Day off

Having a night off from blogging today as I am not feeling terribly robust!  

Back tomorrow, and hoping to have some photos of the pud I made tonight for you.

Holocaust Memorial Day

(image from union-news.co.uk)

The minister who came to take the service this morning spoke very movingly about Holocaust Memorial Day, and we lit candles and we "remembered".  I put that in inverted commas, because few of us at the chapel these days are actually old enough to have heard about it at the time, but the rest of us know about it from our school history lessons, from films like Schindler's List, and the book, Schindler's Ark, and from the stories of those we know who are old enough to have known.  Some of the younger members have read the stories through the Anne Frank diaries.

We have a very old friend, who was in the Russian army at the time the camps were liberated, and he was there when one in particular was freed.  He told the FH all about it, in some of their quiet chats together over the years.  The FH has also been to Germany, and to the camps, and told us about it this morning at the chapel.

It is very very important that these events ARE remembered, by those who were there, and by those who have told their stories so that the rest of the world can know, and by knowing, prevent such things happening again, if we can.  We can honour the dead, and give thanks for their lives, their struggles and their faith.  We must learn, all of us, that we are all equal, and that no one has the right to set themselves above anyone else.  God loves every one of us in the same way, and we are all created equal, as Paul reminds us in his letters.

Tiffin recipe

The bread may have been a disaster that even the chickens turned their noses up at, but the Tiffin was rather good, and the ladies at the chapel loved it on Thursday and Friday this week, so I feel confident to share the recipe, even though I can't taste it myself....

The ingredients:

8oz margerine or butter

4tbsp sugar

4tbsp golden syrup

3tbsp cocoa

1 lb digestive biscuits, smashed up into small pieces

3oz raisins and/or cherries

1 lb chocolate, [mixture of dark and milk] melted

It is very easy.  First, I took a large saucepan and melted the butter with the sugar, syrup and cocoa on the stove.  Whilst that was melting, I bashed the biscuits up, and then when the melting was all done, I added the biscuits and the raisins to the saucepan and gave it a jolly good stir up.  All of this was turned out into a greaseproof lined Swiss roll tin and pressed down hard with a fork.  I put this in the fridge for about 45 minutes to firm up, and then I melted some Lidl's chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water, and poured it all over the base mixture, smoothing it out with a knife dipped in hot water.  That went back in the fridge for another hour, and then I cut it up into quite small pieces, as it is very rich.  

No baking involved, simple to make and really quite basic ingredients that are usually in the store cupboard, and if one uses value or Lidl versions of the product, very cheap to make.  I must take a photo when we make it again!

Pins and needles

I went to Pinterest and found the recipe I was looking for, and I will share it if it works!  Pinterest is a lovely idea, as it means I can save a library of recipes and ideas for things to make in a virtual library on the internet, and it takes up no storage on my shelves.  Best of all, it is indexed my way, according to my "boards" and so I can find things according to the way I think.  And the things I have pinned to my boards are stored so that I can retrieve them by their pictures.....I love it!

I follow a couple of people whose tastes I admire but I wish I had their ability with the needles - I have a board full of felted items, and another of patchwork and quilted things, but that board is more just things to look at and admire, because I haven't a hope of getting my hands to make them at the moment.  Maybe I will develop more patience in my old age...

Edit at 10.55pm: It didn't work, so I will have to try again before I share it.  On the other hand, a recipe for Tiffin worked wonderfully, so I can share that tomorrow!

Shopping update

(image from eatingwell.com)

In need of some fruit and veg, I went to the Co-op after a school meeting last night.

On the receipt are:

Frozen broccoli £1.59

Frozen cauliflower £1.50

Frozen green beans £1.29

Fresh broccoli £1.15

Carrots £0.50

Fairtrade Bananas £1.60

1kg box of clementines £3.00

That makes a total spend of £10.72 on those items.

I do find that the Co-op is more expensive than the other supermarkets - the fresh broccoli would have been quite a bit less in Tesco although not a lot less in Sainsbury's, and the bananas would have been £1 in Tesco. The frozen beans are cheaper though, by about 20p, and I also had the convenience of driving right past this store twice last night, so it was absolutely free in terms of fuel costs, as I was passing anyway.  The other supermarkets would have wiped out any savings I could have made on the purchases with the extra fuel it would have taken to get to them.

We haven't bought any cheese this month as we are still eating the blocks we bought from Rosspa before Christmas.  I was disappointed to hear of the closing down of the Rosspa website, although I understand that the Farm shop from which it operated is still trading.  They provided good quality products at reasonable prices, so it is a shame.  Approved Foods continues to flourish, I believe, although I know that Big Brands For Less has ceased to trade and their website now redirects to Approved Foods.

I'm off to Pinterest now to find a bread recipe I pinned ages ago, as I want to make some bread to go with the Leek & Potato soup I have just made for supper.

Flowing our way

News this morning from the chap who has been helping with the laptop issues - he has put it on eBay and had an offer on it!  Whosoever buys a laptop carcass with no hard drive and no working power, I don't know, but after expenses [for the chap rebuilding the hard drive into an external hard drive for us to use, and the eBay fees], we will get £30+ back!  

This month is being extremely tight and I was beginning to be concerned about failing in my target to save £750 a month with the extra costs I have had this month - like the £292 car insurance payment - and I sat down yesterday and worked out the remaining commitments to pay this month, against the remaining income, and it didn't look nice - we had about £40 left over to do food and petrol with if we were still to achieve the savings [do-able but challenging, as the FH's car hasn't had any petrol since before Christmas and Needs some!].  The promise of this little boost means that we have a little more wiggle room, although I don't anticipate spending all of it, don't worry!

So, we will achieve our target of £750 by the end of the month but we won't manage any more than that this month, which is a little disappointing, but I have to be thankful on two counts - one, that we have the income to make this saving possible at all, as I know a lot of people don't, and two, that it has been possible to save even that amount, and still pay the car insurance bill!

On the subject of insurance, I always pay the full amount at the time of renewal as so many companies charge you extra for the convenience of paying monthly, so we try to make sure we can pay the whole amount. to avoid credit charges.

Meals for the week ahead

(image from momables.com)

Inspired by recollections of dumplings at Angela's blog, I thought I had better make some plans for the rest of the week.

Gymnastics is cancelled tonight, and actually, if I had my way, I would cancel everything extra-curricular this week and just stay at home.  I hate driving in these conditions, and dread going out on icy roads.

Anyway, here's the plan for the next few days:

Tuesday - Corned beef hash - nice and warming on a cold day!

Wednesday - Leek & potato soup - Yes, again!  Still got a couple of leeks left and this is about the only way I can get people to eat them, and I love this soup.  The folks will get HM bread with it too.

Thursday - Chicken casserole

Friday - Veggie stew with cheesy dumplings

Saturday - Mixed bean soup from last week's menu - and then a home made pudding, perhaps a crumble.

That is all pretty cheap and cheerful, based around what we have in the house/freezer/storecupboard.  I do need more fruit and veg already but that may have to wait until I go out tomorrow afternoon - we have frozen veg and tinned fruit, so we won't get scurvy yet.

Just need to remember to buy the beans this week!