Welcome to the Slattern’s Domestic Handbook
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Chillies!
Most Slattern households will be familiar with the concept of buying fresh fruit and vegetables, watching them rot and chucking them away. We’ve found an almost foolproof method of keeping chillies (it’s not exactly new – I may be the last person to ever realise you can do it).
Many supermarkets do large bags of economy chillies for a fraction of the price of the perfect ones – better still hit your local market and get a bag full.
We’ve learned that the best way to dry them is not to spread them on a tray and put them in the oven at 9pm one evening, go to bed, get up, wonder why it’s so warm in the kitchen, drive 40 miles to meet friends for lunch then when one of them mentions cooking something have to make a frantic phone call to anyone who may be at home during the day, asking them if they wouldn’t mind breaking into your house and taking the (by now) shrivelled black chillies out of the oven.
No. By far the BEST method is actually to spread them on a tray and put them in at a very low heat – set an alarm on your phone for about 6 hours later and take them out when they’re done. They shoud flake when you squeeze them and they keep a lot of their heat. Once cooled you can stick them in a tupperware container/freezer bag and you have a ready supply of chillies that don’t need to be kept in the fridge (taking up valuable nail polish/cream cake/wine space).
You can also dry them in an airing cupboard but do remember to stick a reminder in your diary or you’ll find them some time next year (because we all know that you don’t put towels in there you just take them out of the ‘stuff I need to put away’ pile).
We tested the dried chillies at Slattern towers this evening and I’m pleased to report that they were smashing. And cheap.
Posted on 09 September, 2009 in Recipes,Tips. Comments (0)
The Slattern exercises…
You know what it’s like when someone catches you on camera when you’re not expecting it? You’ve not held your stomach in (most pictures of the Slattern have a hint of blue around the lips due to oxygen starvation) and it looks like you’re a little heavier than normal.
Recently some photos of the Slattern appeared on facebook and she decided it was time to shed some weight.
So what’s a girl to do? Well first of all we decided that the Atkins diet looked like it was vaguely sustainable (what MORE strawberries and cream?… well if you insist…) but that didn’t solve the problem of the slight ‘saggage’ around the middle.
No problem – on a trip to Waitrose to pick up more strawberries we spotted this rather amusing little device – a lot like slendertone but a fraction of the price (and as I write it’s half price at Lloyds pharmacy)
A word of caution however. Whilst ‘passive exercising’ using your Healthworks belt, it’s not difficult to accidentally knock the power up to ten. The sudden increase in power was something of a shock and caused us to spill our gin and (slimline) tonic, thus extinguishing the fag (involuntarily clenched due to spasm) in the other hand.
Posted on 22 August, 2009 in Beauty. Comments (0)
Slatterns Handbook not updated
Shock horror.
I’ve been ironing.
As if.
Posted on 27 July, 2009 in Humour. Comments (0)
Effortless baking with the Spon
You might argue that the Slattern buys all her cakes ready made – but that’s not the point of being a Slattern, no siree. A Slattern uses minimum effort for maximum results and a Marks and Sparks cake isn’t going to cut it if you’re trying to impress – especially if you’re trying to impress a bloke who likes cake.
Home baking is better and cheaper but let’s face it, results can be ‘variable’.
So when we heard about a brilliant new invention from a chef, we knew we needed to investigate. Neal’s initial design has been refined by computer at Strathclyde University to produce a stirring implement that not only doesn’t clog but produces a consistently smoother and more aerated mix than the traditional stirring spoon.
Keen to see if it worked, we ordered our spons and had a bash at some cup cakes. Our eggs did curdle a bit but that might be down to our their age.
The result was a tray of well risen, fluffy cakes, all of which were gone by the end of the day. So that’s the diet buggered.
If you don’t believe us then get some yourself – you can order them through Neal’s website http://www.thesponco.com
Posted on 31 May, 2009 in Recipes,Misc,Tips. Comments (0)
