A Hive of Industry

The kitchen was a hive of industry last evening in squirrelling away more goodies in the freezer and the pantry.

I was lucky enough to find some reduced eggs with a couple of days grace on them, so I have cracked them, decanted them into pots (six eggs at a time) and they are now esconced in the freezer ready for a baking day.  I am paying it forward a little but trying to be prepared to some degree as well.  Eggs are so useful for all sorts of cooking and due to the recent difficulties I thought perhaps it was safer to keep a supply in the freezer in any event

I have also bought some reduced double cream, two large pots and made some home-made butter in my Kilner Butter Churner, which I have turned into chive butter for the freezer. I have had a very good harvest of chives from the garden this year.  You make the chive butter the same way as you would mint butter.

In-between time, I fancied a big cup of coffee.  It gives me a little boost when I am running out of steam and also gives me a few moments to compose myself and an excuse for a sit down.  This time though is a little different as it is the first time that I have used my Kilner Coffee grinder.  I had bought the beans the other day. So grind them I did and then made a Cafietiere of coffee just for me and I really enjoyed this.

I have also topped up on some onions.  I go through a lot of these but thus far I have not been able to get a large net of onions for the pantry.  I have therefore bought some short nets with about three onions in them and I have knotted them into an old but clean pair of stockings to store them off one of the shelves in the pantry that is until I can get a good long-keeping net of onions.

I have also bought some more garlic as we also use a lot of this.

For tea last night we had simple spaghetti Bolognese.  This time round I cooked it as the last time round the pasta had not been cooked enough.  We all have our own styles of cooking and mine is completely different to OH.  He tries, but he does not always get the full flavour out of whatever is being cooked.  He has since polished the rest of it off.

Another jar of thyme honey for coating carrots and parsnips has also made its way onto the shelf.  I may do another jar or two yet.  Thyme is very much a highly effective natural expectorant and reduces phlegm production. Honey is also a natural expectorant so the two together can making a soothing tea especially if you have a sore throat or the flu.  So lots of uses for another different preserve for the pantry shelf. It will also be very useful drizzled over honey roast chicken all over my regular fix of Goat's cheese.  Hence me saying that the kitchen had been a hive of industry!

In any event, in the majority of cases there are socially correct ways of using up preserves and condiments but it is up to us to find out how to use them and where to use them ourselves.  This is where so much valuable information has been lost over the years.  My OH for example has mint sauce with everything (and particularly over steamed cabbage).  He is the same with ketchup.

Still more things to get to and get squirrelled up and out of the way.  How is everyone else getting on with getting goodies stored up for the winter months.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x