A Little Preparation and Food Matters
Today I nipped to the Charity shop. I suppose this visit could be classed as pre-planned for items that I am going to be needing in due course for preserving, repairing items I already have and cold month entertainment. I was lucky enough to pick up a One Litre Le Parfait jar for £1. Very chuffed about this as I really rate these bottles particularly for making home made style liqueurs in as there is plenty of room for fruit and liquor. So well chuffed with that. Also useful for Saurkraut. An investment in future preserving projects in the immediate future.
I was also able to source another picture frame for £1 which matches some I already have family pictures in. A couple of frames were broken and therefore this one will replace a picture frame holding a photo of my nephews when they were younger. It will be good to get the family photos up and running again.
I also came away with a further 3 DVDs for £1. The autumn options for watching films are slowly mounting up as well which will help keep me out of mischief during the winter months. My plan is that in the colder months of this year that I am going to try and put my feet up on a Sunday afternoon and watch a DVD or two and keep snug and warm and also give me some down time. I want to try and get back to a proper Sunday dinner routine, and then a little tea a bit later on, which means I am going to have to revamp my schedule a bit to plan for this. Overall though on all counts this is planning forward and preparation in advance and at the right price.
So well worth having a pop around.
I also nipped to the local shop really just to see what they had available. I do check the reduced counter out usually before I pop anything full price in the basket. I was able to pick up in the reduced section 2 x packs of four small Lamb chops like I purchased the other week this time for £2.50 a packet instead of £11 for two. I was well happy with that. Sunday dinner is therefore sorted for this week and of course I already have some Long Keeping mint sauce on the Pantry shelf that I made a few weeks ago. It will just be a matter of some fresh veggies and some roasties and that should do very nicely for Sunday dinner this week. You do not always need a joint.
Also came away with four small red cabbages. I thought would make this in small batches being as I have an awful lot to do. I particularly like this during the Winter months served on top of a fresh salad, with a warmed buttered mushroom dressing to the side as well as meat and cheese. It is lovely and vibrant to look at especially as the Purple-pink of the cabbage is set off by the green of the fresh leaves and makes a cheery sight in the usually grey and cold winter days. Fresh salad does do you good even in the colder months.
I also have more Cucumbers for Bread and Butter Pickles.
A load of Tomatoes are roasting in the oven with garlic, onion, mixed Herbes de Provence, a couple of Thyme stalks (fresh), Balsamic and a little oil. Once cooked I will put them through the Tomato press a couple of times and then put the skins and the remains of the herbs and veggies through a couple of times and then dry in the Ninja. Once dry will crumble and put into the condiments cupboard for adding to various dishes throughout the winter months. There are at least a couple of loads more of tomatoes to go. I used ordinary tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.
I have also bought some Pickling Onions ((10 kg) and Shallots (8 kgs), and 10 litres of Sarsons malted 5% vinegar. I am waiting for delivery on these items as they have been ordered via Ebay. Some will be for us and some will be given to family and friends.
It therefore looks as though some pickling is on the cards. I might see if I can get my grandmother's stool from the unit in order that I can settle and process these like my Nan always used to and as I have done in the past. That stool has seen over 50 years of action. It was originally a little oak seagrass top stool but over the years through wear and tear it had some modifications made to it and now has a solid wood top. It is not particularly glamourous but my Nan used it and it is practical.
I also bought a couple of packs of Bubble Wrap which is going to be needed for packing some glass ware away. It is only in small quantities at the moment but I need to protect some lovely vintage glassware from damage. I also need to order some packing boxes in order to do this, but that will happen in the next few days or so. These are smaller boxes than the poly-tubs I ordered in so that I can pack smaller items efficiently as well as some of the larger ones. Some of the glassware has been bought recently and is for use at Christmas this year. A post will be incoming in the next few days or so.
When out in the garden this morning hanging the washing out (it has been a beautiful drying day today) I also found Nasturtium flowers and I am going to gather some leaves as well and make Nasturtium vinegar. By making the vinegar I can then in turn add this to different salad dressings during the winter months. That will join the Chive Flower vinegar that is already on the Pantry shelf.
