Jam and Preserves Update
Well the preserves are slowly starting to mount up. I have the following made so far and still a load more to make.
Strawberry Jam
Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam
Rhubarb Jam
Pear and Chocolate Jam
Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam
Cherry Jam
On the list to do
Apricot and Amaretto
Bilberry
Blueberry
Blackcurrant - have enough for Jam and Cassis
Elderflower Cordial
So I am slowly getting there
Still loads to do though
However I think that the Pantry needs sorting a little before I make much more so that is on the to do list. Hopefully OH will put the new flooring in whilst I have it bottomed out.
Right had better get a wriggle on.
Catch you later
Pattypan
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The preseves sound lovely, but what do you do with them all? Eat them? Or sell them? Give they away to family and friends? I'd never get through all that stuff, lovely though it is! Maybe you have a large family, and no doubt they love all these treats!
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
Yes we eat them; I do a lot of baking and OH takes some into work and I also take some in every so often. I very rarely buy cake preferring to make it myself. Also use it in puddings, in pancakes, on toast, with croissants it soon goes. I also do it for presents. I was brought up to make stuff. I also am a step-mother and step-gran. My step son is 40 next year which means that I have been part of his life for 29 years! His sister is slightly younger, and she has two of her own and a step-daughter. This is a small quantity to what I would normally make. It soon goes. Pattypan
ReplyDeleteI also do all my own baking, but we are retired and also we only eat cakes sparingly, watching cholesterol, and our weight. We seldom have puddings, eating fruit or yoghurt instead, but we have jam on croissants about once a week for breakfast. Yes, I make stuff, but not in such vast quantities, we don't use convenience food, the only convenience food we use are cans of tomatoes for tomato sauce (I make my own) and occasionally baked beans, but I have a stock of haricot beans, red kidney beans, cannellini beans, chick peas, etc. But with a large family I'm sure you need to make all these lovely things, they sound yummy.
ReplyDeleteI just like to cook Margaret; the more the merrier in fact a lot of the girls in my family do too. When the children left home it was very much an empty nest and try as I might I always ended up cooking too much so in the end it is easier for me to cook by bulk but then just freeze the extra so that we do not get bored of eating a particular dish and also it makes a quick meal for OH or myself if needed but at least I know its provenance and know there are no nasties in it. I use yogurt a lot as well making my own for the best part as it is very cheap to do. I always have yogurt at breakfast. I learned how to make this when at home with mum and then latterly when the children were going through so much yogurt I made it in litre batches and then gave them fresh fruit that I had prepared myself to go with it. I use the Easyo flasks but use natural live yogurt as a starter and just milk and a kettle of boiling water. It more than does the job and no need to pay out for the Easyo sachet although they are nice just a tad expensive. Yogurt is very good for you. For the best part I do not use convenience food at all but as I have pointed out time is precious and sometimes I use short cuts. I have a dried store, a tinned store, a jam store on top of what is in the pantry too and one of the things I am aiming to achieve in the long run is producing stuff myself to preserve myself. I have a dehydrator and the plan is that I will make all sorts of dried mixes that OH can use when he goes fishing. I also use a lot of cannelli and butter beans in crockpot dishes and we make our own falafel from chickpeas etc. Chilli is regularly on the menu. I just wish my pantry was bigger so that I can get more stuff in and it being altogether. Its a bit scattered like the four winds at present throughout the house (I only have a tiny galley kitchen). We use a combination of fresh tomatoes and tinned tomatoes (or bottled) for tomato based soups and sauces. I try and make the best of whatever comes my way and to keep the diet as varied as possible. Its not always easy but we get by, which is the main thing and what it is all about at the end of the day. Keep cooking.
ReplyDeletePattypan
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