Bessie Pearl's Ledger

Ginger Beer & Back with a bang!

2011-04-14T09:28:00.000-04:00

Grandma, Phyllis, looking pretty in pink!

So, Finally! Bessie Pearl's Ledger is back for 2011. We'll see how it goes. I have to be honest, our new 'kitchen' is a little retarded for even thinking about cooking in. Some people might see this diminished kitchen size as going backwards in life, after all, aren't we meant to grow up, buy kitchen aides, good knives and woks? And have enough space to enjoy spending time in the kitchen?

I am not being sarcastic. I truly think for people who enjoy cooking this is an earnest & totally understandable goal.

But, for us, who both like to cook, it comes down to whether or not we want to live in New York City, or cook in it. We found a little 'Clubhouse' -as we like to call it - where we feel ok to not cook as much. So, now the city is our living room. Our kitchen. (Ok, well you can cook a little, but it is totally about making something that is enough for one meal!)...

However, amidst the setback of said small kitchen, I was determined to make something from the ledger and get back to you guys. I have missed you terribly!

Now, before we start, - a confession. Sometimes, I am not a very patient person. To some of you, I know, that sounds quite hilarious because in all reality I am a very patient person (Yes, even at the New York Post Office... mostly!). But the very patient person has that 'other side' too. I first noticed it in myself when I was 19 and took an airbrushing class. I just could not get the ink to flow out of the brush consistently, and it was driving me nutty. I tried a few times, and then in complete exasperation I just pushed the nozzle as hard as I could and essentially blobbed ink over my work. A big blob. That ran down the page. There was no 'airbrushig' to be seen. Nope that wasn't for me.

I tell you this story, because upon making Ginger Beer, I was in a similar mind frame. The kitchen was too small. I hardly had room to bruise the ginger, had no pot big enough to boil the required water, forgot more limes. No strainer in this apartment. Couldn't find a good recipe that really explained what I was meant to do.

So, I just thought, fuckit ('scuse the French) - I don't need more lime, to strain the ginger, to fill a whole bottle with ginger beer mix. SO I ended up with this mix that came 3/4 to the top of a bottle, was FULL of bits of ginger and looked kinda gross. I put it in the back of the cupboard for its 48 hours and promptly forgot about it. I remembered 5 days later. Hoped that my ginger beer was gonna be really spicy, you know, the kind where the ginger spice gets up your nose? Oooh, I love spicy ginger beer, - it is never spicy enough! Somehow, in my mind, because I left it longer, it just meant that it was gonna be really pickled. Spicy and alcoholic!

I pulled it out from the back of the cupboard (oh yeah, important to the story, I had just gotten outta the shower and was only towel-clad, when I get something in my mind I don't wait!) brought it over to the bench, looked apprehensively at all the sediment and started to flip the lid.

WHEN IT EXPLODED!!!!!

I mean, anyone ever tried the old mentos / diet coke trick? In a tiny apartment? With your face in the bottle?

SCARED THE FREAKIN' SHIT OUT OF ME.

And, ginger definitely went up my nose.

And on the roof, into the living room, all over every plate and cup we own, all over my face, washed hair, clean body. I probably had the neighbours wondering who got shot, it was SO loud and SO powerful and I am SO lucky that nothing worse, like glass shattering everywhere as well, happened.

Am I gonna try it again?

Hell yeah.

(With a little patience this time. Perhaps I will borrow a friends kitchen!?)

Welcome to the 2011 edition of Bessie Pearl's Ledger. !!!

Ginger Beer

2 gallons cold water
2 lbs white sugar
2 oz whole white ginger bruised
2 tsp acid
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbs yeast
white of two eggs
12 bottles

Happy Holidays 2010 & See you in 2011

2010-12-16T16:00:00.005-05:00

Grandma, Phyllis, with her husband-to-be Keeny, when they were kids in the Western Australian goldfields

I think this photo of my Grandma when she was young is just awesome! To me it sums up such a great spirit of merriment, having fun, laughing and being able to laugh at yourself.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas (and holiday season if you don't celebrate Christmas!) and all the best for a fantastic 2011. I look so forward to sharing more recipes & food love with you (yes, that little book has more recipes!!), and thank you so much for reading this year. This ledger and blog has really been a kind of therapy for me, and it has been so rewarding to share it here. All of your feedback has been so encouraging and loving, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I'll be back in the New Year, but in the meantime, you can guarantee that I will be eating up a storm over the holidays. Did I tell you Mum brought over Tim Tams and Kingstons from my sister. Oh yes, there is cookie heaven going on in Harlem (they are pretty much all open at once!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Mum's Vegetable Soup

2010-12-09T20:36:00.010-05:00

My Grandfather, Kyran "Keeny" Brennan

It got cold. All of a sudden and with a bitterness that reminds me why I don't like winter. And it's only December!! But, it has been so nice to have my Mum here, and although I have been really busy with work and rehearsals we have fit in time to go shopping and hang out.

Today we were right by Fairway, so we popped in and Mum just grabbed a whole bunch of vegies (with me all the way saying to hurry up because I hated Fairway (and I love it, too!) and everyone getting in everyone's way. It is a seriously weirdly set up store - not the general layout on a grid, but just a confusing mess of produce everywhere that always makes me dizzy! Anyway, she just picked out good looking vegies to make up a soup for dinner on this cozying day.

We have also been shopping for other things besides food. Today, nearly a week into her visit, I actually bought my first gift for someone. Hallelujah! But, I can't disclose any more, because you know, you never know who might be reading, and what I might give away. Right, sis?

So, this soup - cooked the way I learned and like to cook (just chuck everything in!) was delicious. You can put whatever you like in it, but I love having potato and pumpkin - for me, that's a must! So, these are the vegetables we picked out, and this was so nice to enjoy this freezing evening. (We were meant to get the tree tonight, but I wussed out! Better get onto that! Now that there's something that can go under there, until I send it!)

PS. Sorry for the late post this week, I had thought I hit the 'publish' button, but I obviously didn't!

Mum's Vegie Soup

1 large onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 parsnip
1 large carrot
1/2 swede (white)
1/2 turnip
1 celeriac
1/2 butternut squash (large chunks)
2 white potatoes (skin on - large chunks)
2 red potatoes (skin on - large chunks)
1 small kumera (large cubes)
2 kohlrabi (save leaves - chop and add 15 minutes before serving)
1 dried red chilli
1 jalapeno chilli
1 Tbs worstershire sauce
2 ltr water
salt / pepper

~ Sweat onions and garlic in 2 Tbs oil, add vegies and water
~ Bring to boil and simmer for about an hour, or more

Fave Food Friday - Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-12-03T16:40:00.000-05:00

OK, so I finally realised, as I mentioned in last week's post, that I don't actually like Turkey all that much (although I do like the sleepiness it demands after its ingestion). So you may be wondering how come my Thanksgiving dinner made it to Fave Food Friday? Well, I ask you, how can it not? The good china is used, wine flows freely, the delicious smell of food has had me salivating all day, and everyone has chipped in to make something yummy to eat. Then this plate gets set in front of you and it looks so beautiful, and the anticipation is too much.

I might have to cook a roast for Christmas....

Dried Apricot Jam

2010-12-02T23:13:00.000-05:00

My pretty Mum, Karyn

Yay, my Mum is here in New York! She arrived last night to me boiling up the Apricot Jam!! The first thing she said (after hugs & love) was that (my) Grandma (her Mum) used to make it for her Dad because he really loved it.. How cool - info on hand at the time of making - I LOVE IT!! I hope we will make some Christmas treats together - we were talking about Christmas Cakes last night, only Mum likes the fake green cherries! Can you believe it? I can't even stand the regular fake cherries, let alone the green ones. Probably why I never cared for Xmas Cake (but will try and make it, just for you guys)...

So, without further ado - the dried Apricot Jam that Keeny loved.

(And now I am getting back to the movie everyone is watching and continuing to write my holiday cards. I might have a Tim Tam!! A short post this week - I am sure you don't mind me holding back for once!! heehee!)

Dried Apricot Jam

6 lb dried apricot

12 cups water

6 lb sugar

~ soak dried apricots in water overnight

~ boil apricots in water

~ once brought to boil, add sugar

~ boil 2 hours (ok jam makers - last time I did this with the lemon jam, I let it boil over by mistake, and this time I just let it simmer and it didn't set.... can I re-boil it to set it? PS. I think I learnt .... don't simmer, but watch it while it boils!!)

~ put in sterilised jars and let cool, then seal

Mrs Hamilton's Ginger Bread

2010-11-29T21:41:00.010-05:00

My Grandma Phyllis, and her little brother Mostyn circa 1920

I know, I know, - Thanksgiving is no excuse for not posting for the past two weeks! Nor is getting busier at work. I'm sorry - I've missed you all!! I am already making the next post, just so I don't fall behind, - let's get this story back on the road!

Yes, Thanksgiving! I am sorry that you missed out if you are in Australia, or somewhere else besides the States (I say Australia off the bat, because I am from there, and hope that one day we co-opt some sort of Thanksgiving-esque holiday where the weather is cold and everyone sits inside and eats themselves silly). There is not much else to Thanksgiving, in essence, and I love it. No gift-giving (which ok, I do like gifts, but it's nice to not have that pressure), no religious overtones (a holiday for everyone!) and a BIG roast dinner!! AWESOME! I love it. It is my most favourite holiday, - imagine, all you have to do is cook, and eat. And I give a LOT of thanks that I can do that.

We went upstate NY to our friends place, which was so lovely. I love heading up there on the train, with my husband and my little green overnight bag that I scored at a garage sale to meet up with our much-loved friend (who loves to bake, and who has helped me with BPL a little along the way!). Going for Thanksgiving was an extra special treat.

I don't even really like turkey. Can you believe it? Seriously, I thought about it this Thanksgiving. And realised that turkey is my least favourite meat!! Haha! But, I do like eating a little of it each November and just love everything else that goes with it, food and other. And then watching movies and feeling sleepy afterward. And then, I don't have turkey again for a year! Roast Lamb is my most favourite. Then Pork. Then Beef. Chicken. Turducken (actually, that should be near top!)... So, anyway, it is good when I don't cook a turkey, because I end up throwing a lot of it out. Even after the pot pies, soups and the etc. etc. etc. My favourite food at Thanksgiving is my husband's Pecan Pie. I'm sorry, but it is the best. No one can beat it! haha! He made me another one once we got home, so we could enjoy it again.

So, what do you think I have been eating - Pecan Pie or Ginger Bread? I'll give you one guess.

(Answer: both) .... heehee!

Mrs Hamilton's Ginger Bread

3 cups flour

1 small cup sugar

1 large cup treacle (I substituted 1/2 cup light corn syrup and 1/2 cup honey)

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 cup milk

1 Tbs butter

2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs ground ginger

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

~ Beat eggs

~ Heat milk and add soda

~ Mix all dry ingredients

~ Mix treacle and melted butter in hot milk

~ Mix all ingredients

~ If too moist add more flour

~ Bake in moderate oven for 1 hour .....(I did 350f for 45 mins)

This cake is really nice. I added cream cheese icing on top, which was a nice mix of flavours. It is a dense cake, actually more like a ginger bread biscuit, but in a cake!! I think next time I will add carrots and walnuts, - I am starting to get a little antsy with the basic recipes!!

Here's the Ginger Bread and the Pecan Pie we've been munching on this week

Fave Food Friday - CousCous from Cafe Gitane

2010-11-12T07:19:00.000-05:00

Everyone tells you when you get to NY that at Cafe Gitane you will find the best coffee in NY. The closest cuppa to the good ol' flat white from home you can get. They also serve Vegemite baguettes. I don't what the connection is, it's a French Moroccan cafe / bistro, but I don't care. It brought me there 9 1/2 years ago, and I have been going back ever since. I don't drink the coffee or eat the baguettes any more, I only get the couscous. Every time.

And I take everyone that comes to town there just so I can go.

Now, I can walk there. (Well, come January!!). It will take me 10 minutes. My tummy is rumbling just thinking about it.

Tea Buns

2010-11-11T18:35:00.001-05:00

clockwise from top left: ??, Grandma, Kyron Brennan Snr (her father-in-law), Roger-the-dog & Dianna McGushin

I have been loving drinking tea again.

I quit drinking coffee earlier this year, as I had a suspicion that it was a cause of some skin problems I had been tackling since I was 22. That was the same year I started wearing sunscreen every day, the time I started using beauty products (make-up, cleansers, moisturisers and all those grown up smelly things!), and the time I started drinking coffee regularly. I stopped doing those other things, to test it out, and it was somewhat successful. Then I stopped drinking coffee and the results were amazing! I think my poor liver has been trying to tell me something a long time. Finally, I stopped listening to the dermatologists & the beauty product advertising and listened to my body. No more coffee = awesomeness!

But, as usual, I digress.

I have been loving drinking tea again. Earl Grey especially! And the Tea Buns, which I think are pretty much scones, were a perfect addition to my afternoon tea today. And I needed afternoon tea today. I think I should still be on my afternoon tea break actually. Right, after this, back on break!! We've had a very hectic week. We found a steal of an apartment downtown, and have been clawing and fighting our way to signing its lease.

