The Untied Kingdom? - the British thread 2021

1505153555687

Comments

  • Hurrah for that, Firenze!
    (I'll let you pick which of those I said that for)
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Yesterday we brought bread which described itself as "campagne" (country). We're darned if we know what was country about it, because it was far whiter and fluffier than country ought to be. Neither of us really enjoy bread that white, but fortunately the remains of a jar of mincemeat were sitting about in the fridge and a very tasty bread and butter PUDDING has been made.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    I had a lovely surprise when a friend turned up with lunch to eat in the garden. A sandwich and a Danish pastry. I made coffee had a lovely natter in the garden.

    Mr Boogs is in Bristol helping my son build new decking in his back yard. It is a yard, not an American style garden, but it’s in a very pleasant aspect.

  • PriscillaPriscilla Shipmate
    LVER, that sounds lovely. A slug of alcohol in the mincemeat would be even nicer.
  • Feeling highly virtuous, having got myself over to Boots on Saturday and ordered a new pair of specs - the current pair have been held together by superglue for a few weeks, and the spares are my 2016 prescription. Good thing I wear contacts a lot of the time (although that's part of why I kept putting off ordering the new pair...). I also managed this morning to book vaccination slots for me and for Sandemaniac, first jab will be on Friday :smiley:

    To top it all, ICT delivered the last cable and adaptor I need for the home set-up to the office on Friday, so I had a nice bike ride on work time to go and collect it this afternoon.
  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    I had my second jab this afternoon. The weather was lovely so I enjoyed the stroll to and from the university where the vaccination centre is. The rest of the day has been pretty lazy, though I did clean the loos and scrub the kitchen floor.
    I like the sound of the bread and butter pudding @la vie en rouge . I've a sweet tooth, which hasn't been indulged much lately.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Can you make mincemeat without alcohol? Don't you have to steep the fruit and peel and whatnot for several weeks in the C2H5OH of your choice before dutifully Stirring Up on the Sunday next before Advent?
    Mild panic on the way home from work: having been paying very little attention as we approached the turn into Princes Street, I must have slightly dozed off*; the next thing I knew, we were in a street that wasn't Princes Street and I didn't know why. It turned out that there was a fire in the old Debenham's shop and traffic was being diverted from the west end of Princes Street - fortunately for me, it was back on track before I needed to get off.

    * That seems to be about the point where my attention span stops functioning after work ...
    Supper was Lamb Shank take 2, and very decent too.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    It might be possible to make mincemeat without alcohol but I really don't see the point. :relaxed:

    Mine was homemade and contained a generous quantity of cognac.
  • Meat free Monday so we had Thai red curry with chick pea and mushroom, with aubergine and courgette bhaji. Followed by a piece of chocolate cake.
    Mr H, with the assistance of Master H, managed to get almost half of the 100 foot long picket fence up this evening after work.
  • Second Covid vaccination today, so planned an easy dinner, in case of side effects. Had a lot of mushrooms that needed using, so decided on baked brown rice and mushroom. I pre-cooked the onion & garlic first thing, chopped the mushrooms and measured out the rice. I also cooked the spinach to be served with it, while I had the energy to squeeze out the water!
    All that was left to do was reheat the onion mix, stir in the rice, add the mushrooms & mushroom stock (from a cube) and pop in the oven for 45mins. Reheat the spinach in the microwave, and all done before the side effects, if any, kick in.

    If my experience of the first vaccine dose is repeated, the effects could start at about midnight, and tomorrow will be the worst day. If so, we will be dining off pasta and sauce from a jar! Well, Mr RoS will, I might be off my food!
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    Piglet wrote: »
    Can you make mincemeat without alcohol? Don't you have to steep the fruit and peel and whatnot for several weeks in the C2H5OH of your choice before dutifully Stirring Up on the Sunday next before Advent? .

    I have made mincemeat using two different recipes. Neither involved aslThe kind I made most recently was made with green tomatoes. I can post the recipe if anyone is curious

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Or brandy butter.
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited April 20
    I wonder if they mean savoury mince.

    In Tudor times mincemeat was a savoury filling and had meat in it, hence the name. It also had sweet fruit such as figs and raisins.

    A study day for me and I’m working on my own assignment for a change. I need to write up my research proposal fully to pass my second year and move on to do my research.

