Independent shops - help me to find you!

 

We were out and about in town (St Neots), running various errands and we didn’t really have time to pop home for lunch in between so we decided to grab something whilst we were in town. When thinking of places to eat in St Neots, I find it really hard to think of somewhere independent. We have a well known chain bakery with a cafe, a well known chain take away selling subs and a couple of chain coffee shops. There are some nice independent restaurants but they are only really great if you want a main meal. I am sure there are other places in town but none of them really spring to mind. Why is that? What are these independent eateries doing or rather not doing to make themselves known or attractive to us? Have I become a victim to expensive advertising campaigns and constant bombardment of brand awareness so that the independents just don't stand out?

I love this "email" from one of my all time favourite movies; You've Got Mail. It somehow is just so true.

I did suddenly think of the little shop on the High Street called Cupcakes and I am so glad I did. We had a jacket pot with salad and it was lovely. Very good value for money and a nice portion size. It is a cute little cafe with pastel colours and vintage-esque decor. Quite darling really.

My plea really is to the independent shops. I want to find you, please help me to find you!

What to eat when the cupboard really is bare

So a couple of days again I had the Old Mother Hubbard syndrome. The cupboard seemed to be bare but I still managed to make a meal. Well actually I haven't been shopping since so this time when I looked the cupboard really was bare. I have been trying to leave it as long as possible before going shopping ...

1. To make the expenditure eek out (it's getting close to end of the month / payday!!)
2. So as to avoid wasting food, so many times I have thrown things out that have gone past their dates because I have bought more food
3. To see how resourceful we can really be
4. To test my cooking skills and creativity
5. To learn what it is like to only be able to cook and eat what you have in. We are far too used to being able to pop to the supermarket and buying fruit and veg from all around the World out of season. I want to get better at learning to use what we have when we have it.
6. To not eat so much, if we have to be a bit more frugally then portion control is better

So far we are doing OK. We haven't starved and we have still eaten fairly nutritious meals. Here is one of my "Oh y God we really don't have anything in at all" meals:

Ingredients

•  Baked Beans
• Chick peas
• Onion
• Chilli Flakes
• Tom Sauce
• Curry powder
• Potatoes

Method

Chop the pots up into bitesize cubes and boil in a pan until cooked. In another pan lightly fry the onions until transparent then add the curry powder and fry off a little. Add the remaining ingredients to the onion pan and warm through. If the sauce gets a little too thick add a couple of spoons of water to loosen. Once the pots are cooked add them to the other ingredients.

Mix together and serve in nice deep comfy huggable bowls.

Eat on the sofa in your PJs watching a nice film knowing that you are eating a heartwarming snuggle comfort food!

So you see, very little ingredients needed, mostly store cupboard items. Cheap as chips, fairly healthy, tasty and very comforting.

April Showers bring May flowers

It's raining. Again. I don't know why people seem to moan about it all the time. OK so it is a bit wet and it is a bit cold but then isn't that a case of just having the wrong items of clothing? Like it or not we need the rain. It feeds the garden which in turn feeds us. So it's here, we need it, get over it and if nothing else embrace it!

I have said before that I work from home, for those of you who don't know what I do I am a photographer and Graphic Designer. For me, I see the rain as a great source of inspiration and a great way to create art.

So as a celebration of rain and all things creative and arty to do with rain, I have created a fun little inspiration board over on pinterest, if you are stuck in doors and feeling miserable, go and take a look and maybe you will start to look at the rain in a different way? Just click on the image below to be transported!

My internal conflict eco vs niceity: National Stationery Day

Through the wonders of Facebook I found out the today is National Stationery Day. I love the initial paragraph on the promoting website:

The bit that actually got me is "Do you believe in the importance of writing by hand?". Now this is where I am torn between niceities and Eco-ness. I don't know where my heart lies. It is true that we never get any post these days. We don't even get bills anymore. Banks and utility companies have switched to e-statements under the pretence of being environmentally friendly, it is but call me an old synic but somehow I can't help thinking that the cost saving behind e-bills is more of a reason that the eco one!

When was the last time you received a letter in the mail?

So part of me with this blog and journey wants to get back to doing nice old things that are dying out, like the chutney making, things that will give me a feel good factor, enhance my life and make me appreciate where our consumables come from. So from that point of view I am all up for the letter writing business. It is more personal and has more meaning that wizzing off an email. On the rare occassion that I do get post, I love it, it's so exciting and I think it shows people you care far more than an email. So for all that it gets my thumbs up.

So where do I stand from an eco point of view? This is what I am struggling with. Sending letters and cards is encourgaing our use of paper and card. What are the environmental implications of that? I did a search and came accross this website: http://www.secret-life.org/paper/paper_environment.php it's probably best if you go there and read it for yourself rather than me paraphrasing.

Paper making does seem to be quite intensive though.

Image credit: http://www.secret-life.org/paper/paper_environment.php

I have to say in the past I have been a bit of a stationery addict, I was always buying something or other but have cut back these days, in part mainly because I haven't been anywhere to buy any!

I am still learning on our little journey and I need guidance from time to time. I love what the campaign stands for in terms of sending letters but it conflicts with my eco point of view. Arghhhhhhh!!!!!