Let me tell you, apartment hunting in NY is not that fun. First of all, there are all the dodgy listings you have to navigate through (which once you get used to them, you can spot them a mile all over the place, very annoying!). You know, the ones where the 'owner' tells you that they are in London on business and if you send them the deposit and first month's rent (the usual money required to secure an apt in NY), they will FedEx you the keys. Ah, yeah.

Then there's the beautiful, huge apartments in the best area. That you go and see and find out that the train rides right past the front window, is tiny and totally falling down (which is saying alot, because NY apartments are mostly all falling down as it is!), and is the most skanky hell hole you can imagine. It especially is comforting when the landlord tells you that they do all the repairs, so you don't have to worry.. (No, sorry sir, you don't have to worry about me, because your apartment sux!).

Then there's the broker fees. Usually 12% of the yearly rent, the onus is on the tenant to pay this. NY real estate is such a rat race, that the owner doesn't even have to pay the broker! I had one that wanted $2500, for them to show you the apartment for 5 minutes. People actually pay this! (Don't get me wrong, broker's should get paid!!! But, it is just sucky that the tenant pays it....)

So, what you wanna find is that apartment that is in a good area, that is livable (believe me, there are a lot of unlivable apartments!!), and if you can score it, rent stabilised. That means that the landlord cannot jack up the rent hundreds of dollars on you just because the area you live in got popular. And believe me, they will.

Well, we got it!! A super cute and very charming apartment over 150 blocks closer to work & friends than where we are now (my hour-15 minute commute to work is gonna be 15 minutes now!! Yay!), and in an area that we are looking forward to being in. We scored the deal all NY'ers dream of, and I am so relieved. After a week of waiting, we found out this morning we got it! Woohoo!

My Grandma would have thought I was crazy!! I think the rest of my family will!! Sometimes I wonder myself, - what the heck are you doing in NY, Nerissa? Well, come January I will be walking to all my favourite spots, drinking tea at the cafe downstairs, eating next door, catching shows at the many nearby venues and living in the greatest city in the world!!!

Now, back to that cuppa and tea bun.

Tea Buns

1 egg well beaten

1 Tbsp sugar

1 ditto of melted butter

2 ditto of cream of cream of tartar

1 ditto soda

2 cups of flour

1 cup of milk

1 pinch salt

~ eggs beaten, sugar and milk well beaten

(~ cook for 8 minutes in 425f oven)

I do something wrong in preparing these sorts of things. I am sure they are meant to rise, but mine were kinda flat! Still good though! So, I am not writing any more method than what BPL wrote, and then the time & temperature, which I researched. I might have to invest in that science of food book, so I can get this stuff down.

I can't find the camera cord!!!! As soon as I do, I will post this week's pic! (Sorry, but my sister always texts me from Australia if the post is not up by the time she gets to work. I think I might just get her! xx).

Fave Food Friday - Chocolate Cake

2010-11-05T10:04:00.000-04:00

I don't care. I admit it. I love chocolate. Chocolate anything. Cake, biscuits, milk, sauce, chocolate by itself.

We thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot for some promo shots (for my other love besides eating, singing!) of me eating chocolate cake. They never saw the light of day!! I was too embarrassed at how much the little piggy it is obvious that I am when it comes to devouring chocolate cake. (Or most food for that matter!). This one captures my chocolate addiction quite well, I think.

Yes, I ate the whole thing.

I got to go to The Martha Stewart Show this week!! My lovely & talented friend Lotta Jansdotter was on as a guest - it was sooooo exciting. Everyone in the audience got a copy her new book, Lotta Jansdotter's Handmade Living, and a copy of the recipe book, Baked. Thank goodness, after we all sat there and watched Martha make (& eat!) a Mississippi Mud Cake. Thanks for inviting me Lotta! Now I can eat mud cake as I pour over your beautiful book, and you (and all of you others out there who know my addictions!) must know how happy that makes me!!!!

Mrs Shield's Pills

2010-11-04T18:42:00.001-04:00

"The Four Generations"

top l to r: My Grandma, Phyllis and her mother B. Pearl, bottom l to r: My Aunty Pam and her great-Grandma, my great-great Grandma, Maryanne

I used to love looking at this photo when I was a little girl. I mean loooovvvvee. I would stare it out all the time, and marvel at how my Grandma, a young woman in this photo, looked like her Mother and Grandmother. I mean seriously, when I was a little girl she looked like her Grandma. Who was this young woman? Would I grow up to look like her? (It turns out, no!). Would I have a daughter who I could take a photo like this with? (It turns out, no! No kids, and obviously no longer the 4th generation is alive). How fascinating and wonderful the march of time and generations - I felt so close to them all when I looked at this photo. Like I belonged to a secret club that were these four women (I was, of course, always sad that my Mum wasn't in this photo - she came along much later, when my Grandma was 42! Don't know if she was quite expecting that!!).... I can't explain what I felt, it is hard to explain exactly what it was you felt as a young child with your adult 'glasses' on. Anyway, I am still amazed by it. I know, it is probably just me, because this is my family! But to have a photo of 4 generations of women in my family, and to go a little crazy looking at my Aunty Pam and Mum now, who bear the same resemblance as their predecessors - it makes me feel so many things... Loved is one of them. Part of something beautiful, life!, is another. Small and insignificant, and yet somehow special anyway is another...

This will be the cover of my book one day.

I didn't cook again this week! eek! Will you still love me? Did anyone make the Sultana Cake last week?

This 'recipe' is in the back of the ledger, - it is totally fascinating and I would love to find more information about it, if anyone knows any... I am scared of it! - it sounds like an old wives brew (yes, I am imagining a steamy cauldron) - I don't know exactly what for, - but I think it was a remedy for either constipation, menopause, or...erm... to make sure you got your period each month. Who knows exactly? The research I have done leads me to several conclusions!! But, maybe the secret lays?

I do wish those women up there could tell me what it was.. maybe I'll have to call and ask Aunty Pam and see if she knows what this crazy drink is!! (I love that you mix it with Gin!!)

Mrs Shield's Pills

1/4 oz Hiera Picra (meant to literally mean, Bitter Pill)

1/4 oz Jalop (Jalapa, from Mexico, a purgative??)

1/4 oz Rhubarb (great for hot flashes and heartburn)

1/4 oz Bitter Aloes (another purgative)

1/4 oz Ground Ginger (a cure for constipation...)

3 coconut (??? I think that is what it says??)

~ Mix with gin

Tim Tams & Coffee

2010-10-29T09:41:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the new day of posting - Food Friday! This is where I can tell you about something favourite of mine to eat, and we can all drool together.

I love Tim Tams, and miss them so much!! This pic is of one of those 'new' tim tams with the mint in them. Yum. With coffee, which I also miss (I stopped drinking it earlier this year - best decision I ever made), and in another one of my favourite mugs, from my friend Lotta Jansdotter.

I kinda want this picture for breakfast, but I suppose I will be ok with the omelet my husband just cooked me! haha!! (YUM!!). ~ Runs to eat omelet while hot ~

Good Sultana Cake

2010-10-29T00:40:00.001-04:00

My Grandma Phyllis, (this is how I remember her), in 1984 - age 73

There are a couple of newer photos in the collection that I have, but I always feel like they aren't 'old' enough. There is something so romantic about old black & white photos, that I am just fascinated by. Probably because they go beyond 'me' and my 'youth'. ..... I thought I was young, but I guess I am not that young anymore. People are calling me ma'am! And, the other day I was at Urban Outfitters, singing along to a cover of some 80's song when it dawned upon me that this music was being marketed to people who didn't hear it the first time around. Like when Mum thought it was funny when I showed an interest in the Beatles, and The Doors. I also knew it when I saw an 80's looking outfit marked as 'vintage'. Hmph. Anyway, so I thought we would remember Grandma from the 'vintage' 80's today.

Grandma was awesome at helping me with my homework back in the 80's. She was super patient and would especially encourage me in Maths, which I wasn't so great at as a kid, and reading, which I was. I liked doing my homework, and I loved doing it with her. We'd sit at the dining room table and she would help me do the lot. Then we'd eat some total comfort-food dinner, like beef stew or rissoles (with peas and mashed potato, of course!) Later, when I was in high school I would go and stay over at her place once or twice a week to keep her company, eat her dinners and be a little closer to my school (and erm, my boyfriend! The truth comes out!)... I remember telling her that old age was the reason that she couldn't taste her food as well anymore, that I had just learnt that in Human Biology, funny, the same day she complained to me about it! The things we say without thinking when we're young!

So, eat your food. Taste it! Enjoy it! Savour it while you can!

And this week, for you all, homework!!!

What?

Yes, you heard me.

I have had quite a busy week - I had my first concert as part of the Gamelan Orchestra I am in, fun!, and on top of that a bit of extra work-work, and I haven't had time to bake at all. I wanted to make the Good Sultana Cake, but haven' been able to yet, - so your homework, if you feel like doing it (Grandma won't mind if you don't, and I won't bug you either!) is to sort out this week's recipe. I will write it as it is in the ledger, and if you want to to try it out, that'd be great! And let me know how you get on, - post me a picture, tell me the cooking temperature - you know, all of that!! You can do it here, or Bessie Pearl's Ledger now also has a Facebook Page here.

Good Sultana Cake

3 lb's flour

1 1/2 lbs sultanas

2 lbs of butter

2 lbs of sugar

20 eggs (ok, really???? I would probably research that a lot!)

little lemon peel

That's all I got! Ready, get set,,, go!! (And good luck!)

German Nut Cake

2010-10-21T21:02:00.002-04:00

My Grandma (Phyllis) in her cute suit

This cake was so yummy! Even though there are no nuts IN the cake, and putting them in the icing is optional, German Nut Cake is a winner.

Guys, seriously. I am making something full of butter, eggs, flour and sugar at least once every week. (And eating it!). That, on top of Ben & Jerry's limited edition Flourless Chocolate Cake icecream, - I am turning my little family into fatties.

(On another very serious note, if you like chocolate you must find this icecream. We like our icecream over here, but it isn't often that we'll buy the same flavour more than twice in a row. It's limited edition, so I might have to go stock up. Yes. Yes, I am very serious!).

Sorry I didn't talk about the cake very much. It is very good. But sometimes, something else is just that bit better.

Oh, and PS - I FOUND MILO AT THE CORNER STORE!!! Oh you can imagine the chocolate hyperness going on over here....

German Nut Cake

(transcribed as is, sans the calligraphy pen)

Not quite 1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 lbs butter,

beat butter & sugar is a cream

add 3 egg well beaten

1 cup self raising flour

3 Tbs Fry's cocoa (do they still have that?)

1 of ground cinnamon

1/2 of mixed spice

bake in sandwich tins for 10 or 15 minutes

For filling

Melt 1/4 butter in a saucepan

Add 1/2 lbs icing sugar

let stand till almost cool then spread between cake and on top and sprinkle with ground cocoanut or ground nut (we used both desiccated coconut and crushed walnuts)

Wool Blanket

2010-10-18T06:00:00.006-04:00

photograph by vintage's shop on etsy

I like doing this Monday post of fun things I've found!

It's getting cold in NY. The seasons are so funny here. One day it's Summer, then next Autumn. Then you turn around shivering in your winter coat. It seems to happen quite abruptly, - one day you're laughing at everyone in their 'Fall' clothes when it is way too hot, the next day you're freezing and wondering where your boots and jumpers are? I am never prepared for these big changes!

Anyway, I started thinking about warm blankets and cozying up, and I remembered this really cool blanket that Grandma had. It was sort of like the one above, except maybe a little bigger and perhaps a little heavier. When we were at her house (which was incredibly and impeccably spick and span), watching tv, or colouring-in, playing cards or jacks (yes, we played jacks, with real (lamb) knucklebones too!) or eating a snack in the lounge room, we had to sit on the rug. Sort of like an inside picnic! Only that wasn't the reasoning behind the blanket, we had to constrain ourselves from spreading out our messy child-ness! I am serious. The blanket wasn't even opened up, it was folded, probably in quarter, so we actually didn't have that much space!! Haha! Somehow we didn't ever mind it, and looking back, it does seem like it was a bit of an inside picnic!!

But, is that why I am such a messy grown-up?

This wool blanket is for sale here

(Mrs T. Bowley's) Irresistible Biscuits

2010-10-15T10:58:00.001-04:00

Mum in the 60's

Mrs T. Bowley's Irresistible biscuits are suspiciously like the Nellie Biscuits I made a few weeks ago... Hmmm, has it finally happened that the consistency of the appearance of flour, butter & sugar has manifested itself in the same thing called something else?.... I knew it! What will be next? I hope it won't be soon, that wouldn't be much fun, would it?

Sorry I missed a few episodes of BP'sL. I have actually been away on holidays! We had the loveliest week in the Outer Banks, NC. And, like most vacations my husband and I have, we ate some really delicious food. I, as usual, made sure there were some photos of the food as well! I was looking back over all my photos recently, and realised that I have so many food pics from all over the world. (And quite a few of me scoffing myself!). There is quite a collection!! I am thinking of adding to the blog a day of 'food photos' from different places. Then I will have an excuse to go out (or not, staying in pics are good too!), take photos of yummy food and yes, eat that yummy food! What do you think?

