Quiet Pottering Days at the Moment

 Just doing what I can get done where I can.  It has been peaceful which is the main thing and I have had some time to my own thoughts and time for planning things through or a semblance of a plan moving forward on several issues.

Today however I scored some reduced fresh Raspberries which were reduced from £2.50 a small punnet to  £1.25. I came home with six punnets which will join the other punnets in the freezer and will either go towards a Raspberry jam or a Raspberry syrup. There is nothing wrong with them and I have as a matter of course been putting them into the freezer for making a batch of jam here and there or indeed for use in puddings or on a breakfast. Having base ingredients means you can in practice do so much more with them.

I have also done the same recently with chicken pieces which were reduced to £2 a tray.  I bought three of these and they will be useful in a feasting pie or indeed for stir fry. If I come across the reductions this is what I have been doing across the board i.e. squirrelling them away. The Morrisons store around the corner from me, if you can hit them at the right time have some very good reductions and offers on meat.  I also buy in their Loin Pork Chops for use for a meal for G but they have primarily been bought this time around as I intend to make some Pork Pies and a feasting pie. They are on offer 3 trays for £10, and are lovely chops. I still need to buy in a Ham though.  I have Beef, Lamb, Chicken in the freezer and intend to get some Pork joints as well.  They currently have an offer on for three trays of jointed chicken for £10.  Ideal for a Chicken and Chips supper perhaps with some baked beans on the side.

Christmas will be low key here this year and I will be making a lot of what we eat. Part of an experiment on my part, as I have always wanted to get back to the Christmas's from my youth where a lot of hard work and effort used to go into creating a lovely but affordable feast that was affordable. I have been looking at some of the prices surrounding Turkey and what certain shops are charging and it is horrendous.  Way out of the league of a lot of families.  We fell lucky this year with locating a Turkey crown which has been prepared just under 3kg for £34.  I have frozen the Turkey from fresh and it is sitting in the Freezer. We have had that since the beginning of November. There are lots of other ingredients mostly to be turned into a meal or two  along the way, which gives you a little more choice on what you actually turn it into. I have some Pork Belly and Chicken Livers as well as Pigs Liver to make pate from scratch as well as making Pork Pies and a Feasting Pie both of which will be made and stored in the Freezer and then cooked from scratch when needed and the jelly added in once the pie has cooled down.  Then it will be ready to eat.

When I was growing up we never had Turkey it was always a Goose.  When my grandparents stopped growing the Geese, it was Chicken and Pheasant, a Cockerel or two (depending on how many were to table) or a nice piece of Beef or stuffed Pork Belly for main dinner.  Chicken was usually only available for a Sunday dinner and not available as widely as it is now.  Nan used to have a Tongue and Ham and Chicken prepared as well ready for the cold cuts tea which is a feature of our family Christmas's until the cold cuts run out.  There was always Pork Pie as well. We were lucky to have celebrated such Christmas's this way, but a lot of it was down to careful planning month by month throughout the year and putting money aside specifically for certain things.  Making things like preserves, chutneys, apple sauce, jams, homemade Country Wines, or a bit of Sloe Gin etc. and the hard work and effort of my Nan and Pop in bringing it to life.  

We always had fresh vegetables throughout the year and then latterly when freezers became a possibility at home, a choice of frozen veggies out of season.

In reality today I think that we have too many choices when it comes to shopping, and some of those choices are not necessarily the right ones to make.  Life was hard but so much simpler then and more honest and kinder I think. 

My overall impression is that there is still a little bit of a stigma attached to not having a Turkey at Christmas, caused I think by the advertising the supermarkets use and with it becoming the "accepted" meal to celebrate Christmas with which is what a lot of the food channels push.  Most families want to present something really different and nice for their families at Christmas - think of a Christmas Carol and the Cratchett Family.  It was only when Scrooge realised the error of his ways that the Cratchett family ended up with meat on the table courtesy of Scrooge.  

Quite frankly it does not matter what you eat, but it is the communion of sitting at the table and celebrating family which is the main thing.  Having a nice meal and spend time with your family, communicating.  That does not mean that you have to bankrupt yourself in the process.  Nor do you want to feel inadequate, not worthy or intimidated by peer pressure. Not having the pennies means you have to travel a different set of practices and make more practical choices.

Then when the Christmas "blow out" has happened you have to wait until the end of the month for pay day again to replenish the food supplies.  This is one of the reasons I keep a Pantry, and make sure that there is food moving forward to have meals later into the month when the pennies are tighter.  We do not have meat everyday either.  Tonight for instance we are having Baked Potato and Sweet Potato served with salad leaves, fried onions, grated cheese with the option of Chutney, pickled onions, pickled beetroot, or Ketchup. No meat here tonight.

We have had two nights on the trot with a lovely hot meal as I made a big pot of stew the other evening with some stewing steak, carrots, onions, swede, turnip, potato, leek, parsnip, plenty of Lea & Perrins and it turned out beautifully.  There is still left another two plus meals left in the Ninja and that is going into the freezer to provide a meal for another day.  I try not to waste anything if I can help it.  It is better to be prudent and think forward at the end of the day and provide a meal here or there as it is an unexpected bonus that fills a hungry belly.

Hope everyone has a lovely evening.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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