A B C
or
All-purpose Birthday Cake.
I am proud to report that I invented this recipe myself. It was originally made with some low-calorie spread or other - can't remember which one, but it accounts for the slight vagueness in the quantity for fat: use a little more if a lo-cal is being used, a little less if Dairygold.
It is an unbelievably simple and versatile recipe. Very easy to mix, no creaming, cooks quickly and the result is a fairly shallow sheet of light cake that can be cut into shapes, iced in any style, and served with any dessert like ice cream, whipped cream, fruit salad, etc etc. Cut into one-inch cubes to serve, and it will be enjoyed even by non-dessert-eaters or bored children. It is best baked in a chicken-size roasting tin that is lined with baking parchment. For complex shapes, double ingredients and use a large roasting tin.
Set oven to 180C or 350F; shelf across the middle
Line small roasting tin etc as above.
Sift together once or twice into large bowl:
8 oz plain flour
7 oz caster sugar
2 teasp baking pdr
1 tsp Bextartar
Make hole in middle; add
4 - 5 oz light soft marg ie golden Olive
4 fl oz milk
2 eggs
1 teasp vanilla/any other flavouring you like: (grated lemon rind is good, and use the juice, diluted, as your extra liquid.)
[OPTIONAL] up to 2 fl oz diluted orange squash or juice IF NEEDED to loosen batter
Beat vigorously for 2 - 3 mins. Add dollop of moistening (as in recipe) if too dry, it is a slack batter, not dough.
Pour into tin, about 1 and a half ins deep: bake in prepared tin for half an hour.
Turn out, cool, then strip paper off. Carve into shapes when cool. Ice with fondant or water icing or any topping. It goes a long way if cut into small cubes, which I recommend.
Good for making a celebration cake for any occasion.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
A crazy food list
Taken from an English food blog...test your tastebuds.
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
**************************************************************************************
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
**************************************************************************************
Thursday, January 29, 2009
January food - 1935
And now at last to business.
Mrs Evelyn Wallace recommends that the foods in season should be used, they being the most appetising and nourishing. No doubt the words "carbon footprint" would have been as foreign to her as ancient hieroglyphics, but nowadays the local and seasonal qualities of food are moving urgently to centre stage. If you care about such things, scan these suggested menus for food-miles!
SUNDAY
Breakfast: Fried eggs on toasted muffins, honey, bread and butter, coffee.
Dinner: Rabbit pie, baked potatoes, cabbage, orange pudding.
Supper: Cheese straws, scones, tea, Christmas cake.
MONDAY
Breakfast: Grilled rashers with grilled tomatoes, toast, marmalade, cocoa.
Dinner: Cauliflower cheese, beetroot with white cause, mashed potatoes, waffles.
Supper: Apple dumplings, coffee biscuits.
TUESDAY
Breakfast: Fried bacon with apple fromage, marmalade, toast, coffee.
Dinner: Stuffed pork steak, baked potatoes, apple sauce, parsnips, lemon pie.
Supper: Chipped potatoes with fried eggs, tea.
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Baked herrings, bread and butter, lemon honey, coffee.
Dinner: White stew of rabbit, creamed potatoes, carrots and turnips, steamed ginger pudding.
Supper: Welsh rarebit (sic), bananas, coffee and biscuits.
THURSDAY
Breakfast: Kidney and bacon, toast, lemon cheese, tea.
Dinner: Rabbit soup, savoury pork chops, apple sauce, cauliflower, pancakes.
Supper: Potato cakes, bread and butter, cheese and biscuits, cocoa.
FRIDAY
Breakfast: Kedgeree with smoked haddock, breakfast scones, coffee, honey.
Dinner: Savoury omelette, potatoes, butter beans, mince pies.
Supper: Cheese and tomato rolls, coffee, cakes.
SATURDAY
Breakfast: Grapefruit, Scotch eggs, bread and butter, honey and coffee.
Dinner: Raised pork pie, or beefsteak pie, baked potatoes, Brussels sprouts.
Supper: Tomatoes in pastry, chocolate roll, tea.
I have scanned these menus with fascinated interest: Note that the only imported ingredients are coffee and tea, oranges, lemons, grapefruits (which are all in season), bananas, and, mysteriously, tomatoes which appear no less than three times.
