Lord preserve us

[undyingking]

If you open our fridge and larder doors you will see jars of:

• beetroot relish
• green tomato chutney
• bramble jelly
• plum jam
• clementine marmalade
• ordinary marmalade
• marrow chutney
  

all made by my own not-so-fair hands during the course of this year. My sister V said admiringly "You're quite the little Chutney Mary!" but actually I'm not altogether sure I like that epithet.

Not only that, but I spent yesterday (and most of Wednesday) laying a new bamboo laminate floor in the conservatory. Which now looks rather nice I think.

On a less self-aggrandizing note, Beavers blamed for likely bank failure. Now we know!

This is a pretty good visual aggregator of the various US Presidential opinion polls, showing how each state will likely contribute to the electoral college picture. Clever bit of design, via the excellent info_sthetics as usual.

And St Peter's Brewery have some more discount deals on. Get in there, Boozy, you're late for your autumnal drunkening!

Comments

[frax.livejournal.com]

I am really impressed with your preserving, I too have been on a preserving kick this year and have:

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
Raspberry Jam
Blackcurrent Vodka
Green tomato chutney (everyone I know with a vegetable patch made GTC this year - most rotten tomato weather ever!)

However I am really curious as to which of your preserves you are keeping in the fridge! None of mine are because I thought that the point of all that sugar and vinegar was that it didn't needed refrigerating - am I missing something important here?

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Once opened, I keep any and all of them in the fridge. It might be that they'd survive at room temp when open, but I'd rather not take the chance.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

(And: blackcurrant vodka yum!)

[mrlloyd.livejournal.com]

That info thing is hideous. I much prefer the stuff at

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

Although it's hard to judge how accurate it is. FAQ here
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/03/frequently-asked-questions-last-revised.html

Apparently the author has a great track record predicting baseball and decided to branch out into politics.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I find that site over-graphiced and confusing.... prefer a one-shot at-a-glance. (But really I mostly want out of it a sense of reassurance that the polls are moving the right way, rather than a seat-by-seat analysis.)

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that poll tracker better.

I have the attention span of a gnat and require big colorful graphics to get the point across...haha.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

I'm totally impressed by your chutney skillz! I've always been rather trepidatious of the canning process.

Interesting poll tracker! I guess I didn't realize how close the race really was.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I was trepidatious too until this year, but I thought I might as well give it a go as we had all this veg. It's turned out to be pretty easy (compared with real cooking!) -- pretty much just bung everything in a pan and let it boil down to the right consistency.

jamtastic

[a-llusive.livejournal.com]

I may be going to London in early December - would that fit for a museums trip thingy?

Re: jamtastic

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, things are looking pretty solid for me between now and Xmas, I'm afraid -- a big work thing came up which will be eating up most of my notionally-discretionary time. Sorry about that, it's good from a money pov but means I won't be seen much outside the office for the next few months... should ease up in New Year though?

Re: jamtastic

[a-llusive.livejournal.com]

OK but I'd like to nail a date down before that option also blows away in the winds of your popularity and enterprise.

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

I'd only heard of the phrase "Chutney Mary" in the context of the Indian restaurant of the same name. Haven't ever actually been there, but they're the same people who are responsible for the Masala Zone mini-chain by which I swear, so the omens are good.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

It's a good restaurant, been there a couple of times. (As a guest of someone else - it's rather more expensive than Masala Zones.) But yes, it's named after a once-popular (in its context) locution.