  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Piglet wrote: »
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)

    The nice thing about making your own is you can leave out the peel. Candied peel is hard skin from Satan's heels.
  • DormouseDormouse Shipmate
    Yesterday a friend and I moved my study into the spare bedroom and the spare bedroom into my study. I now have much more natural light and ( bonus) a slightly tidier study. I still have the sorting out of minutiae to do but I'm a very happy Dormouse.

    I suppose I should heave myself off the sofa and go into attack mode. I have online lessons later.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)

    The nice thing about making your own is you can leave out the peel. Candied peel is hard skin from Satan's heels.

    Depends where you get it from . Some of it is nice.
  • Moo wrote: »
    I have made mincemeat using two different recipes. Neither involved aslThe kind I made most recently was made with green tomatoes. I can post the recipe if anyone is curious
    I feel faint stirrings of distant memory.
    I believe that in the dim and distant past I have made mincemeat with green tomatoes.

    If so, it was OK but not repeated, probably because I stopped growing tomatoes at that address due to the arrival of blight in the area
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited April 20
    Penny S wrote: »
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)

    The nice thing about making your own is you can leave out the peel. Candied peel is hard skin from Satan's heels.

    Depends where you get it from . Some of it is nice.

    No it isn't. There's a really good reason why you throw the peel away when you eat an orange.
  • Fawkes CatFawkes Cat Shipmate
    edited April 20
    .
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)

    The nice thing about making your own is you can leave out the peel. Candied peel is hard skin from Satan's heels.
    Penny S wrote: »
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)

    The nice thing about making your own is you can leave out the peel. Candied peel is hard skin from Satan's heels.

    Depends where you get it from . Some of it is nice.
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Penny S wrote: »
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    Green tomatoes??? :flushed:

    I have a feeling that what we call mincemeat might not be what you call mincemeat.

    Over here, it's a sweet concoction of dried fruit, peel and nuts steeped in booze and then put in pastry cases to make mince pies for Christmas, which are served with cream. :)

    The nice thing about making your own is you can leave out the peel. Candied peel is hard skin from Satan's heels.

    Depends where you get it from . Some of it is nice.

    No it isn't. There's a really good reason why you throw the peel away when you eat an orange.

    I suspect that the only resolution to this one is going to have to be accepting that @KarlLB 's view means that there's more for the rest of us.
  • CathscatsCathscats Shipmate
    Indeed, you can have my share too.

    Several years ago, when the children were still small, they wanted to make a cake for my birthday. I offered to find a recipe for them to use with their father, but he took umbrage and said he would find one himself. Cake looked pretty good when it was done. Until we cut into it. In it were long strands of orange peel. Turned out the recipe had called for the grated rind of an orange and Mr Cats had airily declared to his children that there was no need to grate - or even chop - it as it would melt in the oven....
  • PriscillaPriscilla Shipmate
    Peel in b&b pudding is lovely! (It gives a little piquancy).
    Darllenwr has developed a method for making b&b pudding which involves soaking “luxury “ dried fruit (it includes dried pineapple) in rum, along with halved glacé cherries.

    When the cafe at Hereford cathedral is open, we normally start our day out with a cup of hot chocolate (their coffee is, well, an experience) and a slice of their bread (not b&b) pudding, which has peel and cherries in it.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I know the peel KarlB refers to, though. Hard as toenails, and won't soften up. But really good peel with the sugar still partly fluid, that's a different thing altogether.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    I like zest but not peel.

    🙂
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    I know that peel too and agree with @KarlLB that it should be omitted from Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and mincemeat and everything else ever. I requested that our fruit wedding cake be made sans peel. I am not understanding the concept of mince pies being eaten with cream or brandy butter. Chez Nen it has to be with both. Or, for Nenlet2's tastes, custard. Part of the reason I don't make my own mincemeat or Christmas cake or pudding is that I end up eating pretty much all of it; there is not so much danger of that with a few shop bought ones (half a dozen pies and few Christmas cake slices).

    The other part of the reason is sheer laziness.

    A beautiful day here and I'm heading out in about half an hour to meet friends for lunch, hoping that our cafe of choice will have an outdoor table free.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited April 20
    Nah, someone gave me some of the "really good" stuff once and it was still revolting. This is a person who eats kumquats whole; I don't eat them at all because they're disgustingly bitter whole and not worth peeling. I suspect I'm very sensitive to the bitterness in the stuff. When I come across a piece in a cake or something it's a bit like the Spring Surprise from Monty Python's Crunchy Frog sketch:
    Mr. Hilton: Ah, that's one of our specialities. Covered in dark, velvety chocolate, when you pop it into your mouth, stainless steel bolts spring out and plunge straight through both cheeks.

