Topic: How's everyone doing?

[galina]

Very happy too that old friends Gazza, Peanuts, Jayb and Jeannine are with us again.   

I have also been wondering what happened at the sunshine coast, where everything seems to grow enviably well, although I am sure it is really mostly down to talent and dedication.  His Christmas greetings were the last message on here.  Hope all is well.  Also that Davholla is fit again after his illness.   

You might get strange requests Gazza on how to turn store cupboard pilchards, cabbage and some sprouted garlic that was missed last year on the plot, into a gourmet lockdown dish.      

[Obelixx]

Got potatoes?   make some garlic mash then add to the pilchards/sardines to make these fish cakes and serve with shredded cabbage sautéed wit some caraway seeds

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/feelgood-fish-cakes

[galina]

Fishcakes is a wonderful idea Obelixx, yes still plenty of potatoes in store. 

[MervF]

Nice to see you back Gazza.   I was only thinking about you the other day and wondered where you were.   Not sure if you knew we all got moved from Wimborne - I am now down at Fleetsbridge.   Hope all is well.

[gazza1960]

Thank you for saying hello.....its good to be back among what I considered friends,and yes of course I did some fishing but the river end of season coincided with the dreaded lurgy arriving but sea angling I was just getting back into a bit of beach fishing in jan feb as after my shoulder op I could not cast for months but was beginning to get into it again then....I had my orders......stayhome,....so that's it.....as the photos I shared have all gone due to them wanting fees I guess no food sharing will be done.....I have been sharing recipes now and again here and there on FB but I am unable to use the media I used before to load pics on here......never mind.

and yes good to see some old names from the past resurfacing......and that's fantastic news if ACE has turned his type 2 around.

[gazza1960]

Thank you for saying hello.....its good to be back among what I considered friends,and yes of course I did some fishing but the river end of season coincided with the dreaded lurgy arriving but sea angling I was just getting back into a bit of beach fishing in jan feb as after my shoulder op I could not cast for months but was beginning to get into it again then....I had my orders......stayhome,....so that's it.....as the photos I shared have all gone due to them wanting fees I guess no food sharing will be done.....I have been sharing recipes now and again here and there on FB but I am unable to use the media I used before to load pics on here......never mind.

and yes good to see some old names from the past resurfacing......and that's fantastic news if ACE has turned his type 2 around.

Hello Merv,oh right...yes my ears were burning mate......oh ok...Fleetsbridge....errrrrr and that is where I cant think and just asked Jude and got the same ...I dunno back from her.....anyway good to hear your well.

[MervF]

Thank you for saying hello.....its good to be back among what I considered friends,and yes of course I did some fishing but the river end of season coincided with the dreaded lurgy arriving but sea angling I was just getting back into a bit of beach fishing in jan feb as after my shoulder op I could not cast for months but was beginning to get into it again then....I had my orders......stayhome,....so that's it.....as the photos I shared have all gone due to them wanting fees I guess no food sharing will be done.....I have been sharing recipes now and again here and there on FB but I am unable to use the media I used before to load pics on here......never mind.

and yes good to see some old names from the past resurfacing......and that's fantastic news if ACE has turned his type 2 around.

Hello Merv,oh right...yes my ears were burning mate......oh ok...Fleetsbridge....errrrrr and that is where I cant think and just asked Jude and got the same ...I dunno back from her.....anyway good to hear your well.

The entrance to the site is right opposite the Fleetsbridge pub going from the roundabout down Wimborne Road towards Poole and stretches down to the Army Cadet hut just past the few shops on the right.

[pumkinlover]

gazza it doesn't cost anything to post photos on here.
(Says she getting ready to drool!)

[Obelixx]

Lockdown in France has been extended to May 11.  Week 5 starts tomorrow.   OH is going to get a really good garden workout taming this plot to become a productive fruit and veg garden with pretty bits too.

[Jeannine]

Very cheap recipe using just a 1/4 can of corn beef if you have potatoes and onions.Not corned beef hash but an oven variatiion of Scottish stovies, I call it Yorkshire stovies.

Cube potatoes into a casserole dish, abdout 4 alrge ones, but it is flexible.

Add chopped onions, I use 1/3rd onions to potaoes on this one..at least.

1/4 of the can of corn beef.Don;t use too much.

