Thursday 27 December 2012

Bread and Butter Pudding

Steve and I went out for dessert tonight at The Riverhead. We ordered a tasting platter. Nestled amongst all these 'modern' desserts was a serving of bread and butter pudding. It was delicious! So yum! I think it was easily the nicest bread and butter pudding I've ever eaten and definitely the nicest dessert on the platter. I've got a hankering to try out some of the old recipes from the book now... :)

Spaghettini with Lemon and Garlic Breadcrumbs

My first recipe out of the Nigella Lawson cookbook that my sister gave me for Christmas. Spaghettini with Lemon and Garlic Breadcrumbs. It was okay, and it's always good to try something different, but I don't think it'll make it into the recipe book. I took a photo just in case though!


Wednesday 27 June 2012

Recipes from Nanny and Aunty Barbara

Ooh, another step in the recipe book project. Last night we went up to Mum's, and she had a parcel there waiting for me - Aunty Barbara had sent over Nanny's recipe book. Nanny was my mother's mother, who died before I was born. She was reputed to be an excellent cook, especially with pastries/cakes. The book is not particularly full of recipes, but has some of Nanny's recipes (in her handwriting) and some of Aunty Barbara's recipes too. Then there are some loose ones which we are still trying to figure out the handwriting on.

Aunty Barbara rang while I was there and when I told her the parcel had been recieved, Mum said 'We don't recognise the handwriting on some of those recipes. I recognise Mum's and yours, but some of them we can't work out.' And Aunty Barbara replied 'Well, some of them are from her friends. The Quick Date Cake recipe was given to her by a friend. That's the one she always had to make in a ring tin, because it collapsed in the middle. But we used to say 'No, we like the bit in the middle where it's collapsed!' Because it could be quite heavy with all the dates in it, and it dried out if you overcooked it at all, but the middle where it had collapsed was nice and moist. It was lovely.' While Mum was talking to her (she had her on speaker-phone) I was hurriedly scribbling notes. People don't realise that comments like that are exactly what I want for this recipe book. Small notes that make the recipes come alive for the reader. It's not a recipe for Quick Date Cake, it's a little slice of family - a reminder for Mum, Aunty Barbara and Aunty Dorothy of those memories, and a way of passing that chuckle, that smile, on to the next generation.

I've left the book and recipes up at Mum's house and will go through them on Saturday. I'll scan them, and make notes if Mum has anything to share about any of them, and hopefully ring Aunty Barbara and get some more notes from whatever she says too. Yay for more recipes in the book! She included a letter in the book with some memories of her parents cooking which is awesome.

I'm still waiting for recipes from my cousins Dean and Dianne who have both said they'll contribute. I have more than enough recipes to finish the book, but I want everyone to have an opportunity to contribute. It'd be nice to everyone's name in there, at least everyone who wanted to be included. It means it takes longer to finish, and it'll cost a bit more to publish but it'll be a better, more satisfying project - for me if no one else. :)

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Recipes from Aunty Marie

Yesterday was a good day for the family recipe book project.

Another feature I wanted to incorporate in to the book was a small (one page) feature on the role the Edmonds Cookbook has played in our (cooking) lives. The Edmonds is so popular in New Zealand that there is an average of TWO COPIES PER HOUSEHOLD. So what I thought I’d do was list all the copies we have in the extended family, and then the recipes included in our family recipe book that came from those different editions. The editions make a difference, because for instance, Gran Schroder’s 1955 copy was all imperial measurements. The 1980 edition is by far the most popular version resulting in a more ‘homemade’ style of food while the more recent editions are not found to be so idiot-proof.

So far I had:
1955 edition – owned by Gran Schroder. We have several recipes from this version, mostly in the baking section.
1980 edition – owned by Mum and also Sue & Jim. We have quite a few recipes from this version.
1998 edition – I was given this copy when I first left home and went flatting. As it has been kept at Mum’s house (and she prefers the 1980 version) there are no recipes from this in our book.
2002 edition – Steve and I were given this when we got married. There are a few recipes from this version in the book.
2011 edition - Steve and I bought this when we thought we'd lost our 2002 edition. We haven't included any recipes from this one.

So I got an email from Nana Burland telling me that she originally had an older copy which she’d given to her daughter-in-law Rhonda in Australia. Now she uses a 1992 edition (because you can’t NOT have an Edmonds cookbook!). Also, she said her daughter Sue had a copy of the 1980 edition. That edition was really popular! So that’s awesome. I don’t have any recipes from the 1992 edition, but that’s okay.

Then Rhonda emailed me to let me know that the copy Nana Burland gave her was a 1976 edition. No recipes from that either, but good to add to the list. :)

Then Andrea advised that her copy is actually a FIRST EDITION Edmonds MICROWAVE cookbook. It came out in 1989 and she was given it for Christmas 1989 from Mum & Dad. Very cool! Will have to see if she can recommend any recipes from it.

I emailed Steve’s Uncle Jon & Aunty Marie to see if they had a copy, and Marie came back and told me that their version is the 2004 edition. Then she gave me FIVE recipes for the book! Not from the Edmonds, but just five recipes she wanted included. YAY!!!!! Totally made my day! Lol

They were:
Pork Tenderloin - ’We love this!’
Meat Dumplings - ’This one is a family favourite, tasty and not expensive to make. It is essentially a meat dumpling served on rice with a broth type sauce.’
Nigella Lawson’s Peanut Butter Cups – ’This is one I make each Christmas, or for special occasions. Everyone loves these, it doesn’t matter if you don’t usually like peanut butter.’
Kai Si Min - ’It tastes basically like the filling they put in spring rolls, but nicer (not greasy!). Very cheap, but filling, and absolutely yummy dinner. I believe that pretty much everyone was making it back in the seventies.’
Jamie Oliver’s Yorkshire Puddings - ’I tried this the other week and it turned out absolutely perfect! Impressed the family and a guest.’

Yay! This project just keeps getting better and betterer. lol

Thursday 10 May 2012

Chapter headings

I've been making some good progress on the recipe book project lately, scrapping more of the recipes ready for the book. I decided that I would do a 'title page' for each 'chapter' of the book, with a quote from a family member. Some of the quotes we've got are so good, but don't relate to a particular recipe. Like Poppa Pete's one about his mum's cooking. So I'm working on getting one for each chapter. This is where I'm at so far...

Starters & Snacks


Soups


Main Meals


Side Dishes


Desserts


Baking


Condiments & Sauces
I might see if I can get a quote from Jim about his aioli or hummus for this one.

Preserves


Drinks


Special Occasions


Sundries
I might ask Rhonda to give me a quote for this, so I have a Burland quote. That will help even it all out, so each part of the family is in there. :)