I had three empty bottles with those Grolsch-type stoppers, which I always had to think about before opening. Invariably I'd have the bottle the wrong way round or try and move the wrong piece. And so the bottles, which we brought back from France in 2009 full of fruit juice - I know it was then as I've recently found the photos, but that's another story - remained empty.
With my 2016 in 2016 challenge MOH kept pointing at them as obvious contenders to be chucked out, but I was less keen. I knew one day they'd come in handy, and I was right.
This weekend MOH prised the Grolsch-type stoppers out of the bottles and after a good wash in soapy water and sterilise in the oven (the bottles, not MOH) they were ready for my vinegar. There's white wine vinegar under the artichoke, cider vinegar under the aubergine and red wine vinegar under the tomato.
It's easy now to see when I'm running low, I thought I'd worked out the perfect way to remember which was which. And it was probably good - red wine vinegar under the tomato, but I was also pretty sure I'd forget quite quickly.
Maybe not as quickly as when I close the cupboard, but probably not too long after. So to avoid all of that - and trying to work out which was cider and which was white wine - I added some handwritten labels, I know it'll make it easier in the end.
And they make me smile every time I open the bottle cupboard which is right next to the hob.
There's lids too
Like the Marguerite daisy range, the Farmer's Market range has lids too. The tomato lid - or couvercle - comes in four sizes ranging from 15cm to 28cm, the one shown below is the largest size which I've used to cover a salad bowl. There's artichoke and aubergine lids too but they're 28cm and 20cm sizes only respectively.
The silicone lids are food grade silicone and ensure an air-tight and water-tight seal which keeps food fresher, can be used outdoors and prevents spills during cooking. I've used this lid in the microwave but it's also hob safe, oven safe and freezer and dishwasher safe. I like them because they're a much prettier alternative to cling film which I rarely use if I can avoid it.
The tomato lids, while giving the same benefits as the daisy lids have one thing that's different. Can you see it between eleven and twelve o'clock, so to speak in the photo below? Yes a small gap in the design which I think you could easily use to hang them up.
So if daisies aren't your thing, perhaps these veggies might be. What do you think?
This is a collaborative post with Charles Viancin but all views are my own.