Add salt, taking into consideration there is some in the beef , add pepper to taste, I use a lot in this one.

Add a little water, not much, the fluid will come out of the veggies, so don't overdo it, you can add more later.

Pop into a slowish oven, again flexible.

You are aiming for  a lumpy mash, stir it a few times gently, some of the spuds will break down and some not so much. If it seems wet leave the lid off , if dry add a wee bit of water.

You don't want it wet and you don't want too dry,

The secret is in the amount of onions which sweeten it and the pepper which fires it,,good combo.

In the war my mother would get a cherished can of corn beef,First day she would  do corn beef sandwiches with home made veggie soup, second day she woud make corn beef fritters with chips, and the third day she made this dish.It fed four of us for 3 days.

I tend to do something with it these days like baked chicken, but I love it just as it is.

back to the post,,how is everyone.. me and mine are just fine..I have had some funny substitutions on my delivered grocery order, I asked for a chicken and got a 23 pound turkey so I fed me and mine that live on the two houses on our property. and passed plates over the fence to the 2 batchelors from next door. I had a cheese sandwich,,I hate turkey!!  My daughters fave dessert is bread and butter pudding with custard which I also did and the guys over the fence loved it.

The funniest sub, I have had with my groceries..I asked for panty liners and got incontinence underwear. LOL Maybe  if push came to shove they may make good all over face masks if things got too bad!!

Stay safe everyone.. XX Jeannine

.

[Tee Gee]

Ahhhh! stovies loved them during the war

Regarding the wet or dryness of them I used to like both types, what I found was the water to potatoes ratio was key to what you ended up with....lots of potatoes= lumpy stovies....a few potatoes ( that were sliced rather than cubed) ended up as el- dente fritters.  Booooootiful

Then soup there was an art to that to when it come to consistency e.g broth,soup,or consommé. The broth was first day soup,the soup was second day broth watered down and consommé was third day soup watered down yet again.

But in all three you got the marinated flavours particularly on 2nd & 3rd day versions.

I also remember if corned beef was not available my mother would tell me to call into the butchers on my way home from school to see had any ham bones!

I always said that the only good thing that got out of these types of meals was the steam the contents were all eaten. Is it any wonder that that the Bisto manufactures used a vapour trail in their ads?

Ah! Those were the days!

[cambourne7]

doing well but rather over doing it in garden have. it stopped since friday and have filled willie bin, two brown sacks and two black sacks of garden waste and recycling. Maybe another two days of graft needed but my back was screaming at me last night so i am having a pj day!!

That said i might nip out and sow more peas and carrots :)

Make chicken soup last night and pulled some carrots one was a deformed monster but the core was woody and it went into the recycling pile, a few had been eaten so nematodes for slugs going into bed for this year.

Two lots of raspberry canes have been delivered and are soaking in a bucket and will be planted tomorrow:)

[markfield rover]

For the past week up the plot while sat under the damson tree ,with the gentlest of breezes being covered in blossom like being in a snow globe , what a privilege it is to have an allotment.

[Jeannine]

Hey Tee Gee, so glad to hear someone else apprciates gourmet cooking..do you eat tripe too, cooked in white sauce with onions and potatoes, and faggotts,,I still do those. Oh and I jyst not forget my mothers best souo, we called it Yorkshire broth as it was simialr to Scotch broth but made woth pork hock, they were cooked till the neat fell from the bone, the pork skin was very gelatinous and I loved it,of course onions carrotts etc and  dry souo mix, with dried peas, lentils and barley, plus extra barley. I still make it but I do add cream. { have made this one for the homrless dinner I cook for, I remove the skin andnput i through the blender then put ut back. They loved it.

[George the Pigman]

Jeaninne that sounds wonderful! I love pork hock-the most flavoursome part of the beast! .
We have found that as time goes on more small shops are realising that delivery is the way forward to literally save their bacon so we can get most basic stuff through. However my cousin who is disabled and lives in a very small town in Yorkshire has more problems getting stuff.
Also the garden centres are realising that to keep their business going they need to set up delivery systems. We have an excellent one in North Worcestershire that has already delivered me compost and fertiliser etc. Soon they will be selling bedding plants.
Our allotment has also set up a safe system for supplying goods from the shop although it's beginning to run out of stock.
Everyone on the allotment is very sensible about the procedures set up to keep us safe but I have had rubbish dumped at the back of the plot which I suspect comes from one of the house backing on to us. It's probably garden waste as the recycling sites are shut but I'm not going to open it to find out!!

