Day Twenty - Minimal Shopping, Cheese and Compost Heap Jelly

Once again, this week I haven't needed much shopping, but I did want to get some more bread and potatoes, which, as in the wartime years, seem to be the mainstay of my current diet. 

 I also decided to get a few bits of salad to top up the carrots and lettuce that I still have in the fridge.  Obviously, there are no peppers or large cucumbers in my mini shopping haul as they are out of season in England now, unless grown in heated greenhouses which wouldn't have been available for the majority of people during the war years.  I know the mini cucumbers are just at the tail end of their season here as I had given Alan the last two off our plant in the garden for his tea the day before so when I saw them on the reduced vegetable shelves, I grabbed some for myself.  

I am really just trying to eat seasonally and in an environmentally friendly way.

I did however, decide to stock up on some of my favourite cheeses as for once Booths had them both in stock, they have been missing every time I've been there recently.  And with long dates on non-dairy cheese, it really is possible to buy quite a few when you see them.  Obviously, I will only take what I can have 'on the ration' for the duration of this challenge.

While I heated up my soup the other day you might have noticed in the photo this pan of all the fruit peelings and cores that I had been adding to in the freezer.  I had decided that now I have enough of my sugar ration available I would make myself some Compost Heap Jelly.

There were apple cores and peelings, the skins of the mandarin oranges that had been in the fridge at the start of the challenge and to them I decided to add the last couple of blackberries that were also in the freezer.  I knew these would add a lovely rich colour to the jelly.

It was brought to the boil and then simmered for just over an hour until everything was lovely and soft and the liquid was a glorious shade of purple-y red.  The I strained the liquid through my sieve into my largest jug.

And then gave it a final straining through the sieve lined with muslin.

It is now in the fridge and the final stage will be done another day, but if you would like to watch how to make this from the woman that I learned this off ... Pam the Jam Corbin, here is a River Cottage YouTube film showing her making it.

https://youtu.be/-jwQnlKSxQI

It's a recipe that I have used for years, since we went to River Cottage for the first time in fact, on a day out from our very first farm.  I always kept the tastiest scraps of fruit trimmings back from either the chickens, pigs or the compost heap with this in mind and it helped fill our homemade produce cupboard nicely.

My food for the day was extremely simple. 

 I had a slice of toast and butter for breakfast, a salad sandwich for my lunch, which was taken to and eaten at Mum's, I didn't take a photo as we had other things on our minds as we did some little jobs for her around the bungalow ... and on the way home we picked up a chippy tea.

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my finished Compost Heap Jelly. 

Sue xx

Day Twelve - Fresh Food Shopping and Second Giveaway

I didn't need much fresh food, so I didn't buy much!!

I would much rather use up what I already have in the fridge and the cupboard than shop to excess, if there's one thing that living on rations ... even modern ones ... is teaching me is that you need very little to make tasty and filling meals.

The nearest bread I could find to the National Loaf this week was this small Rustic Loaf from Aldi.  I thought it was unsliced until I got it home, then I found I had the luxury of ready sliced bread for the next few days.

It made a very tasty slice of toast for my breakfast this morning.

The lighting in this photo is very 1940's isn't it ... it's just how it looks in my little kitchen at 6am with the door curtains closed and the side light on.

Not too long after breakfast I decided to peel and cook the last potato from my first week's fresh food shopping so it could cool down ready to go into a pasty for my lunch.  I made some pastry with one and a half ounces of my butter and 3oz of flour and left that to chill in the fridge.

When lunchtime came around, I found I simply wasn't hungry, so I made up the pasty as per my plans with the last of the baked beans and the now cooled and mashed potato ... but I put it back into the fridge for my tea instead. 

It was delicious and enormous, and in a health-conscious frame of mind I quickly cooked up some cabbage with a tiny knob of butter.  I've been sadly lacking in my greens this week.

There was no way I could finish all that huge pasty, so I have leftovers for tea tomorrow night.

Now it's time for this week's Giveaway

This is what I am giving away to one blog reader this week.

A lovely little book with lots of interesting information about the wartime rationing years and a good selection of recipes.

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning it, all you have to do is to be a Subscriber of this blog and simply leave a comment on THIS post only saying Please Enter Me in the Draw.

I will post anywhere, so there are no UK limitations.  Good Luck.

