We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "sweetheart" saying something like:
They'll all be fine. I find similar jars of dry preserved goods at the back of my cupboards and eat them with no qualms. If the mincemeat hasn't been opened, it'll be safe enough, and the Jif lemon might tend to be a bit watery, but I've found it's usually good to go up to four years old.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Tabby saying something like:
Ditto that, and snip off the dodgy-looking bits.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Jeff Gaines" saying something like:
What makes you think it was unopened /untampered with?
RAOFL
Another Dave
AFAIR you don't need to keep woolens in the freezer, merely freeze them for a week over Winter - thus killing the eggs before they hatch into things with teeth.
Quite a lot really! Weevils are a huge problem for stored flour, and why it's one of the few foodstuffs I do observe dates on. Wholemeal flour also goes rancid.
BBE means the product may not taste the same or be soft or stale, etc. It should be safe or show clear signs of being bad e.g. rotten.
Use by is foods that may become dangerous after a certain date sometimes in a way that is difficult to see.
I use BBE of stuff that can be more than a year past the date, it depends on what it is but tins are safe for years.
If you want to poison him you will have to investigate other methods.
They are edible.
As I recall, you're one of our more mature posters, so you went to school at a time when common sense was taught, but not cuisine.
Spices will "keep" almost forever, but they don't taste of much. If there's any question about it, replace them simply because they might not kill you, but they won't taste much good anyway.
"Spices" might also mean three things; whole spices, ground spices and herbs.
Whole spices keep pretty well. They're (mostly) seeds, and seeds are Darwin's own little storage containers. One of the best ways to keep spices fresh is just to use whole spices instead of ground and to grind them when you need them. One of my basic cooking tools is a small pestle and mortar.
Ground spices aren't ever going to store well. However some ready- blended mixes arrive that way and it's better to use them than to avoid everything as too complicated. But store them in good jars, out of the light. Re-using old jars is fine, so long as they have a decent lid. Also label them, because jars of "powdered brown" can be hard to tell apart. If you can't taste them apart, then they're too old. Ideally label the lids, not the sides, because then you can identify them in a drawer. Don't use a spice rack - that's more of a "bulk aging rack" so that you can have multiple jars going off at once.
Herbs are best if you buy them freeze-dried rather than air dried (Even if they're your own home grown). This is one reason why I prefer to buy Barts over most own-brand (and certainly the infernal S******). A good comment on them is from Katherine Whitehorn's "Cooking in a Bedsit" - it's better to buy and use one sort of "mixed herbs" regularly, so that it might remain reasonably fresh, than it is to have a dozen different hebs sitting unused and all turning quietly to hay on a windowsill.
For cheap spices, go to an Indian supermarket and buy bags of whole spices, along with a pestle and mortar. There's not much European cookery that isn't improved by some cummin (especially anything using tomatoes). For a great read on spices and using them, try Madhur Jaffrey's first Indian cookery book and actually read the first chapters, don't just follow the recipes.
Interestingly my store and pantry are the two places in my house which are virtually bone dry.
I don't suffer from weevils in the flour. But this may not go down well but the cookery teacher ( used to be home ec now called food technology ) told the PE teacher last term that she could use flour which had weevils in it. The weevils were harmless cooked ( and she was not joking!). Make if that what you will,
Anyway, the pepper was nearly empty. I haven't disposed of it. I will get a new one though. The curry powder seems alright . I have a paprika powder which doesn't even have a BBE date on it . I suspect that is so old it pre dates BBE. I cant recall when I bought it.
As for the rest, well I have kept nearly all of that too. I will be backing rather a lot though to use the 3lb of flour I have just opened before it goes out of date.
Indeed I probably was taught common sense and not cuisine. I was also taught how to cook but not how to do fancy things ( unless it was a Christmas cake or a Victoria sponge dressed up or a Madera cake dressed up for a party).
This is why I have old spices kicking around. I bought them for one dish or maybe two and then kept them. They haven't been used since. Going to buy spices is a waste for me in many ways. I use salt and pepper but even the pepper will take years to use! I use the salt on snails in the garden so that goes down more quickly.
The jiff gets an outing once a year on pancakes. The mincemeat is in a sealed jar ( that's why I thought it should be OK till Christmas).
I fear I am not a good cook. Not as my hubby would notice. Food goes down in seconds no matter what it takes to prepare and he doesn't like curry or chilli or such like and wont eat it if presented. I also cook thoroughly. A steak as to be burnbed for me to call it cooked ( none of the pink and running with blood stuff for me)
But thanks for the advice.
On the subject of my cookery. A few years ago I did enter the cookery competition at the local village show ( Women's Institute). I entered a Victoria sponge ( got first place). Plain scones got a third place and my sausage rolls got a " highly commended". I also got the cup for " best in show" for my flower arrangements.
So I am not exactly " bad" at cooking. I didn't do it again. I upset the local WI ladies because they had thought they had the show tied up between them until I appeared ( I didn't know that it was a closed shop).
I was at secondary school between 1969 and 1974 and our school taught both common sense and cookery. My form teacher during one year was based in the domestic science room where, IIRC, there were 12 bays equipped with gas cookers, food prep and worktop areas and sinks. It was mainly girls who did the cookery but lads were not barred, they could do it if they liked. I often think that I should have done it.
No room! no room! [1][2]
The moths have already had their wicked way with most of our woollen sweaters. And since I ceased to be employed I've stopped worrying about suits. But I'm bird-brained enough to ask how you keep a crease in your trousers in the freezer? Anyone modified their freezer to accommodate a Corby press?
[1] No doubt the result of my poor life choices/shocking inability to DIY a loft conversion :( [2] Food parcels - including Soylent Green - accepted gratefully :))
You're me, you are.
I had to learn to cook at University, an interest that has stayed with me all my life.
My brother had to push very hard to do Domestic Science at school - he was the first boy they'd ever had doing it. He went on to become a chef - a good one. Of course, he did other things too - qualified jeweller/watch repairer, cycle repairer/retailer, paramedic.....!
The old bottles of the sauce didn't have any dates on them until the government forced them into changing the label.
There is a story going around that the factory has bottles going back as far as 100 years and they say that the older it is, the better it tastes.
Dave
Sadly Huge, I didn't do it at school and never learned after school either. I'm now 52 years old and can just about make beans on toast. My wife and I have been together 27 years and I've cooked on three ocassions (all disasters I might add) in all that time. I'm not boasting and it's not something I'm proud of but cooking frightens me. Every time I go near the cooker I burn myself (honestly, I have) or the food, or wreck something in some way - it always culminates in a takeaway. However, I also have little incentive to learn as my wife is a truly superb cook :-)
Very similar to the oils used in the aerospace industry that are not synthetic. Buried in the ground for millions of years and get a 12 month life label slapped on it when it reaches goods received on site.
Dave
Me, I'm banned from the kitchen
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