Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Suffolk_lass

I tried your pesto last night - I had a bit of dying basil too so added that to the white-stemmed chard (growing on the path!) and then had to add more olive oil but it tastes great and was ideal for a 15 minute supper after all afternoon in the garden!

I had frozen grated parmesan instead of pecorino (no use to vegetarians!) and I do have pine nut kernals because I buy a big bag from Real Food Source in Scotland - they work out at £2.59/100g based on this morning's price. I get them when I order other other nuts (broken cashews are a favourite for cooking with)

Have a good week!

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Morning foxgloves
I just found some pine nuts BB Dec 21 - think they'd be ok for making into pesto?  I have basil
love Deni

Suffolk_lass

Deni_debt-free_dreamer said:

Morning foxgloves
I just found some pine nuts BB Dec 21 - think they'd be ok for making into pesto?  I have basil
love Deni

I would just taste - you will know if they are off. My experience with buying in bulk is that they do deteriorate in a jar but less so in a plastic clip box and not until the bag is open. Rancid nuts (or mouldy ones) are not good

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Suffolk_lass said:

Deni_debt-free_dreamer said:

Morning foxgloves
I just found some pine nuts BB Dec 21 - think they'd be ok for making into pesto?  I have basil
love Deni

I would just taste - you will know if they are off. My experience with buying in bulk is that they do deteriorate in a jar but less so in a plastic clip box and not until the bag is open. Rancid nuts (or mouldy ones) are not good

thank you !  They are in an unopened plastic packet

foxgloves

I'd definitely try to use them if not rancid, @Deni_debt-free_dreamer. Thankfully, iffy nuts are quite easy to detect, so I'd eat one & see if it tasted ok, then use if so. 
@Suffolk_lass - I used cheapo parmesan in my latest batch. Delia's original recipe states pecorino, but I tend to use what I've got & I decided that by the time the garlic is taking over all the other flavours, I might as well go for a cheapo version. Can't actually detect any difference from the first (trial) batch to be honest. We prefer the white stemmed chard. I think the multi-coloured varieties look fab in the veg garden but I prefer the flavour of the white one & also that it doesn't dye other stuff pink.
One of my courgettes has come up looking different from the other two which are the same variety. I'm wondering if it has reverted back to something in its planty parentage. It's smaller than the others & I was going to compost it but I think I will try it & see what happens. It could be exactly the same - in which case it will be a shame to get rid of it - or it could produce some different courgettes or something else entirely. Will make sure it's labelled & see what happens!
F x

foxgloves

P.S @Suffolk_lass - I think that's a good price for pine nuts - much better than the £5+ I spotted recently for a titchy bag.
F

BlueJ94

Afternoon @foxgloves

Just popped by to say I have some Strawberries growing in my pots!

Suffolk_lass

Instead of composting that courgette, you could plant it in your compost bin. I did that about three years ago with two leftover butternut squash. I gave away loads...

The chard in the path is white stemmed  - the seeds in the packet are rainbow. Yellow is nice too

foxgloves

I think our compost bins might be a bit too shady for growing my weird courgette, @Suffolk_lass, as they're right up against a tall fence under a huge old apple tree, but if it's looking hearty by the time I plant out the rest of them, I'll find a space for it & give it a chance.
F

foxgloves

Morning Tuesday Pence-Wranglers,
Oh I could have done without starting the day with having to clean goose poo off pale pink shoes. I do like geese (I like all birds) & enjoy watching them fly over in formation, which they often do as we are near the river, but I faill to understand exactly what it is about being perfectly positioned above our garden produces an urge to evacuate their bowels! I feel there must be some kind of connection that I'm not getting.......or I've had to clean shoes so often that I'm developing goose-poo based paranoia.
Anyway, onto today's money-saving activity:
*Have already tidied up a number of small financial admin-type tasks, ready for Big Budget Day at the end of the week.
*We decided to cancel our monthly Netflix subscription. We like the service, but we haven't watched much on it the last couple of months & we will be busier in the garden over summer - plus there is plenty we can watch for free - so I have today via-d the £10.99 for this month's payment into our Leisure & Entertainment Pot, which I will continue to do until we decide to re-subscribe.
*A bit of kitchen witchery planned for this afternoon - intend to cut a bunch of sorrel & use some of our current milk surplus to make some soup. Mt F likes this for packed lunch now & again because it's summery. Also going to pull a bundle of rhubarb for stewing & freezing - I like to eat this with skyr, so it saves a little on buying fresh fruit. Finally, I want to try making a batch of tortilla wraps. I borrowed Rick Stein's Mexican cook book from the library & thought I'd try the tortilla wrap recipe from that. I regularly make garlic flat breads, but have never tried making wraps. I think I vaguely remember that @determined_new_ms over on DFW Daily Small Things thread used to make her own wraps & that they worked out both cheap & nice, so I'm going to give it a go. 
*Might stake up tomato plants & get the final 7 into their final outdoor space if I still have time left after my cooking, but I'm happy for that to wait until tomorrow, especially as it's pretty windy today for new stuff going out. They have been hardened off, but somewhere more sheltered than where they're going. I could usefully do the staking of the dozen that are already planted though. Mr F reckons we will need to buy new canes. I reckon I can just squeak it & leave purchasing new until next year. Hope so. 
*Have been checking for surveys this morning, but nothing doing. No response whatsoever from the Y*uGov about my query. So far, I've had a reply from a bot, which answered a different question & been ignored. I might contact a market research official body instead as I simply have no means of accessing the money I've earned unless somebody actually responds to me to explain what has gone wrong & what I need to do. I am not feeling minded to give up on this.
Well, I will leave you there, tidy my desk & start thinking about lunch, as I want a nice leisurely afternoon for cooking.
Take care all,
F x