Mind if I listen in at least?

Hi Louisa! I could never do handstands - I was a complete dud at sports. If I tried handstands I just fell over. Wasn't any good at cartwheels either. My mum used to do them. We used to have a photo of my Mum as a little girl doing a cartwheel I think, showing her knickers.
My mum was a really good cook. I kept all her recipe books, the ones from Be-ro flour. There's even a notebook with a few recipes in her own handwriting, jams and cakes mostly. Apart from a Christmas card it's the only thing of my Mum's with her handwriting on. Went up to the cemetary as usual with flowers for my Dad and called in at the GC which is very close to it. Got myself some more pots, seed-trays, compost and a few more bulbs. Weather's improving but it's still a bit chilly for gardening. What happened to the lovely weather we had in the middle of February?

Mark, you know who this is don't you. Your cranesbill friend! I have you to thank for introducing me to this site. By the way, you would probably look swell in some of Lawrence's outfits - give it a try - especially in Ireland -I love lace cuffs!! gall!!!!
Northener, we have had a really long winter here but tomorrow it's up in the 60s - I remember I used to put out the hanging baskets at the end of May in England - the Bank Holiday and the big Air Show. I could almost guarantee that the frosty nights had come to an end by that time.

Patty - what part of Ireland is the half of you from? :-)

[ Removed per member request. - Admin]

HI. Can I jump in? Thanks to my ancestors, I am part English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish. I want a Victoria cake, Now! I don't have a 7" pan, yet. Can I use 2 8" pans? or 2 bread tins? Is it true Earl Grey tea should only be drunk (?) in the afternoon? This forum is going to be fun. Doris

Can some one pass me the castor sugar??? :-) Lisa

Lisa - you are so funny!! You don't pass the caster sugar. It is only usually used for baking fine cakes. But you could say, please pass me a sugar lump!! It's considered genteel to use lumps in one's tea!!

Can I borrow some castor sugar then??hee, hee, I want to make that Victoria Cake...:-) Lisa

And boiled fruit cake ......and spicy bread pudding - what about it Diane? And my favourite - Yorkshire pudding with my roast beef!! And sausage rolls!!

This message was edited Saturday, Mar 10th 10:00 PM

And don"t forget, Toad in the Hole!! Haven't had that in years. djm906

[ Removed per member request. - Admin]

I love 'Toad In The Hole' too, but only made by someone else.I'm so bad at making it.....mine is disgusting....in fact I only ever make it when I want to punish my husband.

Marigold.

I'll leave it to the experts to explain how to make it...I might learn something !

I drink Earl and his Lady at any time of the day. She has so much more flavor.

breakfast is to be an Ulster Fry. Sausages, bacon, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms,soda bread and potato bread. ummmmmmmmm

a very tired Mark who has just got outta bed.

M.

Mark,

I'll take Romulans over Borg any day! Nothing can match that deception and that music whenever the ship decloaks. Yes, I am not just a plant freak...

Mike

Hello Patty! Toad in the hole is sausages in a Yorkshire Pudding batter. Of course there are many different types of sausages...

Here's a recipe from my Mum's recipe book. This one my Autie Greta gave her. It's from my Mum's handwriting in a notebook I found.

MARMALADE

Grate a large orange, a lemon and a grapefruit (peel, pulp and all). Put them into a pan with 2 and a half breakfast cups of water (25 oz) and 4 and a half lb of sugar. Boil for half an hour, test for setting, and you have around 5 lb of scrumptious marmalade.

I'm not too sure how I make up the numeric sign for a half on this program? It tends to look a bit odd. Hope that is understandable.

The marmalade is to go with your toast and your Earl Grey! Cheers!

Gosh, you've been busy since I went to bed!

I should think you'd be better using 3 eggs and 6 ozs of butter, sugar and flour for an 8" Victoria sandwich - it would be a bit thin with only a 2 egg mixture.

Lisa:

You could always try whizzing some granulated sugar in a food processor. What do you use for your cakes? Caster sugar is finer than granulated, but not soft and powdery like icing sugar. What do you call icing sugar? Icing to us is what you call frosting.

Northerner:

Have you made that marmalade? It seems amazingly simple. My recipes are always in two stages - softening the peel by soaking and cooking, then adding the sugar and boiling for a set (as for jam).

Well, ya'll were just chit chatting all night long....:-)! Mary, I just used regular granulated sugar when I bake. Every once and while I will come across a recipe that calls for sugar to be put in a food processor. Now I know it is called 'castor' sugar! Thanks, Lisa

I haven't tried making that marmalade myself Mary. It's from a notebook of my mother's. My Auntie Greta got it from the newspaper The Sunday Post - that's a Scottish newspaper. My Auntie Greta would have tried it first I'm sure before passing the recipe on to my mother. It does look fairly simple. I can't tell which recipes my mother used and which she simply collected but I can remember her making marmalade. There's also recipes in here for apricot jam, damson jam, greengage jam, apple jelly, blackberry (bramble) jelly and bramble and apple jelly and blackcurrant jam. My mother was a good cook but good food isn't just a good recipe it's good technique as well. I don't really do much cooking these days as there's only me. But if you want to try any of these out I'm willing to give you a few more. There's certainly a few I can remember my mother using.

