Cooking for one (Mark Two)

poppystar

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The rest of the news is he has found two other tradespeople didnt do their jobs properly either.....:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::eek:

I had wine at what should have been lunchtime. I have further wine chilling. I am now looking for a new tradesperson - this time of the "hit squad" variety (am not so sure I'm joking.....).

For 2 pins and a decent-size Premium Bond win....I think you can guess what I'd do right now. It involves googling RightMove again and about £400,000 minus whatever I could sell this house for pretty much.

Sorry to hear that Money. It's not the house's fault but I have been there with tradespeople doing a bad job and being left unable to do anything on the house while I fought for months even years to get resolution. In the end it sapped me of the energy to do all the wonderful things I had been planning and I did turn against the house itself - since none of the tradesmen were there to shoot!!:mad:

One thought that would worry me was whether this new guy is totally trustworthy. Really hope so but I've had so many come round and do the sharp intake of breath on previous work that I am a bit sceptical of all of them now!

You are so sensible not to get the same guy back regardless of the extra cost. I did precisely that and had what was one of the scariest days of my life - and that was at a time where there was a man on the scene to stand behind me:eek:



***********


A big thank you to whoever it was that directed me to the BBC curried butternut squash, lentil and coconut soup:):)

It is so yummy. I read all the comments and did add an onion which i think was a good idea. I might also swap the carrots for parsnips next time.

The only thing I didn't do because I was concentrating so hard on the recipe was to rinse the lentils - hopeful this hasn't poisoned me! I only read that instruction after the lentils were in the pot and irretrievable:o

PasturesNew

poppystar wrote: »

.....
A big thank you to whoever it was that directed me to the BBC curried butternut squash, lentil and coconut soup:):)

I think we all know it wasn't me

I've never had a butternut squash of any sort .... and actively avoid lentils.

moneyistooshorttomention

I've had several "major battles" (inc. one huge one - which I guess I justabout sorta won) in my life to date and I don't think any more battles would make for a quiet life in retirement (which is/was the intention).

Whenever it comes to it - be it re my own stuff or other peoples problems - then I tend to work out the likely odds of getting things resolved successfully. I've analysed the evidence (such as it is) and don't rate the odds personally and wouldnt advise anyone else in that position to take that fight on. If I rated the odds as, say, 80/20 then I might take it on. I rate the odds as 50/50 I would say - basically. I don't think those odds are good enough to take on the hassle personally.

Re the new guy - he's not someone who needs the money. He's someone from a rather "better background" than my own and doesnt actually need the money. He's doing it more because he wants to and he's too intelligent to let his mind stagnate. He gets where I'm from so to say - as we swop gourmet food tips etc in between all this and he'd probably be onto talking about opera and fine art on top of this (except I'm not into that...:rotfl:). Nope - he's not a "tooth sucker".

I know exactly what you mean - as I want my "Life Energy" for things I'm planning - becoming a better dancer/better cook/exploring the area/getting to know new friends better.

I have lessons to learn - clearly I'm still way too naive in some respects for someone that has got to 60 plus years old and I should "slap my hands" for still not being as aware I should be of what (who!) to look out for.

....and, on that note, I'd better try and figure out summat to have for dinner. Gawdknows - but I've got a portobello mushroom chopped up/some frozen lentils out of freezer/some tomatoes ....we'll see...

wort

Just so you know I'm gluten free because I have coeliac disease, not choice. I would give anything to go back to eating real bread and pies ,biscuits and cakes. A lot of the glutenfree ones are inedible or extortionately priced. I stick rigidly to the diet as I don't fancy osteoarthritis, stomach cancer etc.
The soup was delicious at lunch and I had a banana and satsuma for my other break just had a 2 fish finger roll ,with a potato rosti on with garlic mayo and ketchup , and cheese. Just having a cuppa trying to resist the siren call of the Thornton liquorice toffee, I'm actually singing in my head that old song "when I'm calling you oooo"
Yes Caronc , we are going 1st class on train so will get breakfast, then they are taking me to the dome for lunch which looks amazing, then doing the Christmas markets. The only thing I'm trying not to think of is that in March I went with my husband,before he died, my sister and her hubby, and brother with his wife. We did the royal yacht then and had a real laugh.
Money - I hope you reach a satisfactory result regarding your house, it's such a worry for you. Keep strong.

Farway

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Can you piece that together into the electrician doing the checking of my house has got a good way further round the house - and found the electrics are a good deal worse than he first thought. Many of the electric wires-that-should-have-been-removed are 1970s:eek::eek::eek:. There are several sockets without earth wires on them (even some of the new ones). .

He must have been a real "expert" to manage wiring sockets without an earth wire.

