The marrow and ginger jam was fine.
It looks looser in the jar than the normal jams I make but is actually quite spreadable and firm once opened.
All but one jar sealed properly.
We have already worked our way through one jar and will start the non sealed jar next.
My Aunty used sometimes to give Mum jam to bring back when we visited.
Marrow or Rhubarb and Ginger I seem to remember.
We ate so much junk back then that it tasted 'funny' to have real Jam and I expect mum and dad finished it off between them.
My mother seldom made preserves of any kind.
I remember seeing tins of Marmade but never Seville Oranges used to make marmalade.
One year they had an awful lot of onions from somewhere which they pickled .
They were very strong tasting to we kids who were only used to little silver skinned onions from the xmas hamper.
I cant help thinking we were walking junk food zombies.
Nearly everything was laced with sugar or salt back then.
Those huge Wagon Wheel biscuits, Jammie Dodgers, Tea time fancies.
We had them every Sunday tea, 'dip in and grab' sandwiches of cucumber or beetroot in vinegar (never without).
A salad made almost entirely of lettuce with a few slithers of tomato in a bowl.
Shiphams Meat paste or fish paste in tiny jars shared between 5.
We were allowed to take the bread (already spread with cheap marg) and load it with the other ingredients.
No one was allowed biscuits or 'cakes' till they had had the sandwiches.
Mum would say 'who wants the last....'and my brother no doubt hungrier than we girls would already have his hand on the offering before the article was even named ,with a loud aggressive MEEE.
To drink there was water from the tap but usually there were no drinks at the table,you just helped yourself at the sink throughout the day.
You could have tea though and we were given it with sugar in our baby bottles and so were quite used to being caffeined up to the eyeballs and sugared to the point of cavities.
Dad drank nothing else and always had 3 sugars (He had about 3 peg teeth in his whole head).
Dinners during the week were usually something and veg.
We ate a lot of cheap tinned sausages or pressed meats.
Now and again mum would make a pie but usually she bought processed meat products that she would divide up into small amounts and there would be that awful powdered potato that you were supposed to add milk and water to with a dot of butter.
I think the more expensive 'mash' had those things incorporated already but the cheap ones were cheap for a reason and tasted of nothing very much when only how water was added.
We ate processed peas that were mushy and granular with a thick dropping consistency. They cooked up a sort of khaki colour and were heavily salted by us as we automatically put salt and white pepper on everything labeled dinner.
Carrots were almost always tinned too and had a sort of slippery,slimy property to them.
We would have real meat on Sunday for Dinner which was mid day.
Real potatoes too .
There was pudding every day.
Sometimes jelly and something.
Mostly those little pots of slop that are coloured and flavoured and called things like 'smooth melody' or 'top pudding'.
There was always Supper too .
This often consisted of toast or bread and something.
We quite often had dripping which was the juices of the Sunday roast ,mashed up with the little meaty bits.
This was lovely with some salt.
Other times it would be banana sandwiches with sugar.
We hardly ever had fruit as a whole piece of food.
It was chopped up in one form or another .
Dad would bring home jam donuts if he won anything at the betting shop.
That and the cigarette voucher Christmas and birthday gifts were the only time I ever remember him 'paying' for anything.
Did mum get Gifts too?
I really cant remember.
Anyway, Breakfast..
Usually this was cereal in a box.
Mostly Kellogs something or other.
We sometimes had boiled eggs and even fried eggs and bacon very occasionally.
The milk was I think watered down as it always tasted of nothing .
We never drank actual milk on its own or juice of any sort.
Once in a while there would be 'orange or lemon squash' which tasted of chemicals and was highly sweetened.
Pop was only bought at Christmas,birthdays or if the cousin visited.
If it was a school outing, we would be bought a tin of cola or some such thing.
Iced fancies were usually given and a sandwich.
(I hate icing so often threw my biscuits away).
Now and again we would have actual real food.
I visited various friends after school and tasted home cooked meals which were yummy but I didn't comment about them at home ,Mum took offense very easily.
At school we had school dinners which were made on the premises.
They were lovely and filling and flavourful.
There was always pudding and a drink of orange squash or water.
