Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

The stock I made from tandoori spiced chicken carcass is bloomin' lovely, it doesn't taste "curried" just lovely and warming with a hint of spices. I'll be making that again especially as I always feel making stock is getting "something for nothing" (though I know it's not!):D

Wednesday2000

kittie wrote: »

then the singles should pay a lot less in council tax. I pay £169 pm and a working family of 5 down the lane pay much less, they have a big nice old house and very large garden. I have one bin empty every 2 weeks for that, no lights nothing

Single people do get a discount on their council tax, don't they?

Why does a family of 5 pay less than you? I don't understand.

I don't care about paying more council tax than a single person does, I just think on a practical level that my household needs a bigger bin.

caronc

In our area if you are classed as a large household (6+ people) you can get an extra general waste bin provided. For recycling and garden waste anyone can buy for a small charge extra bins, there is no extra charge for the emptying of them. You can't pay for extra general waste bin though.

Wednesday2000

caronc wrote: »

In our area if you are classed as a large household (6+ people) you can get an extra general waste bin provided. For recycling and garden waste anyone can buy for a small charge extra bins, there is no extra charge for the emptying of them. You can't pay for extra general waste bin though.

Maybe I should pretend to the council that my 5 cats and dogs are people.:p

[Deleted User]

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

Why does a family of 5 pay less than you? I don't understand.
.

properties were valued in 1991 and that is the value used for council tax today. Any new property council tax is based on current value. Always cheaper wrt council tax to have an older house. That house has since had a considerable extension and has a very large plot but is still valued at the old 1991 value, hence council tax can be so unfair

PasturesNew

I've got as far as cutting/cooking the cabbage I wish I'd never bought....
had thought I'd use a few bits to make a stupid "stuffed......" combining rice/mince and spices et al and shoving that into a leaf or two and steaming it. Then came to my senses and so am just cooking the darned cabbage to get it gone.

Life is too short to start stuffing random things just because you can; might as well just make up any rice/mince stuff and leave it at that if I've a yearning for it... and serve it with chips

In the main, "for one" ... stuffing anything is just a boring and pointless task that takes up extra time and faff ... for what? For no extra real benefit.

A lot of food is presented to us "for presentation purposes" - but if nobody but you will ever see it you can cut the cooking time in half by not bothering. e.g. why have a cheese crusted shepherd's pie .... when in half the time you can have a pile of mince mix on the plate with a portion of cheese mash beside it
You have to question whether the extra steps, extra time, often extra washing up is worth the difference in end results.

Wednesday2000

kittie wrote: »

properties were valued in 1991 and that is the value used for council tax today. Any new property council tax is based on current value. Always cheaper wrt council tax to have an older house. That house has since had a considerable extension and has a very large plot but is still valued at the old 1991 value, hence council tax can be so unfair

Oh, I see. I didn't know that.

caronc

kittie wrote: »

properties were valued in 1991 and that is the value used for council tax today. Any new property council tax is based on current value. Always cheaper wrt council tax to have an older house. That house has since had a considerable extension and has a very large plot but is still valued at the old 1991 value, hence council tax can be so unfair

Our council revalued all the properties a few years ago, mine stayed in the same band but it did iron out some anomalies between new or extended & old builds. I'm not sure what the alternative is to council tax, when I first got married it was the poll tax and it more than doubled what had been paid in rates for a small flat which felt horribly unfair at the time. I'm not sure there is a perfect solution someone always looses out when it comes to taxation:mad:

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've got as far as cutting/cooking the cabbage I wish I'd never bought....
had thought I'd use a few bits to make a stupid "stuffed......" combining rice/mince and spices et al and shoving that into a leaf or two and steaming it. Then came to my senses and so am just cooking the darned cabbage to get it gone.

Life is too short to start stuffing random things just because you can; might as well just make up any rice/mince stuff and leave it at that if I've a yearning for it... and serve it with chips

In the main, "for one" ... stuffing anything is just a boring and pointless task that takes up extra time and faff ... for what? For no extra real benefit.

A lot of food is presented to us "for presentation purposes" - but if nobody but you will ever see it you can cut the cooking time in half by not bothering. e.g. why have a cheese crusted shepherd's pie .... when in half the time you can have a pile of mince mix on the plate with a portion of cheese mash beside it
You have to question whether the extra steps, extra time, often extra washing up is worth the difference in end results.

I suppose it depends on what you like to eat, I don't mind the extra faff to stuff veg as I like the end result IFYSWIM.:) I have disagree with you on the shepherds pie though it's the crispy bits (the best bits IMHO) on the top that make it different to mince & tatties which I also enjoy but do see it as a different dish. Still it would be a boring old world if we all liked or cooked the same things:D

Plain cabbage though with lots of butter & pepper is not to be sniffed at though, I can happily eat a big plate of that:)

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

....it would be a boring old world if we all liked or cooked the same things...

It wouldn't though would it, it'd be perfect.

We'd all like the same things, so would all have the same things, so there's less time spent stressing over choice and variation. No disagreements over stuff .... easy life. Everybody's happy.



When you analyse the statement it is peculiarly "wrong", yet oft quoted.