I love going out to eat. If something becomes a favourite dish, then we do our best in this household to learn how to make it. So, we eat pretty well around here!

But, back to the holiday. The Outer Banks are best known for their seafood, - crab in particular. Man, did we eat a bit of crab. We started on the way down with lump crab cake sandwiches, moved onto Crab Grenades (with Wasabi sauce, hello yum!) and ended with Alaskan King Crab legs. Those suckers were huge! I am glad when we used to go crabbing when I was a kid that we weren't pulling those guys up. I think I would still be having crab nightmares.

Anyway, now I am fairly (not totally!) beachified again. Nothing like some salt air and beach walks to put me back on the ground. Thanks, North Carolina, I needed that!

(Mrs T. Bowley's) Irresistible Biscuits

1 1/2 lb flour
1/2 lb butter
3/4 lb sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Mode (yes! there was a mode this time!)

~ Beat butter & sugar to a cream
~ Then add milk & eggs well beaten
~ Rub soda & cream tartar into flour
~ Mix altogether to a paste and roll thin
~ Bake in a moderate oven until they are brown & crisp

Silver Cutlery

2010-10-11T22:30:00.000-04:00

photograph by Angie's Iris on Etsy

Before she died, my Grandma passed down a cutlery set just like this one to me. It is beautiful. I was 18 when she gave it to me with the strict instructions that I should never use it, and only 'keep it for good'. My Grandma was really funny like that. We wouldn't even be allowed to play with our presents on Christmas morning if she had it her way, so that we could keep them looked after. (OK, well, she would say we could play with one thing only! That was way too hard!). Obviously she didn't really win that fight, as we had a mother that had gone through that as a child as well and wouldn't stand for it! But still, we were very used to hearing it, so when she said that to me I scoffed in my head, thinking, of course I will use it, it's beautiful and should be used!
My inherited cutlery set was the first thing my Grandma ever bought herself. She paid for it from savings from her very first job at age 18. That makes my cutlery set 81 years old. You can imagine, right, that of course I have never once used it. It is sitting with my stuff (what little of it is still there) in Australia, getting older, waiting for that special occasion. (Which obviously wasn't graduation, immigration or marriage...maybe if I ever win a Grammy??).

Still, I feel particularly grown up to own something like this. Even if it is stashed away!

(You can buy the one above here)

Friar Tuck Biscuit Jar

2010-09-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

My Grandma had one of these on top of her fridge when we were kids, only I think hers said, "Thou shalt not steal". I don't know what made me think of it, perhaps because I have been making so many biscuits, and don't have a cool cookie jar to put them in (well, actually, that's not true, I do. Only it is SO massive that it always feels like it is empty. Which is not how you want the biscuit barrel to be, right?). We used to always think it looked like our Pop (my Grandma got remarried after Keeny died), who was a very jolly man, Sandy Bell. How can you not be jolly with a name like that? This guys for sale, click on him if you want him!

Ginger Pudding (& Sticky Date Pudding)

2010-09-23T21:50:00.002-04:00

My Granddad, Keeny Brennan, with Chris(tmas) the cocky

I LOVE this photo. It is one of my favourites! I never knew my grandfather, but I knew Chris the cocky! He was a Christmas present to my Mum when she was about five. Chris was a talking cocky who used to live in the laundry. Laundries in the olden days in Australia (and I guess some places still today) had toilets in them (or a w/c - which I had to inform someone what that was the other day. I felt old, or maybe just Aussie, you don't see them so much over here), and whenever someone went into use the bathroom he would say, "What you doing in there?"! He also used to say Mum's name, and a slew of other things. He would dance like cockies do. I know, it seems weird to have a pet cocky, and kind of cruel, but a lot of people had them back then I suppose. I love pink and grey galahs - which is what Chris was, they are kooky and fun and they make me smile! Apparently, Chris died young at about 50. Is that why there are so many in Australia?

Besides birds, I also love pudding. To be precise I love Sticky Date Pudding. Whenever I am in Melbourne I have to go to Segovia's especially. I was kinda bummed that the ledger seemed to have date-everything-else-but-pudding, but about 10 million other types of pudding. So, I thought Ginger Pudding sounded good instead. I've never made pudding before - I didn't know how the heck to do it, and BP's ledger really didn't help much. In fact, I think it was a wonky recipe, as there weren't any eggs in it!! So, I did a bit of research and did what I could. It worked! But my pudding was a hard lump of ginger rock bread, dry as anything. It sat in the fridge for a while before it was sadly tossed. Sorry BP, this one was a total dud!

I had a dream where Grandma told me that the secret was the you put treacle in the bottom of the bowl before steaming it. Does anyone know if that is true? Wouldn't that be awesome if it was!! I would totally try it again if that were true!!

Anyway, so then I decided I needed Sticky Date Pudding to commiserate. So, here it is! We have been eating it all week, and haven't invited one single person over to enjoy it with us! Little piggies over here!! (But it was sooooo good!). So, we have been gorging ourselves on SDP and Mad Men. Can't get enough of either of those this week.!! Next time we'll have people over to share, I promise.

See you next week. Cook this if you can. It's easy! You don't even have to steam it, it's an oven jobby.

And PS. I got the recipe here.

Oh, and PPS. Pudding in Australia is sometimes not the same as pudding in America!! (And sometimes, it is).

Sticky Date Pudding

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

1 1/4 cup chopped pitted dates

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

~ Preheat 350 f

~ Place dates in saucepan & cover with water (approx. 1 1/2 cups). Bring to boil & simmer 3 minutes

~ Add baking soda to date mixture (it will bubble)

~ Cream butter, sugar & eggs (1 at a time)

~ Gently mix flour, salt, vanilla. Slowly stir in baking powder & 1/4 cup of the liquid from the dates, until thick like pancake batter

~ Drain the rest of date liquid and discard. Stir dates into mixture

~ Bake 30 - 40 minutes in a buttered 9" round baking pan (I used small pie tins for individual servings)

Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cream

1/2 + 1 Tbsn brown packed sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

~ Combine. Bring to boil. Reduce and simmer for 3 minutes

~ Serve with cream or vanilla icecream

Ginger Pudding

take 2 cups of flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 dessertspoon ginger
a piece of butter the size of a walnut rubbed into the flour
2 dessertspoon treacle
1 tsp bicarb soda, dissolved in a little milk

~ Mix to the consistency of batter
~ Pour into battered mould
~ Steam 3 hours
~ Serve with sweet sauce or custard

I added egg, as obviously with just these ingredients it isn't very wet... I am still in the dark about how it should be...! Anyone?
But oh well, here's the sticky date version...

Owl Mug

2010-09-20T10:30:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favourite mugs. I have a thing for mugs, more than shoes actually. Having a lovely mug to choose from every morning makes a happy start to my day. I don't drink coffee anymore, luckily I like tea. (Earl Grey, or Mate with Peppermint are my favourite right now). I bought this at a garage sale for a nickel!.. Sometimes it's the simple pleasures...

Sausage Rolls

2010-09-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

Brennan (My Grandpa, Keeny Brennan's, parents) residence in Kalgoorlie

I started making sausage rolls about a-year-and-a-half ago. I had been wanting to make them in forever, but I never knew how. And every time I would ask my Grandma Campbell (my Dad's Mum) how to make them, she would say, "Everyone knows how to make sausage rolls", to which I would reply, "I don't" and she would say, "They're so easy Nerissa".... And that is about as far as the conversation would go. I would get frustrated and feel like I was 4 again, asking her "But, WHY Grandma?" to which she always would say, "Because Y is a crooked letter" (she always stumped me, I never knew what to say to that. The point, I do believe! I also shut up quick smart when I would ask what was for dinner and she would say "a wigwam for a gooses bridle". Huh?! Total brilliance! I'd love to hear what old sayings your Grandparents gave you! They're always so awesome, especially across countries..).

- Anyway, it was like she was holding back some secret information that she didn't want to share with me, with that ever present twinkle in her eye! I felt like this because her sausage rolls are the best. AND she also used to own a pie shop (nb. Australian pies mean meat, not sweet!) where she made both pies and sausage rolls, (among other sweet deliciousness), so I knew she was an expert. Finally, I got a little bit of info from her. Like, that she used to roll out her dough through a hand-wringer but that that got too much work, so she jimmied up a motor to the wringer and let it do all the work. And how much butter you should use in puff pastry, and why you may as well just buy the pastry because who wants to do all that anymore? And how she used to buy 'pie seasoning' to make her pies taste so good, but then they stopped making it, and pies were never the same. THEN she started telling me all about vanilla slices... although I may have to have another consultation on that because I can't remember a thing - there was too much drool going on to actually take it all in.

Anyway, I didn't really get any sausage roll info that was particularly useful, so I just researched them for myself. I bought the pastry and tried out a few things. I am very popular when I make these. And let me insist that they taste awesome with the home made tomato sauce!

So, for anyone who loves Sausage Rolls, but doesn't know how to make them, here you go... My secret ingredient for both pies and sausage rolls? I don't mind sharing it. Vegemite.

Next try? Jamie Oliver's Sausage Rolls.. Bet they're awesome (and he uses bought puff pastry too!)

Sausage Rolls

1 lb sausage meat (ground pork, or you can use actual sausages and cut them out of the casing. The more seasoned the meat, the better. If it isn't seasoned, season to your taste - salt, pepper and whatever you like!)
1 small onion (if you want!)
2 eggs (one for pastry, one for mix)
1/3 cup milk (milk & breadcrumbs aren't mandatory, they just beef out the mixture)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 sheets frozen puff pastry

~ basically all you really need is the meat and the puff pastry. Everything else is to taste, so experiment!
~ chop onion finely, mix with meat & 1 beaten egg
~ mix milk and breadcrumbs until milk is absorbed, add to meat mixture
~ divide pastry sheet into 3 along folds (the sheets that I get are folded into thirds, if yours aren't, just make long strips)
~ put meat mixture along middle and roll up like a log (I spread vegemite on the pastry first)
~ seal with brushed egg
~ cut to the size you like - they can be fairly long, or bite size (party sausage rolls we call them!), and pierce a steam hole in each
~ brush with egg or milk
~ bake in a pre-heated oven (350 f) for 20 - 30 minutes, - until puffed and golden brown
~ serve with tomato sauce (ketchup) - there's a great recipe here from the ledger!

Lemon Jam

2010-09-09T23:19:00.000-04:00

mum at school

I am always surprised when I go to buy lemons in New York. They're kinda expensive.. Well, ok, not in the scheme of things, but comparatively they are. When you come from a place where there are so many lemon trees that kids have lemon fights over backyard fences, or instead of throwing balls you throw your dog a lemon (that one's really great - when they can't help but bite into it!! haha! Endless amusement) and people would leave buckets, and I mean buckets, of lemons out on the curb for anyone to take, it is weird to pay $2 for 3 lemons. No wonder there are so many lemon-y recipes in the ledger. (And tomato-y. But that's another story!).

Last year when we went home to Australia for a visit, we were picking limes like it was going outta fashion. And serving ourselves up great cocktails with fresh limes. Oh summer in Oz!

I miss the smell of citrus trees, and I didn't even realise it until the lime adventures last year. So fresh and clean mixed with all that fresh salty sea air and eucalyptus. I can't wait to get some fish and chips with some squeezes of free lemons and go down to the beach to watch the sun set.

In the meantime, lemon jam!! (If life serves you up a bunch of lemons, you could also make this - it has just as much sugar!! Oh, and life hasn't served me any lemons lately, so don't worry, - I just found out I got into the Gamelan orchestra here in NY, which means added inspiration for a music project I have up my sleeve!! Yay! Not to mention some more sentimentality for me after a childhood spent running around sandy laneways and gorging myself on nasi bunkus and banana juices, gamelan always in my subconscious). Very excited.

Oh, and a word of caution back on the lemon jam. Don't put this onto boil and not watch it. This lovely photo ended with me cleaning caramelised sugar off the stove top. It still turned out ok, I haven't tasted it yet as it is setting - hopefully with still enough sugar to actually turn to jam!.. We'll see. I'll report back soon.

Until next week!

Lemon Jam

12 lemons
4 oranges
12 lb sugar

~ slice the lemons & oranges into thin slices and put into bowl
~ add 8 pints water
~ let it soak all night
~ put on boil with sugar
~ boil 3/4 of an hour

Nellie Biscuits

2010-09-02T14:38:00.000-04:00

My Mum, Karyn, as a little girl in Esperance, WA

I love this photo of my Mum, it looks so much like my little sister I think! This blog has been so lovely for thinking about family, remembering fun times, and remembering my Grandma, imagining my Great-Grandma and generally feeling very reminiscent, sometimes too much so, for my home and family and the past. I have always loved the past. But, there are so many things I love about my life now, some of which I wanted to share today.