    As you might imagine, while I like almost everything from Indian cuisine I cannot abide lime pickle. It's like someone decided peel wasn't bitter enough, lime wasn't sour enough, so added a ton of salt to make it completely inedible.

    Don't do marmalade either. Or even those hoppy IPAs that taste like grapefruit pith. Yet drink coffee black and love sprouts which most bitter avoiders won't.
  • I'm with you on the hoppy IPAs, can't stand them, but I'll eat lime pickle off a spoon, I love it so much. But I eat grapefruit peeled, so I like sour.

    There's another trick with the thinner citrus peels, which is drying them out, which results in an intense powder to add to cooking.
  • Kumquats are supposed to be eaten whole.
    I'm not a fan of marmalade either, except in the lemon and lime form. I didn't like grapefruit, or citrus peel, when younger but as I have got older I'm my taste buds have become more accepting of them. But I do like a hoppy IPA.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I would like to commend to Heaven the bus driver on the way home who saw me waving as I headed to the bus stop, and waited for me!

    What a total gentleman!
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    With fewer passengers and less stopping, I've noticed drivers being more leisurely. But nevertheless.

    Meanwhile, my recent travel interactions have been a tad more fraught. An admin snafu having delayed Mr F's review, he was going to be 4 days late starting his next chemo. Waited in for delivery. And waited. By about 4 I snapped and took a taxi to the hospital. Where indeed the drugs were sitting in the pharmacy with a note on the script, in red, underlined 'Taxi to patient'.

    Sometimes it pays to panic.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Piglet wrote: »
    I would like to commend to Heaven the bus driver ...
    I would also like to condemn to Hell the rain that was falling on Linlithgow when I got there, rendering me a rather damp piglet by the time I got home.
    Another day, another negative lateral flow test. :)

    And paella for supper (with plenty of leftovers).
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    Here are my two recipes for mincemeat.

    GRANDMA'S MINCEMEAT

    Boil three pounds of lean beef, salted while cooking. Put three pounds of suet through a meat grinder along with the beef. Mix together beef, suet, 4 lb puffed raisins, 2 lb. currants, 1/4 lb. chopped candied lemon peel, 1/4 lb. chopped candied orange peel, 1 lb. sliced citron, 4 lb. peeled chopped apples, the grated rind and juice of two lemons and two oranges, 4 lb. brown sugar, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp mace, 1 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp grated nutmeg, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tblsp salt, cider to moisten. Place in a covered container in a cool place for several weeks, stirring every few days.

    This recipe predates the era of refrigerators and central heating. In winter every house had a space that was cold enough that this mincemeat would keep for months.


    GREEN TOMATO MINCEMEAT

    1 gallon green tomatoes, ground
    5 lb sugar
    1 pt.vinegar
    1 tblsp cinnamon
    1 gallon sliced apples
    1 lb suet
    2 lb raisins
    1 tblsp nutmeg
    1 teasp cloves.

    Boil all together till apples are done, stirring frequently. Put in canning jars and process. and process.
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited April 20
    Piglet wrote: »
    And paella for supper (with plenty of leftovers).
    We had that too - from W++tr+se. Very nice, no leftovers!

    And we could certainly do with some rain!

  • Moo, your first mincemeat recipe sounds like the sort of traditional mincemeat from a couple of hundred years ago in the UK. But I have never heard of it being made or served here in my lifetime. I wonder when we in the UK stopped adding meat to mincemeat and turned it from a savoury to a sweet dish. I suspect the 19th century as usual. (we do call ground meat ‘minced meat’ but not usually as a single word, that is reserved for a sweet filling)

    Last night’s tea was a pie with pork MINCE and vegetables and a puff pastry top.

    Today I have a telephone tutorial with a student, I need to liaise with some tutors about some online tutorials and I need to mark a couple of essays.
  • MMMMMM Shipmate
    Heavenly Annie, we have made mincemeat with meat in the past. I seem to recall that it didn’t add or take away anything and it just seemed a waste of nice beef.

