My local u3a
My local u3a has a rental year that begins on April 1st, so I've been very busy this month processing those. It's amazing how many people still pay their subscriptions using a cheque - I can't remember the last time I wrote one. It's got to be several years ago!
The Reading List
I've been reading some great books lately. It's my turn to choose the book and host the meeting for the book club this month and I chose The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams.
The back cover says
When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life’s about to change. He meets Aleisha, a reluctant librarian and the keeper of a curious reading list – just a scrappy piece of paper with the names of 9 stories. It doesn’t seem anything special. Yet something tells her to keep it close . . . Story by story, Mukesh and Aleisha work their way through the list – their worries slipping away with every encounter, with every world discovers in their unlikely book club of two.
The reading list is a hand written list that pops up in various places and we don't know who wrote it until very near the end. It’s headed ‘Just in case you need it’ and consists of 8 books
- Just in case you need it
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Rebecca
- The Kite Runner
- Life of Pi
- pride and Predjudice
- Little Women
- Beloved
- A Suitable Boy
The books are talked about in The Reading List and it made it so much more interesting that I have read all of them except Beloved. I think I’ve even got that one tucked away somewhere! I loved this book. The characters are so real, I felt I knew them. I wanted to reach out and lend a helping hand when they struggled, and cuddle them and cheer them on when they did well.
Many reviewers say that it is a love letter to books and the power of connection, and I would completely agree with that. If you love books, I think you’ll like this one.
The u3a Treasurer has a friend whose husband works at a book publisher. He brings home boxes and boxes of books that are draft copies and not for sale. She brings them along to the u3a meetings, we donate a £ or two to u3a funds, read them and and bring them back. I pass them among my friends, but we can't pass them on to a charity shop as they can't be sold.
In this way, I have read lots of very new books that I otherwise wouldn't have done until they were much cheaper to buy.
Nail Polishes
I have been having a clear out of things I don't use. Included in that were some expensive hair products and at least 50 nail polishes. It's not that I don't like them, I just never actually use them and they've been just been sat in the cupboard. So I thought the best thing was to pass them on to someone else that would love them.
I took the rather large carrier bag to a coffee morning and the hair products all went, and a few of the nail polishes. Still had loads left.
The community choir that I am a member of is run by a very glamorous female musician who gigs as a background singer for Will Young amongst others and has rather an exotic life, so when I went to practice on Sunday evening I took the nail polishes along with me.
Angela does a great deal for our local community and is generally a lovely and generous person.
When I showed the nail polishes to her and asked if she could make use of them, her eyes lit up and she was very pleased to take them. Great! It gives me a lovely buzz to pass something I have no further use for on to someone who will appreciate them, especially when that person does so much for the community. Plus it frees up that space, which is always a bonus.
Recent Recipe Makes
Mixed Vegetable Roulade
This is a delicious mixed vegetable roulade making use of what might be a wasted part of a cauliflower, together with pumpkin or butternut squash. Made into a tasty sponge, then rolled and filled with a creamy egg and mayonnaise filling, with shredded lettuce for crunch. My rolling didn't work very well this time, but it still tasted fabulous!
Use any leftovers for lunch in the next day or two. Many many flavour variations are possible.
Aubergine Parmigiana
Made an Aubergine Parmigiana last night, first time I've done that for a very long time. I'll be updating the post soon, but in the meantime, here's the old one.
What I've been making in previous April's
Bacon, Olive and Cheese Loaf Cake
A savoury loaf cake stuffed full of bacon or ham, olives and cheese. It can be used for all occasions. Perfect for using up odds and ends from the fridge too
Baquettes to make at the weekend
Crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, and with lovely texture that's chewy and delicious. A pretty fool proof recipe too!
BBQ Pizza
I really fancied bbq pizza one day, and came up with this! I loved it :)
Cranberry and cashew nut roast
This delicious nut roast can be enjoyed all year round and is from our sister site
I published an ebook for meal plan 1 in August 2021 and am delighted that many people have thought it was worth getting. I repriced it again in June 2022 and it was still holding on, even in these scary times. Now we are in September and prices have shifted again and
I've managed to get my head around WooCommerce so I can feature it on the blog and you can find it here.
I was busy recooking, photographing and updating the recipes for Meal Plan 2 and putting them into an ebook as well. The meal plan was first written in 2013 and still prices up, which is fabulous and that is finally complete. The book is done now too, prices seem to be stable enough to do it.
I'm well into creating an e-book from the Stretch A Chicken To Last A Week series, hope it won't be long before it's finished. I've just got a little left to do on it, but haven't got to it for ages now, hoping to finish it soon.
Do come and say hello on the Fantastically Frugal Food Facebook group, or the Sensational Slimming Sustenance group. I'd love to see you. Lots of useful tips, recipes and ideas. The over 17,000 membership are brilliant, brimming with talent.
And don't forget Thrifty Lesley, where there are 800+ recipes of fantastically frugal food and many weekly meal plans. And Cheap Family Recipes where you can find all kinds of delicious things that don't cost much, with two family monthly meal plans.
I've also got a few YouTube videos up, not many yet, but I'm planning to do more. I've done a couple more, need to edit them now. So much to do, so little time!
With all best wishes, until next time
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