Sorry for being absent for so long but life has been getting in the way in a BIG way. I can't explain in a public blog but we have had bereavements, one of which shocked me to the core. I am still devastated but need to get back to normality....
I have just read Ilona's fantastic Black Friday blog post (Mean Queen) and agree with every word she says. I too ignore Black Friday, which has somehow turned into a whole week of 'bargains' which I neither want, need nor can afford. I am deleting Black Friday emails unread so that I am not tempted, any flyers through the letterbox go straight into recycling. I only intend to buy carefully planned Christmas gifts. So far I am well within my budget and, in the main, have finished my gift shopping. All that remains is to stock the fridge and freezer so that we are not caught out by any really bad weather. We will have some Christmas treats too.
On a different note (sorry about the pun!) I hate the new polymer notes, do you? When I did the 'big shop' at Mr M's on Monday I handed over what I thought was £40 only to be handed back £10 as two notes had stuck together. I thanked the checkout assistant profusely for her honesty just as she handed me a till-printed coupon for a free eye test at Specsavers!! 'Nuff said! We both rolled about laughing....
Take care everyone and stay warm x
Saturday, 25 November 2017
Friday, 3 November 2017
Slow Cooker Bread Test
Marlene, from Simple Living blog mentioned having made bread in the slow cooker. As my normal efforts are pretty dire I thought I would have a go. I used 500g flour and for the first 5 minutes kneaded the dough in the big mixer. A further 5 minutes by hand, then popped in the slow cooker lined with baking parchment (and on the high setting).....
After 45 minutes it had risen dramatically....
After 2 hours it looked like this...
I turned it over as the base was getting crisp and I wanted to brown the top a bit. A further 20 minutes and it was ready....
It was surprisingly tasty with soup, a bit crumbly but delicious and it made lovely toast served with a bit of real butter the next day. Not a bit was wasted so I'll definitely try it again, maybe made with oil instead of butter and with a little bit less sugar.
Whilst the bread was cooking I found a ready rolled sheet of puff pastry which needed using up so I made pizza slice with a base of chilli tomato puree, onion, green pepper, tomatoes, feta and a sprinkling of reduced herbs. This was my half .....
The remainder of the pastry made f''Eccles cakes (fake Eccles :) for OH's munchy attacks....
Have a lovely day everyone x
After 45 minutes it had risen dramatically....
After 2 hours it looked like this...
I turned it over as the base was getting crisp and I wanted to brown the top a bit. A further 20 minutes and it was ready....
It was surprisingly tasty with soup, a bit crumbly but delicious and it made lovely toast served with a bit of real butter the next day. Not a bit was wasted so I'll definitely try it again, maybe made with oil instead of butter and with a little bit less sugar.
Whilst the bread was cooking I found a ready rolled sheet of puff pastry which needed using up so I made pizza slice with a base of chilli tomato puree, onion, green pepper, tomatoes, feta and a sprinkling of reduced herbs. This was my half .....
The remainder of the pastry made f''Eccles cakes (fake Eccles :) for OH's munchy attacks....
Have a lovely day everyone x
Thursday, 2 November 2017
The Best Laid Plans....
Thank you all for the good wishes yesterday. It seems that many good women are born in November or under the strong sign of Scorpio :)
Well, yesterday didn't turn out to be the happy day we planned. It was Son-in-Law's 50th birthday on the day too (which was why we were planning on having a lovely meal together) but he had a phone call to say that his father, who was in hospital, had taken a turn for the worse. He passed away at 7.55am just before the family got there, so birthday celebrations were the last thing on SIL's mind. I felt very restless and fidgety so OH took us off for a drive in the car. We pushed SIL's cards through the door and stopped in the village for a pot of tea and a teacake on the way back.
Later on I had a text to say that the birthday meal was still on as the family needed to eat anyway but on arrival at the restaurant we discovered that the kitchen had no gas so couldn't prepare any food! For goodness sake what a day. DD quickly rang around to find a nearby pub which had a table free and we did eventually eat together albeit a bit more sombrely than we had intended. I didn't even fancy a glass of wine, I just had some water. Now that's a novelty!!
I don't envy DD & family the next couple of weeks. There's a heck of a lot of sorting out to do and already 'Big Sis' is being bossy, martyred and demanding all the sympathy....sigh....
End of BST
Since the clocks went back an hour at the end of British Summer Time, the nights are coming earlier and the mornings are colder and misty. We had a bit of frost yesterday morning and the fog was quite thick at 8pm last night whilst driving home. Winter is on it's way! Janice from Jan's Jabber blog was expecting their first snowfall in Alberta Canada. I love to see the first snowfall but get fed up quite quickly if I have to venture out in it. I need to make sure the cupboards are full of useful stuff to make quick meals from...just in case....
Do you like snow? Or is it a pain in the butt?
Stay warm and have a lovely day wherever you happen to be x
Well, yesterday didn't turn out to be the happy day we planned. It was Son-in-Law's 50th birthday on the day too (which was why we were planning on having a lovely meal together) but he had a phone call to say that his father, who was in hospital, had taken a turn for the worse. He passed away at 7.55am just before the family got there, so birthday celebrations were the last thing on SIL's mind. I felt very restless and fidgety so OH took us off for a drive in the car. We pushed SIL's cards through the door and stopped in the village for a pot of tea and a teacake on the way back.
Later on I had a text to say that the birthday meal was still on as the family needed to eat anyway but on arrival at the restaurant we discovered that the kitchen had no gas so couldn't prepare any food! For goodness sake what a day. DD quickly rang around to find a nearby pub which had a table free and we did eventually eat together albeit a bit more sombrely than we had intended. I didn't even fancy a glass of wine, I just had some water. Now that's a novelty!!
I don't envy DD & family the next couple of weeks. There's a heck of a lot of sorting out to do and already 'Big Sis' is being bossy, martyred and demanding all the sympathy....sigh....
End of BST
Since the clocks went back an hour at the end of British Summer Time, the nights are coming earlier and the mornings are colder and misty. We had a bit of frost yesterday morning and the fog was quite thick at 8pm last night whilst driving home. Winter is on it's way! Janice from Jan's Jabber blog was expecting their first snowfall in Alberta Canada. I love to see the first snowfall but get fed up quite quickly if I have to venture out in it. I need to make sure the cupboards are full of useful stuff to make quick meals from...just in case....
Do you like snow? Or is it a pain in the butt?
Stay warm and have a lovely day wherever you happen to be x
Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Another Milestone & A Bargain
Crikey... November 1st.... another new month and a step closer to Christmas. For me it's a special day because....
We popped out to buy fuel yesterday and whilst at Sainsbugs I used some of my Nectar points on wine for Christmas. They had an offer on of 25% off 6 bottles, which I was happy to take advantage of :) so, by using £22.50 worth of points, 6 bottles cost me the princely sum of 82p They will not be drunk before Christmas and one or two might be given as gifts, repeat....they will NOT be drunk before Christmas, they will NOT be drunk before Christmas :)
Have a lovely day everyone and thanks so much for popping in x
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