Experimentation Sunday

We had roast pork yesterday, with all the trimmings: I made a pear chutney in lieu of apple sauce, a sage and onion gravy, roast tatties and parmesan roast parsnips, and some purple sprouting broccoli. After that there was a baked cheesecake with amaretto strawberries. Cheeses, biscuits and port to round off.

So.

Today we are not having a cooked meal. The remaining pork will go into sandwiches with some salad at teat time. There was ample fresh sage remaining, and ‘is nibs has requested some sage and onion rolls to put the cold meat in.

I’ve made something up and it is rising in the conservatory (which may well be too warm today, we have bright sunshine once again.)

My ‘fridge/freezer has failed again. It’s not that old – we bought it when we moved into the Bratfud house, so it’s… um… 13/14 years old. Unfortunately it has developed a habit of turning itself on and off, with an accompanying irritating beep every time that it does so. This has been an intermittent problem for a couple of years now, and Mr L usually manages to get it up and running. We have a penny taped across the On switch… but this time that did not stop the problem.

It’s a well-known problem with this Samsung model and is due to some kind of crystalline growth on the circuit board. All a bit Sci Fi. Unfortunately a new board can not be had – Samsung only makes spares available for 10 years from the model release date.

We are trying to decide on a policy. Do we replace now, or wait for it to play up again?

Also – do we replace it with similar, or do we get a larder ‘fridge?

It should be admitted for clarity that we have a massive over-refrigeration capacity for a household of this size (2 persons) –  and one so close to the Arctic Circle.

  • Chest Freezer: bought when we moved to Sanday and used to support our “we hate shopping” lifestyle plan that involves HUGE shopping trips once every 2 or 3 months. Is big and can accomodate half a pig plus a half lamb and umpteen bags of frozen veg, milk supplies etc.
  • The troublesome fridge/freezer
  • An under counter Zanussi larder fridge that I had before Mr L came to live with me. This lives in the utility room and is known as “the Drinks Fridge” – stores white and pink wines, lager and cider supplies. Beer is stored at ambient temperature.
  • An integrated ‘fridge that was here when we moved in. This stores milk close to the kettle plus cans of fruit, open jars of jam etc. Is under-utilised, is not very efficient, and has a broken seal, so requires the door to be closed with conscious effort.

We feel quite strongly that we should increase power efficiency and reduce the number of appliances and this may drive us to replacing the fridge freezer sooner rather than later.

I am tending towards getting a tall larder ‘fridge, keeping the chest freezer, and removing the two under-counter models. There’s a benefit in this policy in that I would gain a 60cm cupboard space in both the kitchen and the utility room. A model has been identified that is A+ rated and currently offers £50 cashback. It is from John Lewis, so would be free delivery. In other words, I am in “bite while it’s hot” mode.

Mr L is tending, however, to an argument that goes “let’s wait and see if I get my bonus this year.”

Maybe my Sage and Onion Rolls will sweeten him up?

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