Sorry - another OT, cooking B B E dates)

[Dave Liquorice]

Common sense wondering if there was something in BBE dates than current knowledge knew about?

The only stupid question is the one that isn't asked.

[sweetheart]

Simple, I had never been aware there was a BBE on spices because I had been taught that they lasted more or less forever. Seeing the BBE made me wonder if they did go off. I was quite shocked to see a BBE on the pepper.

[sweetheart]

See this works both ways. I wish I had been able to do some woodwork because I would not face the problems I often face now with a OH who wont put nails in walls and shelves up for me. I would do it myself but I simply don't have a clue ( I can hang a picture and that is about it)

[sweetheart]

Despite having cookery at school, I actually learned from Asda recipe's in the 1980's. Cookery skills ( or lack of them) run in the family. My mother is a very plain cook. My grandmother had little or no such skill at all.

My father fares little better. He can produce a fry up. My hubby is useless though - banned from cooking because of the mess he leaves.

[sweetheart]

Have you tried moneysavingexpert.com forums? Lots of discussions on how to feed a family of ten on three quid a week.

And have you seen what they suggest you feed them?

If I were home all day I might be able to do something but my OH makes me go to work. ( I now have one day a week off from my job - today is it). Today I will clean up and sort everything for the week. Since I do not have a family of ten but just one husband, it costs more.

[Huge]

[dennis]

When I was a lad boys couldn't do cookery classes so we had to learn ourselves.

Things are different now.. my daughter went on a brick laying and plumbing course at Dudley college while at primary school! They built a wall and plumbed in a sink, including soldering joints.

[Bob Eager]

Then the Margeurite Patten cake book.

[S Viemeister]

After a rather nasty health scare, I started a family cookbook, with detailed directions suitable for total newbies - the kind of directions you'd get if your Granny were standing there telling you how to do it. I wanted to make sure that Himself and the children would eat well, even without having me in the kitchen. It's just another form of DIY...

[Owain]

I've always been quite good at baking, just not good at cooking.

Tripe and onions followed by bread pudding (cooked by my father) was our idea of a special treat.

Owain

[Andy Dingley]

Same here, although I bought it for black comedy, not guidance.

[Andy Dingley]

Like my Dad. "Not bad" was fine praise indeed.

It's worth using a range of herbs though. Most "staid" consumers of English food will appreciate (even if without noticing or saying anything) their use, when they'd turn their nose up at more adventurous spices. One spice that is worth using though is cummin: anything that's long-cooked (soups or stews) benefits, as does nearly anything with tomatoes. Nor is it likely to cause offence.

Other storecupboard favourites are Henderson's Relish and Mushroom Ketchup. Henderson's is a product of Yorkshire and can only be exported Southwards with a special licence as a cultural artefact. My dealer smuggles it out under a flat cap. It's like a better (and veggie) version of Worcester sauce, great as either an enriching ingredient or as a lighter alternative to HP brown sauce on a fry.

Mushroom Ketchup (better big supermarkets, even Tesco) is its even more subtle cousin. Like the Chinese use of soy, it's used to add body, colour and umami to dishes without using so much as to add an obvious taste of itself. Try a home made steak and kidney pudding (suet pastry) with it. Even Dickens would enjoy that.

[Andy Dingley]

My standard kit for a walk or a bike ride is a litre bottle of water with a lemon (or half, shared) squeezed into it. Tastes better than water, tastes a _lot_ better than warm water, and it hides any taste of plastic bottle.

[Mike Barnes]

Steve Firth :

It was the Robert Carrier Cookbook for me.

[Dave]

So was the environment that it was dispensed from. The dispensers were sampled every so often (I think the time was either 3 or 6 months) and sent to a laboratory for microscopic examination.

Dave

[Roger Mills]

Does that make them taste better?

[Pete Verdon]

Dunno, but I'm told that real ale is gaining a following over there. Apparently the fact that real quality depends on the skill of the cellarman at the pub as well as the brewer at the brewery appeals to them.

Pete

[chris French]

In message , sweetheart writes

2 years ago, our eldest daughter, then aged 7, won 'Best in class' for the cookery class at our village show for her decorated fairy cakes (and it really was all her own work), which surprised a few people :-) It was the first time it had been awarded to a child, and they were a bit worried she wouldn't like the prize ( a big cookery book). She loved it and likes ot find new things in there to cook for us.