OK so as I said I am going to independent shops for most of my groceries and this is going well. I haven’t quite got to grips with my dairy items yet and some household goods (although I have been given some leads to follow up on which I will do soon).
I went into town and went to the green grocers for my veggies and Health Food shop for everything else. I am actually enjoying the experience of trying different shops out and you know what everyone has been so nice and so friendly. Ray in the Health Food shop is such a nice man, really helpful!
Now household items like loo roll. There is a shop in town that sells such items but they are not recycled so I am choosing to go to a Supermarket to get these. Here I figure that recycled is better than shopping independently.
I went to Waitrose this week to get loo roll and diary bits. Whilst I was in there, I noticed that organic carrots were on offer, in fact they were less than half price. Now I do like a bargain but I also thought that it was better that I bought them then let them go to waste, un purchased. I hate to see food wasted. Also I remembered seeing in one of my Mum’s vegetarian magazines that I was borrowing, a carrot jam recipe. So I bought them. Several bags of them actually. And later in the day I decided to get-a-making!
I tell you it was certainly good eco fitness making the jam and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a good deal of sweat in it too! The carrots needed to be finely sliced, you know when you use the slicer thingy on the grater, that thin. Man my arms ached doing that. I put my soul into that I really did. Of course the rabbits and guinea pigs were grateful that I had bought the carrots and was making jam as they helped to dispose of the peelings and ends that had been cut off. Everyone was happy.
Now being a domestic goddess type person is not as easy as it is cracked up to be. Nigella makes it look so easy and so sexy. I just looked like a hot dirty mess, with a dirty kitchen surrounded with carrots and peelings and sticky-ness! I did not even feel all homely when stirring it. I did when I started all enthusiastically but my enthusiasm started to wane.
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| Picture credit: Daily Mail article on Domestic Goddess becoming a thing of the past. |
My jam did not turn out as jam more of a chutney. Part of the problem was too much liquid. Oh, something I need to say now which might help is that I NEVER follow a recipe whole heartedly. I only ever use it as a guide and am totally up for experimenting as I go along. Ask my poor suffering hubby, he will tell you this is true. Sometimes when he comes home he asks "what's for dinner?" and I say "well it was supposed to be....". This was no exception. The blooming thing would not set and it seemed to be bubbling and boiling on top of the stove forever. It was not a glamorous look. I was not wearing a little skirt and pinny. To be quite frank I was fed up.
Well I kept with it and you know, the jam turned into chutney and whilst it was wetter than I would have liked, it tastes good. I put it into jars and it looks all striking and orange, it looks good and yummy. I have made enough for us, a lot for us in fact and I am even going to inflict it onto my Mum and Mother in Law. I like to feel generous and it does make me happy to give gifts especially home made gifts.
At the time I wasn’t entirely enjoying the experience, it was hard work and frustrating but now I look at the jars of loveliness I am so pleased with myself and now feel all domestic like!
If you would like to try this recipe for yourself here is my (adapted) recipe. Go on try it, I am sure you will like it. It tastes yummy with crusty bread, cheese and salad. I will let you know when I find more uses for it as I am sure there will be more. We have plenty to experiment with anyway!
700g Sugar
400ml water
800g carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
50ml rose water
100g flaked almonds
Bring the water up to boil (I find the kettle most economical then transfer to a pan) and add the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved add the carrots and the orange zest and leave to simmer until the liquid becomes more like syrup. This takes up to 10 minutes but I wouldn’t advise going too far away just in case. Then add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer until the liquid has reduced and becomes thicker and stickier. This bit takes the experimenting with the time skills. It is about 10 minutes though sometimes more. Once it is ready transfer the chutney to sterilised jars and seal to form the air lock whist still hot. Allow to cool and enjoy!
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