Polly's Plastic Lakeland Bags...

My Mum is great. She's kind, generous, funny, warm, a good cook, a great babysitter, Mum, Granny, friend, etc. Sometimes however, she can be somewhat over enthusiastic about certain things and when presented with the result of this enthusiasm, I don't always know quite how to react.

One of the latest objects of this enthusiasm is a simple storage device called the Bread Bag produced by Lakeland Plastics. Little more than a white cotton draw string bag which is lined with plastic, this item received little more than a cursory glance. Horror of horrors, she'd actually bought four of the blessed things and presented me with two of them, one medium and one large sized.

In the same breath I was informed that she no longer needed the fancy stoneware bread crock that I'd bought her once upon a time and that I could have it for whatever I decided to do with it. Fair enough, I thought, as we'd both had similar problems with the storage of bread in said article - ie the bread went mouldy within a couple of days occupation. Currently my bread crock holds enormous quantities of rice, keeps it dry, pest free and easily accessible. To be honest, it's a godsend!

So, without more adieu, I decided there and then that the newer, slightly larger stoneware bread crock would make a fantastic place in which to store root vegetables like spuds. These too have proved problematic, in that they're inclined to sprout at the slightest opportunity, so far the bread crock seems to have this particular issue under control.

So what of the plastic lined cotton bag? Well, eventually I decided to try it out. I did so somewhat relunctantly, as I truly didn't have any faith in the things but didn't want to upset my Mum. Rather than be accused of spurning her generosity I stuffed a Tiger Loaf from Tesco's into it and hoped for the best, nearly one week later it remained soft and fluffy, no evidence of age to make it taste stale and certainly there was no sign of mould. I was surprised, no actually I was shocked!

My next experiment was a soda bread cake. As delicious as it was, I deliberated and decided that out of sight was indeed a case of out of mind. Wholewheat soda bread is delicious, especially with a layer of butter upon it and reeks havoc on any healthy eating plan, so it had to be vanished - or else face the consequences. Where better to stuff it than into Lakeland's bread bag, whereupon it languished for the best part of a week before being rediscovered. Aw, so what? Well, normally soda bread lasts no more than 24 hours before it becomes stale and unpalatably dry but not in this case. I was actually amazed this time...

Over the past few weeks I have stuffed various different bread products into my Lakeland Bread Bags ranging from soda bread to pitta bread, tiger bread to donuts and each one has remained soft and fresh for inordinate lengths of time. I don't know how they stay fresh, they just do and whoever invented this solution to an age old problem needs a pat on the back and a round of applause.

My recommendation would be for anyone who likes their bread, especially if they live alone or as part of a small family, is to go out and try the Lakeland Bread Bag for yourselves. It works for me and hopefully it'll work for you!

Convenience Costs Polly

As a result of our decision to skip up and down a rather large mountain in Co Mayo, it was decided that something relatively quick and easy, with a high protein/calorie content would be served up for dinner last Saturday night. After all, those energy depleted mountaineers would need something good to fill them up.




The Scouts were running around on the back lawn of The Atlantic Adventure Centre like headless chickens, chasing the ball as though they'd never mounted Croagh Patrick while the adults of the party complained about their aching limbs. I envy the boys enthusiasm for life and wish that I possessed even a tenth of their energy!

As we had travelled by train, we'd travelled relatively lightly. Our arrival in Westport heralded scouts, equipment, leaders, but thankfully no tents and was well past closing time at the local shops. Our Leader had wisely chosen to bring a few essential supplies in her rucsac.

Saturday night menu consisted of nearly 1kg of minced/ground beef, 1 kg spaghetti (dry) and two jars of Dolmio's finest Taste of Sorrento ragout sauce, complete with cherry tomatoes, basil and pesto. For sixteen persons this provided a very acceptable first course, which was followed by a staple of oven chips and chicken goujons.

Personally I stuck to the spaghetti, which despite having been produced from a jar was very acceptable. In fact, to my surprise, it was quite delectable.

Admittedly, I did simmer the made up beef ragout on the stove for rather longer than the recommended 20 minutes, but I don't imagine that this made a huge difference. The end result was sixteen empty plates...

This week I did look up the price of these Dolmio jars and was horrified to discover that my suspicions regarding thecost were correct. At an exhortitent €2.80 per jar, I could have fed a biblical five thousand for the same amount of money!

Take a 1 kg net of Tesco's cooking onions costing a mere €1.79 and I'd probably use three of them + two 400g cans of Tesco Value Chopped Tomatoes @ €0.90 + a pinch of mixed herbs where a whole 18g pot of Tesco Value Mixed Herbs costs 32c (cost impossible to assess due to tiny quantities used) , Schwartz Bay Leaves Refill 6g €1.35 /20ish & I'd probably use 2, plus a teaspoon of Tesco Olive Oil costing €7.35/litre.

As the meat and the spagetti part of the above dish is a common factor, I am not going to include them in this cost comparison. However 2 x €2.80 = €5.60 - €1.34 = €4.26 difference in the cost of Polly's Spagetti Bolognaise and Dolmio's Spagetti Bolognaise with a taste of Sorrento!

If cooked correctly this dish is rich enough to be flavoursome and filling without the addition of expensive ingredients such as parmesan cheese and pinenuts. Made my way it does take a little longer, regarding the preparation of the ingredients, but in terms of convenience I'd say that there is very little to choose from between the two.

Personally I'd always prefer to carry a few fresh vegetables and/or cans to glass jars purely for safety reasons and a plastic bag with a few herbs makes very little difference to anything bar the flavour of the resulting meal. I honestly believe that it is a case of swings and roundabouts in relation to convenience foods and flavour, but this example does just go to prove that the cost of convenience is indeed high!

Anyway, regardless of its origins this is one of my favourite meals and I'm now beginning to feel a little hungry, so at the late time of *@!€* I shall go and dress myself, make some dinner for us all and then head off to Scouts!

Ciao!

Polly Pierce