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Left-over Cheese and Cake?! An oxymoron!

I am as keen as everyone else to eliminate waste, and not throw away food. Yes, I sometimes cook too much at this time of year. It is very difficult to gauge appetites, and I’d rather have something left than nothing at all. How do you know if everyone has actually had enough to eat? We have a big family Christmas (on average there are about 17 of us), with two days of eating, drinking, jollity, playing games, singing carols and acting out a panto! Christmas day is spent in Feltham, at one of my cousin’s houses, and Boxing day is at our place near Maidenhead. We have traditional turkey on Christmas day, with lots of trimmings, and a fish or vegetarian alternative for one family member who does not eat meat. On Boxing day I make a casserole or something else hot with potatoes and vegetables or salad. We have this usually at about 3:30 after some of us have been for a walk, and others may just have had a few drinks in the pub.

One of the Christmas tasks is to make sure to use up all the left-overs. There was far too much cassoulet, so I gave some to my mother and we ate up the rest a few days later. I had also made Boston baked beans, so the remains of that became soup on Saturday.

What really makes me laugh is magazines and cookery programmes suggesting ways of using up left-over cheese and cake! Cheese is not left-over! I don’t buy a chunk of stilton and expect it to be all eaten up at once! The idea of left-over cake is even more bizarre! Even on my beloved Radio 4 there was a cookery programme discussing this topic. I had better not mention the name of the programme… Anyway it did not spoil my enjoyment of the episode. On Boxing Day I delegated one of my cousins (cousin once-removed to be precise) to create a Christmas tree cheeseboard. It was spectacular. You can see the picture of this below:


Christmas Tree Cheeseboard, made by Mathilda Featherston, inspired by Ciara Mangan, who was inspired by Pinterest. Ciara is a member of the Facebook group Archers Chit-Chat, which I set up almost a year ago

Mathilda did not use the stilton, so does that now count as left-overs? Thanks so much for the idea Ciara! I am thinking it would be possible to do different shapes, such as stars, maybe an Easter egg!

In my world it does not! I am going to try the cheeseboard again on New Year’s Eve, but I’ll have to do it myself this time.

Even more bizarre is the idea of left-over cake. Does anyone make cake with the idea of eating it up all at once? However, we had a funny Christmas cake incident this year, with a complete cake being left at our house. Paul loves fruit cake but I do not, so I rarely remember to make it. My aunt had already left him a huge chunk of home-made fruit cake, and then we found this complete cake in a box! It turns out that it was meant to go back to Germany with one of my other cousins, so that is going to be collected today. Here is the cake in question:

Christmas cake left at Vine Cottage

When I want ideas for left-overs, it is for those jugs of gravy, various vegetables from the Sunday roast, or bits of dinner left on the plate by my daughter. I always leave a meal for her to eat after her evening shift in the pub, and invariably she leaves half of it. Some might throw it away, but in our household that will probably become the basis of a lovely soup! Yesterday we had soup made from Boston baked beans and Jess’ left-over fish supper. Then in the evening we had cassoulet, not disguised as anything else. plus potato gratin made from left-over jacket potatoes and a selection of rosti cakes. We were certainly full of beans that day!

I regularly make a dish called ‘Shepherd’s Left-overs’ which is truly delicious! In my childhood we always called any mince-based dish with mash on the top, shepherd’s pie; we discovered years later that it should in fact be called cottage pie if made with beef rather than lamb, but old habits die hard. To make shepherd’s left-overs, you just put all your various meat and vegetables in the dish with anything else that is hanging around. Needless to say, I have a level 2 certificate in food hygiene, and am well aware of the critiera and risks involved in using food that is past its best! I just don’t do it! You could add some chunky soup, gravy and maybe even some curried vegetables. Then top it all with some mash or sliced potatoes. These could be second-hand or freshly cooked. If the three of us don’t manage to consume the whole lot in one go, I do then bin the remains (in the food bin handily provided by our local authority).

I am always amazed when I come across people who say that they never make soup. What else do they do with their left-overs, apart from make ‘Contents of the Fridge Soup’ ? I do of course make fresh soup on a regular basis, and I would never serve the second-hand version to visiting dinner guests!

The other left-overs which I never have, which are mentioned in magazines and by cookery writers, are jars of curry pastes, miso paste, mustard and so on. Why do these also count as left-overs? Am I alone in thinking the idea of left-over curry paste to be somewhat of an odd concept?

What do you do with your left-overs? Do you have left-over cheese, cake and jars of mustard and spice pastes?

Look out for the thrilling sequel to this article, on the theme of clothes and other stuff that relatives and friends leave in your house! What do you do with random jackets and shirts that no-one claims?!

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Too cold for Swimming! Our holiday in the Scottish Hebrides




 

 



This year we spent our long August holiday in Scotland. We spent much of our holiday on the islands of the  Hebrides, including Iona, Lewis, Uist and Skye. This was a complete change from our usual jaunt to somewhere hot and sunny. Paul was keen to see this unspoilt part of the UK and to drive along quiet roads with little traffic. It is always a challenge to find somewhere relatively free of tourists in August, but it is possible. Paul is also very keen on archaeology and in particular standing stones; there are plenty of those in the Hebrides! Look at this stone, which is reputed to be the tallest in the UK! Somehow I did not find it that impressive, but you may call me a cynic!

