Extortionate???

Just seen a post on facebook saying that the fruit shop at halfway house are charging £2.50 for a tiny cauliflower and £2.00 for a small head of broccoli.
I usually buy my fruit and veg from there and my daughter has been bringing it for me as I am in self isolation.

If it's the case that this shop is profiteering then I will never use them again.

Jathbee if that true its disgusting but not a surprise lots trying to cash in due to the situation very sad

Its the Tory farmers who are charging more for them, because they are short staffed.

Jathbee, I get my veg from my butcher. The prices have doubled + in the last few weeks. She told me she's having to pay these prices at the market. Apparently, farmers are having dificulty getting people to help.

They should round up all these youngsters gathered together and bus them down to the farms. Concordia has a list of where volunteers are needed - and they get paid.

I've been buying bags of frozen broccoli & cauliflower £1 per bag from Iceland

There is precious little veg harvested at British farms at this time of year. A bit of cabbage maybe.

Even asparagus, usually considered the first veg to harvest, will not be in season until May.

Jersey Royals, but again very few until May, and not a mainland crop.

I will need to take that approach is prices rise at these rates, Nana. But I like to make my own soups so I really need fresh veg for this.

Jathbee I've only made pea & ham soup but I've just bought a mixer & it has a blender to make soups,have you got a nice recipe or do you just throw anything in ?

I got stocked up on frozen veg of all kinds..just let it thaw to make a nice
soup..boil what you want,then into the blender.

Jathbee.

In normal times we get most of our fruit & veg from there too. I asked my wife were the prices you mentioned expensive, she also said she thought they were,very. She said she always thought the shop was fair with their pricing in the past, and hope they weren't profiteering because of what's happening now? The only other thing maybe a scarcity of somethings because of all the rain lately, or the time of year? I don't really know, weekly shop is not my province. I do really hope their not profiteering, that would be totally out of order.

Jathbee I've only made pea & ham soup but I've just bought a mixer & it has a blender to make soups,have you got a nice recipe or do you just throw anything in ?

I use a variety of veg.
Carrots, turnip, cabbage, onion, kale, spinach, and whatever else takes my fancy and mixed herbs. So just veg soup.
I put the entire lot into my pressure cooker along with veg stock , garlic granules and sea salt, pepper and a little water.

I don't however blend it as I prefer a chunky soup.

I would like to.add that I am saving money too because I am not shopping myself, so not picking up extras as I might normally do. 😂

Jathbee,when I use the blender I don't leave it running too
long as I like a chunky soup as well.

Great minds, what, momac. 👍

Thank you ladies I'll make some tomorrow but I'm excited to try my blender watch this space

Look forward to your results, Nana.

There was a program e on the telly last night showing you how frozen is much sweeter and better than fresh.

Any proper cook can mix a soup with a masher or the back of a fork to break it up no need for blenders.

Loads of spuds and carrots still the ground from last year just waiting to be picked when the supermarkets say, and there warehouses full of apples and pears from last year that have been sent to sleep also just waiting for the supermarkets to shout we need apples and pears.

I never buy "fresh" vegetables. It has been well proven frozen have the most goodness in them.

Same here Anne,I even buy frozen diced onions

Exactly Anne. Within hours the veg are harvested and frozen and all the proteins saved. Our “ fresh veg” are driven up in Winter from either Mexico or California. Not the shortest trip in the world.

If so many are into frozen veg, then there must be some dozy old fashioned folk who are still using so called fresh.

There are Mick, I cannot convince my friends in my age group who grew up with locally grown seasonal veg. Frozen....no waste always at hand whenever a particular veg is needed/fancied.

I was always reluctant to try frozen sprouts,but got some the other week and they're very good.

Does fresh or frozen matter if you are going to boil the stuff in a soup or stew?
Depends on the economics. How much is three onions, and how much is a bag of chopped onions. Probably the same, but which gives more product?