In January? In 1935?
I don't know if huge shiploads of tomatoes were brought to Dublin from distant colonies, or what. I must find out. Maybe they were tinned! Even today, with polytunnels and hydroponics and air freight, a January tomato is a sorry thing in the Northern hemisphere. Even now, expensive.
I do think that this was a very expensive, not to say pretentious, line-up: in keeping with the whole magazine, perhaps! But note, however, that no meat was to be served for main meals on Monday or Friday.
She gives recipes, too: though, sadly, none for the apple fromage.
But more of this anon.
Mrs Evelyn Wallace recommends that the foods in season should be used, they being the most appetising and nourishing. No doubt the words "carbon footprint" would have been as foreign to her as ancient hieroglyphics, but nowadays the local and seasonal qualities of food are moving urgently to centre stage. If you care about such things, scan these suggested menus for food-miles!
SUNDAY
Breakfast: Fried eggs on toasted muffins, honey, bread and butter, coffee.
Dinner: Rabbit pie, baked potatoes, cabbage, orange pudding.
Supper: Cheese straws, scones, tea, Christmas cake.
MONDAY
Breakfast: Grilled rashers with grilled tomatoes, toast, marmalade, cocoa.
Dinner: Cauliflower cheese, beetroot with white cause, mashed potatoes, waffles.
Supper: Apple dumplings, coffee biscuits.
TUESDAY
Breakfast: Fried bacon with apple fromage, marmalade, toast, coffee.
Dinner: Stuffed pork steak, baked potatoes, apple sauce, parsnips, lemon pie.
Supper: Chipped potatoes with fried eggs, tea.
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Baked herrings, bread and butter, lemon honey, coffee.
Dinner: White stew of rabbit, creamed potatoes, carrots and turnips, steamed ginger pudding.
Supper: Welsh rarebit (sic), bananas, coffee and biscuits.
THURSDAY
Breakfast: Kidney and bacon, toast, lemon cheese, tea.
Dinner: Rabbit soup, savoury pork chops, apple sauce, cauliflower, pancakes.
Supper: Potato cakes, bread and butter, cheese and biscuits, cocoa.
FRIDAY
Breakfast: Kedgeree with smoked haddock, breakfast scones, coffee, honey.
Dinner: Savoury omelette, potatoes, butter beans, mince pies.
Supper: Cheese and tomato rolls, coffee, cakes.
SATURDAY
Breakfast: Grapefruit, Scotch eggs, bread and butter, honey and coffee.
Dinner: Raised pork pie, or beefsteak pie, baked potatoes, Brussels sprouts.
Supper: Tomatoes in pastry, chocolate roll, tea.
I have scanned these menus with fascinated interest: Note that the only imported ingredients are coffee and tea, oranges, lemons, grapefruits (which are all in season), bananas, and, mysteriously, tomatoes which appear no less than three times.
In January? In 1935?
I don't know if huge shiploads of tomatoes were brought to Dublin from distant colonies, or what. I must find out. Maybe they were tinned! Even today, with polytunnels and hydroponics and air freight, a January tomato is a sorry thing in the Northern hemisphere. Even now, expensive.
I do think that this was a very expensive, not to say pretentious, line-up: in keeping with the whole magazine, perhaps! But note, however, that no meat was to be served for main meals on Monday or Friday.
She gives recipes, too: though, sadly, none for the apple fromage.
But more of this anon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Seventy four years ago: suggested menus
I have in my possession a copy (well, a photocopy) of Model Housekeeping, dated January 1935, retailing then for the pricey sum of 3d. It proudly advertises itself as Ireland's National Women's Magazine. It was in fact the Irish version of Good Housekeeping - not a silly rag by any means.
The cover picture shows a well-dressed model - in a pajama suit, very 1930s - chatting to a parrot of similar colouring. The lady holds a cigarette languidly, elegantly.
Turning to the first page, we see an ad for Ovaltine, with the unexpected caption "Happy the baby that is breast-fed." Picture of smiling mother and laughing baby. " OVALTINE Enables Mothers to Breast-feed their Babies".
Contents page follows, including this month's free pattern, a Charming Blouse.