Okay it is big, but not that big. Also, it had no pomp and circumstance and no visitor centre. In fact, it was just near a domestic dwelling.

To go back to the first picture, that is me on Iona. It was absolutely beautiful, a really magical place. However, the sea was freezing cold. My thought was, if it is like this in August, then presumably it is always too cold to swim in the Hebrides! I usually like to spend much of our summer holiday swimming, but this was not to be. In fact, the only swim I had was in the hotel pool in Buxton, on our return journey.

Before I dipped my toes in the water that day, I had spent some time sitting in our pod (our accommodation for two nights) trying to decide what to do that morning. Paul had decided to go back to the mainland to fetch his laptop and some other provisions. It was windy and cold and I sat in the pod wrapped in a blanket and listened to an episode of The Archers! Thank goodness for a decent wifi signal!  This is the question I posed to my helpful friends in my Archers Chit-Chat facebook group:

‘Paul has popped back to Mull on the ferry to fetch a few more things from the car. He needs his laptop to deal with some business. I have a book, facebook and radio to listen to including last night’s epidode. It is a bit wet and windy and the coffee I can make in a mug (taking the grounds off when it has settled) is not brilliant. Should I?
1) Stay in and have a cosy morning with a duvet over my legs and make more sub-standard coffee?
2) Listen to the Archers then walk to the local gallery and shop and get a decent coffee and some more shopping?
3) Go for a swim in the sea’

Of course there were all sorts of suggestions as to which option I should take, and in the end I decided to brave the weather and go and investigate the various shops and find a decent cup of coffee. Scotland has such changeable weather. One minute there is a gale blowing and you wish you had brought some gloves with you, then half an hour later it is blazing sunshine!

Despite the sea being really, really cold and the frequency of the rain and the wind, it was a really magical holiday with breath-taking scenery. The sea was also a really amazing turquoise colour, whatever the weather. The sand is white, and I assume the colour of the sea is related to the colour and nature of the rocks. These photos are of a beach on the Isle of Lewis. I just love taking pictures of rocks and pebbles.

One big advantage of going on holiday to somewhere which is not hot and sunny is that it is much easier to go for walks and appreciate the scenery. In hot places, I am constantly wanting to stop for cold drinks and ice-creams. So we did do much more walking in the Hebrides than on our average holiday in the Mediterranean. We took high quality walking boots with us, as well as waterproof coats, and a selection of jumpers. My favourite warm jumper is big and yellow and very cuddly (from Marks and Spencer if you are interested!) You can see it in the picture below:

I had not worn this jumper for months, but had the good sense to take it on our Hebrides jaunt. We stayed for one night on South Uist, which I found very bleak. We also hit a very bad patch of weather with wind and rain. In the morning, after checking out from our very pleasant but basic B and B, Paul decided to go for a walk to see some more standing stones. There really was a howling gale, but for me the last straw came when I realised that I had left my cuddly jumper at the B and B! I just gave in to my feelings and weaknesses and decided to stay in the car rather than go for a walk in the rain. I sat and read my book and made contact with my Chit-Chat friends on facebook. The happy ending to the story is that we had not driven that far from the B and B, so were able to go back and fetch my jumper!

Even my daughter Jess, who usually shuns my clothing, which is obviously only suitable for middle-aged people, took a fancy to my yellow jumper. Here is a picture of her wearing it.

Jess joined us for a week on our holiday, staying with us for one night on Skye and nearly a week on Lewis.

I have to mention our two night stay on Skye, staying at the Doll’s House, owned by my Chit-Chat friend Cheryl Mcculloch. It was lovely to meet her at last, and stay in her very well-equipped airbnb accommodation. See her facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/skyebirdsdollshouse

Jess stayed with us for one night at the Doll’s House too, and we even shared a meal in Cheryl’s home. We are not a dog loving family, but Jess fell in love with Cheryl’s dog Raasay and talked about getting a dog for herself in the future! See this picture of us enjoying a meal and getting friendly with Raasay!

 

In conclusion I’d say that the holiday was a complete success, even despite the incredibly cold boat trip we took whilst staying on Lewis. Jess had headed back home by then. It was wet from the sea splashing up all over the boat and then it started to rain. I could not understand to start with why we had to wear waterproof jackets and trousers borrowed from the boat hire company, as well as our own waterproofs. By the end of the trip, Paul said that he could not feel his feet! Actually it was a lovely trip and, as always, we had a very informative guide to point out all the birds and wildlife to us. Here is a picture of Paul before we set off on our trip, looking cheerful as he had not yet lost the use of his toes!

By the way, Paul and I both got hooked on Peter May’s books whilst on holiday in the Hebrides. They were recommended by one of my Chit-Chat friends. Many of them are set on Lewis, and I particularly enjoyed ‘Coffin Road’ and ‘The Blackhouse.’ I am on part two of that series, and Paul is reading part three. Peter makes the scenery come alive, with very evocative descriptions of scenery and places.

Yes the holiday was a success, but as an antidote we have booked 10 days in Croatia next August!

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Of Men and Monsters – Meet Josh


The Loch Lomond Monster!

Cafe Arriba in Portree on Skye

Does Sarah know that the Loch Lomond Monster is right behind her?