I have rewired two of my houses, when in my "Do upper" phase 45 odd years ago. I am fully qualified electrical engineer BTW so more than competent to do a spot of house wiring

The point I want to make is that the supply cables come with earth as standard, so he must either have used the wrong cable, or deliberately cut the earth off, which is odd as it it just as easy to connect it I would have thought. Any way hope it gets sorted, sounds like you have found proper trades folk at last

Dinner over, the Lild beans are OK, but a bit too sweet for me. Comparing ingredients it looks like Lild have 9% fewer tomatoes than 4sda, so guess they make the missing 9% up with cheaper sugar. I think for the 1.5p difference per tin I will stick with 4sda for now

poppystar

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I have lessons to learn - clearly I'm still way too naive in some respects for someone that has got to 60 plus years old and I should "slap my hands" for still not being as aware I should be of what (who!) to look out for.

No hand slapping necessary I'm sure. You could only ever be at fault if it was a level playing field or you had a crystal ball and ignored it:D

It isn't that way with tradesmen:

I've gone down the recommendation from friends route - clearly he'd had a personality change in the intervening months!

The big, expensive company for safety - nope !!!!!! job there too.

The little man with impressive references - bloody sure that must have been his favourite aunt that I spoke to on the phone who said he had done a brilliant job for her.


The most annoying thing is I have a male friend who does it all 'wrong' - someone comes round touting for business he takes them on without getting loads of comparative quotes, great job done. Or it's a pin in the local paper job and he finds mr wonderful tradesman.

Sadly he doesn't live by me to pass these guys on. He's not the
most macho guy I know but he is male and I just wonder if that is the difference;)



Go down that wine girl and enjoy it:)

Need2bthrifty

poppystar wrote: »

A big thank you to whoever it was that directed me to the BBC curried butternut squash, lentil and coconut soup:):)

It is so yummy. I read all the comments and did add an onion which i think was a good idea. I might also swap the carrots for parsnips next time.

The only thing I didn't do because I was concentrating so hard on the recipe was to rinse the lentils - hopeful this hasn't poisoned me! I only read that instruction after the lentils were in the pot and irretrievable:o

Twas me

I loved it, thought it was one of the most luxurious soups I've ever made - mmmmmmmmmmmmm - liquid velvet :cool:

caronc

AndyCF wrote: »

..... yesterday was an 'off day' as such although I do have some 'food/eating concerns' anyway but its more an ongoing thing.

Glad it was just an "off day" - the body needs fuel to function so hopefully today had been better:)

meg72 wrote: »

Feeling really sorry for myself, got a stinking cold headache and sore throat Had banana on toast and drinking chocolate for breakfast Was just about to go the door for Chippy fish and chips for lunch but gave myself a good talking to. Like "get a grip Girl, theres Cod in the freezer that you are supposed to be running down for Christmas you've got a sack of potatoes and tins of mushy peas so get your sorry !!! in the kitchen and cook it, save yourself the money. So I am doing that now.

Oh Meg I think you would have had a good excuse to nip to the chippy. I hope you feel better soon:)

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Very late lunch (if you can call it that). Having toast with nut butter with fruit to follow.

There'll be scratch dinner of some description in a couple of hours time - and wine/more wine.

Can you piece that together into the electrician doing the checking of my house has got a good way further round the house - and found the electrics are a good deal worse than he first thought. Many of the electric wires-that-should-have-been-removed are 1970s:eek::eek::eek:. There are several sockets without earth wires on them (even some of the new ones). He hasnt finished yet. His verdict - cost-wise/hassle-wise = you don't want to know. It's so bad that he's going to sort the missing earths to sockets (hopefully - but cant be 100% sure I'm going to be able to use some of them again). He tells me there isn't very good odds at all I'll get through the rest of my life without major hassle and major expense (particularly in view of the fact the house has been finished - so I thought - and replastered/new kitchen/etc). I won't be getting the first electrician back under the NIC/EIC scheme - I don't trust myself as to how I'd act if he were under my roof again. Second electrician is just going to be paid whatever-it-takes to get things passably sorted - so the house doesnt electrocute me.

The rest of the news is he has found two other tradespeople didnt do their jobs properly either.....:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::eek:

I had wine at what should have been lunchtime. I have further wine chilling. I am now looking for a new tradesperson - this time of the "hit squad" variety (am not so sure I'm joking.....).

For 2 pins and a decent-size Premium Bond win....I think you can guess what I'd do right now. It involves googling RightMove again and about £400,000 minus whatever I could sell this house for pretty much.

Oh Money what a nightmare - sounds like the wiring here when we moved in. Turned out the previous owners when changing from the old-style to new style wiring had basically just replaced the sockets :eek:. As for the wiring into the mains box - lets just say switching it off at the mains didn't guarantee all the power was off.:mad:

Need2bthrifty

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think there's far too much "food shaming" these days. Too many bandwagons for people to leap on and try to beat you from.

Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, healthy, organic, paleo, low fat, low sugar, food miles, sustainable, plastics in food/fish/save the whales, perceived problems with all manner of materials used in food trays/wrapping etc, diets galore.... mostly lead, or championed by, by celeb chefs with a new book to flog.... and a raft of pricey kitchen gadgets for sale.

