New Books

Get Out The Way Jamie Oliver; Take A Break Nigella Lawson ...
I’m Going Back To Basics ...

wartime recipes, cookery book

"Good Eating" Suggestions for Wartime Dishes
A new selection of Daily Telegraph Readers’ Tested Recipes

Like many gardeners, I also like to cook ... I get to use fresh veg from the allotment, bumper crops can be preserved and when the weather’s too bad to get into the garden I’ve got time to make something sweet ...

As a child I remember standing by the side of my Nana, following recipes from a stained Bero cookery book – in fact it had seen some action ... it had even got ring burns from an old fashioned electric cooker! The piece of advice she gave me over and over and over again was "when you’re making pastry have cold hands" ... saga advice, especially for a youngster who would have hot, sticky fingers ...

I’d love to be able to find that book again ... basic recipes to remind me of my childhood ... but whilst I continue to search I found this book of ‘Wartime Dishes’ on Saturday and thought I’d share a few recipes and advice … I’m sure many of you will be transported back to your childhood ... when weight gain wasn’t a worry, when we didn’t know about cholesterol ... there were less supermarkets providing us with microwavable meals ... and many of us grow up on fresh meat from the local butcher, fruit came from our local greengrocers ... oh happy days!

I hope this week’s recipe stirs your memories ... if you’re looking for a particular wartime recipe just let me know ...

wartime recipes, cookery book

"Dried Eggs In Modern Cookery"
Women are taking kindly to new ways of cookery (‘didn’t they talk nicely to the little women?’) Powdered eggs, regarded critically when first put on the market as a substitute for the shell eggs in short supply, now have their own and it may be an enduring place in good home cookery. (stop laughing now ... I know your love dried eggs ...)

Here’s the first recipe ... how to make hard boiled eggs from dried eggs (sounds magic eh?)

Reconstitute dried egg, beating well.
Add seasoning and if liked a little chopped chives and parsley.
Grease a cup, fill with mixture, put it covered into pan of boiling water and steam for about 10 minutes.

Can you believe this recipe? Can anyone remember having boiled eggs like this ... 'cause I’d love to know what it tasted like ... or looked like ... mmm