Watty's Awakening

Watty1

Cherryfudge said:

You certainly seem to have an instinct for finding good recipes that you like enough to add to your repertoire. Skills-wise, I remember when I first got married I baked scones ad nauseum to build up the skill, until poor DH was fed up and had to ask me to slow down. Many years later, standing in the kitchen at work making scones on a quiet day and chatting to a colleague, I became aware the colleague was watching my hands rather as if they were a test card (showing my age there): something relaxing and satisfying. That led to me realising that somewhere I'd graduated from the learner to the teacher, slowly and over years of 'just doing'. There's nothing like the practice plus the interest for becoming a kitchen whizz!  

I hasten to add I rarely bake scones nowadays so I might need a refresher course.  

Love that story of the scones.  I think I had forgotten how to cook or at least how to plan meals in all the trauma and i had fallen into just using M Chef stuff a few times a week to avoid thinking.  .  This evening was a simple cod and butter bean stew and it was delicious and so much cheaper.  

Cherryfudge

I'm sure you won't have lost your skills @Watty1, they just want a bit of exercise.  

I would never have thought of combining cod and butterbeans, I think I'll look that one up as I like both.

Watty1

Cherryfudge said:

I would never have thought of combining cod and butterbeans, I think I'll look that one up as I like both.

mine is very simple, it was an old idea i had scribbled in a notebook from my 20s: cook a chopped onion for a few mins in oil, add a couple of cloves of garlic and fry for a min or two then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato puree, salt, pepper and a drained can of butter beans and let simmer for about 7 mins until thickens slightly then add the diced cod and cook for 10 mins then stir in chopped parsley. Now my original notes say serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and lemon wedges but as i have some lemon juice in a bottle to use up I splashed that over.

Dinner in about 20 mins, easy and simple and this is one I really like but never cooked when the ex was around as he claimed not to like butter beans (although he didn't realise they were in the butter bean and tomato soup I make from the Rose Elliot beans cookbook - which is a nice memory as I haven't had that for years either).

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Watty1, that sounds quick and straightforward, I may well give it a try! And you sent me looking for my copy of the Rose Elliot book, which wasn't where I thought but turned out to be in the bookcase right behind my chair) for the soup recipe, which also looks very do-able. In fact I think that's a book I need to investigate further for nice winter fare.

Watty1

Clearing cookery books is on my to do list but, for me, one cupboard at a time as I have an uneasy sense a lot of "stuff" in the cupboards is there because on a whim i thought I would cook something from one of the many books.

Cherryfudge

I confess I have reduced my yarn buying and clothes buying habits, but not my cookery book buying habit! I did get rid of one cookery book earlier this year, maybe two... no idea how many I've bought though.

debtfreewannabe321

Watty1 said:

Clearing cookery books is on my to do list but, for me, one cupboard at a time as I have an uneasy sense a lot of "stuff" in the cupboards is there because on a whim i thought I would cook something from one of the many books.

I cleared my cupboards on this move we just did and I had all sorts of random ingredients that were years out of date. I didn't even know what to do with some of them........and then I remembered when I had gone through a phase of buying cooking books and buying all the fancy ingredients for the recipes, not liking the recipes and sometimes never even bothering to get as far as making them because is seemed such a faff, and then keeping the ingredients forever more (well until I had my clear out ) 

LadyWithAPlan

Ooh I forgot about my Rose Eliot cookbook, the veggie one - not seen it in years - I will dig it out 

loving also @Cherryfudge scone story 

why don’t you make a focaccia Watty? I
did one last week using a gf recipe and loaded it with fresh herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes in oil and red onion - if it doesn’t rise so well it’s not that important (mine didn’t but still tasted great) and a fun savoury tear away thing with soup etc 

I have always cooked a lot and went to lots of cookery classes, I was always served home cooked food at home (& often home grown) so   luckily kept that habit - but I do cook more widely if I have guests 

Watty1

Googled focaccia and yes that seems a very doable thing to cook as well.  Having reframed this as fun rather than Money Saving has really helped.  I had a rummage in the freezer last night and found some peas that were served with 2 portions of frozen stew as I was working late and the VNM was here as usual.  I cut some potatoes up and popped in the oven with some rosemary from the garden and tossed in a little salt and olive oil. No fuss.  Easy.  
Tonight the two cans of sweetcorn are being turned into a sweetcorn and chicken Chinese inspired soup dish if I have time to pop out and get some fresh veggies, if not then either a Spanish style omelette or defrost another dish from freezer.

The freezer and cupboard are slowly getting emptier.  The bathroom  cupboards are cleared of excess "products" and my bank account is better for this.  I do realise I will need to 'restock' at some point but the intention is to plan and then buy to the plan.

debtfreewannabe321

DP and I made focaccia for everyone a couple of christmasses ago. We made each one different with our own 'art' on it. They came out really well and tasted delicious! That's a really fun way to use up stuff.