This little adventure all started originally because of an inadequate breakfast at our Airbnb on Skye. Let’s just make it clear that this was our second visit to Skye. Our first visit there was when we stayed at the Airbnb caravan owned by Cheryl McCulloch, an Archers Chit-Chat friend of mine, whom I finally came to meet. Breakfast at her place was good. We cooked it ourselves, and enjoyed eggs from Cheryl’s hens.

Anyway, I digress. After some rather dull sliced white toast and a strawberry mousse at our over-night stop, we decided that it was time to move on and find something better. We had also not had any coffee, as it was too much bother and mess to make it using our bag of fresh coffee with no proper facilities and not even a jug. Paul quickly had a look online, and decided that we should head for a cafe in Portree http://cafearriba.co.uk/ 

I have to say that the breakfast there was superb, with an excellent menu choice, with options for a full breakfast or pastries and filled croissants. I went for a croissant filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and Paul chose the waffles with fresh fruit and maple syrup. The coffee (we like ours strong and black) was very good too.

One of my faults or strengths (whichever way you look at it!) is a tendency to engage people in conversation – be it strangers on trains and buses, or hotel and restaurant staff. Where we come from in the South East, this is more unusual, although I do not agree that people on public transport are unfriendly! Our waiter, Josh, was very friendly, and I took the opportunity to tell him that we were travelling to Loch Ness to have more of a touristy day. Having spent many days in remote locations with the wind and the rain beating down, for me this was to be an exciting diversion. I love tourist tat, and was keen to investigate paint-your-own Nessie monsters, maybe even a blow-up Nessie for the bathroom.

This is why it is so good to talk to people! Josh then told us a funny story, and I asked his permission to reproduce it here. He has lived in the area for most of his life, and for 22 years he visited Loch Lomond, hoping to catch sight of the Loch Ness Monster! His family did not take the trouble to explain to him that the Loch Ness Monster (apparently!) resides in Loch Ness, not Loch Lomond!

Of course after visiting Loch Ness, we went to Loch Lomond to see if we could spot the monster there; we have named the Loch Lomond Monster Josh, and you may catch a glimpse of him in some of these pictures.

If you go to the Scottish Isles, do take the opportunity to visit Josh at the Cafe Arriba, and at Loch Lomond of course!

Submarine searching for the Loch Lomond Monster

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Self-scan Check-outs – The Marmite effect?




 

 

I love shopping in Waitrose and I love scan-as-you-shop! Yes, I was converted to this system early on, and feel quite lost if I cannot scan as I shop. On holiday abroad, I feel quite bereft not being able to pack my bags as I go, rather than having to load everything onto a conveyor belt and wonder how much I have spent.

I know that this is a subject which divides people, so I asked for some opinions from my facebook group friends. I am now using my (fairly new) group ‘Archers Chit-Chat’ for crowd-sourcing my blog articles and getting some interesting views. I shall be quoting some of their opinions in the second part of this article. First of all, thanks in particular to Carolyn Steele, who has written a book based on her experiences, called ‘Queenie’s Teapot: A Politcal Satire.’ I shall be reviewing the book in a later blog piece.

One of my friends referred me to an article in the Guardian from January: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/23/waitrose-quick-check-rescan-security

This seemed to be rather an extreme reaction to what is standard procedure in supermarkets which offer the Quick Check system. After all, there is a certain amount of trust involved in implementing the system, and it seems inevitable that re-scans will be necessary. To be honest it is a long time since I have had a re-scan, and when it does happen, the staff are so quick and efficient that it does not take much time at all, even for a big shop (most of my shops are fairly big!)

So, why do I love Quick Check so much? I outline my main reasons below:

  • When we started using the system, Waitrose provided us free of charge with a useful collection of sturdy bags which fit into a small or large shopping trolley. I don’t know if these are still available to customers new to Quick Check, but I would be prepared to pay for them.
  • I can pack my bags as I go, thus sorting my shopping straight away into useful categories, such as: heavy fruit and vegetables, light fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, store cupboard ingredients and so on. Admittedly I also have a helpful husband who does half of the shopping, so this does make the sorting process even easier!
  • I can check what I am spending as I shop; as we spend a lot of money on supermarket food, this is enormously helpuful for budgeting.
  • Often the special offers are more obvious when you scan as you shop – your scanner ‘pings’ with a message even if you have missed information on the shelf.
  • I save time, not having to load the items into a trolley, then onto the conveyor belt, then into bags and back in the trolley!
  • I can use fewer bags for packing fruit and vegetables. For instance, if the onions and potatoes are loose, I can just pile them onto the scales without taking a bag, scan the price label once weighed and then drop the veg into my bag. I somehow think that check-out staff might start to get a bit annoyed with onions rolling loose down the conveyor belt, not to mention having to collect them up to weigh them.
  • I can amuse myself having my age checked when I buy alcohol or dangerous candles. I once bought dangerous, sparkler candles for my 50th birthday cake, and had a good giggle with the staff about the irony of the situation!
  • I don’t miss any interaction with staff using the self-scan; I am a chatty person by nature, and usually chat to the really helpful, knowledgeable staff on the meat and fish counter. There are sometimes occasions when we use the customer service desk, for instance for dry-cleaning, ordering glasses or alerting staff to faulty scales in the fruit and veg section. I have also often been known to help other customers find items on the shelves, or give hints and tips on recipes!

Like many people, I am on the other hand not keen on the system for scanning all the shopping at the till afterwards. As I use my own bags, I invariably confuse the system by not puting my bag in the correct place!

