More slow stew

Our house seems to accumulate clutter; junk that arrives as a useful or desirable object, then decays into a waste of space through lack of use and time.

Last year, we discovered Freecycle, a website for advertising stuff that you don't want, and giving it away. We cleared loads of space from the attic and the shed, including a twenty-three year old windurfer with most of its bits. This week, we advertised a huge box containing many examples of a board game that Porklet had made for her Young Enterprise project. Surprisingly, we had lots of replies, and we managed to give everything away. This gives us more space for yet more clutter, I think.

And, for the first time, we gained something from Freecycle. Moonface had asked for a slow-cooker, to see if they were any good. So, I tried on a twenty-year-old Swan cooker, with genuine 1980's ('70's ?) beige flower designs on its shell. The results weren't bad.

First, I combined some leftover ham with puy lentils, veg, chorizo and the weekend's chicken stock to make a rich, farty stew. Moonface and I liked it, and the kids were tolerant. Then yesterday I made a beef daube with lots of onion. The beef wasn't as tender as I like it, but it ensured that the food was ready to eat earlier than would be possible with normal cooking. We'll give the slow-cooker another few tries, then decide whether to keep it or give it away again on Freecycle. My main gripe is that it's smaller than I would like: I prefer my cooking pots to be large when making stews.