Kitchen thrift

My Nan bless her heart was very good at making something out of nothing. She was a lovely lady, very much the matriarch of our family. She had it tough but they survived the war years well because of her and also were able to help out those less needy than themselves.

Here are a couple of tips that my Nan gave me - well more things she actually did than anything else.

Thrifty Cream

Every day when the fresh milk arrived Nan used to take the top off the cream and put it into a little pot in her fridge. The last addition would be on Sunday morning whilst she was doing lunch and the preparation for high tea. She would then whip it up gently and it would be added as a topping to tinned fruit or a trifle that she had made. So if any of you ladies still have the full top milk make use of the cream rather than having to buy it.

Butter Papers

Nan always saved the butter papers from packs of butter and used to use them to line the bottom of a tin when she used to do her home made stuffing. It used to keep the stuffing nice and moist and saved having to use tin foil unnecessarily.

Stale Biscuits

If Nan had any stale biscuits in she used to crush them down periodically and use them as a base for a cheesecake. More often than not there would not be any crumbs left in which case she used to make a pastry base and do a traditional cheese curd tart which as a child I wasn't keen on, but as an adult I loved.

Oh happy days