Food prices - up - up - up

[rachell24]

We have been making our own bread for 4 years .

Bit OT, but Anna, how do you use anything special when you cut your bread? I obviously use a knife but the slices end up like door stops, its like a eating a three course dinner when you have one of my slices for a sandwich! I wait two hours for it to bake and I get about six slices out of it and its gone in 2 minutes.

Rachel.

[AnnaB]

Hi rachell24

I use a bread knife - with practice you can get thin sliced slices......

Anna

[rachell24]

I better get a sharper knife then!

Does your bread maker have a rapid bake on it? Whats the difference (apart from the time it takes to cook?)

Rachel

[wendy]

I also bake my own bread and have done so for some time. Practice makes you better at thinner slices.
Wendy

[charlwood1005]

I have a thing that you put the loaf in, there are gooves in the plastic and you use them as a guard for the knife. I know I haven't explained very well, but you get a really nice slice out of home made bread. I got it from Lakeland - it is designed for bread made in a bread maker and people like me who can not cut straight.

[rachell24]

thanks Charlwood, Im going to have a look now!

Rach

[AnnaB]

Hi rachell24

Told OH about your post (thin slices) he said a really sharp bread knife is what you need.

The fast bake programme on the bread maker is OK if you are desperate but the taste of the 4-5 hour one is much better.

Add a small amount of powdered Vitamin C to the yeast and you will always get a good rise.

We make our bread without salt - you have no control over what is put into shop bought, even if it is the expensive one.

[elljay]

This is an interesting discussion. A couple of months ago I started a similar one about the power of big supermarkets on Martins Moneysaver forum and it ran for a while with some interesting views. I had had one of those lightbulb moments when talking to an elderly lady in the Co-op about the things she could no longer afford to buy. I'm interested to know where people do get their shopping from, these are my sources:

Veg and fruit are fine, I'm growing and have some in the freezer from last year, there's also an excellent independent greengrocer in the nearest town (even though that costs me petrol and parking to get there - another GRRR!!) You can't assume that farm shops sell good veg, as this isn't a veg growing area, we grow nothing but sheep here!! So any veg sold in farm shops probably comes from a supermarket anyway!!

Cheese and meat, there's a village cheese store not far away - one of the few authorised to make Stilton, yummy, but also has other cheese. A local organic farm has a butchers shop once a month or so although I find it a bit scary when they're selling half a cow, or something butchered the french way, (trendy apparently!) when all I want is half a pound of mince. I can live without meat anyhow.

Bakery, I don't eat a lot of bread but bake my own anyway. Flour from mill but it's really expensive crazily enough, but great variety. There's also a bakery up in the hills, they use local, often own grown produce for their pies and biscuits. Normally sell at farmers markets etc locally, or by post, but are happy to sell if you turn up on the doorstep too, and their stuff is totally delicious. I somehow contrive to walk past with the dog and make a lot of noise, someone always comes out with a piece of shortbread!!!

This leaves a few other basic groceries, washing powder, instant coffee, toiletries, rice, tins, dog food etc. I find Wilko's good as someone has already mentioned, also Farmfoods. I don't know where else to go for these things - any more ideas?. If I'm not careful I could run up huge petrol bills going round to them all though, so I try to be organised and call in when I'm going past these places anyway - doesn't always work and anyway I hate shopping with a venom so don't want to spend any more time than I have to traipsing round doing it! For me what works is to buy small quantities of more expensive but good stuff (ie the Stilton!) and lots of the relatively cheap things, like fruit and veg. And waste nothing!

I think I'm really lucky to have so many good sources of food, but I'm sure there are similar places everywhere, it's just a matter of rooting them out. I really miss Asian and Chinese supermarkets for good cheap stuff from when I was a city dweller.

I'd love to know how the elderly lady is who spoke to me in the Co-op, she really made me think differently about things and about how self-centred I am. I may be lucky to have good places to shop but she and lots of others don't have the choice, or a car or 3 jobs to pay for things. I hate the big supermarkets, they have people like that over a barrel!!

Liz

Rant over, off for a nice bath!

