Chitchat thread #24

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Grey here too, CG. A bit more rain forecast for today. Long way to go, though, before we get enough to make a difference. But anything is better than nothing.

M up the valley and friend duly arrived last night. Bearing gifts - a full set of Cordon Bleu magazines. The first issue in the collection dates from 1968 and cost 4/6d. Quite a sum of money for a weekly magazine in those days . My mum bought a later series and I really wanted to save them from the tip when I cleared out her house last year but couldn't. My mum's were much thicker and I don't remember them being structured in the same way. Anyway, M brought me these, saving his mum's from their local tip. So familiar but at the same time very different to my mum's. And odd to see the menu for the week on the back. Aspirational, obviously, but women must have spent hours and hours just cooking, cleaning and washing-up. I only had a week of it with YH and that was enough! First things I ever cooked were from a Cordon Bleu magazine - a French apple tart (I remember just deciding to make it one afternoon when I was on my own at home, and it was picture perfect and tasted great) and a julienne potato cake, which is still a favourite with us. One week, my dad (who cooked so rarely it might as well have been never) got it into his head he would make chocolate eclairs from the magazine. They were fantastic. But however much we pleaded, he never made them again.

Anyway, enough reminiscing about Cordon Bleu magazines. Bet some of you have got stories as well. I imagine they revolutionised cooking in the UK. M's mum clearly used them a lot.

Have a great day, everyone.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Lots of sploshy stuff again this morning.
Off for a grory hop in a sec. Lidl here have salmon on offer at the moment. They change offers on a Wednesday so I hope they’ve not run out!
OH had suggested taking the camper then moving on but I really want frozen blueberries over Easter, so that’s not going to work. I’m sure we can find a way around that

Snoop, tbh my mom wasn’t much of a cook. Never used spices nor herbs- only a bay leaf in minced meat. Oh!…and sage and onion stuffing. Maybe that’s not a fair thing to say…she made simple foods might be more accurate and there was nothing wrong with that, but she wasn’t adventurous unlike the mothers of my school friends. She did a cracking Sunday roast though
She did however make the lightest ever sponge and pastry, winning several times the local WI events. Her fairy cakes could have
floated off the plate. Fruit cake and sponge and fruit pies were her happy zone.
As a toddler I used to watch or help her decorate sponge with icing . Cut into ‘domino’ shape and decorated like them. Also a constant supply of buns and tray bakes.
She went through a stage of trellis icing and flowers on greaseproof paper. I got to eat the failures- probably where I got my sweet tooth from
She had a three teared clear plastic storage container which always had a variety of cakes in it…no idea how she kept up with the speed at which the family devoured them


How lovely that M brought those Cordon Bleu mags for you Snoop.

Right…I need to go! Enjoy your day peeps!

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Grey here but feels warmer. My mum was a "plain" vook, but a good one. It must have been hard work feeding nine children! Have a good day

[greenishfing]

Good morning.

It's a grey and murky 7°C here, but is not raining at the moment.

I was looking forward to trying out the new mattress last night. It exceeded my expectations. I went to bed at 11.30 and started listening to Inspector Morse on Radio 4 extra. I think I probably heard about 10 minutes before I was in the land of nod. I awoke at 8.30am. Evidently Mr GF had been to the loo in the early hours and his getting out of bed did not wake me (it usually does).

Nicos, as a child I had never heard of Cordon Bleu cookery. My mother only cooked basic food and my father had no time for, in his words, "foreign muckment" and could/did not cook. Evidently they were appalled when I went to stay with a penfriend in Paris aged 12 and came home "reeking" of garlic. I think that trip gave me my first taste of freedom and adventure. My parents simply put me on a train in London and, having only the most basic French, I managed to get to the "Gare de Lyon" in Paris. I can't imagine a 12 year old doing that today. I do believe they got worried when they didn't hear from me for a fortnight when they eventually got a postcard......a different world.

[Bren In Pots]

Growing up we were a meat and 2 veg (home grown) family apart from going to local chippy on Friday. I never had rice or pasta until I left home seems rather odd now.

Glad to hear you new bed was a success GF.

[greenishfing]

I'm just smiling to myself because the first time my mother ever went abroad I took her to Spain when I was 20 and she was 41. That totally unadventurous cook suddenly wished she had 2 mouths when she tried Spanish food. I think she floated through the week in a haze of cheap Spanish booze!

[Snoop Puss]

My mum had a similar epiphany in France, GF. As did I. I did an exchange with a girl (we're still friends) in Bordeaux. The first lunch I was there for, her mum took a tray of baked tomatoes out of the oven. Not stuffed or anything fancy. Just baked toms. I gasped out loud at the sight of them, they were so astonishing to me.

