Surprise Cakes

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

 

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

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?)

 

Ginger Beer & Back with a bang!

 

Grandma, Phyllis, looking pretty in pink!

Bessie Pearl's Ledger is back!. 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

old fashioned mayonnaise

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

 

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

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

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!