I'm out in the garden today, just putting in a few bulbs, irises and so on. Just come in for a bite to eat. A lot milder today.

A Scottish recipe! That accounts for it! They put JAM on their toast for breakfast.

You can tell which recipes I use and which I just collect - the ones with all the spills and splodges are my favourites!

We don't seem to be having much weather that's right for gardening - if it's sunny (and warm behind glass), it's frosty or blowing a gale. When I went out last week, the ground was still frozen, so I pulled up huge lumps of earth with the weeds, and I couldn't plant some of the young plants in pots, they were like ice lollies. Or perhaps I'm not really trying!

My ground was frozen too last weekend. It's just come on to rain here now. Didn't get as much done as I'd hoped for. See if it passes. Turned cold as well.
Breakfast habits must vary a great deal. My parents were Scots so some of my eating habits may be Scottish rather than English. I'm used to being offered a choice of jams with breakfast. I hadn't thought about it!! I always took marmalade anyway. The Americans must think the British eating habits are hilarious!! My mum put ticks by some of her favourite recipes. There's also various splodges. Arenn't there likely to be similarities between Scottish and Irish eating habits?

I dunno. I'm not Irish! Or Scottish.

Lisa, here's a nice gooey CHOCOLATE recipe. No, two - which are my family's favourites:

Chocolate Roulade:

Grease and line an 8" x 12" swiss roll tin.
Put the oven on to 350F.

Put 6 ozs dark chocolate and 1 tablespoon orange juice in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water and stir until chocolate melts.

Beat 5 egg yolks with 6 ozs caster sugar till mixture is pale and fluffy. Stir chocolate mixture in.

Whisk 5 egg whites till stiff, and fold into chocolate mixture.

Spread evenly in tin, bake for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 300F and bake for another 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to cool, then put in fridge for an hour.

Dust a large sheet of greaseproof paper with icing sugar and turn cake out.

Whip 8 fl oz double cream with 1 oz icing sugar and a dash of vanilla essence, and spread onto roulade.

Roll up like a swiss roll (I think that's a jelly roll to you).

The picture I have for this shows it sprinkled with icing sugar, but I put it in the freezer and then coat it with melted chocolate or whatever I can persuade to stick on.

Chocolate Surprise Pudding:

(no-one believes this when you make it)

Sift together 4 ozs self raising flour, 5 ozs caster sugar and 1 oz cocoa.

Combine 2 tablespoons corn oil, 8 tablespoons milk and a few drops of vanilla essence.

Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients. The recipe says add 2ozs chopped nuts here, but I don't like nuts so I don't.

Put in a 2 pint ovenproof dish.

Mix together 4 ozs soft brown sugar and 1 oz cocoa, and sprinkle over the pudding.

Pour 1/2 pint boiling water carefully over it!

Bake at once at 350F for about an hour.

It turns into a chocolate pudding with a gooey sauce underneath. Serve with ice cream and a glass of cold water - it's very rich and sickly.

Maybe we should ask Dave for a Recipe Forum?


This message was edited Sunday, Mar 11th 2:39 PM

Mary, this is the recipe forum, at least it is for now, thanks keep em coming.

Alan

Here's a really simple desert and sooooooo delicious. It doesn't take long to make so you can get back here before you miss something ...lol. This is a simple version of English Trifle, but have omitted the custard. For one serving:-

Into an individual desert bowl:- Some pound cake or any sponge cake and drizzle Irish Cream or Baileys over the cake. Top with a few strawberries (or any fruit), sprinkle on some sugar and top with whipping cream and nuts and then sit back and very slowly push your spoon into this fantasy and even more slowly take it to your mouth, savour the aroma just before it disappears into your mouth and prepare to be amazed!!

Wot! No onions!

I can feel the pounds piling on...

I have given up ALL the goodies for Lent. So I'm whittling away to nothing, plus all the hassle as my new house is nearing completion!!

Anyone have a recipe for 'Spotted Dog' or was it called 'Spotted Dick'?

My Mom (half Scottish, half English) used to make this when we were little kids living in deepest darkest Africa. Can you imagine eating a boiled pudding when it was 100 degrees outside and no airconditioning?

Well, now that I have to have a cookery book as well as a gardening book beside the computer, I can give you a recipe for Spotted Dick. I haven't made it recently, as suet pudding wasn't something my children liked and you are supposed to feed them, aren't you?

Mix together:

3 ozs self-raising flour
3ozs fresh breadcrumbs
3ozs shredded suet
2 ozs caster sugar
6 ozs currants

with enough milk to give a fairly soft dough.

Form into a roll, wrap loosely in greased greaseproof paper and then in foil.

Steam over rapidly boiling water for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

I don't remember making it that way at all.

I definitely didn't use currants, as I prefer raisins or sultanas, and I don't recall the breadcrumbs. I seem to remember just making an ordinary suet pastry, rolling it out, covering it with fruit and sugar and rolling it up like a swiss roll.

And I might well have cooked it in the oven rather than steaming.


