Chitchat thread #24

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

It sounds, Flo, like you might also be having to contend with Lord Ginger's expectations if things are different where he lives or in the other households he visits. He'll learn eventually. Consistency is what matters, even with cats.

Extremely cold again, but another bright day ahead. Change due in a day or so, but the snow is holding off at our altitude (500 m).

Mr Snoop has gone out for the day. A mini grory hop and new tyres. He's off to a really big city for us, population 37,000. There's even an Aldi! Plus a huge agricultural coop, so I've sent him there for oranges and lemons (it's close to the coast, so a big citrus-growing area) plus other veg. I'll be picking your brains for tips on preserving lemons, GF.

Right, better get on with the show. Deadline to hit tomorrow and it's a bit touch and go...

Have a great day, everyone.

[greenishfing]

Good morning.

8°C with sunny spells at the moment and absolutely no wind.

Snoop, I haven't made any preserved lemons for ages, and I don't know why because I really like them. I must put unwaxed lemons and sea salt on my next shopping list. A jar of them makes a great gift too.

There's nothing that I absolutely have to do today, but domestic jobs are mounting up again. Where does all the muck and dust come from?

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Sunny here so I might get the washing hung outside for a change. Hope you meet your deadline Snoop. Have a good day

[bramble]

Good morning all. It's a beautiful sunny morning and its 8 degs.
A trip yo the library this morning as sll my books are due back.
Some gardening after they.
Grandson to entertain this evening, so that's about it for me.
Have a good dsy all.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all;D
Dull as dishwater outside. Only a light frost so it’s warming up a tad.
Looks like my geraniums haven’t been happy in the enclosed barn. Not sure what temperature it got down to inside , but I’ve never known it to freeze in there. I may just give them a drop of water before we go…could be that.

Lots of packing etc going on here. But I still need to make the lemon curd. Shouldn’t take long as everything is ready and the hats are sterile.

Re Lord Ginger….personally I’d ignore him when he begs at the fridge…play stupid. Then you won’t need to ‘tell him off’ as he perceives it? Just pretend you don’t speak cat Well…that’s one approach I guess…but you know him better than me! As Snoop says…remain consistent…she’s more used to handling/ training a more bonkers cat than I am!

Enjoy your day peeps…

[Nicos]

Guess who’s just made lemon curd?

I only had organic granulated sugar which took forever to dissolve and has come out rather murky looking, but tastes delish!.
Thank goodness the majority of it is a gift as I could see me slathering it on freshly baked well buttered bread or toast.
I’ve frozen the egg whites.

Have a lovely time with your grandson Bramble x

[greenishfing]

Congratulations on resisting the lemon curd, Nicos.

I don't know where all our lemons go to. They must disappear, into the ether, together with the milk. I think I'll buy lots extra next week if they look nice and make both lemon curd and preserved lemons.

My new cake tins have arrived and actually look good and strong. I shall be trying out at least one of them tomorrow. (My younger self would never have believed that one day I would get excited about trying new cake tins.) I also bought a pack of 100 greaseproof liners that I know is the height of laziness, but I absolutely hate lining tins. It was always one of my jobs when my mother baked.

The aroma of cooking chicken is just reaching me. (That's where one lemon went). I'm sitting here like one of the bisto kids.

[Florence Fennel]

I'm now thinking of making lemon curd!
It was a waste of time hanging out the washing. It's still had to go on the radiators.
Lord Ginger has just put in an appearance. I gave him a treat, but didn't touch him! He'll have a shock in store tomorrow if I've got Frank to look after

[Florence Fennel]

I use the liners GF, they're so convenient.

[Nicos]

New cake tins?… exciting!

I was given a lot from my grandmother - they all had a double base with an air gap in between. I only use them for fruit cakes which I get an A++ in burning the top
I’ve sussed out newspaper etc tied around the sides extending upwards does the trick for not burning the sides

I bought some non stick ones in the early 70’s and absolutely everything stuck no matter how much I greased them
These days I either scrunch up greaseproof paper and press it into place ( then butter it) or silver foil pressed into shape and again, buttered.
I did both this time and both worked well.
I do have a question though…does anyone know for sure (cos I’ve not noticed any difference in all honesty ), should the shiny side of tin foil face the cake, or the tin?Does it actually matter?

Ah…lemons gf…. So many of mine seem to go mouldy
Organic ones. Seems to make no difference if kept in a basket or fridge, at least one goes mouldy within a couple of days of buying.
I’ve got to the stage where I’m freezing them as soon as I get home. Seems daft… is that a consequence of them not being waxed
Anything else I could do?

Well, we’re all ready for off tomorrow. (*** look away those of a delicate nature)I’ve even mown my legs Not that they’ll show through the thermals

Wish we could have mown the lawns/ field - they are almost a foot high. Just far too wet. Even the moles have stopped digging up and creating hills. I have visions of them mud wrestling or bog snorkelling ..poor things.

Has anyone managed to see the asteroid? No luck here.. next time maybe