples (I just use windfalls from our own unspecified apple tree)
250g onions, peeled & chopped (don't need to be done too finely)
1 hot green chilli, de-seeded & chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 level tsp paprika
15g fresh root ginger, peeled & grated
100g sultanas
250ml vinegar (recipe says red wine vinegar but I've made the sauce with cider vinegar & this time, I used half cider vinegar & half Aldi malt vinegar. Works fine)
2 level tsp salt
250g light soft brown sugar

Peel, core & roughly chop the apples & chuck into large pan with all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil, stirring to ensure sugar is dissolved. Turn pan down, cover it & simmer for 40 mins, Check it now & again, & if it's sticking, add 4 or 5 tbsp water. Cool the mixture a bit, then blitz it up with a hand-blender or liquidizer.
Then push the blended mixture through a sieve, before bottling it in sterilized jars. The instructions in the book recommend to then sterilize the filled jars in a large pan of boiling water. I must admit that I never do this, because the sauce gets eaten reasonably quickly, we have a very cold pantry & we always put it in the fridge after opening. We've never had any issues with mouldy sauce or fermenting or anything, but we do have a very cold house, & so I wanted to point out that the book does say that the sterilizing should be done prior to storage.

Oh, & don't be put off by the inclusion of a hot chilli. This isn't a hot sauce at all. The chilli does add to the overall flavour but it doesn't seem to add a hot kick.
Hope this helps. It's such a good book. I've made the mint & apple jelly, seville orange marmalade, piccalilli, spiced tomato chutney, redcurrant & apple jelly, blackcurrant jam recipes from it, & several others. I love preserving & have really fond memories of my Nan's cherry jam. I really do recommend this book for anyone new ro preserving or who would like to increase their confidence and/or repertoire.
f x

Foxgloves Thanks for both the recipe and the book recommendation, I'll be keeping my eye out for that. A friend gave us 2 boxes of apples this weekend about a third are cookers, guess what I'm going to be making