These are some of the comments from my Archers Chit-Chat friends, and this subject definitely does seem to provoke the marmite reaction, with devotees such as myself, and others who refuse to use self-scan or have had bad experiences using it.

Andrew Heelis: ‘I stopped using Waitrose after suffering the humiliation of their self-scan checking. I knew that it was likely to happen occasionally but it was happening to me with increasing frequency and I felt I was being singled out. I got no satisfaction when I raised the issue with customer services so I took my custom elsewhere.’

Carolyn Steele: ‘I hate them, and always queue up for a real person, partly because the shop layouts and arrangement of staff numbers are gradually manoeuvring  me away from doing this and I refuse to be controlled! My OH on the other hand, swears by the hand held scanners, so it tends to depend who is paying who wins. I got so incensed about all this that I wrote a book about it, lol.’

Melinda Batchelor: ‘Before Christmas a local Sainsburys had no open tills and forced everyone to put their shopping through self checkout. I complained but they merely refunded for some cheese lost between checkout and the car. Will not be going back.’

Reply to Melinda from Anne Morcette: That has happened to me before: so I left the entire shopping at the till and drove off to the local Aldi! Guessing they had to find someone to put that stuff away!…. was not happy, hope they got the message.’

(Note from me here: I am not aware that Waitrose ever closes off all of the tills, but then it is not an all-night or very late night opening shop.)

Les Derbyshire: ‘I’ve used ‘scan as you shop’ in the past but nowadays I don’t shop in Waitrose often and they’re the only ones locally who have it. It was OK and quite handy to keep a tab on where you’re up to. In other stores I’ll use the self-scan sometimes when it’s a straightforward shop that I’ve done but more often I go to a till. In the southwest we’re a friendly bunch and it’s good to pass the time of day with the cashier.’

Colin M. Taylor:  ‘It would be interesting to find out how much is lost in items not being scanned but bagged (it can be done) or loose fruit and veg are deliberately misidentified.’

Annette Canning: ‘I’ve done that with veg on a self-scan til. I was trying to weigh beetroot, but I couldn’t find them, even when I searched alphabetically. I called for help twice, got ignored (it was Asda), so I put them through as spuds! 😵😵😵’

Albert Hartland: ‘I refuse to use self scan or self checkout these dam stores make enough profit to employ people and not have customers do their work for free, its not as if they knock some off the bill it’s just a bit more profit for them.’

Cheryl Mcculloch: ‘In the perfect world, a supermarket would have all self scan with a system that worked and the store would have lots of well trained, interested staff around to keep the place tidy and well stocked and help with any queries. They could weigh and pack things in paper bags or the customer’s own containers. It would be lovely! Hardly likely though.’

Debbie Bashford: ‘We always use the self scan handheld things at Waitrose because it’s quicker than queuing for the tills and I think we’ve been rescanned twice in the two years it has been open. The staff are always very nice and quite apologetic about it and scan everything through very efficiently. We usually have to “interact” with someone anyway to verify that we are over 18 to buy booze.’

Alison Mary Hebborn: ‘My mother does the “no cashier, you can put it all back then” strop on a regular basis. There are generally now a couple of cashiers open at her Tesco.’

Emma Grainger: ‘Did you know you can turn off those annoying voices at the self-scan checkouts in Sainsburys? I love doing this but the staff have got wise to me and turn it back on the second I walk away.’ (I am sure we’d all like to know the secret Emma!)

Pam Pummell: ‘We always use the Waitrose self scan as you shop, you still need staff to monitor booze and meds! No problem being rescanned, doesn’t happen very often!
But I always shout at the other type!’

Helen Peters: ‘I’ve never used one. I think maybe it means less people have jobs.’

Jenny Hope: ‘I absolutely point blank refuse to use them – I want people to have jobs.’

Mary-Jane van Rooijen: ‘I use it to avoid speaking to staff, and so I can pack the bags as I shop, I hate the conveyor belt shite… what the actual fuck are you doing sending the marrow, melon and potatoes down after the fucking eggs and bread??? That’s not how I loaded the belt the other side!!! 😂’

John Rouse: ‘I like self-checkouts as I can make sure the correct amount is added to the bill, whilst also doing my packing. Tesco in particular are notorious for not having the correct items behind the shelf-edge labels, or not having the correct barcodes on reduced items.’

Ann Payton: ‘I love the scan as you shop system – it is perfect for me – I struggle doing a “full” shop in an ordinary supermarket as I have spinal problems, the scan as you shop is ideal as I don’t have to unload everything at the till and then reload it – under time pressure usually – by which time I’m usually in agony. Scan and shop – packed at my own pace exactly where I want it, just need to transfer bags into my car.
Plus – as others have mentioned, it helps me watch what I’m spending as I go round – which for me is an added extra.’

I am including this long comment from Orlando Murrin on my self-scan survey. I hope that he will not mind, but it really does sum up so well many of my own thoughts.