Most children who at dinner in school,had tea at home of sandwiches or a small portion of something.
We had free school meals ,ate the lot and then a second dinner at home with pudding.
I can only imagine that our own home food was so awful that the calories were empty (bulked out foods with nothing substantial) because I was never over weight and neither was my constantly eating brother.
My little sister however, was fed sweets almost every day after school and expanded accordingly.
Her portion sizes were equal to our own which didn't help matters.
Xmas was a time of indulgence all round.
Ours was generally a hamper of stuff that mum paid into all year.
There were tins of meat, vegetables,fruit and nuts.
We would have a turkey from the butcher and pop.
The adults had sherry but I think the bottle was perpetual because I don't remember ever seeing them buy it.
Maybe it was gifted from mums employers (she was a cash in hand cleaner for various people).
Dad drank Drambui in tiny little frosted green glasses. One little tot of it at a time.
A big tin of Quality street was a yearly thing. Did it come in the hamper? Dad only ate the soft centres given his lack of teeth.
The pop bottles were taken back to the shop for the deposit money.
Dad always carved the turkey and made mince pies. He had once seen mum make them and decided he could do better. They were brimming with mince but the pastry was usually rock hard and shiny with glaze.
If you got a mice pie outside of home,it was like eating manna, soft and short pastry with a sugary coating.
We never complained of course, we just shoveled them down.
Friday 31 August 2012
It's cooling down
The Summer is no more! Who knew?
Well I think it is kind of a relief really.
For one thing, Autumn is supposed to be cooler and when we get a sunny day, it is a bonus.
That is much more pleasant than 'Summer' being only one sunny day in 30 for some reason, even if the weather is exactly the same as June ,July and August's has been.
I have been playing campfires in the garden.
I take the junk mail down to the compost bin area and burn it in the storm kettle.
The water is enough to fill our big red tea pot ,enough for 6 mugs of tea.
I wait for the ashes to cool down and throw them in the compost.
Lately I have been trying to light the fire without matches and it is not easy.
Even using a steel ,I only manage it every 3rd time .
The rest of the time, I resort to a lighter.
Today was spent in clearing the old dishwasher ready for it to be put out.
I have been using it as a cupboard in which to keep the plastic tubs and containers that I reuse in the kitchen so they are all over the table at the moment in the dining room.
I think it might end up as the scrap man's treasure.
We have been offered a working one from freecycle and OH and hopefully DS will fetch it tomorrow.
I could easily go but there are 2 men here and really I think I should expect DS to pitch in and help while he has no work and lives here completely free of charge.
The Dishwasher lives in the old downstairs loo area.
There is no loo in there as it was cracked many years ago and we took it out and sealed over the hole in the floor(with a bin lid and concrete in-case we should ever refit a loo).
The cold water pipe is handy for the machine.
The outlet has a little stand pipe that OH made which goes to the downpipe outside through a hole in the wall.
The lobby leading to the back door has a freezer with a fridge standing on top of it as our kitchen is too small to accommodate them.
Tomorrow we will have to move them out of the way ,just so we can move the machines out and in.
**************************************************************************
The garden is looking green and a bit messy.
There are still some courgettes appearing on the plants despite the mad harvesting.
I picked about 7 portions of Runner beans yesterday too.
They are in the dehydrator which runs at night on economy 7 (cheap electricity).
The very smallest beans will dry in one night but bigger specimens take 2.
**************************************************************************
The little dears are back to school next week.
Hoo bloomin ray!
This holiday there has been a screamer out nearly every day.
By screamer, I mean a female child who's parents don't know what anti social means.
The child screams at every given opportunity and is out there right now (it is gone 9pm and pitch dark).
She is about 4 years old if I have heard correctly (the children speak loudly and shout mostly and are not shy about broadcasting there address, ages,names etc) .
They live about 3 or 4 gardens away as the crow flies but the sound travels so that they seem as though they are under the window or in the next garden.
One cannot really be surprised by their volume, their mother swears like a navvy .
They are called every name under the sun and ordered to F off if they don't like it.
Apparently ,they are doing her head in!
Thankfully,we do not live next door.
****************************************************************************
My neighbour's grandson now has a small daughter.
