Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Suffolk_lass

foxgloves said:

It helps spread the cost, @milann, & if we know what we need, we can take advantage of any good offers we see. It also helps keep Mr F in line because he can soon get the red mist over things like pigs in blankets & posh crisps, so it is useful to sit down in good time & work out how much we need & how much would be a ridiculous amount because these are not conversations I want to be having in the supermarket iyswim.
But I am a planner, it's true, in all aspects of life.
F x

Oh yes, I really do see what you mean!

I have meat enough for Christmas but I want to order something from the butcher. That is a today job. I might order a piece of gammon, or something like a duck, if any are to be had, to top up the frozen turkey crown that is in the freezer. I am sure I will regret not ordering a turkey but we have been spending too much and we need to use meat from our stores. We had a leg of lamb on Sunday and DS came. On the back of that he asked for a pork roast next week. I have one in the freezer...

foxgloves

I'm sure your turkey crown with a piece of gammon will be perfect @Suffolk_lass .We've ordered a big turkey as we're hosting this year. It's scarily expensive but that's mostly because I insisted on a free-range one. I knew I'd be able to offset the cost by maximising vouchers though (including from surveys) & am already at £50. I reckon I can earn another £10 from one survey site & possibly a £5 from another. I'll see. Either way, it will have helped a lot with the cost.
As you'd expect, as I'm fairly 'old-style', every scrap of it will be used. I always have a turkey dismantling day when I strip off all the meat & get the carcass into the cauldron for the best stock of the year. Then I decide what to make.....usually a pie, batch-cooked bhuna & chilli and soup, sometimes turkey & mushroom supreme. That all stocks the freezer up nicely with meals for Jan & Feb.
When we used to all have Christmas at Mum & Dad's, Mum would cut some meat off the turkey for them to have a salad or sandwiches on the 27th, then foil the carcass, shove it in a bag for life & give it to me to take home. She hated cooking herself, but knew I'd use it up.
I really must get myself moving....feel a bit demotivated by the massive rain we have here atm, but I have lots to be getting on with indoors.
F

milann

I suppose I don’t make a list as such this time of year is because I’m a total creature of habit. I know I’ll need a turkey….take the legs off and stuff one leg with cranberry and pork sausage and the other with chestnut and pork. I’ll cook gammon on Boxing Day for a big buffet and then turkey and gammon pie on 27th. So  the list in in my head 😂😂😂 I will have list closer to the time and I know I’ve saved the money so I’m not quite as disorganised as I think 👍 if by any chance I can’t get turkey I’ll do pork as plan b 👍

milann

I agree the turkey is most definitely the best stock of the year. Even when we’ve been to dds for Christmas (which is always lovely) i always get a turkey and cook it in January just for the leftovers and turkey stock made into soup 👍

ladyholly

There always seems to be much more meat on  a free range turkey which helps to balance out the extra cost.

foxgloves

@milann - I don't think you sound disorganised at all with your Christmas food - we also stick with the traditional things we love with a couple of new recipes now & again just because I like baking & experimenting. We have also bought a smaller turkey to eat at New Year sometimes in the past, if we've been away for the festivities. We always wonder if it's worth it, as we've already had a Christmas/Boxing Day lunch, etc, but then Mr F starts pondering how much he'll miss the turkey chilli I always make (from the WI Christmas Cookbook), turkey curry, soup, etc, & as a turkey does provide a very generous amount of batch cooking opportunities for eating over the next 2 or 3 months, we usually talk ourselves into it, but don't buy such a big one. It's only a bigg'un this year because we have guests....& our teenage nephews can put away some serious food!

@ladyholly - Yes, I always think that too, although I don't know if it is based on anything scientific. It's just that as the person who does the meat stripping & carcass dismantling, it is always my impression that there is more. I suppose it could be because free range birds are killed at an older age? I don't know. I wince every time I see the price pinned up on my kitchen board, but by the time I've worked out how many portions of lots of different things it's made, I will think I've done well. The welfare standards are also important to me & as it's something we only buy once a year, I feel that while we can afford to buy free-range, I'm happy to do it. If this changes, then I will cut my coat according to my cloth, as my Mum as fond of saying when I used to moan about how overdrawn I was & how it wasn't ever my fault......
F x

foxgloves

@FourSeasons - I've had my festive recipes out this morning so here is the fudge recipe I always use, as promised. It is traditional crumbly fudge, which you only get from boiling together dairy & sugar, not the softer stuff which is often sold at craft fairs, but which is quite different & I think must include lots of icing sugar & glucose? I don't know.
This is from an old sweeties book, so is in imperial measurements. 
You will need:
1lb white granulated sugar
2oz butter
1/4 pint whole milk
1/4 pint evaporated milk
A few drops of vanilla extract 

