TARRAGON & THYME

I admit it I am a clutter-bug.  I don't think I could be minimalist if I tried.  I am hands on touchy-feely (within limits).  I just love to have my stuff around me.  However I do like to be able to find it which is not always possible so I am starting a long process of trying to sort things out.  I needed some magazine holders.  I have seen some nice ones in W H Smith but there is no way I am paying £8 a time.   Today however someone was smiling on me (whether in desperation or not  - I don't care).  I found some magazine holders in the pound shop yep for £1 apiece.  They are plain, a lovely bright limey green and I managed to bring four of them home.  I had actually gone to the pound shop for some disinfectant.  I am chuffed with these as it means I can now start sorting some of my nicer magazines (i.e. my coffee table ones like Landscape and Land Love and especially my crafting ones.  They form part of my extensive...

Well it has been a very busy day as I suspected it would be.  My colleague and I have just not stopped all day long.  Its been the kind of day where time has got away from us and we have not been aware of it as we have had our heads down none stop.  But it has kept us out of mischief and we have not been bored.  We were very glad to leave the office this evening. I was unable to meet my friend for lunch - it will be next week before I will be able to do so. I have quite a hectic schedule on the lunch front this week meeting several friends.   Today I had to go into town to pick up a pair of smart black trousers for work.  I have gradually been replacing the old ones which are now too big for me and they will get recycled at the Charity shop at the weekend as they are still in good condition but too big for me. You have heard the song baggy trousers.  That was me until recently trousers too large and baggy. So I picked them up, bought a couple ...

My mojo has gone.  Did not manage to get to bed until late last night despite good intentions.  Subsequently did not get to bed until very late.  Up at 6:00am, hair washed and left to dry naturally.  I have psoriasis - not as bad as some people but I get it on my hands and knees every so often.  I also get it on my scalp.  I have found that my hair drier does not help so where at all possible I nearly always let it dry naturally.  My scalp does not itch as much doing it this way.  Sometimes I have to use the drier but not if I can help it.  At one stage I was prescribed medication for it but it made my hair greasy and was not pleasant and so I stopped using it.  Seems to have phases where it flares up and then dies down again.  Makes me think its linked to hormones. We have woken up to torrential rain here today; think it has rained most of the night.  No wonder my hip is kicking off (the right hand side) and is literally ...

After a busy afternoon cooking, and a scrumptious tea.  We had a piece of roast beef.  There was some left over and so I have popped this into gravy and we have a meal for coming out one night during a working week, which will mean that we will have potentially dinner within 40 minutes of getting home (time to get veggies prepared and cooked) so that is a boon as it makes the most of my time. I have also stewed the plums. Some mixed fruit has also been done the same way.  I bought a frozen tub and just added some of the plums.  I am going to use this for breakfast.  I still have some of the home made yogurt to use up and another batch planned. Cooked the two chickens.  They are cooling down and when cold I will pick them and then sort into meal portions.  Some will be frozen but there will be plenty for all including the dog and the cats. I have also done a tray of scones, a tray of Coconut Cheesecakes, some sausage rolls, some Mieulle F...

Thursday night to all intents and purposes is meant for "sorting out the fridge" - having a stir fry with any errant veggies that are left so as not to waste them or in particular if there are any r oot veggies left actually slinging them into a stew in the slow cooker so as to get every penny out of them.  This week I forgot and went off merrily on my own way doing something else.  I then went shopping yesterday which I have already relayed in an earlier post.  It only dawned on me when I opened the fridge up to put the new purchases in there that I really needed to sort the fridge out before I could get anything else into it.  A bit of a "doh" moment.  Daft bat that I am. It was not what I had planned on doing but I ended up sorting the fridge out.  Fortunately there was hardly any waste its just the shelves needed sorting out more than anything.  Probably I store more in the fridges than I should do by way of veg but in this house things dry out v...

F or all of you ladies (and gents) who make their own Seville Orange Marmalade Waitrose have the Seville Oranges in at £2.97 per kilo.  They are sorted into 1kg small boxes so a good place to start if you cannot get them locally. Never made marmalade before here is a link to how I make marmalade.  I hope it inspires those of you who have never made marmalade before to have a go.  It really is worth it. http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/seville-orange-marmalade-1.html Remember you an use marmalade in cakes, in puddings etc.  It is not just for slapping on toast. Funnily enough I had, had a long conversation at the veg shop about them and they asked if I wanted any as people were already making enquiries so I am hopefully going to be able to get mine next Saturday.  Marmalade is not the only thing I do with Seville Oranges though.  I also make Seville Orange Curd and Vin d'Orange which is lovely at Christmas.  The main reason why I d...

Well I went to the Veg shop and really stocked up especially in view of the fact that we are due another period of snowy, cold winter weather.  As both of us have been unwell recently I am determined that we are going to have fuel for the inside to keep us both going as damp weather does no one any good at all.  As the last fresh veg I stocked up with was before Christmas I needed topping up on several staples.  I keep a lot in the fridge especially things like broccoli, spinach etc and get as much shelf life out of it as I can. I already have a sack of potatoes in.  During the winter months I keep a large bag of potatoes as we go through quite a bit. They keep relatively well and they are delivered by the fruit and veg shop's son to my back door.  This helps me an awful lot.  I would advocate keeping a sack of spuds in during winter as you can make some many meals from them.  Some people don't like the idea of keeping a sack in as the are not fres...