As much as I love my freezer, things are getting a bit out of hand in that department.
I try and keep separate shelves for fruit & vegetables, bread products, dairy items, home-cooked meals and meat and fish, but the Christmas leftovers and redundant party food have messed up my filing system. Spiced red cabbage lies next to the bagels, smoked salmon mousse is wedged between a cheesecake and a joint of beef, and turkey curry is piled on top of pizza. There are goodies stuffed into every gap and crevice and of course I haven’t labelled anything. One of the boys went to get out the ice cream, and came back with chicken liver pate which I’d put into an empty tub of Neopolitan!
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Posted by Maeve
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I seem to have accumulated enough chicken to sink the Titanic.
On my way home from a late meeting, I bought a ready-roasted chicken to have with salad and baked potatoes. But I hadn’t bargained on The Husband being uncharacteristically on the ball. He had also bought one and while he gets top marks for thinking ahead I’ve now got to figure out what to do with it all.
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Posted by admin
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It is so cold. There are icicles on the inside of the window and people are dropping like flies with the flu. I got it just before Christmas, which meant we had to cancel the big party. As I’d done most of the cooking in advance, it wasn’t too much of a problem as it was all in the freezer.
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Posted by Maeve
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Is it just me or are the days a lot shorter than they used to be? I don’t mean the lack of daylight. I mean there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Quite frankly by the time it comes to six o’clock that I just want to collapse onto the sofa and crack open a bottle of plonk. However, the kids don’t get fed unless I stagger into the kitchen, so to make it all easier, I try to plan ahead. That way, at least I don’t have to think about what to cook.
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Posted by Maeve
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I have a vegetable problem.
The Husband works with a fruit and veg supplier. Every week he brings home a huge box of delicious fresh produce – particularly welcome because it’s free! However, quite often the box has things in it that are nearing the end of their life – squash that are…well, a bit squashed, apples with a few bruises, soft tomatoes and browning broccoli. If I act quickly, most of the fruit and veg is great. I just cut off the bad bits and no-one is any the wiser. Shoving most of it into the fridge, where it keeps for longer.
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Posted by Maeve
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Why do we laugh about turkey sandwiches? I love them and let’s face it, after that huge Christmas lunch, I really don’t feel like cooking anything complicated again for a while. Throwing together a really delicious sandwich is a great way to get rid of some Christmas leftovers and contrary to popular belief, they don’t have to be boring!
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Posted by Maeve
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I loathe brussel sprouts. Absolutely hate them, but I always have just one on my plate with Christmas lunch, for the sake of tradition. The kids think they are hideous too, but the husband adores them. I feel a bit silly, only buying six or seven little sprouts, but that is really all we need.
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Posted by Maeve
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Christmas is always expensive. It feels even more expensive this year, thanks to the gloomy economic forecast. BBC Spotlight Devon have made a series of four short films to help fight the Christmas credit crunch, two of which I thought were particularly helpful for shopping and cooking at this time of the year.
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Posted by Maeve
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One of the children is sick. Very sick. And the washing machine has packed up. It’s cold. Everyone is tired, it’s nearly the end of term and, as my four-year-old complained, “Christmas is taking ages to come”.
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Posted by Maeve
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I must be mad. As if there wasn’t enough else to do, I seem to have invited the whole village to our Christmas party. I get a bit carried away with all that festive cheer and dream that I will miraculously transform into Nigella Lawson the minute the Christmas tree goes up. Somehow, I’ve got to find time to cater for the party, on top of getting ready for Christmas and keeping my tribe fed. The freezer is groaning under the weight of all this advanced cooking and if I see another mince pie, I swear I’m going to scream.
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Posted by Maeve
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