I love the Rollerskaters at Central Park! They come out during the summer and disco-skate the day away every weekend. I love watching them, it is terribly fascinating and infectious. Sometimes I think I should join in, but I don't want to, I think I get more enjoyment out of watching, and I would probably have a crash if I were watching & skating.

I love the guy who sings Beatles tunes in the subway tunnel between 6th & 7th ave. He is always there, and always so happy singing his Beatles songs. Sometimes I don't know if it is the acoustics, or if there are songs he ain't so great at, but he always makes me smile and think of the Balinese cover bands, if you've seen one you'll know what I mean.

I love seeing the Statue of Liberty (aka The Green Lady) and Brooklyn Bridge as I am on the train going over the Manhattan Bridge.

I love eating Couscous at Cafe Gitane, and breaking my 'no coffee' rule when I go there. (One of the best places for a good coffee in the city! OK, coffee is getting better all over, but theirs has been great for the 9 years I've been here, so I send them the love!). On food, I also love Mamoun's. Hello, awesome cheap falafel sandwich that I can take to Washington Square Park to see the little kid busking on a piano (yes, a real one. They wheel it out from somewhere!). Oh, and, I also love Bonnie's Buffalo Chicken Wings, and even though it now takes me an hour to get to them, we still like going to Brooklyn for them! (Open up in Harlem guys!)

I love the bike path that runs along the Hudson. Even though my bike is crap. (OK, it is really the user! I can't even say my bike is crap anymore because I got a new one for my birthday. From my Dad. Same colour as my first bike and all. He said he thought it was funny to buy his grown up daughter a bike!). It is so nice to ride along the river and see the city on one side, the Hudson on the other!

I love Yoga Today. They teach the best yoga classes online, and make me happy that I can practice every day if I want to without worrying about not being able to afford yoga classes.

And I love writing this blog. It really makes me smile to cook and eat and talk. I made these Nellie Biscuits Tuesday night. We had some friends over to our place, and got cooked for!! Having no dessert to serve, I whipped these up. There were quite a few! When I got home from work the next afternoon there was this little one waiting for me. And it made me happy that everyone liked my biscuits and ate them up. Yum Yum!

Nellie Biscuits

2 cups of flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp bicarb soda

2 oz butter or lard (4 TBS)

1 cup sugar

1 eggs and a little milk

there was absolutely nothing else on this recipe, so I looked up other cookies and saw they were a very simple cookie dough, that you really could add anything too. So, I was able to garner the rest from there..

~ cream butter & sugar

~ add flour, cream of tartar and bicarb soda

~ beat egg and add a little milk

~ rounded teaspoon of dough makes a good size

~ cook for 10 minutes in 375 f oven

~ add icing, or whatever you would like, or leave them plain

German Biscuits

2010-08-26T20:52:00.000-04:00

My Aunty Pam, BP's Granddaughter

Oh god! Can someone can help me next time I have to make biscuits (cookies)? I am SO bad with dough. We've already discussed how crap I am at pastry, well, buttery biscuit dough is also something I fight with. It is one area where I simply have no patience. I just want to throw the rolling pin at the wall. Show that dough!! If it wants to stick to everything, then it can stick to the wall!! haha!

I know it is probably my fault, perhaps I never listened to any cooking tutorials my Grandma, or Mum tried to give me (I mean, I know I never listened to the knitting, crocheting and sewing talks!). But how come I don't know all the little tricks by now? I think if I were a woman back in the day the other ladies would have talked about me behind my back. Sure, we would have been friends, but they would laugh at my baking (not my cooking, I am an ok cook!). They would come over for afternoon tea and wonder what the heck I was serving them. It would probably taste ok, but it would look terrible. They might politely spit it into their hankies when I wasn't looking.

But, I am an optimist. I do think that by the time I am of Grandmother age (whether I am someone's real Grandma or not) I will be good. There will be people who, after I die, will remember my cooking. That will make me happy!! I always think of my life in its current state and see if it will be something that I will enjoy looking back on when I am in my rocking chair, knitting (??!!) and chatting with my husband, sister or girlfriends while an apple pie cools on the window sill. I know, when I am older I should be still out there and enjoying my life, and I hope I will be. But I do hope I get to rock on that chair and think back to when I couldn't roll out those damn German Biscuits (or Empire Biscuits, as they were re-named during the war - which I think is pretty funny!) and enjoy remembering Bessie Pearls' Ledger and how much fun it was.

Later - I re-made these biscuits today! They were so yummy, and I knew that I hadn't done them right the first time. I think they were probably a little too small this time, but I think they're much closer to what they are supposed to be - little buttery shortbread-esque biscuits that you sort of want to pop into your mouth all at once. Go on! Do it!

German Biscuits

4 oz flour (1/2 cup)

2 oz butter (4 TBS)

1 oz sugar (2 TBS)

1 tsp water

~ Mix together & roll into thin paste (it was so sticky!! I couldn't roll it. I had to roll it into little balls and flatten them. On the second take, I rolled the dough into a long 'snake' and then cut small pieces off. I then rolled them into balls again, but they were much smaller - I think more suited to this biscuit.)
~ I learned what I think is the method from a Swedish Sweets book. So these worked waaaay better the second time I tried them. Cream the butter & sugar, then add the flour a little at a time. Some recipes said to rest the dough in the fridge for half an hour, others didn't. I didn't. Why? Because I am impatient!!

~ Cut size required (I think they should be small, there's not much dough)

~ Bake in moderate oven (350 f for 8 - 10 mins)

~ Put raspberry jam between two layers

~ Add icing on top if you like

these are the second batch - small and cute, sans icing which we found too sweet!

Indigestion Cure

2010-08-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

My Grandfather, Kyran 'Keeny' Brennan, in his stylish car

I am so lucky! I really scoff things down sometimes, but I don't ever seem to get indigestion. If I do, it is something that just goes along with eating, that I have no clue about.

Grandma taught us to eat fast. It is really quite terrible. She would pit my sister and I against each other, - telling us whoever ate their food the fastest would be the winner (no prize necessary, it's sibling rivalry remember!). I think it was more a ploy to get my sister, a picky eater, to finish her food. But all it really did was instill a habit in me, a veritable garbage disposal, of eating quickly, - I would competitively devour my meal, hungering for the recognition of being the 'winner' while my sister would pout and scowl, barely touching a thing. So, yes, I always 'won'. But, I don't think anyone really won in the end. Grandma's plan never worked (even when it did move into actual prizes), my sister would still end up with dessert (always unfair in my mind!), I would be an unfulfilled winner (c'mon, I am not that bad - absolutely no competition is not that fun. It's like busting your balls in a running race, only to look back and see that the competition fell down due to exhaustion, and meanwhile you are only running against yourself, (you were thinking you were doing a great job), when in reality, you don't know if you really deserve to win....! And how come the exhausted fellow gets a medal when he didn't even breathe near the finish line?), and Grandma was frustrated at not getting my sister to eat, again.

So, now, I still eat fast. After years of working in the hospitality, retail and entertainment industries, where you get a quick break, always ready to rush out and greet & help people if they need you, the habit is hard to shake. The only way to make me slow down is to get me to start talking. That'll always do it!

I don't know if my sister is still a picky eater. She'll have to tell you that. I know there are way more things she doesn't like than me, (hmm, well, I can only think of pizza because it is always surprising to me!!). I do know that she is looking forward to being in a place that has a bigger kitchen, so she can cook more. Her kitchen right now is awful. I mean, really awful. I wouldn't cook in there either. So, I look forward to her cooking too. Maybe, even though we're oceans apart, once she's set up she can join me on this journey. Nothing would make me happier!

Indigestion Cure

1 TBS pure honey dissolved in about half a glass of cold water & 1 tsp of tincture of myrrh.

~ or ~

1 tsp of honey dissolved in a tumbler of cold water, taken with dinner.

Pancakes

2010-08-13T10:36:00.000-04:00

My Grandma, BP's daughter, Phyllis - circa late 1960's?

I procrastinated this morning. Instead of doing the laundry, which has been on my to-do list for a few days now, I decided to make pancakes for breakfast. I was chopping some fruit for my regular quick brekkie and the sun was shining in the window, and the mango I was cutting looked so luscious and I was reminded of a holiday in Mexico where we picked mangoes from the trees in the garden to eat with the pancakes that came free for breakfast. We would sit in the lovely garden and feel like we were having the time of our lives, free from everything for the time being, eating fresh mangoes & pancakes. Why not today? (Laundry.... it can wait!).

But, I decided that I wasn't allowed to make my regular pancakes, and that I had to try the ones from the ledger, - feeling that that was being somewhat productive. After all, there must be SO many of you out there reading this, right? I am not just talking to myself. This ledger is important!!! Well, sometimes just doing a project for the projects sake is a good thing, and I must admit, I am doing this as much for me as for you all! It makes me really happy!

So, I set about making the pancakes from BP's Ledger. It called for 3 eggs!! What? My usual recipe has only 1 egg amongst quite a few other ingredients. But, I kept going. The flour part was disconcerting... what kind of batter? Thin? Thick? I started with 1 1/2 cups of flour, which made a sort of thin batter and dropped some in the frying pan. While two little pancakes were cooking I referenced a few pancake recipes, and thought I would add a little more flour to test the difference. Bad Idea!

The first two little pancakes were awesome! They are totally the pancakes I have been striving to make for a long time. They aren't fluffy pancakes like you get in the States. They are thinner, and crisp, and are the perfect style of pancake for lemon & honey, my choice of topping as a kid.

The rest of the batch, with the extra flour, were ok, but a little rubbery. So, I may even try a little less flour next time to see how that turns out.

And now, laundry still sitting in the corner of mind, I am telling you about my delicious breakfast! I am thoroughly recommending you treat yourself to a nice breakfast, as if you were on vacation, - pancakes, strawberries and mangoes, oj, earl grey tea and the back issues of your favourite new magazine, Uppercase, which arrived right as I was enjoying my cuppa! (Oh, yeah, husbands are welcome at the table, too!). (Or wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, kids, friends, any sort of person really!) ...

Pancakes

3 eggs

1/2 pint of milk (1 cup)

sufficient flour to make batter (I thought 1 1/2 cups was best)

pinch of salt

~ beat eggs and stir into milk

~ add a pinch of salt & sufficient flour to make smooth batter

~ great with lemon & sugar, or lemon & honey

Tomato Sauce

2010-08-08T22:20:00.000-04:00

Herb Truscott (BP's brother), my Mum, Karyn, BP and Keeny Brennan at the Kalgoorlie races circa 1960

Some people really hate condiments , I know. But why? Is it because of all the preservatives? Or just because it changes the taste of something too much? I am not sure, and would love to know people's reasons. I also know people who drown their food in tomato sauce (nb., I am mostly speaking Australian throughout this ledger, to me Tomato Sauce is Ketchup and Pasta Sauce is Tomato Sauce! Just to avoid the cross-country-language confusion that I have often laughed through in the States, this recipe is for tomato sauce / ketchup!). Anyway, drowning things in sauce, yes! I know those people too. I am somewhere in the middle. But, I cannot eat a pie or sausage roll without sauce. It is wrong. They go together like bacon & eggs, coffee & sugar, tea & scones, strawberries & cream. OK, now I have to go make some pies.... YUM!

So, for everyone who likes a bit of sauce, and for those who don't like preservatives (that'd be me, too!), here's some dead 'orse for ya dog's eye!

Tomato Sauce

6 lb ripe tomatoes

1 lb onions

2 oz salt

1 oz garlic

1/2 oz bruised ginger

1/2 oz cloves

~ boil for 2 hours

~ strain through colander

Then add:

1/2 pint vinegar

1/4 lb sugar (I halved the sugar because everything has been tasting a bit too sugary for me!)

cayenne to taste

(I blended the mixture before boiling it again!)

~ then boil again
~ Makes 2 14 oz jars.

I think next time I may leave out the cloves. It tastes good, but it is very similar to the chutney (except smooth!), and I think it would be nice to try a taste that's a little different!

Coffee Cake

2010-07-20T21:56:00.001-04:00

Grandma and Aunty Pam in their gloves

Happy Belated Birthday Sis!

I have taken so long to make this cake, that not only has my sister's birthday been and gone, but so has mine! ... Does that mean we stay a year younger? Seriously if there's no cake, and no candles, then we didn't get to blow the past year away... right? (Oh, sorry Jade, I forgot, you did get a cake at home! You are older!).

Well, I do like celebrating each year I have had, so I may have to get some candles and make a wish or two! I don't mind being a year older, it is ok! I even have a few grey hairs this year, which is kinda exciting, but I can say that I guess, because I probably am owed a few more at my age!

I am being silly!

I am sorry that I haven't been cooking very much. Well, anyway, sorry that I haven't been cooking from the ledger! It's just everything is so buttery, so heavy, and so uses the oven. And it is hot here! I am sitting in the a/c right now - which I hate that I love - I went out once today, to the Post Office, and that's enough even on a nice day (have I told you how much I hate the Post Office in NYC before? It is awful!) I have missed writing to you all about my discoveries, or lack thereof, and thought I would pull my finger out and make that cake. It is in the oven right now. It was supposed to take 20 minutes, but it isn't nearly ready.. I must've made it at the wrong temperature (would help if I knew what temperature it was meant to be to start with, right?). The kitchen is smoking (I don't think the new oven we got when we moved in is very good. Anything that gets put into cook sends smoke drifts out the top of the oven, - and I don't think a mouse is living in there or anything), so I had to open the windows and let all the smoke, and cold air, out. So, I locked myself in our bedroom, where the aircon is, to write to you, and cross my fingers that the cake bloody cooks!!

