Day 14: Things that have worked!

Yes, it is report-back time.  I have previously detailed in these pages a couple of little experiments I have been conducting, and enough time has now elapsed that I can report on their results.

First of all, the Smelly Shoes Experiment.  If you recall Day 10, I dusted these with Bicarbonate of Soda, and then froze them.  Result = Success!  When they came out of the freezer, they were practically odour-free.  Having worn them since (without stockings), they have regained a certain fragrance, but nothing like before.  I am therefore predicting that this is a process I will need to repeat at intervals.  But at least it works.

However, there is one downside.  When one puts one's bare feet into bicarb-dusted shoes, and then one's feet proceed to sweat as usual, the result is that the sweat mixes with the bicarb residue to form something of a paste.  This paste then dries to one's feet, so that upon extracting them from the shoes, they are encrusted with an unpleasant-looking white substance.  What is more, this white substance renders the soles of one's feet really rather slippery when stepping into the shower. 

But what ho!  A minor problem afflicting the first day of wear only. 

Secondly, the Soup Pot Experiment.  Back on Day 5, I described how my book of rationing recipes contained a recipe for a kind of continuous stock pot, consisting of various root vegetables and bacon rind.  The idea was to bring it to the boil every day and take out whatever stock you needed.  It looked like it was meant to last several days, if not actually be continuously replenished.

Result= Success.  At least, if one defines success as no onset of what we shall euphemistically call "tummy troubles".  (Which seems like a pretty sound definition of 'success' to me.)  After chopping and freezing all the bacon bits, I stuck the quite copious amounts of rind  in a pot with a bit of onion, and boiled it up.  I did this for the next four days: boiling it briefly and then letting it cool.  I didn't even refrigerate it in between, but just left it sitting on the cooker.  Then yesterday I used it.  First, I skimmed off what little fat there was: it is now in the fridge and will be used later for frying or pastry.  (I understand this fat pretty much lasts indefinitely.)  And then I strained it and used the entire stock to make lentil soup.  It needed a fair amount of extra salt, and I probably should have added some bacon bit to the soup as a whole, but basically, it worked.  The soup was healthy, and so am I.

Success indeed. :D

My next experiment is to see if I can't make my own washing powder, which means tracking down some rather strange ingredients according to a recipe I have found online.  It will also be telling if the end result is cheaper or not than a decent brand-name powder.  Has anyone else out there ever done this?

Today's Expenditure: £0.00

Day 5: Feeding the Nation

As I feared, there is no internet access at this conference centre.
The following pages were written daily, however, and uploaded all at once.

Where am I? 

If I said Schwerte, would you have heard of it? 

No? 

There's a reason for that.

My home for 5 days

Actually, the conference centre is very nice, right next to the River Ruhr and surrounded by the kind of tree-covered hills that Germany specialises in. It's other advantage is that it is way out of Schwerte, so no tempting shops anywhere. And as there is also no internet, I don't have to confront the ironic frugality dilemna of spending money on internet access in order to boast about the money I've saved.

So there is not much to report in terms of frugality. I spent 1.50 euros on a Holunder Bionade (a fizzy cranberry juice to you and me), which seemed reasonable, given that the supper buffet lacked even tap water to drink.  But that is all.

Luckily, I brought with me a book that I acquired a few weeks ago, just in case there was nothing much else to report.  It is called Feeding the Nation: Nostalgic Recipes and Facts from 1940-1954, and does exactly what it says on the tin. It was only when I was reading it on the plane to Düsseldorf that I realised that a book with a British flag and wartime photos on the cover might not be the most tactful thing to be reading on the plane to Düsseldorf.

But in the privacy of my room, I have been exploring it. It is a godsend! Marguerite Patten OBE ousts Delia entirely in the frugality stakes! Marguerite Patten was doing frugality when Delia was not even a twinkle in her daddy's eye!  And it is real frugality!  Proper frugality!  Frugality for people who are not pretending!

In her first chapter, on Soups, I am intrigued by her description of a soup pot. This seems to be a kind of permanent stock which would have sat on the corner of the stove. Her (edited) instructions are as follows:

Put your root vegetables (all except turnips), bacon rinds, etc, in a large pot with plenty of water.

Cook slowly for 1/2 hour. Boil vigorously for a minute or two then put straight into the oven when the baking is done to use up the last of the heat.

So far so good. But here's the intriging bit:

The soup pot should be brought to the boil every day. Green vegetables and outside leaves may be added to the stock if it is to be used at once. Don't disturb the fat on top of the stock for this preserves the flavour, but remove before use. When you want to make a soup, you just take some of this stock, and add what flavourings or vegetables you fancy.