She arrived around January time and so is still a sweety.
Her daddy seems to dote on her rather as mine doted on me I believe .
He is not to be seen recently without the little one attached somewhere about his person like a mascot at a football game.
We have known him since he was around 2 years old.
He is very good with the little one.
*****************************************************************************
According to my mother, my father was always very good with the little ones.
Strangely that is a double edged sword.
Being good with the little ones in our case, involved dad absolutely worshipping the youngest child to the point of idiocy.
Many a time I remember my older brother being chastised for my wrong doings.
It was always his fault because where else must I have learned to act or speak like that?
Actually I probably picked up an awful lot of my misdemenours from nursery school where I went before I was old enough to go to the local school.
We lived in an area of high immigration and very low standards of living,not because there were many immigrants as such but because it was an area of low earners and rubbish housing.
The nursery was free because mum had to work.
I got my own turn as the older sister a few years later and became the slapping target for about 7 years until I complained at school to a teacher( deputy head) who promptly drove me to my home and asked my parents what was meant . My mother admitted that dad was 'heavy handed' and the teacher (quite bravely I thought) told dad to lay off or be reported to the Social services.
He never slapped me ever again.
******************************************************************************
Well I think it is kind of a relief really.
For one thing, Autumn is supposed to be cooler and when we get a sunny day, it is a bonus.
That is much more pleasant than 'Summer' being only one sunny day in 30 for some reason, even if the weather is exactly the same as June ,July and August's has been.
I have been playing campfires in the garden.
I take the junk mail down to the compost bin area and burn it in the storm kettle.
The water is enough to fill our big red tea pot ,enough for 6 mugs of tea.
I wait for the ashes to cool down and throw them in the compost.
Lately I have been trying to light the fire without matches and it is not easy.
Even using a steel ,I only manage it every 3rd time .
The rest of the time, I resort to a lighter.
Today was spent in clearing the old dishwasher ready for it to be put out.
I have been using it as a cupboard in which to keep the plastic tubs and containers that I reuse in the kitchen so they are all over the table at the moment in the dining room.
I think it might end up as the scrap man's treasure.
We have been offered a working one from freecycle and OH and hopefully DS will fetch it tomorrow.
I could easily go but there are 2 men here and really I think I should expect DS to pitch in and help while he has no work and lives here completely free of charge.
The Dishwasher lives in the old downstairs loo area.
There is no loo in there as it was cracked many years ago and we took it out and sealed over the hole in the floor(with a bin lid and concrete in-case we should ever refit a loo).
The cold water pipe is handy for the machine.
The outlet has a little stand pipe that OH made which goes to the downpipe outside through a hole in the wall.
The lobby leading to the back door has a freezer with a fridge standing on top of it as our kitchen is too small to accommodate them.
Tomorrow we will have to move them out of the way ,just so we can move the machines out and in.
**************************************************************************
The garden is looking green and a bit messy.
There are still some courgettes appearing on the plants despite the mad harvesting.
I picked about 7 portions of Runner beans yesterday too.
They are in the dehydrator which runs at night on economy 7 (cheap electricity).
The very smallest beans will dry in one night but bigger specimens take 2.
**************************************************************************
The little dears are back to school next week.
Hoo bloomin ray!
This holiday there has been a screamer out nearly every day.
By screamer, I mean a female child who's parents don't know what anti social means.
The child screams at every given opportunity and is out there right now (it is gone 9pm and pitch dark).
She is about 4 years old if I have heard correctly (the children speak loudly and shout mostly and are not shy about broadcasting there address, ages,names etc) .
They live about 3 or 4 gardens away as the crow flies but the sound travels so that they seem as though they are under the window or in the next garden.
One cannot really be surprised by their volume, their mother swears like a navvy .
They are called every name under the sun and ordered to F off if they don't like it.
Apparently ,they are doing her head in!
Thankfully,we do not live next door.
****************************************************************************
My neighbour's grandson now has a small daughter.
She arrived around January time and so is still a sweety.
Her daddy seems to dote on her rather as mine doted on me I believe .
He is not to be seen recently without the little one attached somewhere about his person like a mascot at a football game.