I always say that so long as somebody's not morbidly obese and eating "serves 4-6" pies twice a day, then ANY food is "one up from anorexia" - and if those people choose to eat like me (old fashioned, simple fare, using a random mixture of fresh, frozen and tinned supermarket own brands) then where's the harm

TV and the Internet has made a lot of people think they can't cook because they need all the gadgets and a raft of tricky ingredients. I say: grab a spud, give it a rub down with the washing up cloth, pierce it, chuck it in the microwave and come back in 10 minutes... that's food. Then work up from there

Also, modern food isn't "cheap cr4p"; you can get some form of a balance with it. These days food manufacturers have worked hard to make sure their products are 1000x tastier and 'healthier' with fewer "nasty bits" than the 60s. You just can't eat pie EVERY day .... just four days in a row if you're on your own

Also, with one, there's less money floating about - and nobody to cook for, except yourself ... and you have to eat all you buy .... so all my stuff's repetitive ... easy .... cheap. And quick! Because most people DON'T actually "like" cooking, especially if you're a bit poor and gadgetless.

I have to disagree - there may be many health and/or ethical issues for the food choices that people make and I think there is a need for what you call 'Celeb Chefs' okay they may be flogging kitchen gadgets etc that we dont really need but they do give ideas, inspiration and confidence to a certain amount of individuals that want to cook meals from scratch.

I also think there is a generational and social barrier to cooking confidence - I was lucky, my mother was a stay at home mum and encouraged me, I took domestic science to higher grade level at school, worked in an area where I had to keep up to date with current thinking regarding children's nutrition and development.

But throughout the 80's and the 90's things started to change - both parents were working full time - convenience foods became household staples and Education authorities dropped certain subjects from the curriculum, therefore cooking skills werent being passed on or taught.

You mention that you choose to eat "old fashioned, simple fare" but what is that? That could vary depending on which country you are in and what age you are - in 20years time we could well have a generation that thinks good old fashioned food is Chicken nuggets, Macci D's, and Sushi

caronc

poppystar wrote: »

The only thing I didn't do because I was concentrating so hard on the recipe was to rinse the lentils - hopeful this hasn't poisoned me! I only read that instruction after the lentils were in the pot and irretrievable:o

They only advise to rinse as the might be gritty, I never bother and eat a fair amount of lentils. I think it's one of these tips like salting aubergines that we don't really need to do nowadays

wort wrote: »

Just so you know I'm gluten free because I have coeliac disease, not choice. I would give anything to go back to eating real bread and pies ,biscuits and cakes. A lot of the glutenfree ones are inedible or extortionately priced. I stick rigidly to the diet as I don't fancy osteoarthritis, stomach cancer etc.
The soup was delicious at lunch and I had a banana and satsuma for my other break just had a 2 fish finger roll ,with a potato rosti on with garlic mayo and ketchup , and cheese. Just having a cuppa trying to resist the siren call of the Thornton liquorice toffee, I'm actually singing in my head that old song "when I'm calling you oooo"
Yes Caronc , we are going 1st class on train so will get breakfast, then they are taking me to the dome for lunch which looks amazing, then doing the Christmas markets. The only thing I'm trying not to think of is that in March I went with my husband,before he died, my sister and her hubby, and brother with his wife. We did the royal yacht then and had a real laugh.
Money - I hope you reach a satisfactory result regarding your house, it's such a worry for you. Keep strong.

My sympathies to you with the coeliac disease, my friend's son has Crohn's so I know poorly getting your diet wrong. Your trip to Edinburgh sounds lovely, yes I'm sure you will have mixed feelings but I'm sure your husband would want you to enjoy it.

Farway wrote: »

He must have been a real "expert" to manage wiring sockets without an earth wire.

I have rewired two of my houses, when in my "Do upper" phase 45 odd years ago. I am fully qualified electrical engineer BTW so more than competent to do a spot of house wiring

The point I want to make is that the supply cables come with earth as standard, so he must either have used the wrong cable, or deliberately cut the earth off, which is odd as it it just as easy to connect it I would have thought. Any way hope it gets sorted, sounds like you have found proper trades folk at last

Dinner over, the Lild beans are OK, but a bit too sweet for me. Comparing ingredients it looks like Lild have 9% fewer tomatoes than 4sda, so guess they make the missing 9% up with cheaper sugar. I think for the 1.5p difference per tin I will stick with 4sda for now

Sometimes a couple of pence seems to make a big difference, I suppose it shows how cheap some base ingredients like tomatoes must be though obviously not as cheap as sugar!


I have news on the Pension front - my quote is apparently in the post :j:j, no doubt I'll need to go back to them with queries as the fact I jumped about the country and depts before records were computerised has complicated things. But at least it is a step forward.:D

I made a big pot of chicken, veg and barley broth so that with toast was lunch. I'm going with meatballs & spaghetti tonight mainly because the meatballs were in the same freezer drawer as the leeks I was looking out for the soup so just hoicked them out at the same time. The weather here has been atrocious, the bottom of my garden is inches deep in water (the joys of living on reclaimed land not!) so I'll be glad of a comforting bowl of pasta while I watch Masterchef:)