TThis week I decided to make use of the 4lb of blackberries that David gathered from the clifftops the other week and, after collecting some of our neighbours' windfall apples, I had a go at making Bramble Jelly.
It was quite an adventure - household alchemy at its best as the juices dripped slowly through a jelly bag before being cooked with sugar and brought to that slightly terrifying violent boil that raises it to setting point, while the whole kitchen smells tantalisingly fruity!
The Bramble Jelly having proved succesful and the windfall apples being so plentiful I decided to try out a very frugal recipe for Apple and Orange Jam. I have a feeling that this may be a wartime recipe for a marmalade substitute, based as it is on apple puree and orange rinds. I have it written in my precious 'Recipes I Might Get Round To Trying One Day' notebook without a source, so I cannot be sure where it came from. It produced a lovely light golden 'mock marmalade' and I was delighted to see the peel evenly distributed throughout. Yes, sugar was severely rationed during the war, but an extra amount was allowed at jam-making time in order to help preserve some of the results of all that Digging for Victory with Mr. Middleton!
Deepest apologies for not bringing you an update on frugal bargains this week, but after a trip to catch up with friends and family it has taken a while to setle back into anything resembling a routine!
Here then are the highlights of this weeks bargains, though they may have expired by now - sorry!
ARGOS has an offer on a small, budget DAB radio (the old-fashioned Woolworths transistor radio of the digital age) at £24.99, but if you take them an old analogue radio in any condition they will knock a fiver off the price! The Item number is 500/5914 and the 'Radio Amnesty' discount code when taking them an old radio is 926/2533. Perfectly portable and saves you computer megabyte thingies if it costs you money to stream BBC Radio 7!
B & M has 2x1kg bags of granulated sugar for £1 - perfect for jam-making!
Also 200g Skinny Cow Mint Choc drink for 79p.
NETTO has a pack of 24 Cushelle (the artist formerly known as Charmin) loo rolls for £7;that's under 30p a roll.
Also a budget range swivel office chair at 11.99, but be warned, this is quite a low chair and is best suited to those of us who have have trouble reaching the ground even when we're standing up...!
They also have a box of 48 packs of Golden Wonder crisps for £3.49
John West Corned Beef just £1 a tin. Perfect for hash!
MORRISONS has a 3-pack of 170g cans of flaked tuna for £1. Fine for sandwiches etc.
Flora Buttery 500g is 84p.
ICELAND still has frozen veg for £1 and
Fray Bentos pies £1.
Hope this helps save a penny here and there!
This is a very fast and easy 'student' version of the classic recipe.
It can quickly be knocked up from store cupboard standbys, yet looks presentable and makes a great hot lunch or snack.
It can also serve as the basis of an ultra-fast dinner with the addition of a some vegetables or salad and some crusty bread (warmed, with garlic butter if you like).
Serves 2 as a lunch or supper dish, or up to 4 if served with plenty of veg etc.
Ingredients:
A tin of Tuna, drained. A standard 185g tin is plenty.
A cheap tin of Macaroni Cheese. A Value brand is fine.
A couple of Tablespoons of Sweetcorn, tinned or frozen.
A heaped Tablespoon or so of Breadcrumbs. Just grate a crust!
A little grated cheese, any variety, incuding goatsmilk. A level Tablespoon is plenty.
Method:
Empty the tuna and macaroni cheese into a saucepan and heat gently, adding the sweetcorn. Stir well to combine. Heat thoroughly.
Pour into an oven-proof casserole dish.
Top with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle the cheese over the top.
Pop in the oven, or halogen oven, (or under the grill if your dish will withstand it) at 200°C, 390°F, or Gas Regulo 6, for about 15 minutes or until the breadcrumbs have crisped and browned and the cheese has melted.
You could probably get away with using a cook's blowtorch at a push, provided the original mixture has been heated thoroughly beforehand!
Serve and enjoy.
Is it just me, or does Nigella seem to have finally morphed into the Ronni Ancona caricature of herself just lately?
A few bits worth looking for today...
ALDI
A generous 150g wedge of speciality cheese for just 99p
Our local branch had three varieties to choose from:
White Stilton with Apricots, Smokey Cheddar or Wensleydale with Chives and Onions.
10" Stonebaked Pizza for £1.49. Pepperoni or Ham and Pineapple were available, but others may be available.
150g of Marinated Smoked Salmon currently on promotion, so a 33% discount brings the price down to £2.29. This is the good stuff, fit for offering to vicars or prospective Mothers-In-Law!