We have known him since he was around 2 years old.
He is very good with the little one.
*****************************************************************************
According to my mother, my father was always very good with the little ones.
Strangely that is a double edged sword.
Being good with the little ones in our case, involved dad absolutely worshipping the youngest child to the point of idiocy.
Many a time I remember my older brother being chastised for my wrong doings.
It was always his fault because where else must I have learned to act or speak like that?
Actually I probably picked up an awful lot of my misdemenours from nursery school where I went before I was old enough to go to the local school.
We lived in an area of high immigration and very low standards of living,not because there were many immigrants as such but because it was an area of low earners and rubbish housing.
The nursery was free because mum had to work.
I got my own turn as the older sister a few years later and became the slapping target for about 7 years until I complained at school to a teacher( deputy head) who promptly drove me to my home and asked my parents what was meant . My mother admitted that dad was 'heavy handed' and the teacher (quite bravely I thought) told dad to lay off or be reported to the Social services.
He never slapped me ever again.
******************************************************************************
Tuesday 28 August 2012
The harvest
I dug some of our spuds up last week.
I have dug about 1/5th of the whole crop and possibly have 6 weeks supply for 3 adults (2 will only eat them under shotgun circumstances anyway).
Have you tried marrow and ginger jam making?
I did some for the first time this year and it is like eating ginger beer on toast.
My birthday this month was lovely.
OH bought me a brand new laptop!
He also bought me a lovely green cover with a little light for my ereader .
DS bought me some vouchers to shop with online and a big chocolate birthday cake!
We had fish and chips as a birthday tea too:)
*******************************************************************************
OH has decided to give up on his OU studies.
He announced yesterday that he had given up as he wasn't able to understand how to do it all.
At the time, he was attempting to recover his computer, having messed it up with a bad update install and I thought he was talking about that.
Really and truly, I have no idea why he had ever started the course in the first place.
He has spent 4 years banging his head in frustration over it while all the time admitting he had no thought to use the resulting qualification in any way.??
Actually I do wonder if it was more about trying to keep up with various sisters who had taken on courses and finished the studying.
One sister who shall remain nameless here (as usual) proclaimed that she was now better than other people who did not have a degree (much to my disgust as you can imagine).
Unfortunately, that is the attitude of quite a lot of snotty people and they live in ignorance of the skills and ingenuity of people everywhere who choose not to go get a piece of paper to 'prove' they can think,talk,breath and write all at the same time.
*****************************************************************************
DS, who incidentally has spent 4 years getting his degree, still has no job after 14 months of looking.
DD, having graduated this year, is looking too and so far, nothing, after a false start with a firm who specialized in chugging turned out to be a bunch of sweat shoppers under the guise of charity fundraisers.
*****************************************************************************
I have dug about 1/5th of the whole crop and possibly have 6 weeks supply for 3 adults (2 will only eat them under shotgun circumstances anyway).
Have you tried marrow and ginger jam making?
I did some for the first time this year and it is like eating ginger beer on toast.
My birthday this month was lovely.
OH bought me a brand new laptop!
He also bought me a lovely green cover with a little light for my ereader .
DS bought me some vouchers to shop with online and a big chocolate birthday cake!
We had fish and chips as a birthday tea too:)
*******************************************************************************
OH has decided to give up on his OU studies.
He announced yesterday that he had given up as he wasn't able to understand how to do it all.
At the time, he was attempting to recover his computer, having messed it up with a bad update install and I thought he was talking about that.
Really and truly, I have no idea why he had ever started the course in the first place.
He has spent 4 years banging his head in frustration over it while all the time admitting he had no thought to use the resulting qualification in any way.??
Actually I do wonder if it was more about trying to keep up with various sisters who had taken on courses and finished the studying.
One sister who shall remain nameless here (as usual) proclaimed that she was now better than other people who did not have a degree (much to my disgust as you can imagine).
Unfortunately, that is the attitude of quite a lot of snotty people and they live in ignorance of the skills and ingenuity of people everywhere who choose not to go get a piece of paper to 'prove' they can think,talk,breath and write all at the same time.
*****************************************************************************
DS, who incidentally has spent 4 years getting his degree, still has no job after 14 months of looking.
