Wednesday and Thursday
Busy, Busy, Busy. It is how I like things generally speaking although I do like to come up for air and do something different. Things are likely to be very busy until Christmas.
Wednesday
Yesterday was a fighting day. Everything I touched ended up taking me in a different direction and then G wanted some assistance with something, so I may as well not have bothered at all as not much achieved.
Today however:
G ordered proper Cornish Pasties from a company in Cornwall called "Proper Job". They arrived this morning, were frozen and we had eight traditional Beef Skirt Pasties arrive with four Sausage Rolls. I quickly got those out of their packing which was excellent, plenty of cold bags that were still frozen in a Polystyrene container. I can recycle this for taking cold stuff down to the caravan or using it for growing seedlings in the greenhouse for an early start. The ice bags can also be re-used and re-frozen so ideal for taking stuff with us down to the caravan. The pasties were excellent and very tasty.
Saying that though I did pull a later night in order to get all the tomatoes processed and roasted which I did manage to achieve, and I did get to string a lot of herbs as well that were left over. Kitchen smelt wonderful from the Basil, Garlic, Thyme and Sage. A lot of the Sage is strung on my Dresser drying. This is intended for the Sage and Onion Stuffing for the Roast Turkey for Christmas. The bread crumbs are already dried and in the Pantry.
I ended up processing four large roasting trays of tomatoes overall (three of them today) the first one was started last night. All got cooked today. I am hoping for about four or five jars from the contents.
Now I will process the tomatoes tomorrow and get them through the Mouli, before warming the resultant sauce and then transferring into warm jars for heat processing. That will be a few jars for the Pantry shelf. Smells gorgeous and already tastes very good. I will probably make another batch as well as I use a lot of tomatoes. I have processed about 6 kilos of tomatoes since Tuesday.
I also prepared, cubed, blanched, drained and cooled four more reduced Swedes. There are three hefty bags which have been flat packed now residing in the Freezer.
There are a whole host of other projects on the go as well. It therefore looks as though it is going to be an early start tomorrow morning to get a wriggle on with all the bits and bobs that need sorting out.
Organised delivery of a specific cheese for the Christmas celebrations. It is a once a year job when we can afford it, but most of our treats tend to be food orientated in any event. We do not go out, we do not go to the Pub, or go out anywhere We like our food and tend to push the boat out on things we do like every so often. However, it is push the boat out and often have compensated elsewhere in the household budget like not having a roast every Sunday like we used to do, or not going to the main Butcher that we like and using our much cheaper Butcher; sometimes you have to cut your cloth according to your kelt. You also have to have things that make your soul sing to eat very occasionally. Fortunately because I have been doing a bit at a time for the past few weeks in readiness for Christmas, it has eked the pennies out that bit more and we have obtained several bargains as a result and it has certainly helped me time wise.
Thursday
Ordered the rest of the cheese from a different supplier. Just some Stilton and a little Baron Bigod. That is the cheese all sorted now bearing in mind I have a big lump of Cheddar for general cooking residing in the fridge. Some of the cheese I have ordered is really stinky and so I need a separate container for that. That should be arriving in a few days time so must source a container. This should keep until the end of January, but I could not be doing with the Christmas rush!
Outline Plans at the moment today are:
- Process the Tomatoes and heat process; 11 Pint Jars all told. Pretty pleased with this. Will probably do another batch in another few days.
Food is our big spend too. We don't go mad on presents (we haven't bought each other Xmas presents for years) and, because of family circumstances, eating out is pretty much confined to a quick sandwich in a cafe once in a blue moon. We choose to spend our money on good food, keeping the heating at a comfortable level and diesel for getting out and about when the weather is agreeable.
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy, these days we do not spend on presents for each other either. Have put any "Christmas present money" into the food as well. We very rarely eat out and are more than likely to take a flask of hot water with us, tea bags, sugar and milk so that we can grab a cuppa when out. Comes down to priorities at the end of the day, things we need to do to be comfortable and sustain a modicum of reasonable living; its not easy but we somehow make it through. G thinks that some of my efforts are unnecessary, but the times it has got us out of the mire. Sometimes you have to turn things on their head and approach them in a different way to how you normally would to actually achieve them. We eat well, but I do pad out what we have with lots of veggies in various formats. I buy in fresh veg and just before it gets past its best it gets processed and put into the freezer to save any waste as well. Once the freezer is full will turn to bottling to save waste and make sure I have a different type of preserve to use when necessary. Cannot abide waste at all.
DeleteIt seems to me that you have got a lot done the past few days! I agree with you about the food - I'd rather spend money on some good food than other items and have already started putting away a few things for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI have a large Swede to cut up and cook tomorrow (and most will go into the freezer) - it is slightly less than 3 lbs. and cost me just shy of $6!!!!!
Hi Margie, things have been busy, but haven't gone as well as I had hoped. At least I have some stuff done. Good food is important, or at least buy the best you can afford even if that is from the reductions aisle. It is all good food at the end of the day. I bought eight swedes reduced to about 50p each from about 90p each originally. When I see them I always nab them as we mix them with carrot and have a Carrot and Swede crush, which is both tasty and accompanies a lot of dishes. Root veggies are good for you in any event. I always steam my veggies to get the best out of them. Old habits die hard as the saying goes. Glad you are getting little bits and bobs squirrelled away still. It all helps at the end of the day. Take care Tricia x
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