Last Saturday it was very grey, and although no rain forecast there was a bit of drizzle in the air when I set out for the first boot sale of the year......and it was blinkin' cold.
I got there just before 8am and it was quite busy already. To see the best bargains people arrive at 6am, the dealers wear head torches! I'm not that keen.
I didn't find any great treasures, just a few things from the house clearance people that will come in handy at a price less than buying new. A Lock and Lock storage box, pack of Christmas cards, some Christmas tissue paper, a pack of greaseproof paper and some seeds. I paid the grand total of £2 for these.
The seeds are 6 small packets of bee and butterfly friendly plants and at 50p I though cheap enough for me to sow thickly in a seed tray and see what comes up for transplanting later.
I found several boxes of greaseproof or baking parchment last year but it's handy finding it cheap as I can then use it to line all sorts of baking trays in the oven - saving washing up! Don't need to buy anymore now.
I also spent £2 on a small tray of wallflower plants and £1.20 on 3 little primrose plants which I potted into this little planter and put on the front door step. I'll put them out in the garden in the autumn.
I stood the wallflower plants in a sheltered spot while snow was forecast and will plant out later.
The next Value Range Experiment main meal
I made a Quiche using the pastry case made a few days earlier and added.......................
Grated cheese. Both the cheddar and the parmesan. I've never used parmesan in a quiche before but it really added a cheese flavour considering how mild the Value Range grated cheese is.
2 eggs
Milk ......just under half pint (not watered down)
3 rashers bacon softened
2 small onions " "
A little Chard from garden
And 4 more mini plum tomatoes.
Quiche is divided into four so will do 4 days. I also roasted a tray full of chunky carrots and parsnips and a couple of potatoes at the same time.
Then added some of the Value range Asda frozen mixed vegetables.
I think the camera steamed up with the hot roast vegetables!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
That dinner looks excellent. I do like a quiche. Wallflowers! Haven't seen them in decades, but I remember the scent, sort of nutty. I definitely approve your buys. I use parchment paper a lot, to bake on and to wrap baked goods for neighbors or the freezer.
ReplyDeleteI like a quiche as it makes me 4 meals!
DeleteThat looks delicious! We're just out the door to an early evening live theatre, which meant too early to eat beforehand, and I know we'll not feel like much afterwards. A couple of thin slices of ham and salad stuff between pieces of bread will be our lot.
ReplyDeleteLove a good ham sandwich
DeleteI'm happy to see you made the first boot sale of the year! The items you found will all come in handy and save you some money as well. The primrose plants are lovely.
ReplyDeleteYes the weather was decent enough for the first boot sale. Not sure about next weekend - we shall see
DeleteThe meal looks delicious and nutricious. Getting to a boot sale at 6am in this weather takes real dedication.
ReplyDeleteor some sort of madness!
DeleteHow delicious that plateful looks. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me that I must think about my front planter - it's about time it had something early and sturdy in it - primulas, maybe, like you, and I have three on the kitchen window ledge, just waiting to be planted out.
That was a good haul, wasn't it?
xx
Hope mine survive this cold and wet weather
DeleteSome real bargains there. Especially those pretty Primulas.
ReplyDeleteLucky I found the person selling for 40p each before I got to the person selling at £1 each!
DeletePrimulas look pretty. Last time we were in Carmarthen Lidl had a tray of 10 for about £3, so I bought some and put them in planters round the yard.
ReplyDeleteGood buys from the House Clearance chaps. We tend to only get the ones with furniture, cushions etc - they must dump anything like this, or not take it at all.
Quiche is something I don't make very often but when I do it has SO MUCH more flavour than the tasteless boughten variety. You have a nourishing cheap meal there - and for four days too!
10 for £3 is a really good bargain. They only seem to be sold individually at boot sales
DeleteI love making spinach, Gruyere and pine nut tart in the summer months to have with salad and new potatoes from the garden. I smear a tsp of Dijon mustard on the blind-baked pastry base then add the blanched chopped spinach squeezing out as much water as possible before pouring over a mixture of three eggs, 150ml single cream, 150g grated Gruyere and I finish with a sprinkling of pine nuts before baking. I always make my pastry by hand using half wholemeal and half plain flour and butter. I have winter salad leaves in the greenhouse and spinach in the veg plot and will make this on soon on a more spring-like day. We are very wooded around here with English bluebell woods just a step away. The wild garlic woods are a bit further away as ransoms prefer a heavier wetter soil I think. It felt like we were walking in Wales yesterday as the hills around us were covered in snow and there was snow lying in the hollows of the wood, very beautiful and not cold in the shelter of the trees. We popped into the churchyard on the way home which is now full of small pale yellow wild daffodils. Coming back to our house I was struck by the combination of pale gold hazel catkins, glistening maroon bramble leaves, lime green hellebore foetidus against dark green ivy leaves and the first of the wild primroses. I take no credit - it is nature at her most beautiful and helps me to ignore the mess impatient car drivers have made of our grass frontage this winter. Tunnel vision - the most essential tool of any gardener! We all love Baron Bigod but it is a very special treat. Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteI love Pine nuts - could eat by the handful quite easily - I use them mainly in a spinach and ricotta lasagne
DeleteNice to see some flowers at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteNice to see when I step out the door
DeleteWhen our children were young we were really really penny poor. However I had to be inventive and I have to say some of the tastiest meals I've ever prepared were born out of necessity. I used to buy the really cheap bacon offcuts, place in a roasting dish and cover with water. Cooked either to eat with roast potatoes or mashed and with some of the bacon water used to mash the potatoes it was a delicious meal with homemade apple sauce and vegetables from the garden. We had apple trees galore and apple sauce featured with many of our meals! x
ReplyDeleteI once had loads of recipes for bacon - layered up with potatoes or a cheap pilaff. One of the things we always had when the children were small and interest rates at 16%!
Deleteyou found some nice things and your meal looks very tasty and economical.It is always interesting to see what people buy at a sale. I think I would have bought most everything you did
ReplyDeleteCathy
Lots and lots of rubbish and junk at every car boot sale - I have to search hard for the useful
DeleteYour meal looks lovely, a quiche makes for a very satisfying meal doesn't it. I always find a slice is nice for lunch just eaten cold with a hot drink if you aren't too hungry. The challenge is going well up to now, and the comments are pouring in. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like a quiche because you can chuck all sorts into it and it lasts me 4 days!
DeleteI love a nice quiche - good idea to mix in the Parmesan for extra flavour
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
The Value Range grated cheese is a lot milder than my normal Extra Mature. But on the benefits side it's stopped me cutting chunks of cheese to nibble!
DeleteI love the idea of roasted vegetables, but mine always turn out to be a disappointment. I'm sure I'm getting the seasoning wrong.
ReplyDeleteI just roast with a little rape seed oil - always good
DeleteI wish I could make quiche - I can cook pretty well, but quiche just seems to defeat me every time. Pity, as fresh and home made it is delicious.
ReplyDeleteThat's odd. I use my own baked blind pastry case add whatever!
DeleteOh yum! That looks delicious. Do you have an actual recipe for the quiche? I love quiche - Cheese and onion - yum, but the ones over here taste different, might be the cheese lol. Good finds from the boot sales!
ReplyDeleteNot a proper recipe with amounts - I just add whatever I have - some softened first, 2 or 3 eggs with milk beaten and pepper and nutmeg grated. Cooked high for 20mins then lower until set
Delete