[ged]

Hi,
Now the REAL cost of food is begining to bite!Since the end of WW2, all governments in this great country of ours have kept food prices suppressed through subsidy and political agenda.Subsequently we now have a situation where the 'market' of free trade has created a frankenstein monster,oil looks set to top 200 $ per barrel this year!
I have just been notified that my energy charges are going up and how fortunate I am that my energy provider has been the last major player to increase!
GOOD FOOD comes at a PREMIUM,we can if able, produce what we can ourselves.For those who cannot provide for themselves for whatever reasons,then,purchase is the alternative.As has already been mentioned,the big 4 have squeezed the corner shop and trad bakery,butcher and candlestick maker to the point of existence.The implications of what we are witnessing now are stark.I beleive it was Ghandi who said,'be the change you want to see in the world'I am creating a family co-op where we pool are cash resources to buy in bulk that which we cannot grow ourselves.Yes,good flour costs more,but IMHO,the long term effects of eating good produce far outweigh the short term temporary fix.Wheat can be bought and milled at home per requirements,extended growing seasons and canning can provide for lean times,this is the path I am attempting to walk because like all good folk,my family are important to me and their welfare is paramount in my book.Having served as a soldier for many years,the hardest conflict is now unfolding on a worldwide scale.To quote my friend Jules Dervaes from WWW.Pathtofreedom.com,'the most radical of acts today is,to grow your own food'!
It is a very encouraging time to read of DTL'ers exploits through these pages,keep sharing,keep innovating,keep growing and learning the almost lost skills of yesterday.
atb
ged

[elljay]

Hi Ged, thanks, some really good points. One of the things is that as you say, we are some of those who are already converted, that's why we come to this great site which shows so well what ordinary people can do, not trendy Londoners or scary survivalists or ageing hippies. (well, some of us might be the latter!!!) I was concerned too though by the lady I met in the Co-op and how she could be helped. She's dependent on that supermarket, wouldn't and couldn't go anywhere else so is absolutely tied to it. Many older people feel the Co-op is a community service and trust it, it's the corner shop of their younger days and they don't see it as being just as much a business as all the other big players. We are all in the fortunate position of being able to do things to help our families but who's helping her? I don't mean just giving her some eggs or something, I feel political action is needed in some way but no idea what or what I can do.

Liz

[rachell24]

you must be with the same energy suppllier as me Ged, I too got that letter, how kind of them!

I think its quite scary whats happening at the moment, with rising costs, everyone I speak to is tightening their belts. Ive put my name down for an allotment, wish I had done it last year as there were some places, Im third on the list now so looks like it will be next year. Ive got three veg beds on the go in the garden but I dont think Ill be self sufficient out of those!

I tried going to the co-op a while back but to be honest found it really really expensive in there and they didnt have very much choice, it all seemed to be tins and ready meals so had to resort to going back to the SM's.

I would love a return to local shops but as Liz said they are all so far apart its finding the time to get to all these places and not using petrol to do so, kind of defeating the whole idea in the first place.

We have a butchers I can walk to but the last time I went in the whole place just put me off, the man behind the counter looked like he was out of Texas Chain Saw Massacre, so I havnt been back since. I would love to live somewhere that has all the shops on one stretch, I wonder if that will ever happen again?

AnnaB-thanks for that, my bread has little "saw" marks all the way down from my 15 yr old bread knife. LOL. Time for a new one. Got up this morning and realised I had no bread as forgot to make some. OOPS.

[AnnaB]

Hi ged
Re your post - did you see Paddy Ashdown on question time the other night? He said that we have not yet seen prices really rise - he said that they will hurt when they do. The hope we all have is that we grow as much as we can and freeze it (if we can afford the electricity to run the freezer).

I have recently changed supply companies...the old one wrote today to tell me if I go back with them they will give me 'the moon'. I ask myself why didn't they do it before I decided to change - a lot less hassle for me.

Hi rachell24

OH sharpens the bread knife - I'll ask him how if you Pm me (save you spending money).

[ged]

Hi All,
thanx for the input to my post,it is what keeps me going,interaction with like minded souls is very important!I am stuck with my energy supplier as this is regulated by my landlord,however I do spend a lot of my time at my Sister's in my capacity as gofer and carer.I should really be contributing to her energy costs!
I did not see Paddy Ashdown but he strikes me as a guy who talks sense,so his comments only confirm what we already know.I have heard of people spending astronomical sums to keep their gas guzzlers on the road!Not everyone is in a position to weather the storm that approaches,perhaps we may see a return to food rationing as the crisis unfolds,I dont know,we can only help those closest to us in real terms,it is the vunerable members of our population that are at greatest risk,we live in troubled times indeed.
I am going to try and preserve as much as I can by canning this year,it will be an interesting experiment.Anyone do this already or do we all freeze surplus foods?
atb
ged

[sharon the chauffeur]

i am just so glad that i learned to cook from a young age i now make all my own , pies, cakes , quiches , fresh bread/rolls, use all fresh vegetables, and now have plentyful supply of fresh eggs, my flour i buy from the local windmill as its all fresh grounded veggies i get from the local farmers thus keeping them in fair buisiness, so i do my bit for all, and just love food and the knowledge there are no preservatives in what i make