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Cupboard and Freezer Destocking

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We're hoping to move. It should have been in the next week or so, but as always there are delays. Since April I have been working to reduce the stock in the cupboard and chest freezer. Two months later and I still haven't finished. I don't think we'll have no frozen items, but there are a few more apple crumbles with frozen stewed apple, some more jam and a few more fish meals to go. Destocking the cupboard has been a much slower task. Somehow we had a few kg of different rices; we're almost at the point where all packets are open and in use. A house-moving fruit cake should help to use up a fair amount of the dried fruit in the baking cupboard.
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How to make the best mash

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We had sausage and mash tonight, and this got me thinking about how to make the perfect mash. There are a number of variables: Potatoes. White or red? I think that the kind that stay solid when you boil them are best for mash. We had Desiree tonight, and they worked well. If the spud goes fluffy on the outside it will make a great roast but they're too watery when you mash them. How to cook them. The vitamins are just below the skin. Boiling is the most obvious but also probably the least good for you. Baking them and then mashing the middle gives a good water-free mash. Would steaming them or microwaving work? Chopping the spud into a 1cm^3 cubes does speed up boiling (a tip I knicked from Ready Steady Cook) but makes a more watery mash - if time allows then leave the chunks of spud quite large (about the size for boiled spuds). How to mash. With a masher? Well the other options include a potato ricer or something mechanical. The latter seems a bit risky and over working cooked po...
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Roast Squash & Friends with Black Pudding Meatballs

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First meal to use up some black pudding. This one-tray-only bake is nice and simple and the mix of vegetables makes for a more colorful meal. 1/2 butternut squash 4 carrots (small)  1 onion 1 celery stick 2 potatoes (small) 3 sausages 2 oz (50 g) black pudding 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp rosemary Dice the vegetables, season with salt, pepper, fennel & rosemary and drizzle with oil. Roast at 180 °C for 40 mins, stir to ensure it crisps after 20 mins. Remove the sausage meat from the skins and blend with the black pudding. Roll into approximately 16 balls and add to the roasting veg for a further 20 mins cooking.
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