Old Mother Hubbard Syndrome

Is the cupboard really bare or are you just not looking?

OK so you remember when you were a kid, you used to look in the fridge, then the cupboard, then the fridge again then hollah “Muuuuuuum, there’s nothing to eat” and of course your Mum would respond that there was in fact lots to eat if you were only to look. Of course you were looking. What you saw was ingredients for meals that quite frankly you didn’t want. It had been a while since she had gone shopping and all the quick grab and go food was gone. You know the sort of thing, sausage rolls, crisps. All the things teenagers love. What your Mum saw on the other hand was a fridge full of lovely fresh ingredients ready to make fabulous gourmet meals with. So really in fact she was right, there was lots of food and you were an ungrateful teenager.

I still sometimes think like this now. You know when you are in a rush and hungry and you just want something quick to eat, you don’t want to have to prepare food. Isn’t it funny though, you open and close the fridge door, somehow hoping that rather miraculously a fairy had placed something in there. No matter how many times you look though there is no change. Still the fresh ingredients crying out for something to be done with them.

Now I try and be sensible with our food shopping. I try and make it last as long as possible eeking the time out between shops. I hate to see food going to waste or being thrown away so I try and plan meals to ensure that I am only buying the ingredients that I actually need. This works most of the time, occasionally though there are things left where you have bought too much due to pack size etc. I have already said that I am not an avid recipe follower so what I tend to do on these such occasions when we are in between shops, is scratch around and make meals from whatever I have in. Sometimes this is great and we have even had some pretty good meals this way. Sometimes this has dire consequences lol!

I opened the fridge and all there was really was a pack of cherry tomatoes and a sweet red pepper. Hmmm! What to make what to make? Ahhhh this:

Anna’s tomato and pepper pasta I have nothing in concoction

• Pack of Cherry Tomatoes
• One Red pepper
• Basil
• Thyme
• Salt
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Red onion
• Pasta
• Black Pepper

Cut the tomatoes into half, and pop in a roasting tray along with the chopped pepper and chopped garlic. Sprinkle your herbs, black pepper and salt on top and then smother with olive oil. Roast in a hot oven for approx half an hour.

Take the tray out, lightly crush the tomatoes, pour over some balsamic vinegar and put back in the oven, this time reducing the heat right down.

Pop your pasta on to boil.

Chop up a red onion and fry in a little olive oil until softened. I didn’t add this to the oven tray as I find that the onion get burnt and over cooked.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and leave in the pan. Take the tray out of the oven stir and add the onions. Mix everything together with the pasta.

I also served with some nice bread to soak up all the lovely juices. Nom nom!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Life. Is it just a game?

Game of Life?

My Mum and Dad have been having a bit of a sort out of bits and pieces and the other day gave me some bits they thought that I might like. In it was the 70’s could even be 80’s version of “Game of Life”. I used to love playing that game as a family. Of course I was going to keep that and I bought it home with me and put it in the spare room.

A few days later it was early evening, it was bright but had been raining, we had eaten our dinner and were sitting on the sofa. Jon said to me, “what do you want to do this evening then”. Not a question that was out of the ordinary but one not often said. I guess like most of the UK, our evenings are largely consisted of eating dinner, having a small conversation and then vegging out on the sofa watching TV, little cause for discussion or negotiation. When the weather is cold and grey in the winter this can be a comfort but now the nights are getting lighter it can become seemingly boring, like you are striving for something else to do. Thing is I work from home and life, work wise and my days are not that taxing so I don’t like to push Jon into doing anything after he has been at work all day. I know how draining that can be let alone the 45 minute drive home so I kind of let him chill.

Anyway, we decided to have a TV free evening. We decided to expand the mind and have some time to talk and actually spend time with each other. It has to be said though that we were at a bit of a loss as to what to do. In the end I said “let’s play Game of Life”. So we did!

We actually ended up playing two games. I know steady huh! It was a bit of a laugh, we had fun and we really connected. We had what I would call quality time and the evening seemed really long. We did sneak half an hour of TV in but it was a DVD actually.... an episode of “The Good Life”. If anything this seemed the most appropriate AND it is our all time favourite TV programme ever and I mean like EVER!

After doing our talking and soul searching, we agreed that we should turn the TV off more. We don’t really know why we watch so much, we just seem to get sucked in really. We have decided to have at least one night a week where we watch no TV whatsoever and we do something together, either go out or stay in but what we do we do it together, to connect and to have fun. All suggestions are welcome! I have a few ideas and we have agreed to be open and try new things and be open to each others suggestions. Who knows what we will end up doing but I am looking forward to finding out anyway.

As a side note the “Game of Life” tickled me abit, although it is fictional, there are elements that do transfer into everyday life. Jon ended up not that wealthy but with a wife and three kids and a comfortable home but he had done things alone the way. Me, well I was a high flyer career person, had a racehorse, Rolls Royce, Villa in France, Mansion but had no kids and the only reason I had so much money to buy expensive things is that I missed out on doing other things through my life. Was this trying to tell me something or was it purely coincidental? I don’t know, I will leave that one with you!

Carrot Chutney and a not so domestic Goddess!

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.

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!