‘I go to my local Waitrose precisely because they offer self-scanning – the system where you take your bleeper round the supermarket with you. For me, it is an infinite improvement on queuing at the till, or even worse, struggling to scan everything at the end and all that nonsense about bagging areas. (Who invented that stupid phrase? Does that make my kitchen an unbagging area?)
My reasons:
1 You can keep your eye on how much you’re spending as you go along (as Sarah says)
2 You can pack your groceries as you shop, instead of that unseemly scrambling at the till, while the next person in the queue gives you the evil eye
3 You save 10-15 minutes every trip to the supermarket – time that could be spent learning a new skill, or helping the needy, whatever takes your fancy
4 You can look after delicate items such as eggs and apples and prevent them getting smashed or bruised – some of those till assistants throw items round like it’s a rugby match
5 In our Waitrose (Exeter), we have a special area for self-scan customers to cash up in, with a chilled, upmarket ambience, attended by the creme de la creme of Waitrose customer service personnel. It’s like flying club class.
6 At busy times, when the tills are heaving with overladen trolleys and screaming toddlers, one enjoys a distinct feeling of superiority, gliding past the envious looks of other shoppers.

Now that’s sorted, a few words about re-scans. I first encountered self-scanning in France, where I lived for several years. In French supermarkets it is assumed everyone is a shoplifter (for instance, any bags you bring in with you are plastic-wrapped (emballés), to prevent you slipping in illicit items), and re-scans are frequent. But the great thing is – they tell you how you did, then and there. Every time I was rescanned they found I was overpaying – had scanned something and changed my mind, or bleeped something by mistake. So in a short while, they realised it in their interest to leave me to my own devices, and the rescans stopped!

At Waitrose – where I have had perhaps half a dozen rescans in four years – you are left in agony, wondering how you did. They say they can’t tell you because they don’t have the information, but I’m sure someone somewhere is compiling a dossier. It’s a bit sinister.

Finally, do I miss the social interaction with the till assistants? Not at all. There’s a feeling of camaraderie among the self-scan fraternity, and also, because I am inevitably buying alcohol, customer services always has to come along and verify my age. (This in itself gives me a boost as I am well into my 50s)’

Thanks Orlando! Just a final word from me: when it comes to the question of shops employing fewer staff, it may be controversial to say so, but times do move on. The set-up and staffing of supermarkets and other shops is not structured in the same way that it was 30 or 40 years ago. Technology does inevitably change the way we shop, and we have to embrace these changes. In my local Waitrose, there are certainly staff on the shop floor available to help customers, and the customer service desk is not something that I remember from years ago.

 

 



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Making sausages: could be tricky if I lived on my own!




 

I have often thought about getting a sausage-making kit. We love sausages in our family, and I do like to know exactly what goes into my food. Even buying the highest-quality sausages that I can find is not quite the same as making them from scratch from just a few basic ingredients. I decided to buy a sausage-maker from Lakeland, and went for the above model with an integrated mincer.

I did a basic mixture of 500g pork loin, incorporating a small amount of fat from the joint. I added about 50g breadcrumbs, one grated apple and also 100g haggis. I just happened to have some haggis in the freezer, and thought that this would make a nice addition to the mix. Apart from that I mixed in some rosemary and oregano, as well as a few fennel seeds and plenty of black pepper and sea salt. I put everything through the mincer. You then have to attach the sausage skin and feed the mince mixture back through. The idea is that it fills the skin and you end up with one long sausage which you can twist into individual sausages.

Three points to note here: it is actually impossible to feed the mixture through and keep hold of the sausage skin at the same time! You would need to be an octopus! So I called Paul down to help me. Secondly, it really did not work trying to make one, long sausage; it kept breaking off and the skin splitting. So we just made individual sausages. Thirdly, I could not get the sausage-making gadget to stick to the worktop, as it is supposed to do. Probably just my awkward worktop though!  We managed 8 sausages from that quantity of mixture, although there was enough mince left to make at least one more – it does get more difficult to feed a smaller amount of mixture through the machine.

The resulting sausages were delicious. I cooked them right away, even though the instructions on the recipe I found advised leaving them over-night before cooking. The sausages stayed intact and did not split when cooking. Interestingly though, the second batch I cooked after resting the mixture did taste better, with the flavours being more developed.

I would definitely advise experimenting with flavours, and making a note of quantities of herbs and spices that work well. Obviously with raw meat you cannot check the seasoning as you go! Keen sausage-makers could though cook a small amount of mincemeat before forming into sausages to check the flavourings. I would also say that this is not a gadget for anybody in  a hurry or in the least bit impatient! By the way, I was not joking when I said that you really need two people to work this machine!

I think that next time I would be a bit more generous with the amount of fat I included in my sausages. I am going to try using pork belly next time.

See my photos below of my first batch of sausages, which I served with some quickly-made baked beans: a can of cannellini beans mixed with a can of chopped tomatoes, a dollop of treacle, some smoked paprika, a tablespoon of home-made apple jelly and a dash of tabasco. I have never liked canned baked beans, but love home-made ones!

Mincing the meat

Mince mixture ready

Feeding the mince into the sausage skin

 

Sausages complete (various sizes!)

 

A lovely plate of sausages ready to cook

Making the quick  baked beans

Home-made sausages and beans for lunch

 

 

 

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Self-Drive Cars – will people fill them with rubbish?




Many of my friends will know that I have a driving phobia and drive a car very little. I just have a few set journeys into the town centre, for which I can stick at 30 miles an hour for most of the time. The affordability of the self-drive car is probably not going to come in time for people of my generation. But what a marvellous concept it would be for me! I cannot quite imagine what it would be like to get into a car and just let it drive me wherever I want to go. Could I take a sedative and go to sleep for the whole journey? Or would I have to be ready to take the wheel in case of an emergency? Would I be okay with the car driving me on the motorway with no other human being present? I think I’d have to try the experience first with Paul, my very patient husband, in the car with me.