First line a square shallow tin with baking parchment. I haven't measured mine, but I would think it the equivalent size to a standard round sandwich tin in terms of volume. Have a small bowl of cold water ready for testing.
Put the sugar, butter & both milks into a large heavy-based pan & heat gently together until everything is melted. Bring it to the boil & hold it at a steady boil, stirring it now & again to prevent sticking. After about 10 mins or so, start testing it every few minutes by dropping a little bit of mixture into your bowl of cold water. You want a consistency which you can pick up out of the water & roll into a soft ball between your finger & thumb. This ball should hold its shape. If it is too sloppy to achieve this little ball, then keep boiling it & keep testing. Replace the water if it is getting warm.
When you are confident that the 'soft ball' stage has been reached, remove pan from heat & stand it on a cool surface. 
Add the vanilla extract then beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens & becomes 'grainy' - another clue that this is happening is that any mixture slarmed around the top edges of the pan is noticeably starting to set.
When the mixture is thick but STILL POURABLE (!), transfer it immediately into the prepared tin. Leave it to cool, then cut it into pieces. 
 
I don't know if you've made fudge before, @FourSeasons - I'm sure you will have done, but if you haven't, the possible pitfalls are the pan boiling over (you know what boiling milk is like!), not boiling it for long enough, not beating it for long enough or beating it too long & it sets in the pan. I've been making this recipe a long time & have only had one occasion when it didn't set & that was simply because I was in a hurry & proceeded with an insufficiently good little fudge ball when testing. I didn't waste it, I made a quick batch of buns & used the un-set fudge to ice them. 
TIP - When the mixture is very close to being ready to take off the hob, you sometimes notice little darker flecks in it. Don't worry about these. I assume they are coagulated milk proteins which have built up a little on the base of the pan. Don't assume you have burned it, as these flecks will dissolve back into the mixture while you beat it. If they absolutely don't, then maybe you have burned it after all. 

Easy to add stuff to make different flavours - I've done a dried cranberry & chopped popcorn variety, also coffee & walnut, which I really love, but Mr F doesn't eat walnuts, so boo to him.
I hope this is helpful.
F x

Four_Seasons

Thank you so much Foxgloves its much appreciated especially when you are so busy, will look forward to trying it x

foxgloves

And Soggy Tuesday money-saving greetings to everyone else too,
It's been raining all day here, but no matter, as I have plenty of indoor tasks to progress. So far, I've made chicken soup with some of yesterday's divvied-up rubber chicken, cleared a load of emails, paid something off my CC & studied the treatment plan letter & quotation for next year's private dental work. It is a lot of money, but I am confident, as have had an opinion from 2 dentists at different practices, that there is no other viable alternative. I have most of the money saved in our Dentist/Optician Pot, as got onto it soon as I knew this problem was imminent, & will borrow the rest from our emergency fund. I hate dipping into that & haven't had to do so for the longest time, but that's what it is there for. I didn't know I was going to lose 2 teeth to horrid random infections, so I think that makes the situation an 'emergency'. I will arrange a monthly plan to pay back what I borrow from the EF as soon as possible. 
On a more pleasant note than dental surgery, I've decided on my Christmas baking. There will be 6 of us, plus I'd like to be able to pack up some nice festive bits & bobs for my sis to take home with them, as they will have been away for a week immediately before coming up to us for Christmas & won't have had much chance to do festive baking. Have decided on:
* 24 mince pies (mincemeat already made)
* a tin of hob-nobs
*24 sausage rolls
*36 little cheesy rolls (Delia's vegetarian non-sausage rolls....everyone hoovers these).
*1 almond trifle sponge for Mr F's Boxing Day trifle
* Christmas Cake
*12 bread rolls for Christmas Eve lunch 
* a big jar of snowball cinnamon pecan cookies*
* 1 batch of vanilla fudge (for sis-in-law's present bag)
Although it is Stir-up Sunday this coming Sunday, I don't need to make a Christmas pudding, as my sister says it's something she can easily make in advance, leave in the cool boot of the car while they are away & then bring it with them. It's an odd time of year for a holiday, but it is their postponed one from summer when they were all set to go, then my nephew was rushed into hospital as an emergency.
I do make & freeze other stuff to get ahead......bread sauce, braised red cabbage, etc, but I've just been concentrating on baking decisions today. Pinged list to Mr F expecting him to say we'd need more sausage rolls than that, but I think I was doing him a disservice, as he pinged back that it all seemed fine to him.
This afternoon has been earmarked for progressing the mittens I'm knitting for a present. 4 colours & a multi-panel chart, so I have to concentrate & can't knit these while watching TV. The yarn was quite expensive & I don't want to bog them up.  Anyone else thinking of pulling in their horns financially in the New Year? I think we will definitely be doing this to build the everyday savings pots up to better levels, as well as with an eye towards that dentist bill. 
Ah well, that's me for today.
Love F x 
* I haven't tried this recipe before. I may have a practice go first. I'm sure Mr F could always take some into work with him.

foxgloves

@FourSeasons - You're welcome!
F