Monday nights are going to be a little different round here.

This week's menu plan is up and running and you can access it here.  
Before I wrote it, I tidied out the smaller kitchen freezer last night as it's becoming bare (which is a good thing as you can get organised).  I have a good amount of mince beef in there and some chicken pieces for the meat to keep us going.  
I've taken out a mince and onion pie filling to use the pastry I have in the fridge from this weekend's quiche.  Also I have taken out what I think is fishcakes filling! Time will tell.  Also an English muffin that Ste can have with his breakfast.  Every now and again it's worth taking a good few things out of the freezer otherwise it ends up full of items you don't use.

The veg box was great this week, as always and I've included it's contents in the menu plan page.  I'm starting to get in to a routine with the new way of life now.  
On a Friday morning the milkman brings our milk - 6 pints of semi, 1 pint of whole and 2 litres of cream (only size he has and freezes, goes in to loads of recipes).  

Also on a Friday we get the chicken pieces from my Mam's chicken that she doesn't use, as well as the carcass.  That goes in the freezer in a bag purely for carcasses as I've decided to start making batch amounts of stock every 6 weeks, to coincide with supermarket shopping, as I don't always have the right things in to make the stock.  The pieces go in bags too, ready to use in bulk when we have enough.   I make a loaf of bread or buns on a Friday night for Saturday morning and/or lunch time.

The veg box comes on a Saturday, the shop's last drop off I think, which is around 5:30 to 6pm.  As sad as this may sound, every week I get excited by its arrival! Not as excited as eating our own produce though!

Before that though, first thing on a Saturday after opening up is to make another loaf of bread for my parents, plus some scones which we have either for a snack or with lunch and again to share with my parents.  

We also give them veg from the garden in exchange for the chicken (not that they ever ask, it's just nice to work like that).  Saturday sees me making quiche or soup for lunch which I am trying to double up on to have some spare in the freezer.  I do it early on the morning to make sure I have plenty of time outside during the day.  Saturday suppers are still work in progress, I wonder if taking something out of the freezer is best on a Saturday.  As the veg box arrives 5:30 onwards, I tend to plan the following weeks menu plan early evening on a Saturday so I could do that whilst making supper I guess.  We shall see.
Anyway - to the point of the post.  Here is out latest YouTube video, where Grace and I explain what we are going to start doing on Monday nights from now on.  

Those who have been here a while will remember I used to do Monday night preserves, which I shall be picking up again on a different day, but for now, Monday nights are dedicated to recreating Grandma's wartime recipes.  I have 2 of her handwritten books, which I am busy working my way through, deciphering some of the words and deciding what we can recreate over the coming weeks and months.  I will update my blog from next week to reflect what we have done too.  I do hope this is something people can relate to and can enjoy watching our family recreate these special recipes.  
For now, I'm off to take a look around the veg plot - early June is such a busy time!
Stay safe everyone.

Life is too short not to open the tin of pineapple

Did you think I had lost my mind?  I said this sentence on Friday night, when my daughter asked me if she could open a big tin of pineapple to have 1 slice out of it on her homemade pizza.  

I looked at her and fighting back my tears, I realised I would normally say "No Grace, not a chance are you wasting a tin when it won't get eaten, just for one slice".  

I smiled at her, put my arms around her and said "Of course you can, life is too short not to open the tin of pineapple".  

Giving her a big cuddle, I took a minute to hold her closer than I normally would on an opportunistic hug in the kitchen.  

I'd just had a call to tell me my Nana had died 10 minutes beforehand. 

Some people will get this, others won't, but sadly one thing we all understand is losing a loved one.  

My Nana and I had a very special relationship.  One I'm not sure she had with anyone else.  We enjoyed a lot of the same things, she would ask me about my cooking and how I managed to get my bread so white, she taught me to knit and to make corned beef pinaculty.

Family meant everything to her.  She loved to tell anyone who would listed about different tales from all of our life times.  It's only recently she started telling me how much she loved us all.  I knew she did but it wasn't something we necessarily verbalised.  She knew she was failing and so did I, we all did.  

So no, I wasn't surprised when I got the call, but my heart broke and it is now slowly healing but in the knowledge that I will never see her again.

My post on Friday talked about a calm feeling that had taken hold of me that day.  Make of that what you will.  Maybe I knew it was coming.  

I am taking time out as I need to, to remember her, little things and the waves of tears are already becoming less as less as I work on turning these feelings in to remembering the happy times.

So for today, this is my post.  

Life continues, meals are being made, weeds are being pulled and the kids are still giving me grief and I will update you all soon.

Stay safe, Tracy x

PS - the pineapple was eaten.