TARRAGON & THYME

We have several trips to the tip  today despite the rain to get rid of some of the rubbish I have managed to accumulate over the past few years.  Only the damaged stuff will be dumped and the Charity shop has been the beneficiary of some Items I no longer want to keep.    Nevertheless the Covid 19 situation resulted in our local recycling centre being closed and it has only recently re-opened.  However the collection service for old equipment etc. is still on hold and hopefully this will be resolved soon as I have three freezers and two fridges that no longer work to go there.  Until they are shifted I have no room in the house for replacements.  This is a service you have to pay for.  You pay a specified fee for the collection not per item.  As I have quite a few items it will probably be two collections that will be required.  They only collect on the day of the general collection for your area and so it is hoops within hoops in gettin...

Since being without a fridge(s) for a long period of time this has made me seriously think of alternative methods of keeping food in good condition (please see separate post about this here:   https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7703817848238285099/791412718489603828 )  This has predominantly led me back to Pantry storage and the different types available.  Most of us these days think that a Pantry is just one room but a Pantry room is determined by the type of produce that is being stored, your particular needs as a family and the space available to you.   The Pantry storage I have off the kitchen I consider to be a dry larder.  It is coolish but not cool enough for storing fresh veg.  I have tried but unless you are potatoes things do not last in there too long so I no longer keep it here.  However, the Pantry is ideal storage for all my dry ingredients.  It would not have been good for storing meat in either.  There is not muc...

Has for me not been easy as I use my fridge or fridges extensively, but it has been a learning curve.  Fortunately with the aid of two cool boxes, ice packs courtesy of my freezer and buying bags of ice from the shop I have been getting by.  We have been putting the ice in the bottom of the cool boxes and then stacking everything in on top.  However, as the ice melts it is naturally leaving a puddle in the cool boxes and so I have had to make sure that everything is in a freezer bag to stop the spoilage of what food I have bought in.  I have also for the milk been storing this in cold water in a metal bucket also topped up with ice. I must admit this is slightly laborious but for the time being is a means to an end.  I have noticed that I am having to do more smaller trips for goods that will not keep.  There are other methods of making do without a fridge, many of which require a suitable cold area to start with, which is currently not an option for me. Fo...

Today has been slow paced and a not sort of doing anything day which has made a change as the last few weeks have been extremely hectic so it has been nice to have a chance to chill out.  Tomorrow is another day and the start of new challenges. I was going to cook Sunday roast today but instead we have had Steak and Onion sandwich and it has gone down very nicely indeed.  Sort of completed the day really low key but delicious simple food.  Topped down with a couple of glasses of Shandy.  Which is a personal favourite drink of mine.  I have also indulged myself with doing some research and reading blogs on those subjects some of which will come out in future posts.  Needless to say some of it is to do with food. I have also picked up more Spring Onions, Leeks and Swede.  Two packets of Spring Onions normally £1 a pack.  These were reduced to 25p per pack x 2 = £0.50 saving of £1.50. Three packs of Leeks reduced to £0.33 per pack normal price £1.30 ...

Started early and we went to Ramsey to the fish van.  Came away with a kipper for me (tomorrow's brekkie with some bread and butter), a crab each which we had at lunch time, some cray fish, some Crevettes.  There was not much by the way of whole fish this week.  It is how the cookie crumbles. We then went over to a little butchers just over the road from the fish van and bought some gammon steaks which we have since had for tea with pineapple.  Also bought a joint of beef for tomorrow, two meat loaves, two rib eye steaks, and a steak pie.  This has nicely topped up the meals for this week. Also in the Butchers, I spotted the following items to top up the pantry shelf.  If I like them will look for recipes with a view to making my own sauces and canning them if at all possible. This is what I ended up buying. I am very fond of Pimms (the drink).  I saw this and thought would try this out . This is a yearly treat for myself.  One of my little indulg...

Thursday was officially OH's last day at work.  He is now a gentleman of leisure and formally retired.  Everyone at work made a great fuss of him,  and he received a lovely large hamper as a retirement pressie as most of his fellow workers knew he was a foodie.  Lots of lovely bits and bobs all presented in a lovely wicker hamper which will be used as a picnic hamper for the caravan.  We pick that up in about ten days time (it is having some extras added).  We also have our first break booked in the Lincolnshire Wolds.  I was born in a tiny village in this area, and indeed many of my forbears my Great Grandfather and his family worked local farms around here.  It is an area I know of but do not really know that well, but in pretty villages in traditional farmland.  So am looking forward to that and for a good look around the area.  It will also help me in my Family Tree research on Mum's side of the family. OH is has been crying.  N...