I'll make it look pretty with icing, so you'll never know!

Coffee Cake

3 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 lb butter beaten to a cream

~ Bake 20 minutes
(I ended up baking for 50 minutes in a 350 f oven)

~ I added cream cheese icing, and while it was nice, we think the cake would be better without any icing. We scraped ours off, and will use it for another cake! It is a really moist and delicious cake with a nice crunchy and buttery edge.

Delicious Pudding for Summer

2010-06-08T07:28:00.000-04:00

My Great-Grandma, Bessie Pearl Davies

It is hot here in New York. I think unseasonably (if you misread that unreasonably, then yes, that too!) - there wasn't much of a Spring, just a jump into 30+ degree days. I don't mind it except for the fact that I am not getting much done - I got out the paints to work on a project I want to finish up last night, but I could not get myself in the zone. I was just too sweaty! So, I thought I would cook today - even if it is hot, I am not going to ruin anything by cooking in the heat, right?

How did the DO IT back in the day? I mean, seriously, they had to stoke FIRES if they wanted to cook anything. In the outback in BP's case. I remember Grandma sweating over the oven in summer, putting those little food covers over everything to stop the blowflies from enjoying our dinner.... - imagine having a wood-burning stove? Sheesh! Apparently Bessie Pearl was very pedantic with her oven - she used to POLISH it. Yes, this is remembered by living family! I do clean our stove top, - we were lucky enough to be the recipients of a new oven when we moved into our apartment, so it is nice to keep it looking clean and white - but polish it? Clean the inside? Puh, no way! I love getting back to the old ways of doing things, learning about the old recipes and cleaning products and using natural ingredients in a lot of things. I don't have a microwave, nor a dishwasher, or even a vacuum cleaner, no mixer & no food processor - but I am SO glad I have a fridge and a gas oven. And I ain't gonna polish it.

I still haven't made that coffee cake for my sister's birthday. If I don't hurry up I will be making it for mine! It is going to be cooler this week, so hopefully I'll get to it!

Delicious Pudding for Summer

2 Tbs Maizena (corn starch - this was / is the brand!)

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

Rind and Juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons

~ mix juice of lemon with maizena & cold water (I didn't do this correctly, as I wasn't paying attention! So, just use a little cold water, so that you can dissolve the corn starch - like you would do with flour so it doesn't get lumpy! As soon as I put a drop of corn starch in the boiling water, I realised my mistake! I also put the lemon juice in to boil.... definitely was NOT paying attention!)

~ boil water, sugar & grated rind of lemon

~when boiled add maizena and stir, put beaten whites of 2 eggs and set to cool (let cool until room temperature and then chill for at least 2 hours)

~use yolks for custard boiled or baked (I am not trying custard today.... I don't think!)

Woah! Super Sweet! Perhaps a little too sweet for me, I am going to add less sugar next time so I can get the full zing! of the lemon!

Cornies & Babysitting

2010-05-20T10:02:00.000-04:00

Aunty Pam as a little girl, circa 1934

I didn't think these would be so delicious! I figured they'd be like chocolate crackles (which I also think are pretty great), but they are more like Crunchy Nut Cornflakes-as-a-treat! They are way better than what they sound like. Think Coconut Toast with butter, and you might be getting there.

I made them Tuesday afternoon whilst babysitting (playing with!) my 3-year-old friend. I go look after him every week for a few hours and it is so much fun. Kids remind me to be in the moment, and to have fun with such abandonment - I can't help but be inspired by them. And look at the inspiration today, we made some Cornies! How could anyone resist making them with a kid if you can? (nb. You are allowed to be a grown-up kid and make them for yourself too!).

It was a rainy day here in NY on Tuesday, the best kind for cooking. I really love the rain, and miss having my birthday in the middle of winter in Australia where it unfailingly rained the last year away every time. Rain makes me feel a real sense of calm, so does the beach - or the river (I just moved very close to the Hudson River, which is lovely). When I got home I snuggled up with my cat and book - which I am nearing the end of, after slopping my Converse from Brooklyn to Harlem. What a nice day!

Thanks, little friend, for helping me make and eat these treats.

Cornies

1/4 lb butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

~ creamed

1 egg beaten

1 cup coconut

4 cups Corn Flakes

~ Put in patties (paper)

~ Bake until golden brown 10 - 15 minutes (I can't tell you what temperature I had the oven, because I was at my friend's place and the knob was off...!)

Happy Birthday Sis!

2010-05-19T07:22:00.001-04:00

Grandma outside the Post Office

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister. If we were together I would bake you a cake from the ledger. But seeing as though we are miles apart I am going to have to ask you what you'd like and we'll eat it here in celebration! - Here's your choices ...

Orange Cake, Sultana Cake, Coffee Cake or Sponge Fingers. Tell me what you would like me to post for your birthday and I will make it. (Maybe a little belatedly!)...

I didn't always get along very well with my sister. Is that always how it is? I feel like some sisters got along ok, and others didn't. We were the latter. Not all the time, but man did we have some ripper fights. Mum used to get so upset, because she always wanted us to be best friends. That always made me wanna puke! Little sisters are sometimes so annoying! But we were friends too, and allies a lot, and in a childhood full of many schools and travels she was my constant companion and now, my bestest friend in the world. I am so lucky to have a sister!

BIG HUGS FROM NY ON YOUR B-DAY!! xx

(and a nice snapshot of one of those travel trips - hehe! Actually, I don't know why I am laughing, I look like I am in a foul mood - I remember NOT wanting to wear that stupid rain hood, but preferring it to the shower cap Grandma made my sister wear)!

l to r: Grandma, Jade, Me & our bemo driver in Bali around 1984

Pasty Pie

2010-05-17T20:55:00.012-04:00

Kyran & Karyn Brennan (Mum at 5 weeks old!) and Roger-the-dog

It's cooking right now, the Pasty Pie. You are getting a post where I am sitting here (im)patiently waiting for my dinner, tummy grumbling as the smells devour me!

Mum & Aunty Pam have been getting so excited over this blog. Well, I am not sure if it is the blog itself, or the memories of food they are enjoying. The Pasty Pie is one of them! Mum told me right back when I started this project that I had to make it, and when she told Aunty Pam about my blogging, she also said, "Tell Nerissa she has to make Pasty Pie". So, here I am. Again, it's a very easy recipe. Very Old Fashioned. Very I'm-not-doing-much-just-shoving-things-in-the-oven... I guess it goes to show you, cooking is sometimes not as hard as it seems. Yay!

I can imagine Grandma making this dish! It smells so her. She used to tell Mum-as-a-kid before school, "I am making Pasty Pie for dinner tonight, Love", and Mum would be beside herself all day thinking about it. I can so imagine getting home from school on a winter's day and this being on the menu. I would die. Does anyone else have those kinds of food memories?

I used to love a good old fashioned Roast. Of course! I mean, they just take SO long that by the time they're nearly ready it's all you can think about. Especially a lamb roast. Or Pork. Beef. I guess it doesn't matter!! Afterwards we would have ice cream and jelly (jello) - red please! Oh, and at Christmas with crackers and all? Love it! (Can you tell I haven't had a traditional Aussie Christmas in a while? We don't do Roast here at Chrissy, and while I've tried to introduce Christmas Crackers, and everyone likes them, wherever I go, whatever the year, they are always popped before we even sit down to eat. I tried to be the Sergent about the fact that you have to crack them AFTER you've eaten the main course, while you're waiting for dessert, but I felt kinda mean, so just let everyone enjoy themselves).

Oh oh oh t-minus 2 minutes!
I am off!

Later: Don't you love it? It's like a cooking show - "I have one finished here!" ...I took the Pasty Pie out of the oven right as my husband walked in from work. The apartment smelt awesome!! We sat as long as we could to let it cool and then dug in. Very easy, very delicious - I ate two slices and the rest was for my man! What's that saying??!!

Enjoy!

Pasty Pie
(courtesy of Mum & Aunty Pam)

Pastry:
500g (4 cups) plain flour
250g (16 Tbs) butter, margarine or lard (ok, my pastry, while delicious was a *little* too buttery for my taste. Next time I am not going to add quite so much).
salt
water

~ Sift flour & salt (are you kidding? I just mixed them together!)
~ Rub in butter until it resembles breadcrumbs
~ Make a well & add water. Mix with hands until it becomes pliable
~ Rest for 1/2 hr (the pastry, not you)

Filling:
1/2 kg (1 lb) good steak (not stewing) cut into cubes. Grandma used rump (I used Skirt)
3 -4 large potatoes
3 -4 large carrots
1 turnip
1 leek
salt & pepper to taste

~ Roll pastry out to about 5cm & line a square/oval 2" deep pastry tin (I didn't understand this step very well. But I couldn't call Mum as it was the wrong time in Australia. I just lined my pastry tin, which was more of a cake tin - it was fine, but I think the dish is meant to be bigger - we had left over ingredients and pastry, so I made individual pies as well)
~ Combine ingredients & fill tin -(Grandma used to cube vegies & mix together, but some people slice & build up layers)
~ Make a pastry lid for tin, and pierce a small hole in centre to allow steam to escape.
~ Brush with milk or a little beaten egg.
~ Bake in hot oven 220c (425f) for 20 minutes, then reduce to 160c (325f) for 40 minutes

I made the edges pretty, I swear! But I still, truth-be-told, fight with pastry a little!

Porcupines & Freddy's

2010-05-10T09:34:00.028-04:00

Brennan Bros Store in Kalgoorlie - Boulder in 1901

Another favourite bar in NY, Freddy's, has closed its doors. Well, ok, it IS moving down the street, but still, it has been there for a long time and soon it will be a parking lot. It has to move because a giant basketball stadium is being built and the bar, and many old buildings are 'in the way'. Apparently it doesn't matter though, because the (beautiful, old and thriving) neighbourhood was 'condemned' anyway. I must admit, I don't care for big developments like that.

It's funny isn't it? Change. We sometimes embrace it, but mostly we fight it. Why is that?

I am quite terrible with it. I am a little addicted to moving and travelling, so I like change in that way. But I also love to go back to things that have never changed (saying, "Wow, nothing's changed!") - it makes me feel comfortable; remembering something about myself and my past. I love that sense of the familiar, and I get very nostalgic for places and people. I like that there are things still around that never change.

I like that this Brennan Bros building from the photo, that was my family's business, is still there. (OK, it moved too! This, the original, is not the one that stands today). It's not Brennan Bros anymore, but it is still there, sign and all, and you can go see it. This photo is from when Australia became a Federation in 1901!! (We think! Mum said she knows for certain it was a very special occasion in 1901, but she didn't know what that was. I asked, "Federation, perhaps?" We thought that was a pretty good guess, as she also said she remembers hearing it was really hot that day).

Well, I will miss the old Freddy's. It is the first bar I ever went to in NY back in 2001. It was a total neighbourhood joint, really relaxed and dive-y, but interesting. They let dogs in there! (I was to learn that this wasn't that strange in NY!). One came right up to me on that first night and crapped at my feet! Gave me a little welcoming gift, I guess. It was quite hilarious, really, even though it was a totally bizarre experience. It is where my husband and I used to go and hang out together when we were 'just friends'. During the Blackout in 2003 we all went there and drank by candlelight and musicians spilled out onto the street. It holds a lot of memories for me. But those memories will always be there. I suppose that's the thing isn't it? Our memories..

Memories just like these Porcupines from my childhood. I felt kinda like a cheat making this dish, as it is so easy. And I must admit, I don't often make things with mashed potatoes and peas! It sorta feels wrongs, like I am not trying hard enough or something. Although, my husband makes mash often we he cooks, and I always devour it! Yum!

Porcupines

1 lb mince

2/3 cup rice uncooked

1 Tbs mixed herbs

1 tin tomato soup

1 finely chopped onion

parsley chopped

salt, pepper, mixed herbs

~ mix meat, onion, rice & seasonings together and form into balls

~ place in saucepan, cover with soup

~ simmer for ½ hour or until rice pops outside to look like a porcupine - if you leave it too long they fall apart (not good).

~ I added garlic to my Porcupines. And I think next time I might jazz up the soup / sauce a bit with some chilli peppers...

Curried Sausages

2010-04-22T21:18:00.003-04:00

My Grandfather, Kyran "Keeny" Brennan, driving the driver in Colombo

This is my Grandfather - everyone called him Keeny because he loved Keen's Curry Powder. He always wore hats because he was embarrassed that he was balding. He liked taking exotic trips and used to meander down hawker's lanes to find any sort of ointment or lotion that might grow his hair back. I think I would have liked him! He died before I was born, but I feel like I know him from how much my Mum has told me about him. She named me Nerissa because it means 'from the sea', and he liked the ocean so much, so I have always felt kinda close to him somehow.

