The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Pyxis

Ivy, yes it is.

I think I've seen it in Sainsbury's and Waitrose, but I get mine from my organic fruit and veg peops who deliver.
The one I get is a fresh cheese, so it's softer, and you can eat it with biscuits or fruit, as well as grate it onto things.

I'm sure it must be readily available.

The thing is that some farms in mainland Italy make it from milk from that breed of Sardinian sheep, but a real pecorino sardo, to be DOP, has to be from those sheep in Sardinia, iyswim.

Pyxis

One really good tip I picked up from the goat farm in Croatia, was to store the goat cheese, (or any 'real' cheese) on a half-inch-deep bed of rice in a plastic box.
The rice keeps it dry, and so stops it going mouldy.

Then, if you use arborio rice for this, what happens is the rice picks up the flavour of the cheese, and then you can make risotto from it.


I did this, using the rind of the goat cheese I brought back ( the actual cheese didn't last long enough!). I kept the rind on the rice for about three weeks, and then I made a risotto from the rice. It really worked! And the rind didn't go mouldy or anything!

zagubov

silvercar wrote: »

Keeping the dirty clothes out of the kitchen must be more hygienic.
Americans all have washing machines in closets in bathrooms, there is a logic in not needing to bring clothes up and down stairs.

The first house we bought had laundry equipment in the upstairs bathroom which was a decent size. It worked out very well and I've wondered ever since about why we traditionally fitted them downstairs. Might as well stick all that stuff in a room where people don't spend a lot of time.

Often wondered what an optimal house layout would look like if a bunch of time-and-motion experts designed it to be ergonomic and efficient as possible.

LydiaJ

PN, in the unlikely event of your WM catching fire, I'm not sure trying to drag it out of the house would be the safest thing to do. Attempting to move burning objects isn't usually recommended, and in any case, WMs are usually extremely heavy, and quite difficult to drag even when not in flames. I certainly wouldn't want to dry dragging such a thing if it was on fire. The Fire Brigade would probably recommend that you don't try to deal with the fire yourself but just get out of the building as fast as you can, call 999 and advise occupants of neighbouring houses to get our of their houses too until the fire's been put out by the experts.

vivatifosi

Regarding kitchens... our clothes go straight in machine from basket and don't touch floor. Plus I don't prep food on the floor so don't have a problem with that.

In terms of fires in kitchens, DH has put a fire extinguisher and fire blanket in ours. He also insists that we don't do laundry and leave the house, or use the timer on ours and go to bed. I don't like leaving laundry in the machine anyway, I have a no iron programme that doesn't over dry the clothes so most I can take out, pop on a hanger and that's it.

GDB2222

silvercar wrote: »

I thought I'd read that the fridge exploded rather than just caught fire. I also read that the fridge fire had been extinguished before the whole block went up.

That's what I heard, too. The flat fire was safely extinguished by the fire brigade, without problem, and with nobody injured at that point. The stay put strategy appeared to be working as intended. Unfortunately, the fire in the cladding was probably not even noticed at that point.

ivyleaf

silvercar wrote: »

I thought I'd read that the fridge exploded rather than just caught fire. I also read that the fridge fire had been extinguished before the whole block went up.

My hair straightners once caught fire. I'm guessing there was a short in the lead because that's where the flames appeared, but scary because I was holding them at the time. Luckily I dropped them onto a tiled floor rather than a carpet.

Yes, I read that too about the fridge fire having been extinguished, but there was some talk of possibly heat from the fridge fire heating the outside wall and thence the cladding. I can't remember who said that though, though I'll shut up.

So glad your hair straighteners ended up on a tiled floor! that must have been very frightening!

Pyxis thanks for the tip about the storing of cheese in rice! I'd never have heard of that. Shame I don't like risotto, mind you!

PasturesNew

I understood that the fridge fire was put out - but the flames from the fridge were near to an open window and the flames went out the open window and silently set the cladding alight, unnoticed.

michaels

I suspect the stats would say you are much likely to get injured driving to work in a hurry than from leaving a running washing machine unattended

Pyxis

I must admit I do sometimes put my washing machine on the timer, to start very early in the morning, though, just before I wake up anyway.
I am aware that the machine is under the stairs, which isn't the best place to have a fire start. However, it isn't far to drop outside from my bedroom window ; hanging from the sill at arms length before dropping down it's only about 3 or 4 feet further to drop. There is a smoke alarm just above where the machine is sited, too.

I do also sometimes put the dishwasher on at night, or before I go out. Not usually, just sometimes. I do worry a bit about doing that, so it's only if it's really necessary. That's in the kitchen, though, and there is a wired-in smoke detector nearby, plus a heat detector opposite the dishwasher.

However, when I go away, I unplug both the dishwasher and the washing machine.

I also have a small fire extinguisher and fire blanket in the kitchen, but I'd only use those for a small pan fire or something. I do have a small extinguisher upstairs, but it's out of date.... . I wouldn't normally have one upstairs, but when it passed its date, I thought I'd keep it just in case, and put it upstairs.
I'll probably chuck it at some point, though.