I also checked the grapevine out to see whether the grapes were ready. Some of them are starting to perish and so I took the decision to harvest them all. This is the most grapes we have had. I am going to be looking at getting to grips with the grape vine as I think I might be missing a trick here. I have harvested about 1kg of grapes. They are really sweet and no seed/pips. I am going to be following a no sugar recipe to turn it into a juice. I am adding a few store bought grapes to the mix as I do not think the amount I have on its own will amount to much at the moment. I shall though err on the side of caution. Never made before and so very much a new to me item. The grape juice is water-bathed in bottles to preserve it for the Pantry shelf.
I meant the other day to make a batch of Rosemary salt; however I was unable to get to this as the weather went wet. I am going to harvest some over the weekend and then get that processed as well. There are therefore a few little projects on the preserving front as well. Yet again there will be an update on the preserving in the next few days or so.
There will also be a post on some repair work that I have been carrying out on some items, some of it conservation work, some of it repair, some of it re-framing or sorting out other broken elements. I am beginning to sort out a list of items that I am going to need to complete some of these items. I am hoping to post on this weekly as I am going to be trying to work on some of these items, some UFOs such as crochet blankets and other projects I started and did not complete. I thought it might be a way of moving things forward; a progress report as it were. I need to spend less time prevaricating and working on things. This might impact occasionally on me posting every day, but I have also cut back a bit on my online time to do this and also to help with my health a little bit. I do hope you will bear with me on this.
Tea tonight is Cottage Pie.
It's been a while since I have visited. You are still busy as usual. I hope you got the work finished in your pantry and kitchen. That's what I remember. I've been roasting tomatoes, making pesto and looking forward to the comfort food of winter.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra, its always busy here, although not so much the past couple of weeks due to illness. However I am looking after myself and have started to do a few things again. The Pantry and the kitchen were done and it is getting to the point where they will be done again soon as it is roughly a year since I did the real big bottom out and started re-stocking the Pantry. I have a lot of preserves to make. I currently have tomatoes roasting in the oven for a roasted tomato sauce for pasta dishes. The first batch of a few that are planned. Also have plum sauce, Dried Apricot jam and Apricot wine and chutney to make. I have a load of dried Apricots that need using up so am going to make the best of them. I also have fresh Basil to make pesto from (freeze in ice cube trays) so that I can enjoy it during the winter months. I have also planned to preserve a load of mushrooms and have lots of fruit to turn into jams (in the freezer) as well as marmalades, onion, lemon and orange and ginger. We are having a new electric mains box put in, in about 4 weeks so I also need to empty out my jam store and get that sorted so that they can do what they need to do in there without breaking anything. So there is a lot to do on all fronts. Hope you keeping well. It sounds as though you are keeping yourself well busy as well. However anything to do with putting food by for the winter months is always worth the doing. Take care Tricia x
DeleteThose grapes look gorgeous. I am even more impressed that they taste good too. My late father-in-law had a lovely vine in his greenhouse. It did a good job of providing shade in the Summer, but the grapes were small, sour and very pippy.
ReplyDeleteI was harvesting apples and pears yesterday. The pears look perfect, but I think the birds and insects will have had more apples this year than we will.
Hi Tracy, I lost the label on the variety so do not have a clue. It produces very tiny bunches of grapes, but they are sweet to eat fresh and I think they will make a nice juice. No pips/seeds and a lot nicer in flavour than some of the bought variety grapes. I have never made grape juice before so a learning curve for me. I have bought a few additional grapes to add in just to bulk things up a bit just in case the juice flow is not what it should be and to make sure I get a bottle or two. I am going to look at the vine and see if I can get it better sorted for next year as I think I can get more grapes with a bit of work. It is worth a try. Might also get some cuttings taken to bring on. My vine grows in my old herb garden which is outside the back door really too big to be down there but it seems to afford it some protection and seems to like it there. It is good that you have had a little bit of harvest. Pears are a lovely fruit but they soon ripen. I was reading that they are often a lot riper and further along than they look on the outside, as they ripen from the inside out. I have a few apples on my remaining Ballerina tree this year which I am pleased for. Yet again we cannot remember the name of the tree. Do you put jam bottles up in your trees? It is something that my Nan used to do every year - no insecticides no nasty, just a lot of jam popped into the bottom of a jar and then covered with water about half way up. Create a strap for it to hang off one of the branches and the wasps will gravitate towards it. Especially necessary if you have plum trees. We used to help make them up as kids. Hope things are going well with you and that you are keeping body and soul together (as well as looking after the family). Take care Tricia xx
Delete