Chitchat thread #24

[Snoop Puss]

I'll be interested to hear what you've got to say about canning, Nicos. Just about the only thing people can at home here is tomatoes.

[rary]

Good afternoon, a wet cold day here today, was at the church hall for the coffee morning, plus waiting for reps to arrive to give quotes for a replacement boiler, sorry for missing yesterday need to stop sitting at the jigsaw, I loose track of time sitting at it, don't neet to do anything, just sitting at it makes OH think I am busy, so she doesn't look for things for me to do, we have decided to head for the Lake District, just hope the weather improves. I see Nicos was going down memory lane, I will bet its a long, long lane to go down need to go and collect one of the grandsons, keep safe and warm and remember to pass on some smiles

[Nicos]

We have one of these sterilisers which sit on a gas burner…
https://www.tompress.co.uk/A-2612-st...uillouard.aspx

I usually make ratatouille, bean mixes and french beans in tomato sauce but am rather paranoid about botulism so I fully cook everything first in large pans on the hob , fill the jars then cook under water for about 40 minutes until we’ll overcooked. For the veggies I use loads and loads of tinned tomatoes and quite often add a very decent glug or three of red wine to increase the acidity . That high acid apparently reduces the risk . For fruit I’ll put peaches, plums etc in jars and top up with sterilised apple or pear juice for increased flavour. That way the juice is very useable too. I’ve even put cherries into Le parfait jam jars with no liquid and sterilised them for 30 mins. They end up sitting in their own juice about 2/3 full.

Any bottles which fail ( the top easily opens), the contents are either frozen in bags or eaten. I’’ve kept them in a cool dark cellar with no problems for two years. Part of the secret is to use brand new seals or jam jar lids so they seal better.
In 10 years or more I’ve only had a couple which didn’t look right when it came to opening so they were discarded.
I think it’s the beans ones you need to be extra careful with.

Its actually very time consuming and uses fast amounts of gas on such a large scale. I probably overdo the safety aspect but I’d rather reduce the botulism risk as far as possible

[bramble]

Good evening all.
We went walking this morning and then out for lunch.
Stayed under the sunshade reading as it's too hot this afternoo
The temp got up to 26 degs so waiting for it to cool down.
have a good evening all.

[Nicos]

Sounds like bliss bramble

[greenishfing]

We have been and had our fish and chips and mushy peas and they were good. Not the best I've ever had but pretty good. Far too many chips to eat though.

As a child I remember my mother "bottling" lots of things in Kilner jars until some scare about botulism stopped her doing it. I've never done it myself but a few years ago my sister used to give me Kilner jars full of cherries she'd preserved somehow in brandy. I never asked how, just ate and drank the contents. She is now into making varying types of gin and vodka....sloe gin and strawberry vodka highly recommended.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Gosh, I knew it felt chilly last night , but we woke to our second frost of the winter
I’m aching like crazy this morning after our cycle ride yesterday - probably went a tad too far for a first cycle ride.Should have paced myself . I’m not good at pacing myself gardening either so I suppose that was inevitable!

I have the woodfire lit to take the chill off the house. Smells wonderful!

Any one fancy a brew?

[Snoop Puss]

Its actually very time consuming and uses fast amounts of gas on such a large scale.

This is what I think. Canning does give you the advantages of having a ready meal, so to speak, but the fuel demands are quite high.

I've never worked out whether it costs more to run a freezer or to bottle using gas, but I bet there's not much in it and freezing certainly is less time consuming than canning. I say this as someone who has a proper pressure canner butt also three freezers.

[Nicos]

I guess the canning becomes cheaper when you do multiple batches as the water is already hot.
Totally agree - freezing is so much quicker, and having a microwave helps with those last minute defrostings.
I’ve not canned for a couple of years now but it’s a good back up for a glut.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Glad you and Mr GF enjoyed your fish and chips, Greenishfing. Strawberry vodka sounds nice...

And Nicos, I bet you can't even stand up to do the ironing this morning after yesterday's bike ride.

Sounds like you're having a nice time, Bramble. Better weather than here, that's for sure. Neither one thing nor the other. The weather folk who cancelled the rain forecast earlier were clearly more on the ball than the late shift, who said it was back on. I went to bed expecting a decent downpour but all we've had is a tiddly bit of drizzle. So no rain for the ground. And no sunshine for the solar panels either. I'd much rather have rain...

On the cards for today, a phone call to the estate agents handling the sale of my mum's house, which has been kiboshed. Not looking forward to that. More work, obvs (as the young folk like to say - well, I haven't reached Rary's venerable age yet, or so I believe ). A bit of housework. And a bit of gardening if I can fit it in. Will probably make some bread at some point too.

The smiles left earlier. The pack was going to divide, with some heading south and others north. I imagine the southern squadron will reach you, Bramble, before anyone else.

Have a great day, everyone.

[Nicos]

Nicos, I bet you can't even stand up to do the ironing this morning after yesterday's bike ride.

.

Alas - I guess it’s going to take several months to recover. Can’t be too careful can ya?

[Nicos]

I guess I can’t complain about our frost…OH is to blame, he’s planned a BBQ for tonight.

[greenishfing]

Good morning all. I had a lie in this morning and it was wonderful....the right temperature, no aches, no pain, no noise and Mr GF to cuddle up to. It is blowing a gale here and rain is forecast shortly. I don't think I'm going far at all. We're getting mild nights however. It was a balmy 13°C last night.

Well, time for another coffee.

[lottie dolly]

Good morning everyone,Bramble that is some nice weather,i think it is safe to say we are in Autumn,GF that sounds very nice,i was up for about an hour,then went back to bed,i got to get myself awake and in the zone yet,oh well,thats life,will put the heating on for a short time,have food then get sorted out,shopping is a must,now where are these weeks going to,congratulations Snoop on them smiles,forming squadrons now eh,anyway,have a lovely day all

[rary]

Good afternoon, a cold wet day today, had a problem with my conservatory roof letting water in, was trying to get it sorted when the heavens opened and by the time I got down the ladder and in the house I was soaked, OH cracked up with both the water running off me and the fact I was up a ladder, however changed my clothes, (and OH didn't even offer to help😕) and once the rain stopped got back up and finished the job, heavy rain at present and no water in also informed OH falling off a ladder is not a problem, it when you hit the ground you get the problems , however going up ladders is not recommended for people of Snoops age, so be careful, I am now going to try making some soup to use up half a dozen cucumbers, I will let you know how it turns out, keep safe, keep warm and most important keep dry