Fresh Chicken Leg Quarters just 99p for a pack of two. Ok, it's not going to be organic or free-range for that price, but if it's bog standard chicken you want, it's pretty good value especially if you plan to smother it with a sauce.
Bread: White Square Sandwich Loaf is still only 30p.
Not the most exciting bread in the world perhaps, but ideal for comforting tea-time toast, or for making bread pudding, or even for filling up the freezer to keep it running economically, and at least it's edible unlike scrunched up newspaper!
Slightly more exciting is the Farmhouse Multigrain Batch Loaf at 85p.
And a quick reminder that Aldi Grandessa Jams and Marmalades have been winning awards for taste and quality, and are among the best value anywhere! Prices start at 59p
ICELAND
Still have a variety of 1kg bags of frozen veg for £1.
They also have a number of Young's products such as Admiral's Pie for £1 while their own individual ready meals start at 75p. Always a useful standby for a cold-weather lunch or supper.
MORRISONS
Shreddies 750g are on a BOGOF. At £2.39 they are not the cheapest cereal, but nothing beats the taste of the original version, and the less expensive copy-cat products usually come in a much smaller 500g box.
Simpson's Tinned Sponge Puddings (similar to H***z) are currently 2 for £1. Available flavours locally were Sticky Toffee, Strawberry and Chocolate.
Lancaster Corned Beef at £1.20 per 340g tin is a good quality product at a very reasonable price. Put it in the fridge for a few hours before opening for ease of slicing. This size tin comfortably makes a couple of rounds of sandwiches plus a good quantity of Corned Beef Hash without any trouble. Remember to save any fat from the can for frying your Hash. Ah, those good old Ministry of Food leaflets!
Alpro 1l Soya Drink is still only 83p.
4 pints 1% Fat Milk (Purple Top) is back on offer at just 50p. Perfectly good for tea and coffee and custards etc, even if you prefer a less skimmed milk on your cereal! I think this works out cheaper than buying dried milk!
Danepak Bacon, 6 Thick Cut Rashers (220g) £1.45. Normally £3, so this is better than half-price.
POUNDLAND
Nutella 200g in the plain drinking glass! A classic! Don't ask the price...
I used to buy this gorgeous goo when my children were young and it used to come in a decorated glass that featuered the cultural icons (for the under 10s!) of the era. Occasionally they brought out the product in a plain but elegant drinking glass as well, and that is the version Poundland has. I liked them too because they were fairly small (for my little hands, never mind the kids'!) I still have my Scooby Doo glass, but Bart Simpson went the way of all glassware a few months ago.
I shall buy the odd jar of this whilst thay have it in stock just so I can add to my supply of dinky glasses. I know I could probably buy the bigger screw-top jars at a lower-per-gram price elsewhere, but I shall kid myself that I'm doing my bit for the planet by re-using the glass instead of recycling a jar. Oh and I shall enjoy emptying it too...!
I have had a wonderfully domestic day today catching up on my housework and, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it!
I suppose it is an indication of just how far the house has progressed in its journey towards the completion of its renovation and refurbishment that it is actually possible to get it looking like something approaching respectable these days, although I am aware that we still have a long way to go. For example, we currently have an open-plan bathroom...the door would have been fitted by now except that I changed my mind about having the door opening inwards and now want it to open outwards. This obviously entails modifications to the doorframe (sorry David!) and because of a peculiarity of the floorboards outside the bathroom requires the fitting of rising butt hinges which can't be got locally, it seems.
It would be acting very much against our frugal instincts to make a special journey just for rising butt hinges, so the door won't get fitted for a week or two yet - I just hope the vicar doesn't call while I'm in the bath...!
Anyway, I tidied and sorted and polished and mopped and vacuumed for all I was worth today, and scrubbed the bathroom vinyl on my hands and knees to make the white squares white and the black squares black, as well as doing a couple of loads of washing and getting them pegged out, dried and put away (okay, I haven't ironed the T-shirts and trousers yet) as it has been such a gorgeous drying day.
The sun is now an orange disc lowering towards the horizon, and the sky is a multi-layered candy floss sandwich of pinks and oranges, purples and mauves, reflected in a dead calm sea - impossible to photograph with my unsophisticated point-and-shoot, so you'll just have to imagine unfortunately...
The dinner is bubbling away in anticipation of David coming home and I've even remembered to put the beans to soak for tomorrow's meal!
I can't remember the last time I had such a satisfying day, and it makes me feel very contented even though I know the tidiness won't last long unless I follow David around picking up and cleaning up after him as he works on the house!
God willing, once the house is all done, there will be more days like today, and it will be less of a marathon job to keep the house looking more like a home and less like a building site!
