A better day, mood wise, and after lunch was able to get out and visit Country Fresh for two sacks of compostables and then to Freshways who also had done a clear out and had frost-damaged cucumbers for me (two boxes) and 2 sacks of mixed stuff. They also invited me to take two boxes of bananas which are darkened by the cold, but the fruit itself is perfect within. I hadn't got room on my trailer.
Then to the Co-op to do general shopping and had a nice chat with Maria. They had no soya milk in the fresh milk section. (We're just out of it; need to do another SUMA order) Came home and Gill asked me if they'd got any long life soya milk, so I cycled back and yes, they did have, so I bought three different types to see which one (if any) we like!
Then on to Freshways again and they gave me the frost-tinged bananas... so many! What am I going to do with them? I haven't space to dry them all, and the racks are full of kiwis! I put a message on facebook and considered freecycle. I cycled round to Bob's but he wasn't there, although one of his housemates was, and he took two bunches. Deb took two as well, but I'm still left with two big boxes worth, probably 100 hands between them. I ought to rig up some racks hanging off the crockery shelf which goes all around the room.
The Facebook message got several results... I'll be able to offload quite a few and I got literally dozens of recipes and ideas about how to use them.
A lovely evening... had a real game of Scrabble with Gill and listened to Sting on the telly playing some nice tunes from Newcastle and the North East, peeled bananas to dry on the stove and shelled pumpkin seeds, these still from 2008! I wish I could find a little 'kitchen sized' hand-operated pumpkin seed cleaner, which removes the crunchy outer shell and leaves the succulent seed in the middle. I'm currently doing them by hand. I looked on Google for these machines and all of them are kitchen sized... literally, as big as a room!
So, a good day. Thankfully!
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2 comments:
Hi John
Glad you have had a good day.
The last time you mentioned pumkin seeds I looked round too. I couldn't even see anything in the U.S. "Farming for the smallholder" type websites where I have found lots of very specific items. What you need is a mechanically minded friend who likes a challenge!!
All the best for the New Year.
Love C
Thanks, 'C', I'm always happy to see your comments here!
I would love some gadget about the size of a pasta-maker or food processor. It's a challenge and an opportunity... I'm happy to supply pumpkin seeds in their outer coats to any budding inventor who wishes to have a go!
By hand, this is how it's done... I grasp each seed with one pair of fingers and with 2 fingers on the other hand, I squeeze the seed on the pointed end til the outer coat splits. This makes it relatively easy to break off a part of the outer shell, which means the rest of the shell can be taken off. It is fiddly and takes 10 to 30 seconds per seed. I cannot imagine how it is done mechanically.
So, any inventors out there wish to have a kilo or two of seeds to practice on?
Yours, John
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