DD, having graduated this year, is looking too and so far, nothing, after a false start with a firm who specialized in chugging turned out to be a bunch of sweat shoppers under the guise of charity fundraisers.
*****************************************************************************
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Preserving stuff
I have been harvesting a fair bit this last week.
The dehydrator has been busy every night drying Beans, Kale, Courgettes, and spinach .
We also have a Vacuum sealer which has helped keep the freezer from overflowing because it compacts things into flatter shaped bags.
Yesterday I decided we needed the bottom shelf of the freezer back (it is only a 3 shelf under-counter style ).
There were 6 Seville oranges and 4 lemons in there waiting to be made into marmalade.
I sorted through the saved empty jars to find enough with lids.
It took about 1 1/2 hours to chop them all up and boil it down in the microwave.
Last week I made Marrow and Ginger jam using ground ginger.
The result has turned out quite sloppy as there wasn't enough pectin despite a goodly amount of lemon juice.
I can see it being mostly used as pie fillings but no matter.
There are about 8 good sized marrows under DD's bed now.
Hopefully they will last w while without needing to be dried or frozen.
The dehydrator has been busy every night drying Beans, Kale, Courgettes, and spinach .
We also have a Vacuum sealer which has helped keep the freezer from overflowing because it compacts things into flatter shaped bags.
Yesterday I decided we needed the bottom shelf of the freezer back (it is only a 3 shelf under-counter style ).
There were 6 Seville oranges and 4 lemons in there waiting to be made into marmalade.
I sorted through the saved empty jars to find enough with lids.
It took about 1 1/2 hours to chop them all up and boil it down in the microwave.
Last week I made Marrow and Ginger jam using ground ginger.
The result has turned out quite sloppy as there wasn't enough pectin despite a goodly amount of lemon juice.
I can see it being mostly used as pie fillings but no matter.
There are about 8 good sized marrows under DD's bed now.
Hopefully they will last w while without needing to be dried or frozen.
Friday 3 August 2012
cutting bottles
I have been trying to cut the ends off the vinegar bottles that I buy in sains or asda.
There are at least 10 every couple of months because that is the cheapest way to buy a gallon of vinegar.
I do try to put them in the recycling bin but they take up a lot of bin space and weigh the plastic kitchen bin bag down.
I tried to cut a straight line using a glass cutter but it is almost impossible to get it straight and steady.
Next I looked online for glass cutting comments.
There was a very interesting utube video about using hot and cold water to separate your scored bottle.
Then I found a home made jig on Instructables and that is what I made this morning.
My jig is an old shelf we had lying around in the shed and I already had the screws and the glass cutter so the whole thing was free.
Hmm, it is easier said than done though , cutting a bottle.
I dont know if my cutter is a cheapo thing or blunt but it was difficult to get a continuous scored line even using the jig that holds the bottle perfectly.
My endevours so far have resulted in various wobbly edged glass shapes.
I want them for mini garden cloches as they are glass and wont blow away.
The plants wont care about the edges being wobbly but my eye is offended just the same.
I shall persevere!
I love instructables and today while looking for the instructions for the jig, I decided to use some of my surveys money to buy a pro membership. I can download their instructables as pdfs then or download their ebooks which are compilations of various things.
2 years membership is about £24 so very good value when you think of all the info that I find on there.
There are at least 10 every couple of months because that is the cheapest way to buy a gallon of vinegar.
I do try to put them in the recycling bin but they take up a lot of bin space and weigh the plastic kitchen bin bag down.
I tried to cut a straight line using a glass cutter but it is almost impossible to get it straight and steady.
Next I looked online for glass cutting comments.
There was a very interesting utube video about using hot and cold water to separate your scored bottle.
Then I found a home made jig on Instructables and that is what I made this morning.
My jig is an old shelf we had lying around in the shed and I already had the screws and the glass cutter so the whole thing was free.
Hmm, it is easier said than done though , cutting a bottle.
I dont know if my cutter is a cheapo thing or blunt but it was difficult to get a continuous scored line even using the jig that holds the bottle perfectly.
My endevours so far have resulted in various wobbly edged glass shapes.
