Friday

Good morning, welcome to Friday!
It was very dull earlier today but the sun is just struggling through as I type so perhaps today will be nicer than originally promised.

Yesterday's tea (which was a family tea) went well.  When I looked over the table I was pleased that it was mostly home made/prepared.  Rolls, cheese, mushroom pate, two kinds of chutney, flapjacks and biscuits were all home made and the ham was home cooked.  I have to say it all tasted jolly good too, absolutely delicious.

I must mention the ham.  It was a little piece of gammon, unsalted and unfatty, from Aldi, £2.99, which took well under an hour to boil and which had a super flavour.  My parents commented on how delicious it was and they are hard to please where ham is concerned.  At that price I will be getting it again.

I follow mum's method for boiling.  I soak it overnight first, then put it in a pan with fresh cold water and bring it up to the boil, simmer it for the allotted amount of time minus about ten minutes, then take the pan off the heat and let the ham cool in the ham stock (as it is by then).  The ham stays beautifully moist and cuts really well.
I don't then roast it when we are having it cold, there's no need, we all like it just the way it is.
I threw away the stock this time as I still have some stock in the freezer from the last ham I boiled.  Yes, I feel guilty!

I managed to palm off most of the leftovers.  I kept one roll and a bit of the ham for lunch today and the sweet things went back in the tins for next week, although I might freeze some of them to get them out of temptation's way.  I bought some unsalted butter and some ordinary butter and what's left from that is in the freezer in small bits.  I bought some semi skimmed milk because I don't think mum and dad are that keen on skimmed milk and I shall freeze what's left (most of it), having checked that you can!

Long live frugality, that's what I say!  Now I must remember to write it all in the accounts!

Today is work, work, work.  Yawn!