The whole thing is a hoot from beginning to end. I was particularly intrigued with several articles advertising new homes in Dublin's newest suburb, Mount Merrion. The air is mentioned as being very healthy, horse riding is among the amenities and the star of the piece is the All-Electric House (illustrated): it had electric fires, a drying-room, a fridge! - very futuristic - and even an Electric CLOCK!
Now, all this is good for a laugh, if you're young enough, or nostalgia if you're not. Yet there is a more serious lesson to be learnt within these elderly pages.
I was about to embark on the fascinating Suggested Menus for a Week, but instead must go and attend to my own modern family dinner...hasta la vista!
The cover picture shows a well-dressed model - in a pajama suit, very 1930s - chatting to a parrot of similar colouring. The lady holds a cigarette languidly, elegantly.
Turning to the first page, we see an ad for Ovaltine, with the unexpected caption "Happy the baby that is breast-fed." Picture of smiling mother and laughing baby. " OVALTINE Enables Mothers to Breast-feed their Babies".
Contents page follows, including this month's free pattern, a Charming Blouse.
The whole thing is a hoot from beginning to end. I was particularly intrigued with several articles advertising new homes in Dublin's newest suburb, Mount Merrion. The air is mentioned as being very healthy, horse riding is among the amenities and the star of the piece is the All-Electric House (illustrated): it had electric fires, a drying-room, a fridge! - very futuristic - and even an Electric CLOCK!
Now, all this is good for a laugh, if you're young enough, or nostalgia if you're not. Yet there is a more serious lesson to be learnt within these elderly pages.
I was about to embark on the fascinating Suggested Menus for a Week, but instead must go and attend to my own modern family dinner...hasta la vista!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Hi folks!
New Year's Day seems a suitable moment to commence. And let us begin with Janus, after whom this month is named.
He was the Roman god of entrances, depicted with two faces (carved on many doorways,) one looking in, the other out. Or one looking back, the other forward. So you see he is very suited to name the month.
So, looking back, some seventy years ago almost to the day an Irish women's magazine published suggestions for weekly menus in its cookery column. The dishes listed for the first week of January are well worth a ponder in these very different times. I have not the article before me now, but I seem to recall that the only imported ingredients were tea, coffee, oranges, lemons, spices and possibly bananas. Everything else would have been locally grown and in season.
Await a more detailed look at this fascinating culinary snippet in a later post.
Looking forward, I propose, mainly, to rejoice in food! As I have always done, indeed. And no doubt my own agenda will become apparent. That is, um, several strands. One, good judgement in food is about 90% tastebuds, and maybe 10% context. There's also about 10% memory in there: I know this doesn't add up to 100 but food preferences are irrational and fiercely intractable.
I have excellent faith in my own tastebuds, and love to put them to the test, and learn.
I do know a lot about food, just as an amateur,you understand. No catering college or commercial kitchens in my life story, just a lifetime of family cooking, often on a short budget, always energised by contact with the national cuisines of other countries. I have a large collection of cookery books which I read for pleasure rather than practice!
Enough of this rambling...until next time. Bye!
He was the Roman god of entrances, depicted with two faces (carved on many doorways,) one looking in, the other out. Or one looking back, the other forward. So you see he is very suited to name the month.
So, looking back, some seventy years ago almost to the day an Irish women's magazine published suggestions for weekly menus in its cookery column. The dishes listed for the first week of January are well worth a ponder in these very different times. I have not the article before me now, but I seem to recall that the only imported ingredients were tea, coffee, oranges, lemons, spices and possibly bananas. Everything else would have been locally grown and in season.
Await a more detailed look at this fascinating culinary snippet in a later post.
Looking forward, I propose, mainly, to rejoice in food! As I have always done, indeed. And no doubt my own agenda will become apparent. That is, um, several strands. One, good judgement in food is about 90% tastebuds, and maybe 10% context. There's also about 10% memory in there: I know this doesn't add up to 100 but food preferences are irrational and fiercely intractable.
I have excellent faith in my own tastebuds, and love to put them to the test, and learn.
I do know a lot about food, just as an amateur,you understand. No catering college or commercial kitchens in my life story, just a lifetime of family cooking, often on a short budget, always energised by contact with the national cuisines of other countries. I have a large collection of cookery books which I read for pleasure rather than practice!
Enough of this rambling...until next time. Bye!
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