Sue xx

It's All About the Fruits and Veggies, Bought and Scrumped

 

It was all about the fruits and vegetables yesterday.  Sorting out the fridge and getting all my new weeks off-ration purchases stored properly was the first job of the day.  The vegetables all fit neatly into the bottom drawer.

And the tomatoes were added to the pack I already had and put into the fruit drawer ... well they are officially fruit. 😁

You can ignore the cheeses at the back of the drawer I won't be touching them until it's time to take out 4oz for next week's rations.  The three mandarin oranges have lived in the fridge for far too long so I will be eating one a day this week, it would be wasteful to throw them away. 

Well, that's about it for the fridge, all the fruits and veggies in the drawers and the butter, cheese and vegan ham on the shelf.  I just had to put the pint pot of spring onions in the door as they were too tall for the shelves.  Once I use them I will be able to move them over, but I was determined not to give them their usual 'haircut' to make them fit.  Every little bit of food counts even more than usual from now on!!

We went to the garden centre to get some grease bands for our apple tree at the weekend and while we walked the dogs around the paddock there Alan asked if I wanted an apple or two from the old trees there, of course I said yes.  It was only when he emptied his pockets out at home that I realised he had managed to reach five. 

Meanwhile in the cafe I scrumped the plastic cups that you have to use to get water in now that they seem to have put away the glasses.  It's a shame but they are so flimsy you do need to take two. There was no way I was going to let them go into the trash or even into the recycling, so I brought them home and I will use them next year as little 'greenhouse' lids for plant pots when I start seedlings off for my Victory Garden next year. 

The scrumped apples are now in the pot on my little storage unit alongside the potatoes in the basket and the bread in the 'flour bin' ...  and the plastic cups are in the shed.

And that's it all the prep work and shopping has been done, there's nothing for it but to begin My Modern Wartime Rationing.

https://youtu.be/HheoEd4wrYg

A fascinating collection of memories about rationing.

Sue xx

 

Getting My Ration Foods Together

 

First, I got together my basic weekly rations, I am following the vegetarian rations with some tweaks as I am vegan.  See the FAQs for more information.

Weekly Rations

4oz Violife Mature Cheddar Cheese

6oz Dairy Free Spread in lieu of 2oz Butter and 4oz Marg

2oz Oil in lieu of lard

1 litre of Milk

8oz Sugar

2oz Coffee in lieu of tea

2 Meat Free Sausages in lieu of one egg

4 slices of Vegan Ham in lieu of the other egg given to vegetarians

2oz Sweets

The weekly rations are supplemented with fresh foods that were not on ration, and mostly available in the shops or grown at home throughout the war years.  For my fresh supplies I am making sure that I try my best to buy only in-season British grown foods as would have been available during the war years.

My Monthly Rations

1/2 lb Onions

An extra litre of milk in lieu of Dried Milk

4oz of Instant Coffee in lieu of Camp Coffee ... this made me ill the last time I tried it

Jam and all other preserves were rationed at 1lb per person for two months.

So, my one month's supply is 4oz of Jam and 4ozs of marmalade.

My First Months Points Shopping

For more information about the points system see The Points System page at the top of the blog.

How my store-cupboard looked before I added the rations to it.

After a bit of research, I decided to leave in my cupboard those foodstuffs that would have been in daily use in the 1940's as most people did not start the ration years with completely empty cupboards.

As you can see it's mostly flavourings and custard!!

Also, anything that has been home-produced was allowed to stay so the various pickles and beetroot.

I also added back in my vitamins and Omega 3.

I am not allowed to use the large supply of homemade jams and marmalades ... except when allowed on the rations, but I have no other space to put them in.

So, my store-cupboard is looking quite healthy now and the forbidden jams etc are neatly hidden behind the Weetabix.  😀

Now I am starting to put together my menu for the whole month.  I am using a few modern meals and a lot of the wartime recipes that I am finding in my books.  There's just one more thing I would like to say, I first said it when I tried to start this Rationing Challenge back in 2020 but it is worth repeating.

Finally ...I really want to re-iterate here loud and clear that I am in no way making fun of or belittling the hardships that people went through during the Second World War.  I am of a generation that has heard first hand experiences from both my parents and my grandmothers of what they went through during this time.  I have nothing but pure admiration for each and every person that came through this dreadful period of our country's history in whatever way it happened for them.

This Challenge is dedicated to them and all that they have taught us.

Sue xx