This message was edited Sunday, Mar 11th 6:15 PM

This message was edited Sunday, Mar 11th 6:17 PM

Gosh Mary, I'm positively drooling. I LOVE Spotted Dick!!

Please, Northerner, Could you give us your mothers recipe for apricot jam? Did she have one for lemon curd, also?Some crumpets would go pretty good right now! Doris j.

Thanks Mary, that is just how Mum used to make it, with currents (I hate raisins, anyway we used to call them sultanas - much nicer than raisins)

dmj906 Here is Mum's recipe for Lemon Curd.

Lemon Curd
2 large lemons grated finely NO pith, NO juice - but save juice to add later
2 oz margarine (this from the Queen Mum of Butter?)
3 eggs
6 ozs sugar
Mix together, then place in saucepan and melt stirring constantly. When melted add saved lemon juice and boil for 3 minutes. Can be doubled. Bottle when cool.

Hello Doris! Got a sunny day here! Just put a washing on. It will have a nice blow on my washing line today. My mother's recipe for apricot jam uses dried fruit, not fresh. Although if I look I'm sure to find one using fresh fruit as well in another book.

APRICOT JAM - (DRIED FRUIT)

1 lb dried apricots
4 lbs sugar
3 pints of water
1 oz blanched sweet almonds

Cut the apricots into small pieces, wash them thoroughly, then put into a large bowl, add the cold water and allow to soak for 48 hours. Put the soaked fruit and water into a preserving pan and boil for 1/4 hour, add the sugar, previously warmed in the oven and stir until dissolved. Bring to the boil again, stir frequently to prevent burning, remove all scum as it rises, and cook until it thickens when tested. Just before it is ready to remove from the fire, cut the almonds in two, lengthwise, and stir them into the jam. Pour into warm dry jars and cover closely.

Found one for fresh apricot jam.

FRESH APRICOT JAM

2 lbs fresh apricots
2 lbs sugar
1/2 pint water
Juice of 1 lemon or 1/2 teaspoonfl citric acid or tartaric acid

Wash the fruit, cut in half, and remove stoners. Put into a preserving pan with the water, lemon juice or acid, add the kernels from the stones (previously blanched by dipping in boiling water). Simmer until thoroughly tender. Add the sugar, stir while the contents are coming to the boil, and boil hard for 15 minutes. Test on a cool plate for jelling. Continue to boil hard until the jam sets, then pour into sterilised jars and cover immediately.

Again that is a fairly old recipe and measurements will need to be updated. My Mum got that one from the Good Housekeeping Institute.

I am sure Mary will have some variations on these.

Think that washing is about ready. It's an automatic but if it's a fine day I like them to get a little fresh air as well. Bye for now!

No recipes for apricot jam - I don't like it! Have another one for lemon curd, though:

Put grated rind and juice of 4 lemons, 4 eggs, beaten, 4 ozs butter, 1 lb sugar into the top of a double saucepan or a basin standing in a pan of simmering water. Stir until sugar has dissolved and continue heating, stirring, until the curd thickens. Strain into small sterilised pots and cover.

As this only keeps for about a month, I usually make half quantity, which fills a 1 lb jar. Or a quarter mix, which is just right for the Victoria sandwich. Or you can make a 3-layer cake, sandwich with lemon curd and butter cream, mix the rest of the lemon curd with more butter cream, and coat the outside of the cake. Swirl it about a bit, and grate a square of chocolate on top. Very impressive for afternoon tea for visiting aunts.

[ Removed per member request. - Admin]

Thanks Northerner, for the apricot jam recipe. I have some dried apricots on hand that I bought before Christmas hoping to use them for Holiday baking and never did. This'll be a great way to use them. To Gardendragon and Mary, thanks so much for the lemon curd recipe. It's rather expensive here to buy when you can find it, and it looks so easy to make. Also Mary, thanks for the changes I can make for a larger Victoria Sandwich. I'm just picturing one, with butter cream and lemon curd in the middle. Yum! I've got lemons on my shopping list! And Northerner, MY laundry's hanging out in the rain!! Doris.

This is getting bad, every time i come in her i end up wanting to raid the fridge.

Patty, yes we have to have all that other [deleted] too, meat veg gravy you know the stuff that keeps you from the pudding sweet, lol.

Alan.

who mentioned sweets?

tell you one thing we know how to make a trifle! and banoffe! and Birds custard

Mark

[ Removed per member request. - Admin]

I had an excellent Indian meal yesterday - it's the only time I really 'stuff' myself. Found the 'real' Earl Gray for Kathleen - it was $7.95 for 4 ounces. Ouch!!

Hey, you've all lost track of the question posted.

Yes we do mind, blooming colonials, GO AWAY !!

Oh all right, since you've been here for a while you might as well stay - you might just learn something. :)

Louisa, we've got a large Asian community here in Yorkshire and you can get REAL indian food at very affordable rates, I was in India just before the big 'quake so I have vivid and immediate memories to compare with : and on the subject of sweet things, anyone who hasn't tried mango lassi just hasn't lived...........

Of course proper food like jellied eels, blood pudding, pie and liquor you can't get here in the north and I guess you colonials have never even heard of them ?

Jo