G Freden

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Maybe they were harvested just a little late--mine do this too if I don't catch them in time, so I keep a close eye as harvest time nears.  It was pretty early for me this year:  the end of May (sometimes it's mid-July).  Apparently they don't store as long in this condition, though I haven't put that to the test.  I usually save those ones for replanting.

My problem this year was white rot;  I lost several bulbs only a month or so after harvest.  To make sure I didn't lose the whole lot, I peeled, minced and froze the rest.  A tedious job at the time, but rather handy to use now it's done.

Nancy Reading wrote:That's great Burra - and all for free! I pay £1.10 for 250g lard. I wonder what my butcher does with his scraps?....

Nancy, ask!  I get free beef fat from our local butcher (pretty sure all the pork fat goes into his sausages), and bones too.  I render down the fat for our main cooking fat and make stock from the bones.  I used to pay a very nominal amount for "dog scraps," though not since the dog died.

I'm currently experimenting with the beef cracklings left over from rendering the fat.  I've whizzed them up in the food processor to add to stews--no one in the family has complained yet (they sort of blend in with the broth during cooking).  Also tried adding the whizzed up bits to meatballs, to bulk them out (sort of worked but pretty greasy during cooking).  I do sparingly eat them as is, though they aren't as tasty as pork cracklings/scratchings;  they kind of remind me of cold popcorn:  just add salt.  

Anybody else have a good use for the cooked connective tissue that remains after rendering beef tallow?

Tereza Okava wrote:

I think the kids will be okay.

Thank you Tereza.  I truly hope you are right.  

I sometimes wish I had not brought my children into this world that seems to be collapsing.  Perhaps the future will be better than I am expecting it to be.  I try to make decisions and actions in the hopes that it will.

Today I brought my houseplants back inside from my south facing patio, at the end of their summer holiday;  they went out in May:  spider plants, aloes and a small umbrella palm.  Last year I put out my alocasia too, but it got sunburned and has only just grown back some leaves, a year later;  I didn't want to risk my devil's ivy either though perhaps it would have been ok, as the umbrella palm was.  But everyone is back inside, looking fresh and healthy, and it's nice to see some green in the house again.  

Interestingly, I don't water my aloes at all:  they get rained on when I put them outside for summer;  they go out there with very flat leaves and come back very plump, ready for another dry winter.

Nancy, mine were about 60 cm square, and I did a double fold hem (which was pretty narrow).  I hemmed most of them by hand I think, but it would be quicker by machine.

I took up running again last year after a long period, including recovering from a pelvic injury during pregnancy (which took several years).  I listen to my body and don't push it, as it is still meant to be fun!  I'm happy to think of myself as a runner again:  I can run the same paths at our country park (albeit a bit more slowly) and remember my old running buddy (Beauty the dog) and how much fun we had together.

Still going?

Your photo doesn't load for me, but I recently resized a neckline to make it smaller.  First I removed the bias binding (neckband) with a seam ripper (tedious);  I ironed this to be ready to reattach at the end.  Then I carefully folded very small pleats at regular intervals around the front and back neckline, securing each one with a pin--about five pleats each in the front and back, maybe about 1/4" each.  I then sewed closely around the neckline, securing the pleats;  and finally reattached the bias binding, which was now about four or five inches too long.  It was a pretty easy fix and didn't take too long.  It could have been done by hand too, very neatly.