Of course when the self-drive cars do become more commonplace, car ownership will probably be completely different. I imagine that these cars will be more like taxis without drivers, rather than vehicles which people would own and keep on their driveways. Living where we do, at the end of a long, country lane, perhaps I could summon a vehicle with a click of the fingers.

The other question is of course, what about people who like to travel with everything but the kitchen sink to accompany them? Supposing people need a car suitable for transporting half a dozen German Shepherd dogs? Would it be possible to order a suitable car? Personally I don’t want the risk of summoning a car which might have a whiff of dog about it. Tongue-in-cheek and naming no names, I do have friends who keep rather a lot of rubbish in their cars. This might be sweet wrappers, empty drinks cans, tissues which have fallen out of the box, spare clothes, emergency food and items which have never quite made it to the tip. Would it be possible to order a car filled with rubbish in order to have the whole, homely experience? Or would each car be emptied and cleaned after use and the hirer charged for the service?

Self-drive cars – if only I were ten years younger, I might be able to find out the answers to all of these questions and more!



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Definitely contains Nuts!






Looking through some memorabilia recently, I came across this menu for a birthday lunch in November 2009. It would have been for Paul and Jessica’s birthdays. I had obviously been thinking about allergies and food intolerances, and the very helpful way now that restaurants, supermarkets and other shops give so much information about the source of their products, as well as details of farmers and butchers supplying vegetables and meat.

In my family we are lucky enough to not have any allergies or intolerances at all. I have an aunt who eats fish but not meat, but that is the only factor which I have to work into menus – not a problem at all.

This menu therefore is very tongue-in-cheek, and is a little nut-obsessed!

Lunch Menu
29th November 2009

Pre-Lunch nibbles:
Union Square Cafe’s Bar Nuts
This is from an authentic recipe from the New York Cafe; please note that this dish is certified to be completely nutty and prepared in a nutty environment; the chef is certified to be 100% nutty

A Selection of Phileas Fogg Crisps
Phileas Fogg crisps are guaranteed to have no artificial colours or flavours, are made with 100% sunflower oil, have no MSGs and no hydrogenated vegetable oil

First Course:
Spicy Butternut Squash Soup
This is prepared in a local kitchen; butternut squash is a type of winter squash; all spices are roasted and crushed by hand

Prawn and Fennel Bisque
Prawns are farmed responsibly in the warm, tropical waters of Indonesia

Home-made bread
Not suitable for those on gluten or wheat-free diets; not suitable for those on an olive oil free diet; suitable for those who are lactose intolerant

Main Course
Baked Glazed Gammon
The gammon is from somewhere unspecified in the UK; glazed with maple syrup from South East Quebec, collected in the Spring; Dijon mustard is from Dijon (probably)

Chicken Terrine
Made from British free-range chicken (tender and full flavoured); the pork mince is from pigs bred outdoors by farmers who share the values of the chef; the bacon is Denhay West Country bacon from welfare-assured outdoor reared pigs; Denhay Farms has been farming in the Marshwood Vale since 1952; the team is led by George Streatfeild (possibly related to the children’s author Noel Streatfeild)

Spinach Pie
This is made to a traditional recipe from “Jennifer Aldridge’s Archers Cookbook” and is suitable for vegetarians but not vegans

Carrots with Vanilla and Rosemary
Carrots grown by Clem Tompsett, leaf tracks number 25185; rosemary from the chef’s garden and vanilla extract from Australia

Jacket Potatoes
Red Duke of York potatoes were first grown in 1942; these ones were grown in 2009 in Suffolk

Winter Salad
This is a variation on coleslaw, but contains no cabbage and contains English celeriac, the same carrots as above, cox’s apples (a traditional variety of apple first grown in a Berkshire garden in 1825) and other unspecified ingredients

A Selection of Home-made Chutneys
Please note that beetroot chutney can stain and is best kept away from children

Puddings:
Delicious Chocolate Mousse with Warm White Chocolate, Lime and Ginger Sauce
This is obviously a Jamie Oliver recipe as it has the word ‘delicious’ at the front – the recipe would not market as well were it called ‘disgusting chocolate mousse’ ; all chocolate used is from Belgium

Steamed Pear Pudding
Pears used in this recipe are Conference Pears; the variety was named for the award it received at the 1885 International Pear Conference; Lyle’s Golden Syrup is made by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen and is suitable for vegetarians, is gluten free and is free from artificial colours, elephants and artificial flavours and preservatives

Meringues
These are made especially for the birthday girl by her grandmother and are gluten- and dairy-free

Drinks:
There is a wide variety of drinks available of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety; please serve yourself or you might be waiting a long time for a drink; should you have a tendency to spill your drink, pale-coloured drinks are easier to clean out of the carpet; the chef has a wide variety of stain removers available should you spill anything on your clothes; bleach is particularly good for removing stains from white clothes; Vanish Oxi Action Intelligence plus is good for all other colours

 



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Remember that Sprouts are not just for Christmas….



