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Post by Beth on Jun 22, 2020 18:51:25 GMT
Beth, ask Steve to get you half a dozen plastic plant pots and a couple of bags of compost, then you can place some small stones in the bottom of each pot, fill with compost and add any herbs you want. I bought mine for penny’s basically as our super markets have bunches of fresh herbs for around 50p. These are ready to plant and have good established roots. Under our dinning room window, which gets good sun, I have thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary, sage, mint and chives, plus basil in the green house. These take no looking after except for watering each evening. The more you cut them, the better the grow. My neighbour Tom, past me over a large bunch of spring onions over last night, around eight, while we were both watering our gardens, I think you call these scallions in the states. He also gave a pot full of small onions for planting, so this afternoon I will place them in small plant pots and water them and just let them grow in a partly shaded part of the garden. The pots are ready, We just don't have the plants thanks to covid. I have toyed with the idea of ordering live plants from a nursery but Steve puts everything that comes into the house into quarantine in the garage. Today he brought in a box of beautiful strawberries that I had ordered a couple weeks ago-or at least they would have been beautiful if they weren't covered with mold. We talk about his over quarantining but he feels he is protecting me, it's frustrating.
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Post by Beth on Jun 22, 2020 19:29:13 GMT
Ian, sorry I came off as a steak snob, I am. I consider a Rump steak one step above a Chuck steak. I have a different take on sirloin steaks, there are two main types: Top Sirloin Steak: The best cut for steak and the most tender, often labeled just as Sirloin . Bottom Sirloin: A lesser section of chewier cuts like Tri-Tip that benefit from tenderizing and/or cooking to medium-rare doneness. Actually the Rump and the Chuck are very flavorful and less fat and for my money make the leanest and most flavorful ground beef you can get. If you want to try another lean, muscular cut see if you can find a Beef Knuckle, it is also quite flavorful. You can cut your own steaks or simply do roasts Having been a member of and associated with the CIA and the NRA(Culinary Institute of America and National Restaurant Association) for business I have some strong opinions about Foodservice. Their publications and workshops are invaluable. Associate memberships are available. Lastly, anyone who does not already have one should purchase a publication called " The Food Lovers Companion", it is not a cook book or a recipe book. It is what some call a Foodies Bible, you wont regret the expenditure. Regards, Tom US Rump steak is like chuck, you just have to use it right. They are perfect for low and slow temps. We also use them like for fajitas because it is so much cheaper than flank steak. I have spent years trying to feed a family on at times a very tight budget, cheap cuts are a nice change from burger.
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Post by yanmacca on Jun 24, 2020 18:50:16 GMT
I have changed my shifts around so I work a four-day week, it may change in the future, but for now I am making the most of my Wednesdays off. Sue has started to take Wednesday off too, as because of this we spent the morning in the garden and the afternoon shopping. You may not know but we are experiencing a heat wave at the moment with day time temperatures reaching the high eighties and the nights around the mid sixties which are killers to sleep in.
When we were walking around our local Asda [Walmart to you], I notice at the rotisserie section, that they were selling off the roasted chicken at half price, so I picked up a half chicken portion still red hot for less than two quid. I knew that we had boiled a couple of eggs that morning and these were cooled and ready to shell and thanks to the salad bar I have growing in our green house, I had all I need to put together a quick salad. I thought, right, we have the chicken and salad, we need some bread and on the corner of the bread isle I saw a stack of freshly baked Pumpernickel bread at 50p per loaf, so that was it, all we needed, then I saw egg custards at four for 40p, I thought wow desert.
So when we arrived home, all we had to do was compile the meal with no cooking needed, which on a hot day like today, was great. So we had;
Roasted chicken English garden salad buttered Pumpernickel Chilled egg custards
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Post by yanmacca on Jun 27, 2020 19:18:25 GMT
Beth, here is my little herb garden, well potted herb area. I shall take you through it, the pots at the back are from left to right; Rosemary, Lemon Thyme, Mint, Thyme, Chives, Sage and Parsley. The front row is all Strawberries, minus the fruit which has been eaten. The little pots on the ground are runners from the Strawberries, they will start new plants off in those and hopefully double my stock for next year.
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Post by Beth on Jun 27, 2020 23:03:13 GMT
I love it. Like I said I have the pots ready to go but I was unable to get to the nursery to get plants this year. There are also several in my flower beds that either need to be replaced or swapped out because they have not come back for year 2. We love rosemary-I actually have rosemary hedges in the front that we take trimmings off the back side when we need rosemary. It grows very very well here. I wanted it particularly at the front door because I love to rub it on my hands.
