I bought an M+S beauty bag out of sympathy for them...well sort of.

[soupyspoon]

I do like a bargain and I also like shopping, so not saying there was nothing in the act for me.

What else did you buy and where is it currently in the house?

I once made something with preserved lemons. Can’t remember what it was tho.

Well the customer is always right so I think you should try it.

I mean he should have stuck to wrestling by the sounds of it anyway.

Who would have thought Shirley Crabtree would have ended up a mid/high range chocolatier though. You couldn't have predicted it, watching him in the ring, flattening his opponents with the force of his own stomach.

Stair baskets fall into the same category as candles for me - a nice idea in theory but an accident waiting to happen in my hands!

@Quirkswork
Good old Shirley 🤣
Times must be hard if he’s charging £8.50 for a bar of his chocolate.

Ooh, I've just remembered I have a tin of the munchy bits they do in the cupboard. What an exciting evening.

Has everything been put away yet? So invested.

So bag(s) update

The shopping bag is still in the kitchen. This is despite new shopping being bought, entered into the house and put away! There is no rhyme or reason to this

The beauty bag has been rummaged in by me several times. I wore the perfume again today. I had a sniff of the other perfume, which is a bit sweet. I have used the pink container thing with hair oil in it.

I brushed my hair with the 'tangle teaser' and nearly pulled my hair out. It doesnt tease my tangles, it shouts at and berates them. Its a bully to my hair.

I might be using the lemons tomorrow!

This is a top notch thread .. needs to go into classics..
I am 12’000 miles from any M and S … I do have an unopened jar of preserved lemons though!
It’s the middle of winter though and it’s freezing and anything with summer in it.. including a beauty bag sounds fantastic.

I met Big Daddy when I was a child. He said hello to me in a booming voice. I burst into tears and hid behind Mum.
I am disappointed that the Big Daddy bar did not live up to expectations @Peridot1. I have a bar coming in my shop to tomorrow and I’m in 2 minds now whether I should remove it from my basket. Argh, big decision to be made this afternoon.
I have been frustrated in my attempts to procure a beauty bag. Sold out in the big M&S. There is a smaller store closer to me but that means getting the bus there and this particular route is beset with interesting characters that can make the relatively short journey, eventful. I’m a little tired today so not ready for that level of engagement.

I haven’t cooked anything yet with preserved lemons. Because I still don’t have any. I did add fresh lemon thyme to the chicken soup I made today. I haven’t tasted it yet

I am also beauty bagless. Sold out in my M&S too. I blame Mumsnet.

I did get some white seedless grapes and the big daddy bar. I won't eat it though. I'll send it to my Dad.

It's freezing here too, in fairness 😂

Well in ROI anyway

And it hasn't stopped raining for longer than 5 minutes all day. It's that horrible misty rain than just soaks in.

The dogs are looking daggers at me as I haven't brought them for a walk. One won't walk in the rain and the other currently has a bandage on we need to keep dry.

Well I went to our city M&S this morning and had a very pleasant 45 minutes: I came out with pyjama bottoms (last ones ended up giving way at the knee out of old age), a nice linen blazer for summer, a 4 pack of chocolate mousse and some chocolate peanuts (wanted raisins but none to be found).
Took all to the food hall checkout where I had a lovely chat with an older lady in the checkout queue in front of me, who was buying a Colin for her DS for Father’s Day. DS turned out to be 67 which shocked me as I had her pegged at late 60s, she was 90! Bloody marvellous and ten times better than my own DM who wouldn’t dream of being so kind to me. Lovely lady. Don’t get that online!

Right enough weather talk.

I have a lemons update

The lemons have seen the light of day. I am making the dish I posted

So first observation they are packed tightly in the jar and its very difficult to get them out.
Second observation is that to 'remove the pith' results in you just having a thin skin to chop up. I wasnt sure I was happy with the wastage so I put the chunks of lemon innards back in the jar. Im not sure if this is the done thing
Third observation, when you cut into them they shoot you straight in the eye and also up your sleeve. This isnt mentioned on the packaging.

The dish is cooking now and the aroma in the kitchen is very very nice. I wouldnt say its a summer dish though, should have waited until winter. I could have left those lemons in the shopping bag in the corner of the kitchen until November time, no bother.

I have hacked away at my frozen pomegranate seed lump, several of the seeds ricocheted across the kitchen never to be seen again.

You have to add tahini at the end and even though I found tahini in Lidl yesterday, in the reduced section, Ive now realised I bought the wrong type. Mine is with honey and this wont be any good. Im going to add peanut butter instead because Im quite a maverick.

If it all goes wrong I have a back up dinner planned of pork scratchings and couple of bags of crisps.

I think that I once purchased a jar of preserved lemons, thinking that they might be useful for the fancy cooking that I intended to do for dinner parties.

They probably went in The Great Clear-Out.

12 degrees in Fife, but it feels colder.

'A couple of bags of crisps' is very lacking in information...where did you purchase these and what flavour are they ? Are they still in date or have they been in the bag with the lemons ??

I'm liking your style re the pork scratchings. I'd go for those and bin the lemon shite you're making.

Not to be pedantic though but this is an M&S discussion as per your own title. Pork scratchings or are you actually having M&S Spanish Serrano ham crisps.

Its pretty poor to be honest. Its a half eaten big pack of roast chicken flavour from Lidl.

It is NOT a half eaten big pack of roast chicken flavour from Lidl

Its a half eaten big pack of Tesco finest cheddar and onion.

Honestly, its chaos here.

Sounds it. Who ate the first half of the bag ?

Well now that you highlighted this, it does seem Im doing a right number on M+S

The pork scratchings are from the corner shop. Because we have to go in there now and then to get Scampi Fries. You cant get them anywhere else.

And then once you're in there, there are all manner of things that you dont normally get access to. The pork scratchings for a start.

Ooh I want to hear more about the Corner Shop!