How not to waste open jars and packets

One of the main things that stops me - and I guess you - being frugal is the tendency to use an ingredient for a single recipe then fail to use the rest of it. The problem is it requires constant thought - remembering it's in the fridge (or cupboard) and incorporating it into - or even letting it inspire - another meal.But this week on holiday in France with slightly less on my mind I managed it.When we arrived at the house we found there wasn't much to go with the sausages we'd picked up at the local shop. We had a tin of haricots blancs, a jar of red peppers, some garlic and a few shallots....

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Wine of the Week: Tesco Finest Manzanilla sherry

I make no apologies for being a sherry fan. In fact it amazes me that it's still so unpopular and still so underpriced. This classic style from Bodegas Barbadillo is a real treat. Ultra dry, nutty and ever so slightly salty, it's designed to be drunk well chilled with tapas such as nuts, olives and slices of chorizo (Tesco has a good one which works well in cooking too). It's also really good with fried fish.This is the first of a weekly slot where I'll highlight a wine I think offers good value for money. At £5.49 a 50cl bottle (£5.21 a bottle if you buy a case online) - enough for 5-6 glasses...

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Now Credit Crunch Drinking posts will appear on this blog too

I've come to the conclusion I have too many blogs. Five, at the current count which is ridiculous. The logical step is to drop Credit Crunch Drinking as a separate blog and incorporate it here. Regular readers will remember I did this once before then rather weakly resuscitated it. I should have stuck to the original decision. After all if you're interested in keeping down the cost of your food shopping, chances are the same applies to wine and other drinks. And if you're a fan of the Credit Crunch Drinking blog you may appreciate a few frugal recipes too. So win/win, I hope. There will continue...

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Two great things to do with corn

As I'm away on holiday I'm taking the easy way out and posting links to two inventive recipes for sweetcorn which is cheap and in season right now. One from Helen Graves of Food Stories who says she paid just £1 for 5 cobs last week. She barbequed them over hickory chips as you can see from her post here and served them with paprika and lime-flavoured butter.And a delicious-sounding Roasted Corn Custard from Saveur which dropped into my inbox this morning.Grilling undoubtedly adds a smokey edge to corn which offsets the sometimes excessive sweetness of new varieties. I shall be trying them out...

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How to cook purple potatoes

Having whinged about veg boxes for years, I'm now giving them another try. Why? Because I've found a really good scheme on my doorstep. Well, 7 odd miles away at the Barley Wood Walled Garden in Wrington.This week's box (amazingly good value for £10) included purple potatoes so I've been debating for a couple of days what to do with them. My friend Elly had told me they disintegrated quite fast and ended up paler than she'd expected but I wanted to see if I could keep more of the shape and colour. (A similar challenge to my recent chiogga beets experiment.)My initial idea was to buy a bunch of...

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Devilled eggs

I've been thinking for a while about making devilled eggs since I spotted this feature in Saveur. They are, of course, ridiculously old-fashioned. My grandmother used to make them as a cocktail snack, I remember. (She was a great one for drinks and nibbles for which she used to get dressed up in a gold braid-trimmed kaftan, right into her '80's. Even for me.)You forget how delicious dishes like this are if they're freshly made. With a few crunchy Little Gem lettuce leaves they make a nice light summery lunch. Or even, if you dare, a retro dinner-party starter.Serves 24 large eggs at room temperature2...

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Strawberry cinnamon toast

Those of you who follow this blog will know that you get short-changed when it comes to desserts and other sweet things. Every so often I feel I ought to remedy that so I've been thinking for a while about writing about strawberries which are still plentiful and cheap despite being past their peak season.Prompted by Niki Segnit's brilliant The Flavour Thesaurus (a fantastic book about how to marry flavours in your cooking) I was thinking along the lines of strawberries and cinnamon. Initially a crumble, though I worried that it might make the strawberries unappealingly squishy then I hit on the...

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