Monday 19 March 2012

They said it really loud, they said it on the air

We were on the radio today.

If you have the urge to listen to me blabber about good scoffs, it is here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d777 available for this week.

Luckily, I'd forgotten about it until I woke up this morning or I would have been worrying about it all weekend.

Thursday 15 March 2012

Offally versatile

Tuesday. What do you do on Tuesdays? Well, if you are like us, you make tea then you watch telly. Last Tuesday, after a short digression where I tried to buy a £50 iPad and a not so short digression where we looked what the muscles of the eyes are called (Eggheads went and mentioned the superior rectus, what would YOU have done) we got on and decided what to have for dinner.

We sort of cheated because the meal we chose was actually from the breakfast list but once you see what it looks like, you'll wonder how anyone lived to the age of 93 if this is what he ate for BREAKFAST.

Here's more evidence of his healthy lifestyle (Grandad in the middle, Nana next to him).


Actually, what I remember about breakfasts at Grandad's house is Shredded Wheat. I loved it when he'd give us Shredded Wheat for breakfast because we never had it at home. Cereal then a walk with Bella the dog, who lived at Jill's house but Grandad walked every day.

So, liver and onions. "Liver or rissole, onions and bacon... fried mash." I tweeted that we were making liver and onions and @babybeak replied that that was what her mum had had for dinner the night before she was born so that's already a good omen right there.

Only top quality ingredients will do.

99p!

We followed a recipe from food.com because it had Madeira in it and I went there on holiday once.

And so, we cooked.

 
 Do you ever have a pan of boring onions? 

 
Not for long!

Beautiful!

  Jez [in response to my jokes]: "this is all great material, save it for the blog" (I think he was just trying to get me to shut up so he could get on with it.)

 No need to attempt to describe how nice this pile of onions and bacon smelled.

There was a bit too much pepper on the livers but that was my fault because Jez seasoned them and I felt left out so I seasoned them more when he was looking the other way.

 Two minutes on one side.

 Two minutes on the other.

And serve.

I remember the texture of the liver so clearly from when my mum used to cook it and I hated it. But back then I didn't like olives, coffee, marmite or anything good. Or anything apart from Branflakes for a good few years, actually, my mum took me to the doctors about that. Apparently they said to just let me keep eating them, I'd get over it. Which worked a treat, now I'll eat anything except dessicated coconut (although I still have a fondness for my vitamin fortified cereal when I need a foodcuddle*).


We forgot to do the egg, mainly because I was flapping about trying to take photographs. It would have been nice to add that as it would have given a small amount of 'not fried' seasoning to the meal. But overall it was pretty top notch and for £1 a packet of chicken livers (enough to feed 4 if you follow recipes, 2 if you eat too much like we do) it's really cheap too. I'm keen to try breadcrumbing chicken livers and frying them, I think that would be quite tasty.

Verdict: OH BOY. Grandad knew what he was on about. So much nicer than I always thought liver would be!

Alice x

*I just googled foodcuddle and apparently it's not a thing. But what I mean is like buttery crumpets on a rainy day, or the cake your grandma used to make, or a cup of tea made for you by someone else when you're knackered - you know what I mean.

Breakfast

Monday 12 March 2012

Welsh Rarebit, Spaghetti on Toast

From the Teas list

I'd never really considered that my Grandparents were chowing down on tinned spaghetti when they were younger than I am but there you go.  I'd also never made Welsh Rarebit before so that's another dish to add to my repertoire.


Here we have used an age old technique known as "mushing it all up and spreading it on toast."

Then we realised that there was an opportunity here that we didn't want to miss, so we set up the microscope and filmed a nice timelapse of all the cheese melting.

Now what would be nice here would be if I had the video from it, but that's Jez's department and I've no idea what happened to it, sorry! Rest assured it was extremely interesting.

 

Done! This tasted damned fine and was really easy and quick.

Alice x
 

Saturday 10 March 2012

POW March from Sagan


Tit-Bit Recipes

These ones have instructions attached


What it's all about

It's all about my Grandad, Daniel Ernest Baker. 25th December 1917 - 21st December 2010


Also known as Bib, Danny, Dad, or Grandad, he passed away a few days before his 93rd birthday which would have been on Christmas Day, 2010.

(Grandad on the left)

He took part in the Invasion of Sicily and he was also part of the airborne landing at the battle of Arnhem in Holland, during which he was wounded by shrapnel and taken prisoner. He spent seven months in captivity in German Prisoner of War camps. He endured a 400-mile march as a prisoner, from Poland and through Germany,  before being finally liberated by the Americans in Frankfurt in 1945.

(Grandad on the left)

While on the march, he had a notebook with him where he kept a number of lists. The lists documented the places they slept, how far they'd walked and the provisions they'd been given. Most of the lists, though, are of food he would have liked to have been eating. Or, "Good scoffs which I intend to appreciate in the near future." Knowing how hungry they must have been while he wrote these lists gives a poignance to cooking them. Especially so as they aren't all the sorts of things people these days would fantasise about. (Although I can't say I'm against eating lots of fried food, all for a good cause, of course).


While sorting through his bits and pieces, my Aunt, Jill, discovered the notebook and showed it to me. I showed it to Jez and we decided we would try cooking some of the things on the list as a kind of tribute to my Grandad. Originally intended as a project for 2011, we've decided to keep going as we are enjoying it so much.

 (on holiday in Blackpool with my Nana, Helena, and their three daughters Janet, Carol and Jill)

Alice x

Saturday 3 March 2012

The first pudding we made from my Grandad's list

This one was from the list of 'Tit-Bit Recipes'
 
Messy messy


Choppy choppy (other blackcurrant squashes are available)


Melty melty


ready to bake

 

 Unfortunately we appear to have forgotten to take a photo of the final product, we may have just smooshed our faces into it and gobbled it up.
 
 Yum. Or as Grandad would have it "mix with chocolate solution instead of milk"