2009 the big Selfsufficientish Year - one month challenge

[Ron and Jean]

Why not freeze the borage flowers in ice cubes use later. Really nice to have a splash of summer in a drink once the days are shorter.

[Millymollymandy]

What's in it anyway - does it already have butter rubbed into it? I'd never even HEARD of the stuff before!

I'm sure the French have puff pastry..wonder what it's called?

You rub in 1/4 of the butter into the flour, make up the pastry with cold water. Roll it out into a rectangle, butter up the top 2/3 with knobs of butter. Fold the bottom third up onto the butter and the top buttered bit down then roll out again and repeat (endlessly, yawn) so that when it cooks it grows hugely and there are lots of flakes. Messy to eat!

No I meant the crumble mix!

In France you can get ready made flaky pastry or filo pastry but puff doesn't seem to exist. They also have a sweet pastry for tarts and one that just resembles hard soggy cardboard which is their version of shortcrust but is absolutely vile.

The only good thing about French pastry is that it comes in an already cut perfect rolled out circle, so you just shove it straight into your flan tin. But as it is so awful that is no benefit to mankind.

[Flo]

The only good thing about French pastry is that it comes in an already cut perfect rolled out circle, so you just shove it straight into your flan tin. But as it is so awful that is no benefit to mankind.

But it's meant for the idle female chef who probably can't make it any better herself What's good for mankind is the best meal his female kind can produce.

There seems to be a bit of a theme here in that some people are not particularly good at cooking even if they can produce a plentiful harvest from the garden, allotment, balcony, tubs or by foraging. Else why would some of us know about packets of crumble mix and pastry?

We'd be no better cooks if the supermarket or local shop had never been invented.

So a challenge to be self sufficient for any time at all can be a bit of a trial if we are lacking in cooking, growing, foraging or bartering skills.

[Peggy Sue]

[quote="Millymollymandy
No I meant the crumble mix!

:[/quote]

Ah that I can believe

[Millymollymandy]

Blackberry and apple crumble tonight Flo and just for you I am going to time myself making the crumble topping.

You don't need to be a good cook to make it! You can even do the rubbing in with a food processor, but I don't cos I can't be bothered to wash the damn thing - easier to wash my hands.

[Peggy Sue]

You can even do the rubbing in with a food processor, but I don't cos I can't be bothered to wash the damn thing - easier to wash my hands.

Now thats exactly why I don't use a food processor. I got a sausage maker by my word it takes four times as long to clean it and reassemble it as it does to make sausages- thats going back on freecycle!

[Flo]

Wouldn't be without the food processor when I'm doing large batches of soup in the stock pot for the freezer. Oh and I think the processor makes disgusting crumble - better made by hand.

You see - I can but I'm often idle and more often overworked. Like this morning. Took rhubarb out of freezer to defrost whilst doing latest bulk recipe, tipped defrosted rhubarb into dish and added crumble from packet, stuck it in top oven to cook and continued with the latest batch which was ready to stick in containers for freezer just as the crumble was ready. I know I'm clever but I do still only have one set of hands despite having more than one thing to do at once.

Looking at how things are going at the moment, I'll probably be more self sufficient next month than I shall this month as the cooking that I'm doing seems to be one meal for me and three for the freezer.

Didn't do enough spuds this year by a mile but at the price of spuds, I'd rather grow strawberries, raspberries, dwarf beans, runner beans, calabrese, purple sprouting broccoli, pea pods, leeks, salad items and parsnips which are mostly easy enough to grow but costly in the shops. Other plot holders have gone in for bulk brassicas, onions, leeks and potatoes and not a lot else. The new comers amongst us are far more willing to have a go at new things even if we are not youngsters.

So yes I have had to buy some spuds to make up the bulk recipes. I'm not sure about freezing pasta soups but suppose that it is something to explore for the future. However most of the bulk cooking I've done is based on vegetarian potato soup/stew recipes because these are the ones that I know from a child upwards. Still that is not to say that things can't change is it? But I'd still have to buy the pasta. Swings and roundabouts there.

[Peggy Sue]

Looking at how things are going at the moment, I'll probably be more self sufficient next month than I shall this month as the cooking that I'm doing seems to be one meal for me and three for the freezer.

Yes it's the month I need lots of sugar for jam and blackberry/sloe gin, and vinegar too for chutneys, oils for making sauces and bases.

Oh and more time would be truely lovely.

The other thing that has staretd to worry me, what fruit/veg I do buy I get from our local market. The stall has changed hands many times of late and the market in general is shrinking. I do feel it's a use it or lose it situation and I would much rather buy there than from the supermarket which is the only other alternative.....dilemmas

Oh and on the basis fuel was going up so much this week instead of eeking out I filled up to save a few pennies.

There's nothing like a plan, then a plan B, then a plan C....

[Flo]

Yes it's the month I need lots of sugar for jam and blackberry/sloe gin, and vinegar too for chutneys, oils for making sauces and bases.

What would we do if we couldn't go down the supermarket for sugar, vinegar, oils? How would we preserve things?

The other thing that has staretd to worry me, what fruit/veg I do buy I get from our local market. The stall has changed hands many times of late and the market in general is shrinking. I do feel it's a use it or lose it situation and I would much rather buy there than from the supermarket which is the only other alternative.....dilemmas

How much can you provide for yourself in the way of vegetables and fruit? Yes it's a case of use it or lose it with local markets. Trouble is that markets don't sell ready meals that go in the microwave. Are they are losing out because fewer people cook for themselves? And are they in places where people don't go to shop (not in the shopping mall or next to the supermarket)?

But if you provide a lot of fruit and veg for yourself because your are trying to be self sufficient ish, the market stall and the supermarket are both losing out on your trade. As they are with mine.

[Millymollymandy]

Blackberry and apple crumble tonight Flo and just for you I am going to time myself making the crumble topping.

Just out of interest it was 6 mins to get everything out and prepped and 4 mins to rub in (but I do make more topping than my recipe books says cos I like it), then I chopped up some walnuts and added to the crumble mix too so add another minute = 11.

[Flo]

Open a packet and sprinkle = 1 minute and cost of packet.

But yes it doesn't take long and with the weather as it is I have the six minutes because it's indoor weather certainly.

[Peggy Sue]

Foiled again on the ish month- was cycling back form work yesterday when some idiot in a 4 x 4 pulled out on me. I was right on top of her, I'm not exactly a lightening speed cyclist (only one gear works without chain falling off) but it was so last minute I had to brake that hard to avoid running into the side of ehr that my brake cable broke (so then had to use the emergency brake ont he ends of my legs!)

So there I am slumped over my bike handlebars with heart beating very fast and brake cable sticking out thinking b*llocks - did the woman stop to appologise, see if I was OK, or even offer to pay for the cable? Could bareley see her for dust as she sped round the corner.

So I shall have to buy a cable and have had to use the car today (mind you it's gale force out there so quite glad ) Apparently the brake light has also gone in my car Perhaps it's a sign there's no stopping me

[Andy Hamilton]

Just wanted to shout another success, harvested about 200 onions. Looks like I won't be buying any onions for the best part of a year.

[Millymollymandy]

Yeah but Andy, they start sprouting after about 6 - 9 months.

Peggy Sue - can't you go to work on your hoss? That'd be very Ish.

[Andy Hamilton]

Yeah but Andy, they start sprouting after about 6 - 9 months.

Not if you blanch them then chop them up and freeze them!