Sprouts with Chestnuts

I think that the humble Brussels sprout has a really bad and undeserved reputation. Yes I do know people who loathe them, or who are not enthusiastic about brassicas in general. Brassicas have a natural bitterness, which is an acquired taste for children. In general children prefer sweeter flavours. Even some adults I know are not 100% enthusiastic about the humble sprout. I have a bit of a conflict in my family. At Christmas time, most of my relatives believe that the best (indeed the only) way to cook sprouts is to boil them. I am unable to host Christmas lunch, so boiled it is every year! That would be fine except that no-one seems to be terribly enthusiastic about the sprouts; it seems to be a ritual at Christmas that we must eat boiled sprouts.

Amongst my friends on facebook, there is a running joke about the length of time sprouts have to be boiled for. Quite soon I am sure there will be advice going out to get your sprouts on in time for Christmas 2018! Joking apart, I do remember many years ago my aunt visiting some relatives in Northern Ireland. Before they went off to church, the two sisters put some cabbage onto the stove to cook!

Anyway, enough of this negativity. I love sprouts, but I’d prefer not to have them boiled. In fact, as far as I am concerned you can keep them away from water entirely. I also see no reason why they should just be for Christmas. One Boxing Day I did cook a selection of sprout dishes as a first course.

I made some sprout bhajis, using a recipe for onion bhajis made with gram flour.

Preparing Sprout Bhajis

These were excellent, and I’d have no hesitation about serving them as the first course to an Indian meal, served with a mango raita. I also cooked sprouts with chestnuts, simply stir-frying them in a little butter and oil. When stir-frying sprouts I always slice them first.

My other dish was sprouts stir-fried with chilli, ginger, garlic and soy. Adding spice to sprouts offsets the bitterness, so is definitely a positive for me. The smell of sprouts is always better too if no water is involved. Boiling cabbage, boiling sprouts… just does not do it for me!

For meat eaters, the other great addition to a dish of sprouts is of course bacon. Again, the sweetness offsets the bitterness of sprouts perfectly.

I also love soup, and brussels sprout soup works really well.

This soup was made with potatoes, onions, sprouts, chestnuts and vegetable stock. I made a crunchy topping of stir-fried sprouts with chilli, ginger and soy. Usually I make chunky soups, but this time I decided to more or less puree the soup with my stick blender, and have the interest of the topping.

Sprouts and cheese also go really well, and there are many recipes for sprouts in cheese sauce, or sprout and macaroni cheese. In fact, I think you can safely cook anything which sprouts which you might do with cabbage. Bubble and squeak made with sprouts is perfect. I also made a dish of roasted savoy cabbage wedges and halved sprouts, finished off with a cheese sauce. This works well in smaller quantities as a side dish, or as a main dish in itself. I would serve it with jacket potatoes in that case.

If anyone has any exciting sprout recipes, please feel free to add them in the comments! I look forward to hearing your ideas.

 

 



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My Christmas List – Cookery Books



I really do not need any more cookery books! The bookcase in the picture holds all of my cookery books, and the theory is that I should not have any more than will fit onto these shelves. There are about 90 cookery books in my collection. Added to that, I have my three regular food magazines which I read every month. I do of course devise many of my own recipes too.

I did weed the cookery book shelves in the summer, prior to decorating the rather tired-looking bookcase with decoupage. I used sheets of paper from old cookery books, mainly from charity shops, and a couple of my own books that I was prepared to sacrifice. You can see a bit more detail in the picture below:

I deliberately left some of the recipes exposed, as I might try some of the retro ideas from Mrs Beeton and The Penguin Cordon Bleu Cookery Book.

If I had any more space, or if I can find somewhere else to start a new bookcase (unlikely as we have 3 other small bookcases and 3 large ones) these are the books which would be on my list this Christmas. Not all of them are brand new.

I love Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipes and I love vegetables, so enough said! I like to cook vegetarian food on a regular basis. I am not so convinced by vegan food, as I have a cheese and yoghurt habit that I cannot give up! However, I am always willing to try anything new.

Paul and I have been watching Rick’s series travelling to Mexico, and enjoy Rick’s style of cooking and his general enthusiasm for life and food. It was also wonderful to see him going to Caesar’s Restaurant and see a real Caesar salad made. One of my niggles in life is how not one restaurant I have been to knows how to make a genuine Caesar salad. It does not have chicken or bacon in it!

I might actually have an excuse for adding this book to my collection, as it is not just a cookery book, but more a book to read and devour in front of the fire on a cold winter’s evening. Nigel Slater is one of my favourite cookery writers and broadcasters, and I enjoyed reading his autobiographical book ‘Toast.’

Friends and family will know that Nigella is another of my firm favourites. I love her laid-back style and her attitude to entertaining (just like mine – relaxed and enjoyable from start to finish). I also love her twinkly fairy lights. My friends also sometimes refer to me as a ‘Domestic Goddess’ although possibly this is a title which can only be truly attributed to Nigella!

Jamie is another firm favourite of mine. Maybe I could justify adding this book to my collection, as I only have one other book which is one dedicated to Christmas cooking (Delia Smith’s, and it is the original one rather than the new, updated edition).

Paul and I love travelling, so this book would truly sit well with my love of food abroad, but I still prefer to self-cater when we are on holiday. There is also nothing quite like bringing the sunshine home!

This book is a few years old now, and I coveted it for a long time. I have one cookery book by Yotam Ottolenghi (Plenty). I particularly love the high-quality binding of his books, not to mention the amazing, sunny recipes with which he entices me.