Is that why I like curries?

Curried Sausages is what I make Mum make whenever I go home for a visit. Actually, I don't even have to request it anymore - after 34 years of being my Mum, she just knows to make it. It is like I can smell it when I get into hour 25- of my 32- hour flight home. It is soooo good! It never tastes as good when I make it... Guess I need to get some Keen's sent over.

Tonight I was so excited to make it and write about it here and then forgot to take a photo in all my haste to gobble it down!!! Piggy.

Here's the recipe anyway. Photo to follow soon!

Curried Sausages (or Chops or Steak)

1 apple

1 onion

3 Tbs plain flour

3 Tbs curry powder

3 tsp salt

6 tsp sugar

3 cups stock or water (750ml)

1 lb sausages, chops, steak

3 med potatoes

2 carrots

1 banana (optional)

~ mince apple and onion

~ fry apple and onion till brown

~ add flour, curry powder, salt and sugar - stir well

~ add stock or water and stir till boiling

~ add banana if used

~ add meat (except sausages) and simmer 1 ½ to 2 hours

~ add carrots and potatoes the last 30 minutes

~ skim off fat

~ serve on a hot plate with rice

if using sausages, cook them before-hand and cook everything at once for 30 minutes.

Shampoo, Conditioner & going au naturale

2010-04-21T21:37:00.005-04:00

Mum and her long hair

It's official! I am fully au naturale with my body products. My sister is calling me a hippy, and well, that's ok with me! (She is not far behind me, I think!!).

It started around this time last year, the going natural. And it started because of my skin. As a kid, I had the best skin - never a zit to be seen. At 21, I started getting zits. Big ones. Not just little things that would go away in a day or two, but big red sore things that would never do anything, except grow of course.

I completely stopped with dairy. I went on the Pill. Nothing. I tried natural & non- natural skin care. Nothing. A different Pill. Malaria Tablets (??). I was wearing so much make-up to hide these big blistery burn-like things, which made it worse. My doctor sent me to the dermatologist, who told me I had Cystic Acne, made me sign a waiver form saying I wouldn't get pregnant during the course of my antibiotics, and put me on a strong dose of (Ro)Accutane for 6 months. That stuff is awful. But my zits went away. After the medication had finished, I was a different person. Twenty-four, and finally clear skin. Three months later it was back.

I went back on Roaccutane. Did I mention I also got depression and nearly slammed my car into a tree? (Side Effects of that drug are depression, and I was the happiest chick you would know before that). Well, I got better, thankfully, but after a second dose of the drug-from-hell (people warned me!), I swore I would take it no more, even if my zits came back. Which, of course, they did. I tried out Proactive. Anyone use that? Stop using it. The Benzoyl Peroxide brought out the pigmentation on my skin in the form of Melasma - you know, that thing some PREGNANT women get? Only I had it for four years. I was sent off to the dermatologist again, and had done a little research on skin lightening products thinking I might try that, but read that Hydroquinone was banned in most countries except the US. Didn't want that, and told the doctor so. She assured me the stuff she was gonna give me didn't have any nasty ingredients in it, and in fact, used it herself. I looked it up when I got home - it contained Hydroquinone. I didn't go back to that "Specialist".

All this stuff is horrible for you. And it feels like you are fighting a losing battle. I never thought about my poor liver, until recently. I'm hoping it will love me again soon.

Last year, I had a bit of a breakdown about it. How could I be turning 34 and STILL have pimples? STILL have times where I wouldn't go out because I was embarrassed? How come I never had them as a teenager, and was getting them as an adult? What did I start doing that could have brought this on? I eat fairly healthily, I exercise most days, I drink water. You know, all of that.

These were the things I came up with that I started doing in my early 20's:

1) I started using sunscreen like it was my religion. I had a friend who died when he was 24 from Skin Cancer, and I started paying attention to the ads everywhere about protecting yourself against the sun's harmful rays. We got / get that BIG TIME in Australia.

2) I started taking multi-vitamins, also very religiously. Swore by them.

3) I also started wearing make-up, using moisturiser, make-up remover, eye cream (yes, since I was 22!)

4) I dyed my hair and used lots of 'stuff' in it.

You know, the things we do as adult women for grooming.

I started thinking (a little bit more seriously) about how our skin is our largest organ, and that everything I put on it, goes into my body. (Sorry, Mr Liver). I got grossed out by the ingredients that are so harmful, that we don't know what they even are, and yet we lather ourselves in them. I mean I haven't bought chicken or eggs that aren't free-range since I was the same age! And I just put whatever on my skin?

Whew, this post is long! Are you still with me?

I stopped using sunscreen. Stopped wearing make-up. Stopped putting zit cream on, even a topical blob. Stopped using anything but natural soap in the shower. Better. I started researching alternatives to skin care - olive oil face masks was something I tried out at first! My skin exploded! (They said it might, those internet forums!) I mean, seriously, it was an explosion on my face. For about 6 weeks. Then it started looking a little better day by day.

I stopped taking my multi-vitamins, and switched to natural eye cream. Better.

I started using natural shampoo & conditioner. Better still. (Except my hair was still super greasy, which was a recent & annoying development I was hoping would change).

I didn't wear make-up unless I really had to (still can't go make-up-less to gigs!! yet!)

And then, I started with the natural deodorant.

Oh, and I have been back practicing yoga on a try-to-daily basis (about three - four times / week).

The verdict? It is getting there. Really and truly is. The brown pigmentation is fading. When I do get a pimple, it is like a normal persons pimple that sorta comes and goes without too much hassle. It doesn't hurt. I see me in the mirror again, and think I am pretty. I am glad that I can acknowledge that before I get too much older! I know, beauty comes from the inside, and maybe it shouldn't have upset me so much. But when there is something going on and you don't know how it came to be and how to fix it, it is upsetting.

The hippy-tip factor has come with the hair. Really recently, like in the past couple of months, I have started making my own shampoo and conditioner from Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar. My hair is so much lighter (in colour and volume!) and stays cleaner much longer. And it is so cheap!

Ok, it doesn't lather up like shampoo, but you will get a clean like your Great-Grandma had - thank Bessie Pearl (well, Mum really, she is the one who told me about it. She said I have to rinse with cold water as well though, but not going there just yet!). She has been telling me for years how bad shampoo and conditioner is (especially conditioner, in her opinion), and how her hair used to be so beautiful and thick, and how it is so thin now - nothing to do with age in her opinion). She's always finding articles, or shows on tv about it and telling me. I was kinda hoity-toity and told her that I DO use natural shampoo / conditioner now. But, she was right!

How come there aren't any regulations (like FDA or something!) about skin care & beauty products? It's not through your mouth, but it goes into your body. It's still ingested, right? I took a class in natural skin care a couple of months ago and a girl in the class was asking how you could just sell beauty products with no approval from the government or anything? She couldn't grasp at first how NONE of these products have to be approved, let alone the good, natural ones!! If there are good ones out there, let me know about them, - I will try them! (As long as they're 100%...).

So, the regimen now? I will tell you mine below if you are interested.

In the meantime, it's a recipe of sorts, and this is what Bessie Pearl did - Natural Shampoo and Conditioner.

Shampoo

1 Tbs Baking Soda in a cup

Add warm water and stir

I add a little Tea Tree Oil, as my hair has been super oily lately

Pour it on, massage your scalp, leave for a minute or so.

Rinse

I added Peppermint Tea to my mix yesterday - it was lovely!

Conditioner

One capful of Apple Cider Vinegar (you can use more, but it smells too vinegar-y to me)

Add warm water and stir

I add a drop of Apricot Oil & a squirt of honey

Pour that on into your ends and leave on a minute or more

Rinse

And that is it. How awesome! How cheap! My hair feels great! After you get out of the shower it sounds a little brittle, like cellophane or something, but after it's dry, it is amazing!

There are many other posts with other recipes that you can find online if you want to go down the rabbit-hole with me!

just after starting to use natural hair stuff (not making my own here yet!), and in amongst the bluebells of england to boot!

Natural soap (I use Corrynne's or Australian Scent. They are both super amazing. And I think my skin especially loves me for it, because it reminds it of home!! I truly believe that - you know like how people say if you have allergies you should eat local honey? I like that one too! I think my skin likes Australian ingredients!). I use it to wash my face with aswell. I also quite like some of the Burt's Bees stuff, but only buy the 100% natural stuff. I am sure there are so many more wonderful products out there...

Australian Scent Balm of Gilead at night, with a couple of drops of Apricot Oil, and St John's Wort Oil.

I use the Balm of Gilead in the morning as well, if it feels like my skin needs it.

Burt's Bees eye cream

Corynne's detox paste once a week, or longer.

Arm & Hammer deodorant. Or Corrynne's clay deodorant

I am starting to learn how to make my own stuff too. It is SO easy. We should all know how to do this - did they know all this in the Olden Days of Bessie Pearl?

No perfumes!

(Grumpy) Bacon & Egg Pie

2010-04-17T15:19:00.008-04:00

My Aunty Pam (never a grump!) with Roger the Dog

Who else gets grumpy? Drops their bottom lip and won't even sulkily pick it up off the ground? I don't think it happens very often to me, but I admit, it does happen - and I am feeling it right now! Everything is annoying me at the moment - the subway especially. I went for a ride this morning, and it took me 2-and-a-half hours to run a ten minute errand. And I seemed to have one of those experiences that included someone cutting their fingernails, someone spitting orange pips and peel on the subway floor, someone throwing their trash out the door when it opened, people hogging two seats when the train is so packed that I am about to pass out. And of course, as usual, the louder than necessary walkmans, er, ipods! Usually I am ok with it (I have to be!), but today, no.

I sound like a pain in the ass. And today, I am. I should probably not even write today, - but I feel like we all feel a little like this sometimes, and why keep that to yourself? Why not make a joke of yourself on a blog?! (Laughing at yourself - my best advice for anyone, anytime, for anything!)

When I was a little girl, my Grandma took my sister and I shopping for Care Bears. Remember them?! My sister went straight for Wish Bear, - it was so cheery and happy, with a rainbow & a star on its belly. But I couldn't help picking up Grumpy Bear. After all, who would love Grumpy Bear? Who would actively choose a grump over Wish - , Cheer - , Funshine - or Friend - Bear, I wondered? Does he get left out just because he is grumpy? Do the other kids pick up Grumpy, and say, I want to have a Grumpy Bear Care Bear? I doubted it. And I felt bad for him. So, Grumpy came home with me, and I would look at him sometimes and think, I know how you feel Grumpy. When it does happen, I am horrible to be around, I'm sure.

Like, when I promise I will make Bacon & Egg Pies for breakfast, and can't be bothered making my own pastry (because I am in a grump & feel like I am crap at it anyway), and use some left over phyllo pastry, which of course there's not enough left of for the pie LIDS, which annoys me even more, and then I have to serve up weirdo bacon & egg pies that I didn't put much love & patience into. I am surprised we didn't spit it out! But, they were actually quite yummy.

So, here you go, - I am going to post you the Grumpy Bacon & Egg Pies!

They will be made again another day with love, - when I wake up on a much nicer side of the bed. And they will be awesome!

Bacon & Egg Pie

eggs

1 potato

bacon

cheese

onion

pastry - make your own, or you can use phyllo pastry.

5" individual pie tins

~ Pre-heat the oven to 350F.

~ Boil the potato until it's soft, cut it into slices.

~ Fry the bacon & onions (separately)

~ Layer potato, bacon and onion in pie crust bottom

~ Sprinkle cheese on

~ Crack 1 or 2 eggs into the pie

~ Put on Pie Lid, & brush with egg or milk. Pierce top to let out steam. (Maybe I should do that to myself?)

~ Bake for 12 minutes

~ Delicious with Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)

Sunday April 18th update

What's that saying about tomorrow always being fresh with no mistakes?

Hello, better side of the bed, how are you today? Me? Much better, thank you! *Smile*! (Thank you to my husband for being so nice to me when I am a grump! And my Mum & Sis, who also wrote to me, you made me feel so much better!)

I tried the bacon & egg pies (sans grumpy) again this morning. This blog is making me feel fat!

Pastry for savoury pie

1 1/4 cup flour

8 TBS butter

a little water

a little salt

YES! I actually made the pastry this morning. God, these were good! (Don't know why I insist upon being scared of pastry!)

Lamington Cake ala Nerissa

2010-04-11T16:15:00.003-04:00

from l to r: my Grandma, Phyllis, her mother, (Bessie) Pearl, and her grandmother, Maryanne Truscott (in Boulder, Western Australia)

I cannot express to you all how much enjoyment I get from these old photographs - I LOVE this one of three generations of women in my family! It is so interesting to me, - yes, because they are my family and ancestors, but also because what IS Maryanne wearing? Maryanne, what ARE you wearing on your head there? Why are you dressed in such a hot-looking coat? Don't you know that you live in the Goldfields? That's the outback, - it's HOT!! The red-dirt and hot sun are not going to bode well for you in that outfit! They all look a little too.... warm for me! I know it does get kinda cold out there in the Goldfields, sometimes, but it doesn't look particularly cold in this picture!! I wonder what they were doing?

