Update: we has gushy sinks!

[desperance]

I found my plunger; you may call me the plongeur. Whatever was blocking my sink, no longer is. I now have the cleanest tubes in the west.

Also, I have made pickle, and jam. Which boiled over out of the jars I ladled it into, which was new. Much stickiness, for washing. Is okay. I can wash! I has water that sinks in sink!

Also I have done a modicum of work, but only a modicum. But am going to stop regardless, and cook cauliflower-mac-and-cheese. With bacon. Because I can. I am a kitchen god, and plug-holes gurgle as I pass.

Comments

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

*gurgles*

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

Huzza for gushy sinks!

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

I am a kitchen god, and plug-holes gurgle as I pass

Add that to the Victorian strong-man image - and I'm helpless with giggles. Thank you! :)

PS: Would you mind telling me now you sterilise your jam/pickle jars? I am a hopeless cook but suspect chutney may not be entirely beyond my capabilities. I would like to give it a try, anyway *g*

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Chutney is easy, and fun to make, and impresses the hell out of your friends as you pass out jars as gifts of your beneficence. Also it uses up all those spare jam-jars that otherwise accumulate (at least, in my house they accumulate...).

Also-also, chutney is less inclined to spoil than jam is; I guess vinegar is a better preservative than sugar. What I do is wash and rinse the jars thoroughly in hot-hot water, then put them in a low oven until wanted; this has the dual function of sterilising and ensuring that you can fill them with seething chutney without cracking the glass.

There is debate over lids; some people say you should never re-use old lids. On the other hand, I've been doing it all my life. The point is that metal corrodes, and corrosion taints the contents. So what I do is insulate the one from the other, with a disc (well, a roughly-torn patch) of greaseproof or waxed paper on top of the chutney and then another between the jar and the lid, so that you're closing the jar onto paper rather than glass all the way around. Do this immediately, while the contents are still hot (heatproof gloves are invaluable, tho' a dry tea-towel will also work; just remember, boiling sugar is seriously hot), and then stand the jar on its lid as soon as it's sealed. When you turn it right way up again, it'll make a partial vacuum under the lid, which is a further guarantee against bacteria until it's opened.

How's that? If you need anything more, come back to me...

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

That's fantastic, all the incidental details that recipes (with all that "pour into sterile jars") leave out. Thank you so much :)

I feel a New Year Project coming on.....

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

I'm doing drains again today. For reasons which escape me but which doubtless made sense to the house-builders (I think we spell this 'cheap') the kitchen sink drains into my neighbour's main drain, not into ours. Unfortunately, my neighbour seems a lot less cautious about putting fat down the drain than I am, and the drain blocks three or four times a year, at which point I plunge it (made my own heavy-duty plunger) and then pour a bucket of caustic soda/water down it and all is well for a while.

The drain blocked just before Christmas, so I did the caustic soda thing, but it blocked again over Christmas and I cleared it on Boxing Day (lucky me!)and I've just got round to doing the caustic soda thing again. However, judging from the intermittent trickles of water emerging from under her garden wall I think something else is going on, which is technically Not My Problem, but I fear I will have to take the initiative as my neighbour is not very good at this sort of thing.