"Helen Deborah Vecht" wrote in message
...
"JennyC" typed

That's OK Mary :~)
A lot of us are getting older and it's good to be prepared :~)
Jenny

Ummm... How many of us *aren't* getting older?

Do th Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.ey have a Time Machine I could borrow?


DIY :
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...FB809EC5880000
Jenny "~)

Janet Tweedy writes
In article , Mary
Fisher writes
I haven't a microwave ... tell you, we live under a (very primitive) stone.

So it's back to pounding boiled potatoes :-)

But some types of potatoes make terrible mash, they have sort of solid
lumps in them. Other varieties mash like a dream.

I have to admit using Smash on top of shepherd's pie as I find it
easier to smooth it across the meat!

Try mixing in a tiny bit of milk into the mash - makes it more
spreadable.
--
Kay

Mary Fisher writes

Oh, I think the baked potato beats everything. Really, I do. How hard is
it to wash a potato, prick its skin and stick it in the oven? And the
effort
and agony of opening a can of tuna or a packet of grated cheese - see,
that
could be allowable - just. But really - buying baked potatoes is the
nadir
of instant cookery, surely?

I didn't know you could. My astonishment rating always shoots up when I see
tinned potatoes, and custard. Still, some must like them, if the demand
weren't there they wouldn't be produced.

They have their place. Sometimes life gets just too busy. And tinned
custard comes in handy if you've run out of milk.
--
Kay

"Helen Deborah Vecht" wrote in message
...
"JennyC" typed

That's OK Mary :~)
A lot of us are getting older and it's good to be prepared :~)
Jenny

Ummm... How many of us *aren't* getting older?

Do they have a Time Machine I could borrow?

They absent-mindedly left it in the future ...

Mary

"BoyPete" wrote in message
...
Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
"JennyC" typed

That's OK Mary :~)
A lot of us are getting older and it's good to be prepared :~)
Jenny

Ummm... How many of us *aren't* getting older?


I'm not

I used to think that I wasn't, that I'd live for ever.

Now I'm beginning to think that I might not.

Worse, I'm not sure that I WANT to :-(

It might come to you ... remember this in a few decades.

Mary
--
ßôyþëtë

In article , BoyPete
writes
I have great trouble finding a good potato masher. The run of the mill
varieties all seem to have too large holes, and pounding for ages still
leaves lumps. Yuk!! What do you use?

I find that a standard potato masher is fine - however, the real keys
a
to have the spuds well cooked (but not actually disintegrating);
to drain well then put back in the pan and put the pan over a very low
heat for a minute or two, stirring to make sure the spuds don't catch.
This helps drive out any extra water.

I then leave the low heat on whilst mashing, occasionally taking it off
the heat if it starts steaming too much. The drier the spuds are, the
easier to mash and the fewer lumps.

Also, don't add butter or milk until near the end when the serious
mashing is done. Oh yes - when you've finished mashing, mash it some
more.

After adding the butter/milk, whip it up with a fork for a minute or two
to aerate it.

Works for me everytime

Never use a food processor - I tried it once out of interest. you get a
disgusting gloop.

--
regards andyw

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

So until Spouse makes me a tool like a wooden mallet with the head on
sideways I'll have to boil potatoes in the steel pans :-(


Here's my non-abrasive silicon coated potato masher; doesn't scratch
pans at all


http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/pro...0038?src=ga062

Hey - that looks good. I think we have a Lakeland in Leeds now, not that I
go to town often, but I'll try to remember. Thank you.

Mary


Janet

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...

K wrote:
Hear, hear, as in 'this guy's talking sense, listen to him'
Also, it's 'bated breath' (abated, holding your breath) not 'baited
breath' which always makes me think of an open mouth with a sardine on
the tongue hoping to catch goodness knows what.
--
Kay

Thank you for that. Hear hear is my only challenge, I knew not to put
an unfortunate sardine flavoured "i" in bated.
But because of you, I now have very odd images trotting in my brain...

Thank goodness for that, I had a horrid feeling I was on my own, but
considering the state of the memory I'll have forgotten it before I press
the send button!

Alan


Cat(h)

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
oups.com...

Alan Holmes wrote:
"Lionel" lionel wrote in message
...

"Broadback" wrote in message
...
Can I compost all the small potatoes

It's adviseable not to compost them or peelings from others.

Why not?


Because they do sprout in compost? I had loads of potato and tomato
seedlings in my garden, which got there via my compost heap. Franky,
they are among the easiest weeds to pull, and I have even left a few to
do their thing - got about 500 grs worth of toms from a few of them...
I haven't lifted the couple of spuds yet.

I found a few potatoes in my compost heap and left them to grow, quite
rewarding it has been.

Alan


Cat(h)

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...

Broadback wrote:
JennyC wrote:
"Broadback" wrote in message
...
Can I compost all the small potatoes that I have this year, without
them
sprouting up like weeds where I apply the compost? My wife refuses to
peel
the marble sized ones, let alone the pea sizes! :-) Potatoes growing
where
they were planted the previous year is pain enough without
exacerbating
the problem.

Fry or boil them in their skins !!
Jenny


Thanks all for your culinary tips, you live and learn, I thought (silly
me) that only "new" potatoes could be treated that way.

Silly you indeed :-) Some of us pay extortionate money to purchase
750g bags of tiny spuds, which are lovely put into the oven with the
sunday roast (in a separate dish), tossed in olive oil, coarse salt and
pepper, and with sprigs of rosemary - I think someone has already
suggested it.
Well scrubbed, the skins are quite edible. For what it's worth, I
always eat the skin of my boiled spuds, even big main season ones.

I've never done that, but I always eat the skins of baked pots.

Alan


Cat(h)

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...

.
Well scrubbed, the skins are quite edible. For what it's worth, I
always eat the skin of my boiled spuds, even big main season ones.

I don't even peel potatoes to make mash, except at Christmas.

Lazy devil!(:-)

Alan


Mary

Cat(h)

"Helen Deborah Vecht" wrote in message
...
Broadback typed


JennyC wrote:
"Broadback" wrote in message
...
Can I compost all the small potatoes that I have this year, without
them
sprouting up like weeds where I apply the compost? My wife refuses
to peel
the marble sized ones, let alone the pea sizes! :-) Potatoes
growing where
they were planted the previous year is pain enough without
exacerbating
the problem.

Fry or boil them in their skins !!
Jenny


Thanks all for your culinary tips, you live and learn, I thought (silly
me) that only "new" potatoes could be treated that way.

I don't think we've peeled any potatoes for years...
...or done any ironing.

What's ironing?

Alan


--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Helen Deborah Vecht" wrote in message
...

I don't think we've peeled any potatoes for years...
...or done any ironing.

I have never, ever, ironed a potato.

You don't know what you are missing!

Alan


Mary

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...

Is instant mash still made?

Not only made but undergoing a considerable revival and publicity
campaign.
--
I must live under a stone!
Mary

http://www.premierfoods.co.uk/brands/smash.cfm :
Smash is the UK's favourite instant mash potato with enough Smash produced
every year to make 140 million servings.

That is two and a bit for every person in the country!

Alan


Jenny "~))

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

mashing potatoes isn't rocket science ...

I have seen ready-made mashed potato, porridge, omelette, and baked
potato in Marks and Spencer. All you have to do is drive to M and S,
park the car, trail round the aisles, stand in a queue, buy your
ready-made omelette etc, return to the car, load car, drive home, put
the omelette in the microwave and warm it up. What could be more
convenient? :-)

All that time wasted in the store and driving there and back!

Alan


Janet.