Free Food Challenge

TigerAngel11

We got runner beans, carrots and peas from my Grandmother's garden, which we ate for Sunday dinner.
On Saturday, went to a BBQ at my aunt's, so my parents and brother got free food from 1:30pm onwards and I had dinner and dessert when I went in the evening (was working). Did take them a bottle of wine though.
On Sunday, my other grandmother bought us a carrot cake to have with lunch and strawberries for dessert, as we took her to a farm shop to get some food. She offered to buy me something else too, but I am on a diet.

Tim_L

I think I can trump you all here. Please see:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=39

Which, I may add, is still going strong. Particular highlights being the new Thai fishcakes and some rather nice bread and sundried tomatoes drenched with olive oil.

Tim_L

Just on the same subject, I used to be sent rabbits in the internal mail. This started happening when I told a rural colleague that I liked downland rabbit, and it turned out that a farmer friend of his shot them as vermin and would be very glad to give them away. The colleague worked on a separate site, so he put them in document boxes and sent them over. There was other stuff too, including the most wonderful pheasant.

Obviously you had to skin and gut everything, which was more challenging in a small galley kitchen than it had been when I'd done it as a boy in the open countryside (there is something about the smell of fermented grass and assorted stomach contents that isn't pleasant in a small place), but on the other hand you do get a very large collection of rabbit intestines to push through the letterboxes of noisy neighbours.

It all, sadly, came to an end on health and safety grounds when one of the chief secretaries found one when distributing the mail (it kind of slithered out of the box and landed on her foot - she took off faster than a Saturn V, screeching like a banshee, which I must admit I did rather enjoy being as how she'd booked me on a ridiculous flight to Washington DC via Iceland and Newark because it saved £25 a few months earlier).

Anyway, well worth making friends with farmers with a rabbit problem. The meat is delicious too, very good in casseroles with cabbage, carrot, leek, and a bit of bacon diced up and fried with the liver heart and kidneys.

Curry_Queen

Tim_L wrote:

I think I can trump you all here. Please see:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=39

Which, I may add, is still going strong. Particular highlights being the new Thai fishcakes and some rather nice bread and sundried tomatoes drenched with olive oil.

I'd actually read that post some months ago but it still made me chuckle reading it again, so thanks for reminding us

Rage_in_Eden

6 litre tubs of blackberries in the frezer

6 jars of damson jam made from damson tree (so far)

have yet to start harvesting the apples from the tree but have been surviving on the windfalls

bottle of wine and bottle of whisky from Big Brother who is over from Spain

am trying to persuade OH to help me go and harvest elderberries off the meadows for pies and jams - he is a bit reluctant and he got scratched and stung to high heaven when we were blackberrying (well, if you will wear shorts and flip flops :rolleyes: ).....................

Kantankrus_Mare

An old chap who comes in the pub I work part time in, gave me the key to let myself into the allotments near me so I could get some brambles.

Now im not a greedy girl honest!! lol but ive collected enough to make approx. 30+ bottles of wine!!

Im debating whether to go and get the last of them over the next couple of days hmmmmmmmmmmm hic!!

chocolateleaf

We've had some runner beans from my father in law, some potatoes and tomatoes from our garden, onions from next door's allotment, and apples from my friend's tree!!

scuzz

We were given a HUGE cauliflour from the gardener. We gave him HM plum jam in return:D

Pal

Does it count as free if you have grown it yourself and spent about £50 trying to keep the slugs away from about £2 worth of carrots?

Tim_L

If you eat the slugs too, yes.

(What do you mean, disgusting? Bit of garlic butter and they're excellent, but don't overseason or you risk your meal turning into frothy soup).