Put away your purse & become debt-averse

HairyHandofDartmoor

Are you visiting your sister for Christmas Foxgloves? It's good that you managed a lie in .

foxgloves

HHoD - Yes, I am. It will be lovely to see her & her partner & our nephews, although I don't much like the journey down there. We are planning to play Christmas music on the way. I've got pretty much all the foodie contributions made, that we need to take - Christmas Cake, stuffing, bread sauce (I like the proper home made stuff) & I just need to bake some Delia veggie sausage rolls on Christmas Eve. I started baking those when I first got together with Mr F, as he was a vegetarian then, but everyone likes them so much, they have become a regular festive item in our family.
F x

foxgloves

Well, ding dong merrily........because that's me done for today. I only need to cut up the fudge for boxing & be-ribboning & then it will very definitely be bum on chair time.......or probably bum on sofa, as cat has nicked my armchair while I've been upstairs in 'Foxgloves HQ' writing my packing list.
Mr F is making spag bol tonight & says he won't need all the mince, so I've asked him to half it up & leave the rest in the fridge & I'll make quarter-pounders for tomorrow night. I have cobs in the freezer & we are meeting up with family for lunch, so we won't need too much in the evening. Our plans to concentrate on using what we've got in have worked well for the last few days. The final grocery shopping of this month's budget came in at around £30 under budget, so that will be very useful for after Christmas, in case we can pick up any good meat deals on short dates. One year, Mr F managed to find the most colossal pork roasting joint for a fiver. It provided loads of meals. He was so proud of his find, you'd have thought he'd brought down a bison single-handed with a catapault & a tough brussell sprout, instead of just visiting the supermarket!
Well, I've done my German......I'm not sure there WILL ever be an occasion when I need to explain to visiting German tourists at the scene of some or other random farming misadventure that 'the ducks are alive', but if there is, then assuredly, I'm your woman!
OK, fudge-cutting (& testing!) beckons.
Twinkletasticness,
F x

Onebrokelady

Solstice blessing to you and yours Foxgloves,I can't believe that tomorrow will be 1 second longer than today (according to our weather man ) :j

My sprouts have been on slow simmer since November so should be ok by Christmas Day :rotfl:

Also at some point you're going to have to share some recipes with us,I'm now sitting here wanting to make and eat some fudge :rotfl:

Also had to laugh at Mr F taking down the bison with armed only with a catapult and a tough sprout :rotfl::rotfl:

Blackcats

Hello Foxgloves and co
Thanks for the reminder to get the sprouts on a low simmer! My Nan used to start the cabbage cooking on a Sunday morning, they continued cooking when she went to church and then she left them bubbling while she finished cooking lunch. However, she drank the "greens water" from the saucepan so she probably got the goodness and we ate the mush.
I also laughed at the bison story. Reminded me of last summer when I overhead some teenagers outside a pub which had a sign up for "roast of the day - pork". They stood by the sign and one of them asked "what even is pork?" And another answered "i don't know but it definitely isn't chicken!"

crazy_cat_lady

Sounds as though you're really getting into the festive-ness now Foxgloves. I haven't done any fudge this year but am overflowing with food (sweet and savoury) so I don't need to worry about doing anything else much at all.
Safe journey to your sister's (whenever you're heading off) and enjoy!

HairyHandofDartmoor

I laughed at the bison and sprout reference too :rotfl:. Also at the weird German phrases you learn :rotfl:.

Have a lovely Christmas with your sister :xmassmile.

Toni'sfriend

However, she drank the "greens water"

My granny used to make my brother and I drink this because it was good for us. It tasted disgusting. However I do now like lightly steamed sprouts.

Have a really fabulous Christmas. xxx

foxgloves

Thank-you all for your Christmas wishes. Yes, our Nans weren't happy with veg unless it was boiled to within an inch of its life, were they? My Nan had lived through two world wars & had to live very frugally. She couldn't abide food waste. My Mum, on the other hand wouldn't eat anything she didn't like & if that involved wasting food, then so be it. Every Christmas Day when we were growing up, it used to be a race for my Mum to get any leftover veg speedily into the bin or chucked out on the lawn for the birds, before my Nan could save it to cook up as bubble & squeak on Boxing Day!
It's been quite a festive day today. We've met up with family for lunch & to exchange presents, which was really nice and since then, I've ironed the laundry & decided what to take with me. I haven't done any actual packing, but will have time for that tomorrow. I turned that leftover mince into burgers this morning & took some home made rolls out of the freezer, so that will be tonight's meal sorted out with no expense & very little effort. I'm hoping to watch something festive on TV later & to have a reasonably sensible bed time, as I have a fair few tasks to do tomorrow morning.
I'm already starting to think about new year plans - we need a lot of work doing on our house & I intend to carry on with my frugal activities all throughout 2020 to help facilitate getting as much home improvement done as is reasonably possible. I have not the faintest idea how much it will all cost, so I think the best thing is to plan as though it's to be the worst, while hoping for the best. The reality will probably be somewhere in between. So I shall definitely be back after Christmas, ready to reboot my money saving behaviour as well as my healthy eating & resumption of cycling.
Midwinter blessings to you all,
F xx
"Wassail, wassail, all over the town,
Our bread it is white & our ale it is brown,
Our bowl it is made of the sycamore tree,
Our wassailing song, we'll sing to thee"
(trad)

Onebrokelady

Blackcats wrote: »

Hello Foxgloves and co
Thanks for the reminder to get the sprouts on a low simmer! My Nan used to start the cabbage cooking on a Sunday morning, they continued cooking when she went to church and then she left them bubbling while she finished cooking lunch. However, she drank the "greens water" from the saucepan so she probably got the goodness and we ate the mush.
I also laughed at the bison story. Reminded me of last summer when I overhead some teenagers outside a pub which had a sign up for "roast of the day - pork". They stood by the sign and one of them asked "what even is pork?" And another answered "i don't know but it definitely isn't chicken!"

My mum always drank the greens water 🤢