I would never but buy fresh veg again except for potatoes..gone are bags
of carrots..sprouts..peas..the only ones I didn't much care for were the
mushrooms but probably got the wrong brand.

Do you peel yuor potatoes, or rinse them off and eat the lot with stews or Mash ?

I try not to peel potatoes because there's a hell of a lot of goodness in the
skins..just make sure they're clean and no eyes in.

Jathbee

"I use a variety of veg.
Carrots, turnip, cabbage, onion, kale, spinach, and whatever else takes my fancy and mixed herbs"

Yoo doo know that there is a war on don't yoo, yoo were on about being frugal, but woe betide if you can't get hold of your kale and spinach

I'm the same, Momac, I like the skins.

Jathbee, Asda have some veg packs of onion, turnip, carrots and parsnips for £1.

Thank you Angel.

She didn't get you any. You have to go yourself!

A lot of profiteering going down.

On this site, I get a sidebar advertising a UV sanitation lamp.

They claim they are offering (very limited quantity available) a 50% discount - offering it for 70 quid.

In normal times, I would expect to pay £30 - £40 for such an item.

No I won't be going myself, my daughter will.

But. I may not go to the halfway house fruit shop ever again.

When blending, I hope you ladies remember to secure the lid before you start the motor !!

Indeed. I was once showered with a mixed fruit smoothie. 😂

Well the soup is made & it's very green,I steamed Spinach,Broccoli,Onion,Carrots etc then blended with the lid on John.The blender fits on top of the mixer so had to follow instructions & managed it,not tasted yet can't wait

It doesn't matter what colour it is, it will be very nutritional and tasty. 👍

Johnny's comment reminds me of the first time I got a
pressure cooker wben they first came out..I put dried peas
in.. stood there waiting to see the results when all of a
sudden peas came spurting out of the little thingamagig
that I hadn't put down to close..the dog was licking the
walls while I was trying to clean it all before hubby came
home..what a day.

momac my Mum made pea soup when I was small & the lid blew off & went all over kitchen ceiling so I've never had a pressure cooker

Oh my. I can imagine the mess 😂😂😂 And the dried on peas all over your walls 😂😂😂

I've always hated pressure cookers. The reason why? well, I remember when I was a lad, the Sunday dinner being cooked and the dreadful "hsssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" noise coming from the kitchen, the steam and the condensation on every window.
Plus, the potatoes were horrible when done in the pressure cooker!
Deplorable contraptions, they are. I vowed never to allow one into my house, and I never have!

Never had one since..the memories are too painful.

NJ,
I was working in Scotland and at his request got ‘Owd Bob’ a haggis which I believe he froze. On one of my later trips home he took me to one side and said ‘ don’t mention haggis in front of Jean’ Turns out he had taken it from the freezer and left it to thaw and started to boil it.Turned out he hadn’t let it thaw enough and it exploded and haggis went everywhere. He had to redecorate the whole kitchen.

Oh eck poor Owd Bob

I made a Still out of ours,I tried putting some homemade wine in the cooker,I removed the weights and I don't remember how I did it,but connected a piece of tubing to where the weight should have been,and but the other end into a bottle and started to heat it up,some clear liquid entered the bottle,which soon cracked so I stopped,and tasted the liquid,and it tasted of rubber,there was only a bit of liquid in the bottle so I threw in on the fire,and nearly blew the fireplace up.

So you don't like them Tonks

I have used a pressure cooker for many, many years.
Used correctly they are great and cut the cooking of cheaper cuts of meat down drastically. And they retain all the moisture and flavour of the food.

Never had any accidents or catastrophes with one. 😂

Everybody to their own eh Jathbee.

I was told this morning that the fruit & veg shop at the Halfway House is not observing the social distancing regulations, by restricting the amount of people in the shop at any one time.

I have a Pressure king Pro, recently aqcuired. Used it a couple of times. Very good.

Indeed momac.
I have tried other cooking methods that I can't get on with.
Like a halogen oven. Didn't like it at all.