    We never bothered to repeat the experiment


    MMM
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    @Moo thank you!
    I recall my grandmother telling me about Her grandmother’s mincemeat. Sounds the same!
  • It's what we now call forcemeat.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Mincemeat does have suet in it - a throwback from when it had minced meat in it?

    🤔
  • PuzzlerPuzzler Shipmate
    Minced beef is thawing in the fridge, waiting for inspiration. This afternoon Mr Puzzler wants to go to an antique centre, having been deprived of the opportunity for a long time, so it depends how late we get back, with Spag Bol being the speediest option, but a meat loaf is going to take a bit longer.
    No side effects from my second Pfizer jab yesterday.
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    For those of you who dislike candied peel because it's hard. I usually soften it by steaming before I add it to a recipe.
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    MMM wrote: »
    Heavenly Annie, we have made mincemeat with meat in the past. I seem to recall that it didn’t add or take away anything and it just seemed a waste of nice beef.

    We never bothered to repeat the experiment


    MMM

    I think one advantage to adding meat is that it preserved the meat before the days of refrigerators.

  • MMMMMM Shipmate
    Ah, good point, Moo, that could be be the case when the meat is the main event. But certainly in the UK, I suspect the meat has not been the main event in mincemeat for perhaps a couple of centuries (I’m guessing here, I’ve no special knowledge).

    MMM
  • Sunny day here but was cold when I went for my walk early this morning. Looking lovely just now though.

    I have a study day and am battling with the my thesis. I'd rather be potting up my new plants.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate

    This Sunday in 2018 I took puppy Kier to the service at Manchester Cathedral. He didn’t put a paw wrong on the train , in the city, or in the service. He was damp due to a rain shower, but the cathedral staff were very kind about it. The Dean came to chat to us before the service to check we had everything we needed. The organ was incredibly loud and he didn’t bat an eyelid. Many admirers at coffee time! We then had a nice afternoon in the garden with Tatze.

    Kier is now a working dog, dual trained (Guide and Hearing dog).

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/W3vec99ZEPaYmJNaA

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/VYvQiSNyjCJDyVPr7
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Gorgeous pictures @Boogie!

    We went and visited, for a first time, a fairly new place close to us which sells lots of organic products and where you can get your empty washing up liquid and soap containers refilled, also lots of herbs and spices and cereals etc. It was really good; will definitely go again. I'm cautiously trying the hand wash first as my skin's very sensitive and I don't want to set off any sort of problem.

    This afternoon I went for a walk in the sunshine and have made some chocolate flapjack, which always means I end up eating several pieces before it makes its way into the container. This is not good for my waistline.
  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    We went for a walk across our local Royal Park to a rather posh garden centre. They idea was to have lunch there. We hadn't realised that lunch was also rather posh, so instead of the quiche and salad I was expecting I had stuffed artichoke on braised dandelion leaves, while my husband had pea and mint stuffed ravioli. It meant that rather than a cup of tea we felt a glass of wine was in order. It was all rather lovely, the first time we've been out anywhere in months.
    We walked back, and on the way had a phone call to say we might be exchanging on this place with completion a week later. A bit of an eek moment as the probate still hasn't come through on the place we're buying.
  • Not a cloud in the sky although still not very warm. We went to the lovely Aberglasney Garden near Carmarthen - one of our favourite places. Bluebells weren't quite out, but the walled garden full of tulips was stunning. Lots of other things budding - must return fairly soon. Cafe at the moment is only allowed to offer a very limited takeaway service; however both the coffee and cake were excellent! Stopped off at a good farm shop on the way home.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    I’ve made two chocolate cakes! They will be filled with fresh cream and iced tomorrow.

    Five friends are coming for lunch in the garden tomorrow. 👏🏼
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Haircut! Also Mr F got to the barber, so we barely recognise each other.

    The chop took off much of the coloured ends: what remains is the underlying grey accelerated by bleaching from being in the garden a lot. The overall effect could pass as a sort of ombré ash blonde.
  • I had a rather dull day writing a chapter of my thesis. But at least I finished it.

    Lots of plants arrived, including trailing fuchsias and geraniums, Tumbling Tom tomatoes and several unusual/heritage tomatoes. I'm wondering if I can sneak some gardening in tomorrow around my work.
    Tea is cheesy spinach risotto with leftover chick pea curry.
Sign In or Register to comment.