I also get a little obsessed looking for traces of myself in the photos. Does anyone else do that? I am always searching for some sort of ancestral throw-back, something to show me I belong to them. Hmmm, the beautiful dark hair, brown eyes, olive complexion.... I don't have any of it! I have green eyes, blondy-brown hair and am pretty white. And their stately CHESTS!! Wow! Nope, I don't see much resemblance at all - which makes me feel sorta left out considering my Mum inherited the same lovely looks, and my sister too. OK, I am tall - that may be the one thing!

But, onto the ledger..... I haven't written much lately, sorry! Life got sorta busy with the onset of Spring. Things have started blooming and my winter blues have evaporated, meaning I have been outside a lot enjoying the sunshine. The thought of being inside and cooking is not very inspiring! But, I whipped up some sponge cake yesterday and today we went and ate Lamingtons in the park. Recently, my husband & I moved from Brooklyn, where we'd lived for 8 - 9 years, to Harlem. It's a long way from the borough we know & love! But, we have been having so much fun exploring our new neighbourhood - lots of parks around us, the Hudson River is just down the road (awesome for a water-loving Aussie like me, even if I can't swim in there), great neighbours, beautiful old buildings and .... cheap!! Great for a musician & writer!

I was inspired when looking for something to make by a couple of things. I wanted to make some Lamingtons, but then saw a filling for sponge cake that looked delicious and wanted to make that too. Then I imagined all the tastes together and thought it would be a good experiment, - so now we have citrus-filling Lamingtons ala Nerissa (with the help of the ledger!)...

PS. I especially love the Wikipedia entry about Lamingtons - who were named after a Queensland Governor who didn't much like the dessert and called them, "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".

Citrus Lamingtons (& Lamington Cake)

Sponge Cake

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 TBS of water

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

add the water last thing before baking

~ pre-heat oven to 350 f

~ grease a 9 x 9" cake tin

~ bake for 25 - 30 minutes

Sponge Filling

Grate the rind of 1 lemon & 2 oranges

Add the juice of the same

with 1 cup of sugar &

1 cup of water &

1 tsp cornflour (I used arrowroot)

~ boil until smooth (and sorta gelatinous - I added one more tsp arrowroot)

Chocolate Icing

4 cups icing sugar (I only used 3, but that's me!)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3 Tbs butter
1/2 cup milk

Lamingons ala Nerissa

~ cut sponge cake in half

~ spread filling on one layer and put the other half back on top (this is the non-traditional part. Some Lamingtons do have a jam or cream filling, but I have never seen one with a citrus filling. But, I am sure I am not the first to think of it!).

~ cut into squares

~ cover with chocolate icing & roll in coconut (I can't find desicated coconut in the States, so the taste is already a little different from traditional Lamingtons, regardless of the filling - they also don't look quite as nice as the Australian version. They taste delicious though)

I made one half of the sponge into a Lamington Cake, it isn't as rich, which I like because I like a good sponge cake!

Who knew making cakes from scratch was so easy? Not me! I am a product of the cake - packet generation. Er, but no more though!

Lamington Cake & Lamingtons in Riverside Park - yum!

Melon Pickles for Mum

2010-04-10T22:52:00.005-04:00

My Mum, Karyn, with her mad-hatters hat (is that right, Mum?)

- She loves to tell you about the Beatles and her crush on Paul whenever she looks at this photo!

This post is for my Mum. We just got off the phone from each other - we talked for nearly two hours, and I promised her that I would post the infamous-in-our-family Melon Pickle recipe, and she promised me she would make it. And post the pictures of it! I will definitely try it, - I know that I nearly didn't get the ledger just because of this Melon Pickles recipe. I had to swear that I wouldn't lose that one in particular (the ledger is fairly falling apart!). I couldn't find it a while back and I think Mum nearly had heart failure. So, here you go Mum - the Melon Pickles recipe, safe & sound, transcribed as is from the ledger.... we all can't wait to hear from you! Tell us how to make it properly! I love you!

I'll be back soon to tell you all about the lamington cake that I ..... altered... hello yum!

Melon Pickles

Cut 3 lb of melon, let stand all night covered with 2 bottles of vinegar

Add 2 lbs of onions sliced

2 cups of sugar

1/2 tspn cayenne pepper

3 dessert spoons salt

(2 dessert spoons of allspice & 2 of cloves) tied in a muslin bag

Boil 2 hours

then thicken with 1 TBS mustard & 1 of flour & 1 of tumeric

Then boil a little longer

Bottle when cold

I don't know why I scanned it in b&w, but here's the page on Melon Pickles!
This is what I have been dealing with! It sometimes ain't no easy task, I tell you!

Karyn's Update - April 12th 2010

: "Thanks for the Melon Pickle recipe. I made them today & the awesome smell permeated through the whole house & reminded me so much of when Mum used to cook them. I had to substitute aubergines for melons, so have renamed it "Bessie Pearl's Pickles", but apart from that I followed the recipe faithfully & they taste exactly as I remember them. Wished you could taste them too! Have sent you some photos of the prep, cooking & the finished product for you to post. Lots of luv, Ma xx"

Surprise Cakes

2010-03-15T00:50:00.003-04:00

Grandma, (Marion) Phyllis Davies circa 1915

Happy Birthday Grandma! Today you would have been 99, and I would be rooting for you to have that tea-with / letter-from the Queen in one more year. Bessie Pearl died the day before Grandma's birthday in 1968, so it is an important time of year for this ledger. It is hard to write about Bessie Pearl, as I don't know anything about her. I know she lived in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia (which is a gold-mining town). That's about it, really. I wish I knew more about her... She has left this legacy of recipes that I get to explore, and I am so glad to have that. It makes me think about all the family that lead to me being here, and how I don't know anything about them, - we should all tell more stories about our families!

The Surprise Cakes recipe was fun! I really had no idea what they were. I *think* I may have figured them out, but I haven't tried out the new idea yet. I tried to make it as biscuits (cookies), cupcakes and cakes - but it wasn't any of things. All I was left with these hard little lemon-y things. Whoops! The mix was really ... sloppy, so it seemed like it would be more cake than cookie, but it was really dense as a cake, not at all fluffy. I mean, it tasted ok as all those things, but just ok. I am pretty sure I had them all at the wrong temperature (I mostly tried it around 350). I just had no idea! What do you do when you don't know what something even is??

Then, I tried the Scones recipe. Which I could cheat a little with and look up online (typing in Surprise Cakes didn't get me anywhere!). Cheating is great, because I don't know anything about separating eggs, stiffening the whites and folding things into things... And Bessie Pearl's Ledger tells me nothing. I guess people just knew what to do with ingredients!! I had thought that cooking was something that had gotten passed down to perhaps my Mother's generation and that's about it, but I was talking to Mum tonight, and she told me about her first ever "Lady's Tea" - when she invited her mother, and her mother's friends over for tea. She 'cooked' prawn cocktails, which she had never done before. I guess she didn't know that you had to actually cook the prawns (I mean, I can understand, prawn cocktail is cold and all!) and served these giant (she got really big and meaty ones) prawns in all their raw grey-glory to the girls. She said they were all so nice to her about it, but that she was really embarrassed! So, even Mum said she learnt by trial and error, how to cook. And here I am, much older than Mum when she made the Prawn Cocktail, learning more about cooking. It is so much fun. I am learning basics that I never knew about, and I can't wait to be a better cook - to incorporate my love of whipping things up with my imagination, but using some actual knowledge about food and cooking as well.

So, I learnt two things over the weekend. We went up to my friend, Bryan's - he has this lovely little place in upstate NY which is just so nice to escape to. We cooked up some awesome pancakes and I also made some scones as a project for here. The pancakes were a*ma*zing! I saw the recipe on Tea and Cookies - Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and thought I would give them a go. They were SO delicious, and guess what? I think they are what the French Pancakes recipe from earlier in the blog were meant to turn out more like. The ingredients were similar, but obviously there was much more technique involved in the online recipe, and it all clicked!! I can't wait to try them again and see if they will turn out better if I separate those eggs, stiffen the whites and fold them in. I am positive I will have gotten it!!

And the scones. I failed a little at them, because they didn't rise like they are supposed to - but they tasted *just* right! And so yummy with strawberry jam and cream, - only thing missing was the Earl Grey tea. But, while I was making them, I could tell right away that the Surprise Cakes were meant to be like scones. And here I was melting the butter, instead of cutting it in!! You may laugh at me, but this is how little I know about baking!! So, I also can't wait to try those again and see how they turn out. Yum!

So here is the Scones recipe, and the Surprise Cakes recipe. Try the method of the Scones with the Surprise Cakes and see how you get on. If you beat me to trying it, let me know how they turned out.

Happy Birthday Grandma (and my awesome husband, who my Grandma would have loved to share birthdays a day apart with!).

Surprise Cakes

1 egg

3 cups of flour

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter

1 cup milk

few drops of lemon essence

currants if you like

Scones

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cold butter

2/3 cup milk

~ pre-heat oven to 425f

~ cut in pads of cold butter

~ add milk, mix a little, but not too much

~ bake for 13 - 15 minutes on middle shelf of oven

~ slice in half and serve with strawberry jam and whipped or clotted cream

~ great with a cup of tea

the flat scones!

really delicious with jam and cream!

ANZAC Biscuits

2010-02-11T21:57:00.004-05:00

my mum, Karyn

These were probably the first thing I ever made on my own. I made them ALL the time when I was a kid around 11 or so. I used to make a right royal mess, and Mum used to tell me off for being such a messy cook - "Clean up as you go along". Well, that's no fun!! I used to tell her I would clean up afterwards, and mostly, I did. But, I am not the best cleaner in the world, I must admit, so I can understand her frustration. Especially seeing as she isn't so much of a 'sweets' person, so I couldn't woo her with my biscuits once they were done... I do try and clean up a little bit as I go along these days, but I am still a pretty messy cook. Somehow I just love seeing the mess, - like I am creating a masterpiece that I have sunk my soul into, or something.

For those of you who are non-Australians or New Zealanders, I will give you a quick run-down on ANZAC biscuits. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, who went and fought, (and mostly died) in Gallipoli in WWI. We honour & remember them on ANZAC day - April 25th. Anyway, Anzac Biscuits (and you MUST call them biscuits, or you can't call them Anzacs - it's true) were sent to the troops from the women at home. I believe because they were cheap, lasted a long time and tasted good. Believe me, they taste good.

They are chewy and crunchy all at once, and sweet and buttery. Delicousness. I made some this morning on a whim to say "I love you" to my husband (whose baking is soooo yummy), and I took a few extra to work to share. Well, I got a lot of love today, let me tell you!

So, while it is a little early for ANZAC Day, you could try them out ahead of time, any time will do. Let me know how you get on.

PS. We were also imagining dipping them in chocolate, to make a Chocolate-Coated Anzac Biscuit, - but I don't think we'd be allowed to call them Anzac Biscuits anymore.... I'm being serious.

ANZAC Biscuits

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup coconut
4 oz butter
2 Tbsp boiling water
1 Tbsp syrup (I always have used honey)
1 tsp bicarb soda

~ mix baking soda with boiling water

~ melt butter and add syrup

~ mix dry ingredients. Then add wet and mix.

~ bake 12 mins (or until golden brown) in 375 degree oven.

Mrs Davies' Tomato Chutney

2010-01-27T12:32:00.003-05:00

Bessie Pearl, Grandma & Aunty Pam outside house in Scarborough

I love that the girls are all sitting there, outside the house, posing for this photo! It makes me laugh to remember how proud Grandma was of her well-manicured front. This house is on a fairly busy road in Perth, Western Australia - and now (to keep out noise and for a little privacy, I have no doubt) it is hidden by trees and shrubs. After Grandma sold the house, the next owners did that, and Grandma always hated it. I still drive past that house often whenever I am back home, and say to myself "there's Grandma's house". It is on the way to the beach, and on top of a hill. When you come to the top of the hill, there's her house, and then over the hill and you can see the gleaming waters of the Indian Ocean - the first glimpse you get coming from the river. I cannot express the nostalgia I get on that little piece of road, it is sort of like my life comes flooding back to me. Eating fish & chips, catching the bus to town, going for walks, my Pop's tomatoes in the backyard. And later, when I lived very close to that house, the wonderful beach and times with friends, my first love, and an attachment to that road where her house was, that lead to the beach.

I made Mrs Davies' Tomato Chutney the other day, and it gave me the very same sensation as driving past Grandma's house to the beach. As soon as I set it on the stove to boil, the smell (as smell often does) took me back to Grandma. I know she made this. This whole exercise has really brought Grandma to my mind often, and has somehow given me a sense of grounding that I feel I have lost in moving to another country. I am pretty nostalgic and sentimental at the best of times, and have enjoyed 'spending time' with Grandma. Because she is there! I can hear her talking to me, - what she would say to me when I was getting cranky over having to 'mince' fruit without any appliance except for a knife! (MUST invest in a food processor! It took me ages!).