[Jeannine]

Hi George, no, don't open it, it is probably full of baby disposable diapers(nappies) or do you cam then diapers now. I got out of my car a few weeks ago and skidded on one left in the carpark, it was no fun. Odd here as we just don't get litter in the streets.


The only problem with grocery delivery is that the site is throughout BC so there is one long list, however some of the stores don't sell everything so it can get funny sometimes if I forget to hit the no substitution tab. Last week I got a 24lb turket instead of a chicken and I hate turkey.

We have some shortages as I think most places do, toilet tissue of course, and a lot of convenience food but as I don't buy that I seem to be doing OK. Flour and yeast is short but again I am well stocked.  I laugh a little because the folks who live on convenience foods are trying to make their bread now. Oh well, that is good.

I don't want to sound negative but I think this is going to go on for a long time so we have to get used to the long haul.A bit like going to war, we already have rationing.I will have to blow the dust off my wartime recipe books if it keeps up, but not yet, my meat  freezer is full, I couldn't find space for an OXO cube in there. of course we can't get Oxo cubes here LOL. I have about 2 cubit foot in the freezer above my fridge and that is filled too, it usually has frozen peas, a box i keep fish in and the Hagen Das icecream but it is stuffed too now, so I ain't gonna go hungry.

I have a friend whose husband is a cop, his partner has the virus and his 5 year old died from it just a few days ago. How do you come back from something like that.

They reckon it started with one person in a Chinese market. Maybe I am not very bright but the way I see it of all this can come from 1 person it would seem to me that if 1 person is left..we could begin all over again.

You are lucky your garden centre is delivering. I bought some bags of manure etc several weeks ago and asked if they could deliver, they did but charged me $25..I wonder if they would today. Many seed suppliers are selling out so it is good to have a stash. I have been trying to get on Real Seeds site for 3 weeks but they open for just an hour a day.

I was so mad last week. I had peas, a few varieties from the Uk that I can't get here and quite old seed, so I tested them and got good germination,  I soaked the rest for a while and sowed them. I watched and watched and nothing, so sneaked a peep and could not see anything, I left it a few days longer and looked again..nothing at all. I ended up raking all the soil and no sign of even 1 seed, so I think our resident rat Roland has been firkling.. I did find some more so I will have to take them to plants this time. Drat that rat!!

Stay safe everyone and give special time to those you love... XX Jeannine

[gazza1960]

gazza it doesn't cost anything to post photos on here.
(Says she getting ready to drool!)

It seems the photo media I used has finished and trying to load using my pictures  are too big as this sites load capacity is way to small...plus my PC is on the verge of shutting as this lap top is years old....so going to get a new one soon and maybe try again.

[daveyboi]

I apologise for going off topic here

Don't forget to vote in the photo competition if you haven't yet done so

Just 2 days left so time to make up your mind which three to vote for

https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,82733.0.html

[BarriedaleNick]

It seems the photo media I used has finished and trying to load using my pictures  are too big as this sites load capacity is way to small...plus my PC is on the verge of shutting as this lap top is years old....so going to get a new one soon and maybe try again.

I sue Imgur.com for hosting images - free to use - no limits... been around for quite a while..

[George the Pigman]

Yes Jeannine I think we are in for a long haul. Until they get a reliable vaccine its likely to come back again and again.
I have been able to order seeds online although many products are out of stock. Lots of other online products are out of stock too including, surprisingly, gym equipment! Since all the gyms are shut people are ordering stuff to keep healthy at home.
Over here more wholesalers are realising that to keep afloat they have to start switching to retail sales so that has opened up some alternatives. However this seems to be more in the major cities and towns and people in rural areas and small towns and villages have less options. I have a cousin who lives in a small seaside town in Yorkshire that is struggling to get deliveries.
The big supermarkets have generally lost it as regards deliveries. They have a list of vulnerable (but not necessarily just elderly) people they have to prioritise but it seems many have been missed off the list-probably because they have never ordered before and don't have an email address - since it seems to be based on the latter.
I have still got my mum's old cookery books from the war and the period of rationing after it. I've even got my old rationing card I had just after I was born. Don't think it's valid now !!