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1:18 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Fiona cracked open a jar of homemade jam this morning whose best before date was 12/07 !!
It was scrummy yummy. made by The Wooden Spoon in Wye, Kent. I don't see it listed on their site now.
The label lists the ingredients as Sugar, Morellos (30%), Raspberries (15%) Pectin, Citric acid.
This is seasonal "well worth a shot" suggestion. Fill in the blanks!
Never knowingly underfed
1:55 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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I'm sure that you can safely disregard the BBD since sugar is a preservative in its own right. I like cherries and raspberries.
I'll try that again!
4:10 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Thanks, TA. I never knew that.
Never knowingly underfed
12:40 pm
Councillor
New members
Thu 7-Jan-10
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BBDs are legal requirements, often bearing no relation to reality. They take into account worst possible storage conditions, so that the unthinking who store things in damp cupboards (or those of us in Devon and other damp places) can't complain if they fall apart or rust or go moldy/mouldy after the BBD. 
(Everything in my cupboards is in mouse-proof jars or boxes, which helps keep out the damp, too. 
)
But sugar, and vinegar, and salt, are all preservatives which is why jam and pickles and chutneys were developed in the first place, and they can keep a l o n g time. Sterilising and heat sealing give added protection. Lower sugar jams keep less well, but the one you list was over 50% sugar.
I think that 7 years was decided to be the maximum time that could go on as a BBD, for some bureaucratic reason. Maybe some young city slicker who had never met a jam maker couldn't believe anything over 3 months old wasn't out of fashion/out of date?
blog: Devon Garden
3:46 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Well said Barbara! (Your last two paragraphs)
It must be very tricky trying to store things in damp conditions, will that change when your new kitchen is in?
I'll try that again!
4:30 pm
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Thu 7-Jan-10
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Toffeeapple said:
Well said Barbara! (Your last two paragraphs)
It must be very tricky trying to store things in damp conditions, will that change when your new kitchen is in?
Thanks, TA! 
I hope the damp problems will be solved, partly by treating one outside wall first and mainly by good ventilation within the cupboards. I'll know more when the builder comes up with drawings, but we talked about
batons directly on the wall, adjustable shelves with lips on the back
and sides, so there would be air circulating around all the shelves. I don't
understand why a cupboard on an inner wall is damp, but that will
probably be sorted (I hope not too expensively!) once the old kitchen is
out before the new one goes in. At least they will find out why it is
damp, if not cure it...
I suspect the new kitchen will take a lot longer
than Danuta's did. 
blog: Devon Garden
4:42 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Barbara said: I suspect the new kitchen will take a lot longer
than Danuta's did.
I'll try that again!
7:11 pm
Supreme Being
Thu 24-Sep-09
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Oh Barbara I do wish you luck with your kitchen problems. Believe me, it will all be worth it. I am loving my new wee kitchen. 
I seem to have so much more working and storage space and I am just loving the dishwasher.
Old teachers never die, they just lose their class
5:51 pm
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Thu 7-Jan-10
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TA, I managed without a kitchen for a while when the children were young. The kitchen floor had cracked because an old wall hadn't been taken out completely, and the concrete floor broke over the remains. We could plumb in the gas cooker in the dining room, not a problem except it was the playroom and never used as a dining room and the children didn't take kindly to the kitchen taking over their space. So somehow we managed with that for the time it took for the new floor to go in, and the new kitchen, and the floor to dry, and the floor to dry, and the floor to dry--no one could work out why it took weeks, when they had put a damp proof course in under it.
This time I will take the essentials upstairs--kettle, toaster, Remoska, so I can at least make breakfast and lunch. The main decision will be how much to carry upstairs and how much to leave in the living room as the more is there the less I can use the room. P has said I can eat there in the evening for the duration, thank goodness, but I will need to be at home to work sometimes. Don't ask about washing up, I suspect the bathtub will deal with that. 
I will probably have to take the washing outside around the kitchen to get to the utility room, instead of through it. 
I just hope they don't want to take the old kitchen out too long before the new goes in, since I am already trying to juggle the timing around a holiday. But the boarded over walls do need investigating...
Danuta, I am glad you love your kitchen--that is real encouragement to me to keep going. And aren't dishwashers wonderful! I am enjoying the choosing what I want bit at the moment. The worktop is chosen, the basic layout is worked out I think but I haven't had the plans yet, and I still need to work out what color I want it all.
blog: Devon Garden
6:15 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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I suppose this should be in a separate thread but I remember well the joys of a new concrete floor being put in a kitchen with young children around. It was an adventure and took months.
I too have a new kitchen that gives me loads more cupboard space than before and yet manages to make the kitchen look bigger (you'll have to scroll down to see)
6:27 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Barbara, that sounds like a nightmare, but I think we do adapt quite well when younger. At least you have the offer of eating with P in the evenings even if you have to camp in your bedroom for the rest of the day. I hope it is all completed soon. 
I'll try that again!
7:26 pm
Supreme Being
Thu 24-Sep-09
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Good luck Barbara. It is worth the upheaval and you will have a lovely new kitchen to play with. Your kitchen I think is much bigger than mine, so may take longer to do.
Like the kitchen Joanna!
Old teachers never die, they just lose their class
7:39 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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I hadn't noticed your link Joanna, until now. I think I'm having difficulty in seeing the green of links which is why I always make mine bold and a bright colour. Anyway, the kitchen looks very good but I am mystified by the motif on the tiles, can you enlighten me please?
I'll try that again!
9:15 pm
Councillor
New members
Thu 7-Jan-10
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Joanna, your kitchen looks good!
I just heard from my brother that my niece wants to visit some time before Christmas. I did warn him that I may be kitchenless... Theirs was done a couple of years ago and took months longer than it was meant to. It would be great to see her, but visitors and no kitchen,
blog: Devon Garden
9:40 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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Barbara - that sounds like an excuse for a few takeaways, or even for some treats to a restaurant ..... 
Not the same, I know, but still great to see your niece.
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