It is wonderful to think that she used to make this chutney which was in her mother's recipe book. Which was written as "Mrs Davies' Tomato Chutney" - who, I am guessing, was my Grandma's Grandma (Bessie Pearl's married name was Davies, so in my imagination Mrs Davies is her mother-in-law? Surely she wouldn't call herself Mrs Davies in her own recipe book? Although I don't know!). It is a really simple recipe, as they all are and, be CAREFUL, it makes A LOT!! I halved the recipe just because I didn't want to carry that many tomatoes home, and I am glad I did. Wow, they weren't messing about in the old days. I have chutney coming out my ears, and it is delicious!! (Chutney, anyone?).

Mrs Davies' Tomato Chutney

8 lb tomatoes
1/4 lb salt
1 cup sultanas
1 quart vinegar
1/4 oz allspice
3 large onions
8 large apples
1 oz white pepper
1 oz cloves
2 lbs sugar

~ put tomatoes, apples and onions through mincer, then put the ingredients in together (in a big pot!)
~ boil for three hours

~ makes a LOT of chutney! You will be giving it away (although it is yummy, maybe you eat a lot of chutney?)

old fashioned mayonnaise

2010-01-11T12:27:00.009-05:00

my grandma & grandpa, Phyllis & Kyran in Colombo

This recipe isn't from the ledger - it's a remembered one. I am feeling the urgent need to find out about more about Grandma (including the things I remembered that she cooked), while there are still people who remember. Already there isn't much I can find out about Bessie Pearl, and all I have is this little ledger of recipes to share with you. But Grandma, we still remember you well. She died in 1995 at the pretty nice age of 84 - I always wanted her to live to 100, so she could have tea with the Queen (does that still even happen? Or, does she send a letter or something?), but Grandma was adamant she was already 'living on borrowed time' because your fair share in life was 'three-score and ten' (that's 70 if you didn't know). I guess that is pretty morbid! But, we got used to her saying it!

I still miss her.

Grandma's are pretty awesome. Mine was a little odd - well, she was a worry-wart. In the EXTREME sense. So, a lot of our time spent with her was not exertious (is that a word?). We watched old movies (which I still love to do), coloured-in, went for walks. She fed us a lot! (What a hoarder!). She taught us 'Patience' (or Solitaire), and told us if we cheated in Patience, we were only cheating against ourselves. Then we would watch her cheat, and she would say when confronted, "It's OK, because I already know that I have lost". Hmmm, grown-ups! She taught us to crochet and knit (forgotten skills, alas), and she could open any stuck jar! She was fair. Sometimes mean and crotchety. A great believer in the clean underwear-incase-you-get-hit-by-a-car theory and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. When we caught the bus to see our other Grandma (still here, love you Grandma!) she would instruct us to sit half-way back in the bus, on the driver's side. There was no mucking around on that one, - that was where you were safest on the bus! (I don't know the reasoning, something to do with the way a bus would roll..). She was always there for you.

She used to make this mayonnaise. It was sweet and creamy and yellow, and she put it in these cute little jars. Mmm, I remember it well! I was desperate to find out how she made it, and asked Mum if she knew. "Oh yeah, Grandma's mayonnaise - she made that with sweetened condensed milk". What? How disgusting! Ew. But also, I guess I understood now why I probably liked it so much when I was little. I was kinda apprehensive to make it just because of the SCM, but also because I had no idea of the quantities of ingredients to use. I started out with just a little vinegar, and went from there. Really, it was disgusting. I think this recipe really is a taste thing, in-so-much as how much you use of everything. But, please, don't start with only one tablespoon of vinegar. It isn't gonna work. It is gross. It may have even ruined the whole thing for me, even though it tastes more like it should now. Please, please, start with one CUP of vinegar!!

Mum also told me that the jars Grandma used were old honey jars. I haven't seen any like them around, so I waited until our honey jar was empty so I could follow suit, even if it is just in spirit. Re-using old jars is easy, just clean them out well, then put your oven up high and put the jars on the rack, upside down, (so the hot air can get up through the bottom) for 20 minutes. Put the jars in when you turn on the oven. Mum taught me all that. I think you can also boil them. I will try and find out more and let you know - there are some canning projects coming up!

This mayonnaise comes out really sweet, more like salad cream. It is yummy on sandwiches, on toast with eggs, hamburgers. Anything you would use mayonnaise or mustard on.

Old-Fashioned Mayonnaise

1 tin Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup of white vinegar

1 tbspn mustard (I also added mustard seed)

salt & pepper to taste (I would start with a tbspn of each. It needs the salty to cut through the sweet).

~ whisk until creamy

~ refrigerate

of course, I have to make cute labels too!

ginger biscuits

2009-12-18T10:34:00.008-05:00

Bessie Pearl Davies, her Brother, Herb Truscott, my Grandpa & Grandma, Kyran & Phyllis,

at their house in Scarborough, WA

OK, I admit it... Great-Grandma Bessie Pearl Davies, I didn't follow your ingredients as you wrote them. And your recipe turned out better than mine. I will follow you religiously from now on. Then, and only then, will I start 'being creative' with my own touch.

I cannot bake. I am scared of dough, and rolling pins and pastry. The oven is like a black hole where my love of cooking and food is sucked away. And, of course, Bessie Pearl's Ledger, is chock-FULL of cakes & biscuits (or, cookies for my American friends!). They all sound DElicious, and I am paranoid of them all. (Wedding Cake? Are you serious??)

I attempted ginger biscuits (cookies) the other night. My husband, who is amazing at baking (I nearly DIE at Thanksgiving and the pecans come home, the pastry gets rolled and he puts that Pecan Pie of his in the oven. I could very seriously eat the whole thing) had been baking cookies ALL day to send out as Christmas treats. I wanted to contribute, felt I should bake cookies too (never mind that I had just hand-stitched tree ornaments three nights in a row...). How HARD could gingerbread men be? Well, I will start by saying that Bessie Pearl NEVER wrote any instructions for most of her recipes. They are simply lists of ingredients. This one, Ginger Biscuits, simply said, "Roll out and Bake".

Firstly, HOW? The dough was so crumbly, I could hardly mush it together (maybe I need a mixer for these projects???!). Should I add more butter, or more molasses? Water? What about an egg? There was none mentioned in the recipe, but SURELY Bessie Pearl had made an error in transcription?? I rolled out one little gingerbread fella, and set him aside. Then added an egg to the mix. This is of course after my paranoia annoying itself on my husband - me shoving the mixing bowl in his face, demanding in a whine, "What's wrong with this?". He told me I could add an egg, that it wouldn't do any harm, that all his cookies had eggs. I didn't know what to do. I enlisted the help of "The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook", whose ginger cookies ALSO had an egg. I strayed, Bessie Pearl, I cracked an egg in there.

They turned out surprisingly good. Like gingerBREAD men, soft and chewy, lovely and ginger-y, a perfect dark molasses-y hue. But they weren't crisp, buttery and zingy like the first guy was. He crisped apart one arm, one leg and one head at a time. We took turns in biting off his appendages and savouring the experience. He was the best gingerbread man I made. Thanks Bessie Pearl, for a great recipe. NEXT time, I will be more patient with the dough, knead it a little more, add some more butter (thanks Mum!), and make a batch of wonderfully crisp and crunchy ginger-biscuit-men!

Of course, if you like the BREAD-like ginger men. Use an egg...

Ginger biscuits

nb. my notes are in itallics

1 ½ lb plain flour (6 cups)

½ lb sugar (1 cup)

½ lb dripping (2 sticks of butter is just fine, thanks!)

1 tspn bi-carbonate (baking) soda

1 Tbsp ground ginger (I also added fresh ginger)

1 tspn mixed spice

A little Nutmeg

1 cup of treacle (golden syrup, molasses or honey can be used)

(1 egg, if you want)

~ Roll out and bake in moderate oven

~ (Oven at 375 degrees fahrenheit, bake for 5 mins)

Makes a LOT of cookies, I halved the recipe.

tripe

2009-12-02T21:39:00.011-05:00

my mum, karyn and her father, kyran

Today I decided to delve right in and admit that I like tripe. I want to get it off my chest right away, so we can continue our friendship with that out in the open. I do know a few other people who like it, - we found out about each others' little secret through a whisper, "I eat tripe. Do you like tripe?". This was after I was served a dish that resembled a gelatinous mix of pig's noses, I think. I figured it was safe to ask. But, today I am telling you, the world - I LIKE TRIPE.

My Grandmother used to make it for my sister and I before I knew or cared about what it was. I believe we also ate brains, maybe tongue. I am not sure why these things found their way into a child's repertoire - but I think it must be put down to the fact that my Grandma was probably also brought up on the same, as they have been served in my family straight down the line.

I made my Mum make me tripe last time I was back home in Australia. I have been trying to learn how to cook everything I miss, and wanted to add tripe. I mean, how can you make something that sounds so disgusting taste so good? Let me tell you, it is just pathetic how easy it is to make tripe the way my Grandma, and before her my Great-Grandma, made it. In fact, they pretty much made a bechamel sauce with tripe. Added a few things. Served it. I couldn't believe it! What? You mean the tripe dish of my youth, that seemed so yummy and comforting, and something I would never be able to replicate is WHITE SAUCE??

Tripe

500g tripe
2 potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 white onion
1 Tablespoon flour
2/3 cup millk
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon parsley

~ wash tripe. scrape underside if necessary. cut into 2cm squares

~ place in saucepan and cover with cold water, add salt, chopped onion and diced potatoes
~ cook gently until tender, 20 - 30 mins, with lid on

~ mix flour with a little of the milk

~ drain most of the liquid off the tripe, leaving 2/3 cup in the saucepan

~ add remaining milk, and butter

~ when nearly boiling, add blended flour and stir til boiling, then cook for 1 minute

~ add chopped parsley

~ serve on a hot plate with green beans

rolls of grilled bacon and snippets of dry toast may be used as a garnish.

~ Apparently my Grandma was adamant you use beans in tripe. I like peas. Sorry, Grandma!

~ She also said make sure to use a white onion. Or your sauce will be brown. Mine sorta was anyway....

~ My first attempt at tripe was with turkey!! We had SO much left over from Thanksgiving, that I imagined it would taste good in the 'tripe sauce'. I was right, it did. And now I have even more left-overs, and they are going to be perfect filling for a pot-pie. I have a pastry recipe in the ledger somewhere... guess that will be next on the to-try list!

~ I forgot the parsley and used sariette (savory) instead.

The Pot-Pies from the left-overs. I couldn't be bothered making pastry... (it's a busy time of year, what can I say), the store down the road from us didn't have any Phyllo pastry, and only had these puff-pastry shells. They worked pretty well. We ate them with chips. Fries. (!) Oh, the joys of living in a country that speaks the same language, but sometimes doesn't at all...!

french pancakes

2009-12-01T08:29:00.013-05:00

My Grandma, Phyllis, and Grandpa, Kyran - at the races in 1948.

Welcome to my new blog. I started this blog because my Mum gave me her Grandmother's handwritten recipe book. It is falling apart and some of the writing is barely legible (it's all in pencil!) and one of my most treasured possessions. Since I got it, I have asked so many questions about the women in my family and marvelled over the recipes - which are more just a list of ingredients than any sort of method. Which I find fascinating, as that is how I myself cook, and how my Mother taught me. I imagine the tastes I want to combine, and go for it. I don't know what I am doing most of the time, but I love to cook, and mostly my creations come out pretty well. I hope you will have fun sharing this journey with me. I hope to make all of the recipes in the book, all written in a ledger, and share them with you here. (There's everything from Ginger Sponge cakes to Hop Beer!). I look very forward to many happy hours of cooking, exploring my family history, and hearing from you too. Here's the first recipe, - I haven't made it yet, but can't wait to do so!

French Pancakes

2 eggs
2 oz butter
2 oz flour
2 oz sugar
½ pint milk

~ beat butter to a cream
~ add the eggs well beaten
~ stir in the sugar and the flour
~ and when well-mixed add milk slightly warm
~ beat the mixture for a few minutes, put on buttered plates
~ bake in a quick oven for 20 minutes

serve with lemon and sifted sugar

december 2nd update

So, I finally made the pancakes. I thought they would be a nice treat for my husband, who got sick right in time for Thanksgiving. He never gets sick. This was the Thanksgiving we were hosting for the first time since being married. Er, hum, that would be the first time in five years. We love cooking, and having people over, and were so excited about it, but it didn't happen (that day, we did do a belated turkey-day)! So, instead of turkey I cooked him pancakes for breakfast instead - and we stayed at home and watched a Swedish Vampire Love story. Somehow, just as enjoyable....

The pancakes verdict?

Here's my notes...

~ a 'quick' oven means around 400 farenheit.

~ I had imagined the pancakes to be more like crepes, but they are quite 'eggy', almost like custard.

~ Yummy, but they may need to be cooked on smaller plates. A dinner plate sized eggy pancake was a bit too much!

~ We used lemon curd instead of lemon juice and sugar. Very delicious.

~ I might cook them a little longer next time.

~ I also might beat them the correct amount of time. And invest in an egg beater. I am not always patient and I probably mixed for 30 seconds, with a fork, and not very well. Still, they came out good!