I want them for mini garden cloches as they are glass and wont blow away.
The plants wont care about the edges being wobbly but my eye is offended just the same.
I shall persevere!
I love instructables and today while looking for the instructions for the jig, I decided to use some of my surveys money to buy a pro membership. I can download their instructables as pdfs then or download their ebooks which are compilations of various things.
2 years membership is about £24 so very good value when you think of all the info that I find on there.
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Home Haircut day
Todays victim was me.
Not so scary as it sounds because I am my own hair cutter.
If I scream stop at any point during the proceedings, it is instantly acknowledged.
I used a combination of tools for this.
It sounds like a lot but I have been a self snipper for ages (25 years)and you do tend to accumulate new tools along the way.
First I chop to 2 1/2 inches with the machine,my hair is rarely longer than 3" anyway). I leave the crown part alone at this point.
Then 2" at back and sides.
Next fit the web cam to check the back of my head.
I used the thinning tools to do my fringe (Bangs) and the hair line tool to do a neat line round the back of my neck.
The scissors help here of course and the mirror lets me check the front without having to keep changing the web cam position .
I go round each ear and tidy the edge to make a line following on from the fringe.
I'll no doubt notice a few stray bits that need tidying over the day so the scissors are kept handy for that.
The Robocut layers hair so it isn't just one thickness like it is knitted.
I did DS's hair a few weeks back.
For that I used the wondercomb thingummy that I bought from ebay.
It is a comb with a depth piece that you use to give the right length then you just cut over the comb with scissors.
I made a similar thing some years ago for our clippers so that I could do the back of mine without needing to see it. My gauge was only cardboard fitted with an afro comb but it worked till the cardboard got too soft and bendy.
OH uses a phillips self clipper I bought him around 4 years ago.
He does his about every 6 weeks and tidies the back with the ordinary clippers as he says you get more of a blended look that way. It saves him about £50 a year to do his own .
I only do mine about every 2 months but a womans haircut is around £20 so it saves me about £120 a year or £10 a month.
DD does her own ,she has long hair and just does the fringe .Every so often she will see an advertisement for a free haircut if she models for a trainee so she does get a salon cut sometimes.She colours her hair herself with Henna .
Not so scary as it sounds because I am my own hair cutter.
If I scream stop at any point during the proceedings, it is instantly acknowledged.
I used a combination of tools for this.
- The robocut machine that I bought a couple of years ago.
- Haircutting scissors.
- A thinning tool and thinning scissors.
- A hair line guide.
- A web cam on a USB cable.
- Mirror and comb.
It sounds like a lot but I have been a self snipper for ages (25 years)and you do tend to accumulate new tools along the way.
First I chop to 2 1/2 inches with the machine,my hair is rarely longer than 3" anyway). I leave the crown part alone at this point.
Then 2" at back and sides.
Next fit the web cam to check the back of my head.
I used the thinning tools to do my fringe (Bangs) and the hair line tool to do a neat line round the back of my neck.
The scissors help here of course and the mirror lets me check the front without having to keep changing the web cam position .
I go round each ear and tidy the edge to make a line following on from the fringe.
I'll no doubt notice a few stray bits that need tidying over the day so the scissors are kept handy for that.
The Robocut layers hair so it isn't just one thickness like it is knitted.
I did DS's hair a few weeks back.
For that I used the wondercomb thingummy that I bought from ebay.
It is a comb with a depth piece that you use to give the right length then you just cut over the comb with scissors.
I made a similar thing some years ago for our clippers so that I could do the back of mine without needing to see it. My gauge was only cardboard fitted with an afro comb but it worked till the cardboard got too soft and bendy.
OH uses a phillips self clipper I bought him around 4 years ago.
He does his about every 6 weeks and tidies the back with the ordinary clippers as he says you get more of a blended look that way. It saves him about £50 a year to do his own .
I only do mine about every 2 months but a womans haircut is around £20 so it saves me about £120 a year or £10 a month.
DD does her own ,she has long hair and just does the fringe .Every so often she will see an advertisement for a free haircut if she models for a trainee so she does get a salon cut sometimes.She colours her hair herself with Henna .
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