Finally, I should like one more book by Ottolenghi:

I do love a home-cooked pudding, and this one would round off my collection nicely, with that touch of the Middle-East.

Now all I need is for my nearest and dearest to read this list…. Maybe I could clear some space for a new bookcase in the ‘spare bedroom.’ It is only spare until the young person returns from New Zealand next year!

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Don’t Turnip your nose at Swedes!



This subject may have been written about many times before, but I am still fascinated by the variation in the naming of swedes and turnips in different parts of the UK and other countries in Europe and beyond. As far as I am concerned, the vegetable on the right is a turnip and the one on the left is a swede.

As I have such a lot of ground to cover in this article, I shall follow it up with another piece suggesting ways of cooking both vegetables.

I started to think about it all very seriously and plan my article back in April when on holiday in the Republic of Ireland. Fortunately I love both vegetables, but when we ordered gammon with turnip in a lovely café for lunch one day, I must admit that I was expecting the small, white one. However, we were served with the orange one! It was absolutely delicious – see picture below.

Bacon with mash and swede (called turnip in Ireland)

Now I am not one to say that because I live in the South of England, my opinion is more valid than anyone else’s! I was however fascinated in discussing this topic with friends, and in looking at other articles on the subject, to find that many people call both vegetables swedes! Why, when they are a different size, shape and colour, and taste quite different?! Some people reverse the names and call the little white ones swedes and the large orange ones turnips! As far as I can tell, in most shops, the convention is to call the orange ones swedes and the white ones turnips, even if that is not the custom in the locality.

Once again I turned to my Archers’ Appreciation friends to ask them simply what they call these two vegetable, and also to identify where in the UK or elsewhere they are living. This is by no means a scientific or balanced survey, and I suspect that some of the terminology comes from childhood influence, and is not related to where people are currently living. I compiled a spreadsheet of the responses (I had about 130) to make it easier to analyse them. Many people gave me more than one response. I had a fascinating discussion with Helen Peters about Cornish Pasties! They must of course contain swede, but as most Cornish people call the orange ones turnips, the listed ingredients can include turnip. It has to be the orange one though! This discussion inevitably turned to the merits or otherwise of protecting the Cornish Pasty recipe. I had always thought that this was probably a good thing, and I am happy to make pasties and not call them ‘Cornish.’ However, it seems that many people in Cornwall are frustrated by the protection. It does not necessarily protect quality, and those who are Cornish by birth but have moved away from the region, can no longer make pasties and call them Cornish Pasties!

Anyway, I digress, as this article is not meant to be just about pasties!  Looking at my over-all survey results, it is clear that in these regions the orange one is a swede and the white one is a turnip: South East, South West apart from Cornwall, East Anglia, Essex, Midlands and Wales. In the North it is quite varied. Manchester, Durham and Yorkshire use the same convention as the South East and other regions listed above; other regions such as The Isle of Man, Sunderland and Tyneside reverse the names. I have to draw particular attention to Wendy Kibblewhite’s husband, who is from ‘oop narth’ (her words not mine!) and calls the white one a turnip and the orange one another turnip. A similar situation in Gateshead with the orange one being a turnip and the white one another sort of turnip. In Hull we have turnip (orange one) and cattle fodder (white). Duncan Mitchell assures me that in Northumberland we have bagie (orange) and too small to bother with (white).

In Cornwall the consensus is that they are both turnips. A couple of other variations in the South West include in Somerset, Mangelwurzel (orange) and turnip or sheep food (white). In South Devon where Sarah Trinick lives the words are turnip (orange) and turnip or spawn of the devil (white).

In Scotland most respondents reverse the norm, so turnip (orange) and swede (white), although some of course call the orange ones neeps. I think even in the South we are familiar with neeps and tatties! As I share a birthday with Robbie Burns, I am very familiar with this great dish! One respondent in Edinburgh uses Neep (orange) and Inedible vegetable to feed to cows (white).

In some other countries, including the Republic of Ireland, France and America, the orange ones are rutabaga, and in France the white ones are navet. Jamie Findlay in Japan reports that the orange ones are kabu. 

Some of the names, it is clear, reflect the animosity felt for these vegetables! I have never come across such negative comments about vegetables, and this was across the regions. However, some respondents suggested some wonderful recipes for both swedes and turnips (or orange ones and white ones I should say!) Actually, I should say that there is probably even more animosity for brussels sprouts! (recipe blog page to come soon!)

Another interesting gem that came from my discussions was the number of people who are familiar with turnip lanterns, which apparently were popular long before pumpkin lanterns for Halloween. Pam Cruickshank, Sheena Hutchison, Rhona Easton, Craig Bennett and John Rouse all mentioned these. Sheena posted a lovely picture of some turnip lanterns for me! John Rouse said, If you can make a turnip lantern out of it, it’s a turnip. If it sings ABBA songs and drives a Volvo, it’s a Swede. (Thanks John, my kind of humour!) Turnip lanterns though were made out of the orange ones, and seem to have been popular in Scotland. It has to be acknowledged though that carving a swede/turnip would be no mean feat! It is not surprising that pumpkins have become more popular for this activity! (Anyone have any statistics for turnip carving-related accidents?!)

Many of my friends, including Dave Wolfskehl, suggested some great recipes for both vegetables. I shall include these along with some of my own recipes in my follow-up article.

What do you call these vegetables? Do you enjoy cooking with them? I’d love to hear any more regional variations on the names.