I don’t have many hero’s but I will admit to having more than just a little admiration for a 17th century botanist and herbalist. Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) was a great man who believed that everyone should be able to treat themselves. I and many others believe that he was at least partly responsible [...]

For most of us stock is a thing that comes in cubes or as a powder that is mixed with water. I have been the same for years until recently whereby I discovered that making my own stock was much easier than I thought.
How do you make vegetable stock
Vegetable stock could not be easier and [...]

Bread can often go stale before you get a chance to eat it all.  If you see patches of mould growing on the surface it is a good sign that the bread is no-longer edible and should be thrown away or composted.  If on the other hand it is just gone hard it is still [...]

This is a great bread to make for the impatient .  It requires  no kneading and no rising time so can be made and cooked in less than an hour.
Ingredients

225g Wheat Flour
300g Rye Flour
4 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
300ml Milk
150ml Cider
Two sprigs of fresh rosemary (de-stalked and chopped)
2 Tsp dried thyme or few (chopped) [...]

A couple of weeks ago I opened up the bag and to my horror found a litre of unopened milk that had been sat in the bag for somewhere between 4 days and a week! I picked up the semi-solid, yoghurty liquid and put it in the fridge cursing myself for being so wasteful. Later that day I returned home with some eggs and clumsily dropped a full box of them on the floor! As I poured the three broken eggs into a jug I thought to myself that making a batter with the eggs and sour milk would be the best course of action rather than waste all of that food.

The dictionary definition of ale is often wrong, confusion arises as most places have differing definitions. However, a true Ale is one that had been brewed using something in place of hops in this case the herb yarrow.
Yarrow is thought to be one of the oldest used medicinal herbs and traces or references of [...]

Is your house cold in the winter months? The ishers (from our web forum) have got together and helped put together this list of things you can do to keep your house warm this winter, some are free and most are cheap. The great thing too is a warmer house means less need for the [...]

PostsCategory: About UsOnline CV – Dave HamiltonAndy HamiltonDave HamiltonOur PhilosophyCategory: Budget living10 ways to reduce your utility bills31 Ways to keep your house warm in winter without spending a fortuneBudget Christmas Part 2 – Merry Ishmas – Free Christmas ideas by Andy HamiltonBudget Recipes by Dave HamiltonChristmas Ideas Part one – Cards, photos, herbs and [...]

Here in the UK we tend to buy pumpkins once a year at Halloween, make a jack-o-lantern out of them and throw out the insides. Gill Didsbury from Australia noticed this on a visit over here, she says that over in OZ they do things differently and to prove her point has sent us some [...]