Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've got an Aldi coming later this year (end of the summer) ... looking forward to it because when I go into Aldis they always seem to have more/better/nicer sounding things than Lidl. But, I suspect, it's like all new experiences, you think it's better until you get one.

There's a good/bad Aldi/Lidl thread on the boards somewhere - I had high hopes when I read that, but those people really eat some bizarre things and it's not an easy thread to plough through at all, but I have made some brief bookmarks in case.

Of course, what's good/not is personal, otherwise there'd be no choice if everybody agreed that something was good

Top tip from Gen re pool chemicals, such a headache for me every year with my huge pool..... I suspect Aldi UK don't stock pool chemicals though.

Only £2.50 for 25kg salt. A bargain as I'm sure you realise.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

Only £2.50 for 25kg salt. A bargain as I'm sure you realise.

I might mention that in passing conversation with the pool staff, although our paths rarely cross.



It might count as "bonding" as they'll appreciate that I am in touch with the lives of poor people if I can pronounce Aldi correctly and know the price of something.

vivatifosi

Aldi and Lidl are pretty similar, so you know what you are getting. Their weekly deals can be good value, but what they sell is totally random. I think they currently have motorbike chain oil for example. But the stuff I've bought that I do want is good value.

Veg I find goes off faster than other supermarkets. You need to inspect it quite carefully. Also they don't have date codes, though i think there's a page on MSE somewhere that shows how you can convert the product code to work out the date.

PasturesNew

Lidl don't have a huge range of frozen veg. There are bags of mixed veg that I don't eat as the carrots are like bullets. I use their peas. They also do a broccoli/cauli mix. I think there might be a cubed carrot mix (might not be). The trouble is, the limited freezer space is then filled with aspirational/middle-class products, e.g. pricey steam veg cartons.

Asda do seem to have a phenomenal range of frozen veggies, but my freezer's too small to justify driving a 12 mile round trip just to buy 1-2 bags of frozen veg that will clog up the freezer space, forcing me to eat my way through them quickly to free up space.

My freezer's chocca at the moment as I bought three new packs/products last week. Sainsbobs were flogging off (half price) some frozen Quorn Thai Curry packs (got two!) and then I bought a (large) bag of 42 chicken nuggets (sweet/sour sauce is in my sights soon as I've got Chef Minimus).

Freezer space is two drawers 14" square and 7" deep and then one "half depth" basket at the bottom (so 14"x7"x7").

Space is at a premium. On the other hand, I do have to eat what's in there, rather than allowing stuff to accumulate.

The fridge often only contains one tub of Lidl spread and a pack of cheddar.

PasturesNew

Having spen night on 2 years slowly accumulating the few ingredients needed to try a new recipe .... and today was the day .... I opened the cupboards to get them all out, only to discover that I must have chucked one out when I moved under the heading of "out, I never use that". I had no soy sauce. It's not something one just buys and uses all the time is it.... well, we didn't in the 70s, so I don't now.

D4mn. Back to square one. And I've got 200 ml of sauce that doesn't taste right .... I only made the sauce as I was trialling it..... so nothing to go with it. It was a trial run before I put it on "something important"

That's the trouble with recipes, they all ask for stuff you don't have and you can pare it down as much as possible, but there will always be those 3-4 core items that it doesn't taste right without.

I've actually got some vanilla in my cupboard - never used it, ever, but I bought it in in case I try out a recipe one day that wants it.... because so many do (and I've no idea why as it's alien to me).

If I CBA, then I'll get some soy later and chuck that in with a bit more water to loosen up what I've got and give it another quick nuke.... see if it comes out as about right/edible.

michaels

Generali wrote: »

Only £2.50 for 25kg salt. A bargain as I'm sure you realise.

Awesome - can't get it for less than 7 quid a bag in the uk - and aldi don't have it.

Could you bring us 10 bags next time you come over please.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I might mention that in passing conversation with the pool staff, although our paths rarely cross.



It might count as "bonding" as they'll appreciate that I am in touch with the lives of poor people if I can pronounce Aldi correctly and know the price of something.

Well strictly speaking that's what the butler is for, to deal with staff. Apparently it's motivating to them to pass the odd word though, the lower orders like that sort of thing I hear.

I like to make sure that I know the cost of the basics to keep the common touch: swimming pool salt, a pint of milk, a loaf of white sliced, ready-to-roast peacock. It pays to stay in touch with the common person these days otherwise we'll end up going the same way as the French and nobody wants that. Dreadful business with the guillotines and so on.

I must confess, I went to a 'super' market once. Never again. You're expected to gather your own provisions. I suspect some people there were even proposing to cook them too (presumably Chef had the day off).

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Having spen night on 2 years slowly accumulating the few ingredients needed to try a new recipe .... and today was the day .... I opened the cupboards to get them all out, only to discover that I must have chucked one out when I moved under the heading of "out, I never use that". I had no soy sauce. It's not something one just buys and uses all the time is it.... well, we didn't in the 70s, so I don't now.

D4mn. Back to square one. And I've got 200 ml of sauce that doesn't taste right .... I only made the sauce as I was trialling it..... so nothing to go with it. It was a trial run before I put it on "something important"

That's the trouble with recipes, they all ask for stuff you don't have and you can pare it down as much as possible, but there will always be those 3-4 core items that it doesn't taste right without.

I've actually got some vanilla in my cupboard - never used it, ever, but I bought it in in case I try out a recipe one day that wants it.... because so many do (and I've no idea why as it's alien to me).

If I CBA, then I'll get some soy later and chuck that in with a bit more water to loosen up what I've got and give it another quick nuke.... see if it comes out as about right/edible.

If you have vanilla then give custard a go. 1 bowl and 1 pan.

Heat some single cream (full fat milk would do in a pinch) in a pan with vanilla. For each 100ml of cream used put an egg yolk in the bowl and add 1.5tsp sugar.

When the cream just comes to the boil, pour over the yolk(s) and mix thoroughly. Put the mix back in the same pan and heat while stirring for a bit until it starts to thicken and the first bubbles appear. Then pour it back in the bowl and eat with a spoon (chopsticks are not your friend with custard).

The results are awesome. Nom!

Oh, and you can rinse off the vanilla pod (if that's what you have) and bung it in some sugar to make vanilla sugar.

michaels

Or you can buy it in a tin, carton or even fresh in the cooler section of your local supermarket and warm it in the microwave.

GDB2222

oldandhappy wrote: »

You can really buy a castle here for a little dosh....euros even..
http://www.cabinetlenail.com/ads,for-sale-castle-niort,4874,508vm,en.html

It's beautiful. However, buying it might be the cheapest part of the deal. You could rename it, Chateau Moneypit.