HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

Deep Joy Tiz!
Today's tip is if your internet connection goes down the repair is to switch everything off and go for a walk or find something else to do. Time heals all things! (If this doesn't do the trick it's probably the end of the world.)

[Stanley]

Today's tip is directed at all our 'leaders'. Do not misuse power, no matter who you are you are not above the law and in the end it will backfire on you.

[Stanley]

When the world starts to depress you, withdraw to your safe place and contemplate higher things. It's the only viable defence!

[Cathy]

[Marilyn]

OR go shopping. Don't forget the restorative effects...of going shopping. One cannot overstate them.

[Tizer]

Will window shopping do, Maz? Or does it have to include spending money?

[Stanley]

When shopping especially at Xmas, always bear in mind the first credit card account to arrive in the New Year.

[Stanley]

We are almost into December and many cooks will already be planning holiday menus. Today's tip is this.... For the benefit of both your wallet and health, bear in mind that people don't necessarily need to stuff themselves!

[Marilyn]

Exactly...be canny...less is more and no one really enjoys those food comas. I know we have some big eaters in our family though...

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

Today's tip is the product of bitter experience.
Years ago when we were dirt poor I bought an enormous goose off a man called Vince Whittaker at Stanbury above Keighley for 10/- for our Xmas dinner. I couldn't pluck it, impossible, so being a smart lad I skinned it instead. Came the day and it went in the oven overnight to cook slowly. Disaster, not only was it as tough as old boots but it was tasteless. We even tried currying it in the succeeding days but still inedible. Only one thing to do, take it to the pen and bury it. So I took advice.
Ernie Dawson told me it could easily have been 30 years old and the reason it was tasteless was because I'd skinned it. So today's tip, the flavour in a goose or duck comes from the skin, not the meat. Make sure it is a young bird, geriatric geese are not good meat!

[Marilyn]

That is hilarious...

[Stanley]

I agree, but educative!
At the time it was a disaster, spoiled Xmas Dinner!

[Marilyn]

See...things like that happen when Febby insists on cooking...
Even when things look and smell ok, I poke things and question him carefully....he only cooks when I am poorly...so my suspicions are naturally raised...

[Tizer]

My cousin's 14-year-old daughter was doing well at her school cookery classes and bringing home lovely meals which the family shared. Then suddenly it all changed and meals were unpleasant or not properly cooked. After making enquiries it turns out that teacher has left and someone has been standing in for her because they haven't been able to find a replacement (a common problem in our schools now). The stand-in is obviously not much of a cook and she was having the children put their different dishes all in the oven at the same temperature, so some were under-cooked! Mum had words with the head teacher and `steps will be taken'. Quite right too - some meals could have been hazardous!

[Stanley]

Ahh, remember the days when once a week the girls went to school carrying baskets?
If your budget is tight, never forget the value of dried marrowfat peas. Properly used they are the cheapest protein you can get!

[Stanley]

Still thinking about cooking on a budget.... A ham shank boiled is a very good base for some cheap soups. Just to be certain it's as well to boil the shank once in water and throw that away as the shank may be salty. As it happens, the ones I get from Brown's are OK and don't need this. Don't put any salt in the resulting soup before you have tasted it. De-fatted and boned the meat is the sweetest part of any ham!
To much 'offal' goes to waste, at one time a sheep's head used to be popular but I've never tried this. They tell me that oxtail is virtually unsaleable in some areas, I love it and Pig Cheek is good as well but very uncommon today, you have to ask for it. Pigs trotters are great for boiling with shin beef if you are making stew. They make the results glutinous and it sets beautifully. Good in stews as well once you have picked them out and got rid of the bones and skin and fat.
All these things are cheap and highly nutritious but so many go to waste.

[Tripps]

All these things are cheap and highly nutritious but so many go to waste.

They sell these things at Morrisons, but I wouldn't say they are cheap. A pair of trotters costs about £2, and Oxtail I'd say is very expensive for the amount of eatable meat on the bone. They even do a small tray of beef bones for stock, but again about £2.

My current bargain meat is a tin of Brazilian 'steak' which makes a good hash with onion, carrots and spuds . 'All meat a real treat' as they say. Cost about £1.59
Always keep a couple in the store cupboard.

[Stanley]

That's exploitation David. All those things are very cheap if not free at my local butcher's. If you ask any good butcher to save you chicken carcasses when they have dissected them for the convenient cuts favoured by shoppers today he should provide them free as you are getting rid of waste for him. They are of course excellent for rendering down into lovely rich chicken stock.

[Tizer]

Stanley wrote: ↑ Mon Dec 02, 2019 4:50 am

All these things are cheap and highly nutritious but so many go to waste.

They sell these things at Morrisons, but I wouldn't say they are cheap. A pair of trotters costs about £2, and Oxtail I'd say is very expensive for the amount of eatable meat on the bone. They even do a small tray of beef bones for stock, but again about £2.

The high price is probably because it's only wealthy `foodies' who buy them.

[Stanley]

I think that may be the explanation Tiz.
Today's tip is if your partner is painting the billiard table have a dish of sliced raw onion in the room, it affectively soaks up the smell of the solvent.

[Tripps]

Vegetarians look away now. . . .

trotters.jpg

bones.jpg

[Stanley]

Bloody hell David. Those prices are a rip off, you were right.
Today's tip is don't buy meat from a supermarket, cultivate a good local butcher and stick with him. Brown's would give me both those free on the grounds that it saves paying their waste contractor to take them away. Same applies to the chicken carcasses which make beautiful nourishing soup for the cost of cooking them.

[Stanley]

If you live in a cold climate remember that the best way to keep warm is to dress appropriately!

[Stanley]

Resign yourself to the fact that a duvet cover in the washer will swallow everything else in there. Spooky! It always happens.