So basically, this soup pot can be reheated time and again for days on end? It seems to fly in the face of all health-and-safety advice, for we are told never to reheat anything more than once, especially if it contains meat. But then, I remember my mother's soup being reheated two or three times, and not even being refrigerated in between. Maybe we have just become too paranoid - after all, how poisonous can a few watery cooked carrots really be?

I think therefore that this may be worth a try, though this may also be a time when I caution, "Don't try this at home".  Actually, I am not convinced that it will be cheaper than a simple stock cube, but It will at least use up the rind that came with my 1lb of bacon from Lidl. And I shall report back with devastating honesty on the absence or presence of a dodgy tummy.

Total Expenditure: £1.20

Day 2: Birthday!

NB: I didn't have internet access last night, so I wrote this then, and am posting today.

It's my birthday!

I may start to make this a frugal principle, that where possible, celebrations should be doubled up.  Just as my graduation meal counted as a birthday celebration for my family, so my birthday today has been combined with a little housewarming for the new flat.  Three for the price of two - in other words, a bargain!

In the event, I just invited round a couple of friends for some frugal food.  Not very festive, perhaps, but homely and welcoming nevertheless.  So this morning, armed with Delia's "Thick Winter Soup" recipe, I set out to explore the shops of my new environment.  And made the most amazing discovery.

LIDL!

Quite seriously, why doesn't everyone shop here?  I managed to buy a savoy cabbage, sunflower spread, 4 organic onions, one courgette, a tube of tomato puree, and a whole 1lb of "bacon misshapes" for £3.97.  The only things they didn't have were a leek and some haricot beans.  I tracked down a leek in Tesco's, where they only had huge ones for sale and it cost me a painful £1.04.  But no haricot beans.  I thought of getting in the car and heading for a large supermarket, but then decided that that would rather defeat the object of the exercise.  But I did have some pearl barley in the cupboard ...

So here is a soup-come-stew of my own invention, which owes as much to my mother's farmhouse cooking as it does to Delia.  I actually halved Delia's quantities in her similar recipe, which was meant to serve 6-8, and it still served 6-8.  That means I now have 4 portions of soup in my freezer for future lunches. All this - 8 meals! - for a total of around £1.50.  Now that is frugal :)

And even if I say so myself, it turned out totally fabulous.   Guests thought so too.  No choking down of cabbage required.

Thick Vegetable Soup  (serves 6-8)

100g pearl barley

1 large carrot

1 medium courgette

1/4 small savoy cabbage

1 small leek

1 medium onion

50g bacon bits

3 pints vegetable stock (I made it with Marigold Organic Vegetable Bouillon)

Method

This can all be made in a slow cooker, if you have one.  Otherwise, on a very low and long heat.

1) Wash the pearl barley and put in pot with half the stock.  Cover, and allow to simmer very gently for around one and a half hours.

2) Grate 1/2 the carrot and roughly chop the rest.  (Grating the veg is my mother's old trick for thickening soup.  It works best if you hand-grate it, as it squishes the vegetable more than a food processor does.)
3) Grate the courgette, chop the onion, and shred the cabbage.  Chop any cabbage stalk very finely.  Cut the leek into rings, using right to the dry ends.  (It's soup, after all!)

4) Finely cube the bacon.

5) Add all the vegetables and bacon to the soup, and top up with the rest of the stock.  (You can fry off the bacon first, if you want, but it isn't really necessary, and used another pot.)  Cover and simmer for at least another hour, and even longer if wanted.

6) A Delia trick now!  Take out about 3-4 ladlefuls of soup, making sure you include plenty of barley.  Now blend this portion with a hand held blender, and return to the soup.  This thickens things up considerably!

I served this with some quick girdle scones, which I made as my guests were arriving and chatting.

Girdle Scones   Serves 3-4

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

milk to mix

Mix together the dry ingredients.  Pour in a very little milk and mix to a soft, but not sticky dough (I used my hand to do the mixing).  You should be able to knead this a little.  

Heat an oiled heavy frying pan or girdle (griddle) to hot.

With a floured rolling pin, roll out onto a floured surface to make a round of about 2cm thick.  Place on the frying pan and cook for around 4 minutes on either side.  

Remove from the heat and slice into 3 or 4 triangles.  Serve hot with butter.

Day's Expenditure

Food shopping: £6.57

Travel: £6.40

Total = £12.97