some more of the odd pieces of equipment I have bought over the years. This time it was a mandolin and a food hydrator. I bought the hydrator years and years ago after I had a glut of plums and tomatoes, thinking that in future years such an item would help me make the most of the bounty. Needless to say, I have't had a plum glut since and I've not managed to get more than a few handfuls of tomatoes from the plants I've grown annually. My reason for taking these things out, of course, was the apples. I carefully peeled, cored and sliced (using that mandolin - the only piece of kitchen equipment I am genuinely nervous about using!) and placed the rings on the drying racks, and left the machine to do its work. Of course, it would probably have been helpful if I had hunted out the instruction manual first. It certainly worked, but I sliced the apples too finely and left them in the dryer too long. The result? Apple crisp pieces! They won't be wasted, they will make a great muesli addition, a topping for porridge or an addition to cakes; but they were a long way from the leathery rings of chewy apple I was hoping for. Still plenty of apples left and once I've scrubbed the stuck-on bits of apple off the trays I'll have another go.
I didn't need to do anything other than put my pre-pared shepherd's pie in the oven to heat and brown and steam a few vegetables, so while that was cooking, I did a stock-take of my larder. While I have plenty of dishes prepared to see me through the rest of the challenge month, stocks on store cupboard/fridge essentials are low or gone completely. Here's the list as it stands at the moment: white bread flour, whole nuts and ground nuts, coffee beans, tea, dried mushrooms, barley, lentils, parsnips, swede, green fresh veg, lettuce, cucumber, fresh herbs, peppers and chilli, onions, tomato puree, tinned and fresh tomatoes, garlic, olives, anchovies, rolled oats, vegetable spread, milk, frozen peas, kitchen roll, dried yeast, yoghurt. I've also run out of greaseproof paper, light bulbs, bleach, and am down to the last few inches of cooking foil. Another month on a £30 budget would be very hard. All of which had me thinking about Christmas.
I know, it's not even Halloween yet, but imagine what Christmas would be like on a £30 food budget for December. And to quote from a favourite childhood book of mine:
“Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. "It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress. "I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff..
I've heard a lot of people recently talking about the arrangements they are making for Christmas, the agreements they have come to with family about the amount of money to be spent on presents, and whose 'turn' it was to host the Christmas lunch. By mutual agreement my siblings and I no longer buy each other presents, and the same arrangement occurs with many of my friends, but for those suddenly thrown on hard times who would normally 'do' Christmas to the full, coping with little or no money at Christmas must be very tough.
So I've decided for the remainder of my challenge blog to include ideas for presents that can be bought (or made) for under a £5. I know that even this little will be beyond the purses of many on the breadline, but perhaps for the rest of us, it might be time to put a bit more care and a bit less cash into Christmas.
Not surprisingly, I'm starting with socks. (I AM the Sock Lady after all). Each of these pairs of socks was knitted with yarn that cost less than £5. There's no pure wool here (obvs.) but then if you want your socks to last a little while you want a bit of nylon. The two pairs in the middle of the photo are 75% wool and 25% nylon and those at the top and the bottom have a reasonable proportion of acrylic in them. They are not hard to make for even the most basic of knitter, and once you handle 'knitting in the round' are quickly completed. You can find a basic sock pattern here. Many on-line yarn shops have special offers, you'll need about 100 grams or 400 metres of sock or 4ply yarn for a basic woman's sock and a tad more for a man's (if his feet are bigger than a size 8 or 9). If you want to make boot socks, double knitting (DK or Sport) works well, you might get a pair out of 100 grams if the skein has plenty of yardage. You can buy 100g of acrylic yarn for under £2 a ball. Check out The Wool Warehouse for a wide range of suitable budget yarns, but if you don't do on-line shopping (or can't order enough to get free postage) visit your local Hobbycraft, they offer 'click and collect' too. If you can't knit, find a local 'knit and natter' group and join it. I guarantee there will be sock knitters there, and all will be willing to help you learn. Socks may seem like a deeply boring gift, but once you've worn a pair of handmade socks, it is very hard to go back to shop bought. You might find yourself with a second career knitting socks. What would be so bad in that?
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