Cheesy

Things are not going well on the house front, but on the food front I think that I may have that more or less sorted.

Friday is going to be a shopping day, to try and get all the shopping which needs to be dealt with done and dusted and out of the way with and then I can concentrate on the house and the baking.

Thursday

I am waiting for a cheese delivery for the bulk of my cheese for Christmas which includes half a kilo of Baron Bigod and a half moon of Colston Bassett.  The Stinking Bishop is already in the fridge.  We normally buy in quite a bit of cheese for cold cut platters for Christmas - none is ever wasted as I always use bits and bobs of cheese leftover in any event in cooking like in quiches and soups, and now there is an option of freezing some of it. The cheese delivery is always a considered purchase which is incorporated into our Christmas planning.  We do not these days buy each other gifts more out of practicality than anything else which is sad, but it comes down to practical choices at the end of the day. I am brave enough to make those choices when I have too.  Saying that, it is very much a considered expense. Christmas is the only time that we really order cheese in as we do enjoy a cold platter or two.  In many ways I buy in a few bits and bobs as treats, but then when it comes to January spending this will be minimal based more on fresh stuff rather than additions to the Pantry or for turning into preserves to fill the food storage i.e. the Pantry, the under-stair cupboard and the Fireside Cupboard.  The storage is increasing year by year.

I always remember as a small girl, Mum talking about her first home with Dad.  It was an old farmhouse - not terribly big but Mum always talked about the big Pantry that it had, which was off the main kitchen and that it literally had space for everything, including several cold slabs (usually stone or slate or in some cases marble which were used to keep meat and dairy products cold).  When I think of my Dream Pantry, it is sort of based around this.

I do of course have other cheese available as well, including several Truckles of cheese from the Snowdonia Cheese company.

The cheese has now arrived from The Fine Cheese Company and is always beautifully presented.  We have used them many times in the past and have found several lovely cheeses that we had never had before in this way.  Their website is here:

The Fine Cheese Company website

This is not a promotion on their behalf.  All cheese purchased has been paid for by me.  Just a personal recommendation based on their extremely good customer service and quality products.

I have of course also been stocking up with various crackers.  One of the ones that we really do like is a Hovis Digestive Biscuit, which is often found with the sweet biscuits in grocery shops rather than in the cracker section.  The biscuits really do compliment a lovely bit of cheese.  I also have some Swedish style crackers, as well as Jacobs Crackers and Carrs Water biscuits.  Cheese and crackers is a forgiving supper when you are really not that hungry especially with a good blob of chutney on the top.  I have plenty of yummy ones available this year that have all matured.  Chutney really needs to mature to be tasted at its best.

To tell you the truth, because I prioritise our food we do not do too badly. Although obviously being totally realistic sometimes a lot better than others.  I consider myself lucky in this respect at the end of the day.  

I was bought up against a smallholding/farming background on my Dad's side of the family.  My grandparents' grew their own because that was the only way of providing well for your family during the year and especially in the winter months.  Household life was therefore ruled by the seasons for doing this and doing that.  It was a big part of our life from being very small.  I miss the abundance that growing your own provides and hope to do more on this front as time goes on. I really would like an Orchard.

I do try and prioritise at least one hot meal a day, sometimes more in the winter months when you add in stews, and soups.  Sometimes therefore we do not always feel like eating especially if we have had a particularly large meal the night before.  The balance is worked out and evolves naturally day by day.  Added to this I do try and have a fair amount of fresh fruit.  However, if I cannot afford that I do have a ready stock of fruit on the under-stair cupboard shelves. So there is always something to add to yogurt, or make a pudding out of.  To add a topping to a cheesecake or indeed to create a trifle or two.  Sometimes you have to drain the fruit to use it say for the top of a cheesecake, but the bonus here is that you have a "cordial" with the leftover syrup just to add water and ice to and you have a refreshing drink.  Remember you can also add a tot of spirit to it too.

Talking of Spirits.  A couple of years ago, made with wild brambles and a couple of bottles of Whisky (Jamesons at that) some Wild Bramble Whisky. I forgot about it on the shelf. I had a tot the other evening when it was bitterly cold and I was not feeling particularly good.  I poured myself a little tot and by did that warm me up.  I am not a whisky or whiskey drinker (do not mind a tot in a tall glass of lemonade but it is not my spirit of choice).  However, I shall make this again it is gorgeous and a good one for a cold winter's night.

On that score, I am having a little tot again tonight I might be even naughtier and have a small piece of Beauvale Blue cheese (otherwise known as Cropwell Bishop No 1) for supper, devil that I am. I also raise my glass to you all this cold winter's eve on the verge of Solstice and the shortest day on Saturday.    I for one welcome the return to the Sun and the light.  For me it is always about the light and what we can do in it and with it.

Bottoms up!

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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