Our other must haves are chive, sage, mint, dill, and basil. I have been searching for a lavender that will do well here but no luck so far. I know it exists I just haven't been able to hunt it down. I might put more rosemary in the back yard plus bee balm.
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Post by yanmacca on Jun 28, 2020 19:09:34 GMT
I don’t have Dill; but it is on my radar though along with chervil, Sorrel and lovage.
I do have Basil, but it prefers our green house to our garden, it is much warmer and it thrives under glass. We also have a French Lavender plant which is in the sunniest part of the garden in a flower bed, at the moment it is pretty small, but Sue has tended to it well and she is going to cut it right back in the Autumn to prevent it going woody. She also likes to dead head plants and flowers which encourages a second batch of blooms to appear later.
We got hold of a plant called ‘’Bleeding Heart’’ and over the last few years we have took cuttings and planted them in various spots in both the front and back garden. They certainly don’t like full sun so I have put them in shady spots so they can take hold. This year we have been tending to our borders and coming across these cuttings, because to be honest, I forgot about them, so every time we find one, I say ‘’not another bleeding heart’’.
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Post by quincannon on Jun 28, 2020 20:29:08 GMT
You folks had either better stop making me hungry or be prepared to publish a Centennial Campaign Cookbook. Personally I prefer the second option.
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Post by deadwoodgultch on Jun 29, 2020 10:26:39 GMT
Just go you Chuck, you can get it done while your paint drys on a model.
Easy Peanut butter cookies. 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg Mix ingredients 12 min. In oven at 325
Then go back for the 2nd coat of paint on the model.
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Post by yanmacca on Jun 29, 2020 10:46:06 GMT
Tom are you sure they will bake? how do you get the mixture from the mixing bowl to the baking tray as this will be one heap of sticky gloop. I thought you may have added a little flour to give it some body.
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Post by quincannon on Jun 29, 2020 16:04:39 GMT
I had bacon, lettuce, and tomato club sandwiches last night for dinner, using the Tom method of cooking bacon. Rather tasty and no grease.
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Post by quincannon on Jun 29, 2020 16:08:49 GMT
"Kick The Shit Out Of A Tiger Sauce"
1 Pint of Sour Cream 1 Bottle of Horseradish
Mix the sour cream and the whole bottle of horseradish together in a bowl. Add 20 drops of Tobasco and stir. Have a fire hose handy.
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Post by Beth on Jun 29, 2020 16:16:35 GMT
Ian, bleeding hearts are really common in Iowa and unfortunately one of my least favorite flowers. The first house we bought had a huge one right next to the door and nothing we did would discourage it. I finally took a huge hosta from the back yard and plopped it down over the bleeding heart. We never saw it again. Ironically both my kids love bleeding hearts.
I dead head as well and it's driving me nuts that I don't have the energy to get out to do it. I think I have to stop at thinking about doing the whole yard and just work a bit at a time. A gardening show I was watching this weekend said if you hate weeding set a ten minute times and just work that long-to not get overwhelmed by the whole job.
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Post by Beth on Jun 29, 2020 16:17:59 GMT
You folks had either better stop making me hungry or be prepared to publish a Centennial Campaign Cookbook. Personally I prefer the second option. That is a great idea. People should share away! If we get enough I will move them into their own thread so they are easy to find.
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Post by yanmacca on Jun 29, 2020 16:21:30 GMT
Love a BLT, we eat them all the time when in Spain, we order two with chips and a couple of beers around mid afternoon to keep us going till dinner.
Horseradish can floor you, I have contemplated growing it.
I made one of my special omelets yesterday with three eggs, diced mushrooms, peppers, garlic, cheese and ham. I also added chives and parsley from the garden. I fry the veg and add the eggs, one they start to firm up I add the cheese and herbs then fold it over and turn off the heat and leave it for a few minutes to finish off.
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Post by Beth on Jun 29, 2020 16:23:27 GMT
"Kick The Shit Out Of A Tiger Sauce" 1 Pint of Sour Cream 1 Bottle of Horseradish Mix the sour cream and the whole bottle of horseradish together in a bowl. Add 20 drops of Tobasco and stir. Have a fire hose handy. Dang! I love horseradish! For a milder sauce for those not so adventurous. 1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard We started using in on corned beef and now use it on any roast. I suspect that a few dashes of Tobasco wouldn't hurt it.
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