Chiddfest
The choir I am in - The Cake and Wine Club Choir - went to Chiddfest on Friday.
I bought a sparkly hat and we sang our hearts out for an hour. We had to car share and my passengers wanted to go earlier than I did. So I think next year I'll go on my own and stay for much longer, maybe even stay there. I'll need to hire a camper van or something!
Workshop and Potting Shed
Mike has got a lovely new workshop to play in. I don't think he realises how strict I'm going to be about all his tools and stuff! He now has our single garage, the summer house AND the workshop. So I don't want piles of tools and bits and pieces indoors anymore, I'm sick of looking at them!
My potting shed was literally being held up by the greenhouse. It was tilting right over and the floor had become a bit dangerous to walk on. So I've got a lovely new one coming on Tuesday.
As we had to empty everything out to take the old one down, we took the opportunity to sort through everything and got rid of a lot of clutter.
Can't wait!
Painting at the pub
I went to Paint and Sip again last week. This month we were doing a wolf's head. The picture above is my effort, and the picture below is the one we were trying to copy.
I am pretty pleased with it, except I would rather it had more of a blue black background, rather than the yellowy colour he got us to use. But still, overall, very happy.
Next month is a pheasant and I'm def going to have a go at that, and another one in their back catalogue is an aubergine, which I'd really like to do
Unripe Apples
Do you have an apple tree, or access to forage one?
I have 2 small trees laden with far more apples than the tree will be able to ripen and they are starting to drop the excess
I’ve been thinning out a few very small and unripe fruits and simmering them in a saucepan, just removing the stalk, with a little water and a little sugar
Once they’ve burst open, I whizz them, core, pips and all and get this khaki purée
It is very flavoursome, not bitter at all
Today I mixed some loganberries from the garden with some thick Greek yogurt, a splash of maple syrup and two big dollops of apple purée.
It's absolutely divine!
What I've been making in previous July's
Peanut Oat Cakes with Roasted Onion & Green Pea Hummus
This recipe came about when I was challenged to create an 8th day on Meal Plan 1 using remaining groceries. It was indeed quite a challenge trying to come up with a days eating from this and that. I’m really quite pleased with these!
Easy Poached Pears Without Alcohol
Poached pears are usually simmered in a red or white wine and water syrup. Wine being the obviously most expensive ingredient, the usual alcohol was replaced in this easy poached pears recipe with value apple juice which costs just 11p (the pink tinge in the image came from a tiny bit of red wine in the bottom of a bottle). Using wine would bump up the cost considerably
Puchka Tart - What's That?
This recipe came from Anjam Anands book, I ❤️ Curry. Anjam’s recipe uses small puris and puts a couple of chick peas, a small piece of potato, a quarter teaspoon of tamarind chutney, the same of herb chutney and a dribble of yogurt inside each puri. I have made these a couple of times before and they are utterly gorgeous, fabulous flavours. There is the crunch of the puri, a little heat of chilli, fresh and vibrant herbs and a creamy finish from the yogurt. Wonderful.
When making them, I was pretty sure it would work as a main course in a pastry case. And let me tell you, it worked beautifully. The pastry case could have been a little less crisp, and was actually better the next day when it had softened a little.
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've finally completed the e-book from the Stretch A Chicken To Last A Week series. Took me absolutely ages to finish it off!
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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