A couple of years in, my whole family went to stay. Mum's eyes were opened as to what you could do with simple ingredients and surprisingly little effort. Up till then, we had not eaten adventurous food by any stretch of the imagination. Sunday dinners were a standard roast (which I hated, so fatty...) and in the week fish fingers, beans on toast, spam and mash with beetroot out of a jar, egg and bacon tart with salad. Quick things, as she used to work and my dad was rather an absent figure, always had his own things going on. My grandmother was a fair cook, but I guess my mum grew up while rationing was still going on after the war, so never saw much in the way of inspiring food. Anyway, that trip to France changed everything! That and supermarkets upping their game at around the same time. Even her egg and bacon tart (with yolk and white still separate) morphed into quiche.

[rary]

Good afternoon a cold but dry day here, we did a shopping this morning and a visit to the bank, the wee lassie behind the counter tried telling me about the advantages of Internet banking, but I have no intentions of doing that, it would be so embarrassing, someone hacking into my account and seeing how poor I am. Food for me when younger was very basic nothing fancy, stews were usually lots of veg and cut up square sausage along with plenty of potatoes, though my mother was great baker on the rare occasions that she did so her cakes and pancakes were so light they just seemed to disappear I think my brother took a lot of them but I always seemed to get blamed, nowadays OH though a very capable cook doesn't do much just now as I do most of the cooking and I am happy with what I do got quite worried there when CG said a memory foam mattress could get quite hot, as it can be quite hot in our bed, then I realised we don't have a memory foam mattress, so.
Have a good day I am now going to take the dogs a walk then an early tea as I need to take one of the grandsons over to his youth group, as dad's car is off the road and no bus service I have to be taxi 🚕 how come I never see a tip🤔 well apart from my hut and garage remember, pass on the smiles

[Containergardener]

That reminds me of all the baking my mum did , pies, cakes, éclairs, cheesecakes. All to fill us all up.
Fil was into cooking when OH was young, entering competitions, they were big on parties and entertaining and even ran a pub.

ohh such hot stuff hey Rary

Have been in the gh, bit cold really but felt the need.
Back indoors now though.

[Nicos]

Gf….Fantastic news about the new mattress- couldn’t have worked out better!

I’m back from the grory hop. Bought in enough to see us over Easter. I was especially pleased to see the arrival of green asparagus finally. So looking forward to that! White is very popular here…no idea why. Not sure if I’m missing something with that?

Its rained all day so I guess I chose the right day to go. Apart from the fact there wasn’t any ‘on offer’ salmon left as I’d half expected. Good job I still have a small amount still in the freezer.

Its lovely hearing about your family cooking stories peeps - thanks for sharing.

Right- I best go and sort out a few bits and bobs to go with tonight’s supper. We ate over half of it yesterday so I’ll be padding it out with some mushrooms.

[bramble]

Good evening all.lNice reading about the food we all had as we were growing up.
We were always well sorted with potatoes and veg as my father and grandfather grew their own.
My grandmother kept chickens so we had eggs, and then chicken stew.
Grandad trapped rabbits before mixamatosis put an end to that.
The fish man called on a Friday and mam made home made chips because there was no chippy near us.
My mam made the best apple and rhubarb tarts

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Hard frost this morning. So that will have put paid to all the fruit blossom, peaches, pears, plums, walnut and the best figs (though the fig tree will manage to make more, so although they won't be as good, they will be better than none). There's always next year.

Busyish morning trying to cram in as much as I can before going off to a wine co-op and then out for lunch. Will try and fit in a bit of final Easter shopping after lunch too, seeing as we're out in the big wide world. All in all, should be a nice day.

Glad the mattress was comfy, GF. And it sounds like your family were sorted for food Bramble. And yes, Nicos, white asparagus... Mind you, I've never had it cooked from fresh, only bottled. Abiding memories of stringiness and lack of flavour. Love the green stuff. And Rary, well... I think CG has said everything that needs to be said!

Right, on with work. Have a great day, everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Its bright and breezy out, the winds making it feel cooler than it is.

Enjoy your outing Snoop sorry to read about your fruit trees, its disheartening for you.

Of on a Grory hop later.

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Bright and breezy here. I'm putting the oven on today for a lasagne, so will fill it with other things too, though I'm not sure what. Have a good day

[Jay22]

Morning, pouring with rain here. Cold yesterday too, not been out yet today. Well I have the cold accompanied by a sticky eye, shared by my granddaughter. Her mum and dad also have it. Toddlers are just walking germ machines. I’m at that end stage of the cold so I’m hoping my treatment will go ahead today…fingers crossed!
Sorry to hear about your trees Snoop, really bad luck!
Glad to hear the mattress was comfy GF!
Enjoy your day everyone, whatever you are doing x