Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - Oh, I'm adding mascara to my emergency bag list now. Glad you mentioned it! 
F

Sun_Addict

foxgloves said:

@Sun_Addict - Oh, I'm adding mascara to my emergency bag list now. Glad you mentioned it! 
F

What about satsumas 🤣🤣

foxgloves

Hi Sunday Savers,
Kitchen witchery for me today as needed to shift some pears. Triaged the crate we picked last weekend & composted the mushies. Made a batch of BBQ pear sauce - jars now labelled & cooling. Also made a pear & blackberry crumble .....well, I haven't put them together yet, but base & topping both done. Enough there to provide dessert for both of us for 3 days, which will mean the yoghurts bought this week lasting longer before we need to open them. Baked a seedy loaf too, as we were running out of bread.
Mr F took.car for tyre-fitting appointment. Back tyres apparently look as though they ought to last until new year when the Car Maintenance Pot should have had time to replenish.
Malaysian fish curry on the meal plan for tonight, which meant one container of salmon plus an annoying puck of coconut milk coming out of the freezer (there is a teensy bit of space starting to appear). Will serve with rice & a 'side' of courgettes wokked with garlic.
Today's garden pickings: 1 courgette & a few more blackberries. We really are at the tail end of our veggie plot pickings now.
Topped up the worm composter with pear peelings & coffee grounds. Something for nothing - that's got to be good.
Might experiment with making some larger granny squares tonight with the yarn my friend gave me. I do quite like the idea of a new throw for chilly nights on the sofa. 
F x

Makingabobor2

Ooh BBQ pear sauce sounds interesting. 

milann

The bottled tomatoes sound amazing 👍

foxgloves

@milann - I think it's going to be a little while before we need to buy any tinned ones, that's for sure! 

PennysIntoPounds

Ooh crumble *and* seeded loaf?! Make sure to remind Mr F what a most excellent wife he has!
I hope you won't need to use a hospital bag, but I would also suggest a spare phone charger if you have one, and little bits like ear plugs, tissues, hand sanitiser, and if they'd last long enough, a packet of favourite sweets or chocolate. This is also doubling up very well as a ready bag for an impromptu break!

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict- I do like satsumas, but them versus mascara? No contest! 
F

AnotherNewDay

foxgloves said:

Hi @AnotherNewDay,
I am not an experienced bottler as I only started last year, encouraged by @Suffolk_lass.  I am only bottling tomatoes. 
Yes, I use the tall glass jars saved over the years from mayonnaise. I only use the ones with lids that have an obvious 'button' or similar.
The method I use is to wash the jars & lids thoroughly in hot soapy water. Jars then into an oven tray & into oven at Gas 2 (later reduced) for sterilising. I then peel the tomatoes, remove any green bits from around calyx, roughly chop & put in preserving pan. I bring these to a simmer for 5 mins.
Using jam funnel, I fill the jars, adding a half teaspoon each of sugar, salt & lemon juice to each jar as I go. Jar tops wiped with clean cloth & lids put on. 
Then I use water bath method - large stockpot with a clean kitchen towel folded at the bottom as a 'trivet'. I stand the jars on that, tucking a couple of clean tea-towels around them so they are not touching..I then fill with hot water (hot jars need to go into.hot water, cold jars into cold water) ensuring jars are completely submerged. Slowly bring up the heat & boil for 45 mins.
Turn off heat & leave to cool a little. Then I ladle out sufficient water to enable me carefully to lift out the jars with an oven glove. I stand them on a wooden board covered with a towel to allow them to cool slowly. When touchable, I check the lids are all on tight & continue cooling..You should start hearing the lid 'buttons' depress during this period. When cool, check that all these have depressed. If not, do not store but use straight away as jar has not sealed properly.
The batch I did last September as an experiment kept perfectly well for the year BUT please note I am new to bottling tomatoes & while this method seems to work for me, it would be a good idea to consult more experienced people/preserving guides, etc, as there are risks if the food spoils..I inspect the bottled tomatoes on opening, smell them & if all seems well, I have a little taste & would not use them if they tasted at all 'wrong'. So far so good, but as I said, it's early days for me & bottling, whereasI have been making chutneys, jams, jellies, etc for years.
F

@foxgloves that's great thanks! Do you use the same method for your chutneys and jams? A lot of the videos i've looked at are US based and/or recommend Kilner jars. I'm interested in re-using glass food jars if possible, but I'm also interested in avoiding botulism 🤣😂

marionmgcars

Loving reading everyone’s posts.  Completed my efforts to make bramble jelly.  Pleased with the results.  Laughed when my partner asked how I was going to thicken it - he had it in his mind that it was the jelly & custard variety, not the seedless jam variety.  But he is delighted with the results, and is a toast and jam kind of guy, so will enjoy eating it.