Bits and pieces and Food Traditions

Crochet

This week I have continued to make washcloths.  I like using two stitches for the cloths depending on their use.  For the kitchen I like the ‘v’ stitch done in hdc as it has a slightly open texture for scrubbing those dishes and wiping the benches clean. For the bathroom, I like a stitch that creates a closer weave and is smoother.

 

Here I have used Drops Paris and a 4.5 hook I like my cloths to be about 20-25 cm wide I use American terms.

Hdc Shell washcloth 

  

Make a chain of desired length ending with an even number.

Row 1: (Hdc, ch 1, hdc) in second ch from hook, (sk next ch, (hdc, ch 1, hdc) in next ch) repeat across.

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, ((hdc, ch 1, hdc) in each ch 1 space across.

Repeat Row 2 until your washcloth is square.

Bathroom washcloth

 Chain desired width ending with an even number.

Row 1: (Dc, sc) in second ch from hook, (sk next ch, (dc,

sc) in next ch) repeat across.

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, ((dc, sc) in next sc, sk next dc) repeat across.

Repeat Row 2 until your washcloth is a square.

 

Food Traditions

 A blog I follow was writing about her family’s New Year traditions.  It set me thinking about mine and from there I got quite nostalgic about the food we ate in our family. So, this post is about those family memories and the traditions we have hung on to.

My Mum was during our childhood a plain cook, she became more adventurous after we all left home, (perhaps she had more money to spend on food when we had left, or society had changed, and different foods were available?).  By the day of the week, we knew what was for dinner! I can still recite it – Sunday Roast usually Hogget (Lamb) and all the trimmings: roast potato, kumara, pumpkin, parsnip and peas all smothered in mint sauce and gravy. Monday Shepherd Pie made with the remains of the roast, peas and carrots and as the oven was on, we always had rice pudding for dessert. Tuesday Sausages in some form sausage curry, devilled sausages or just plain fried with fried onions. Wednesday Either lamb chops or mince (beef rissoles) Thursday Lamb or beef stew sometimes turned into curry. Friday was always Fish and Chips because we always went to a movie as a family and Dad would buy them on the way home and if he was flush, we would have battered oysters as well. Saturday was a day for savoury meals for example fritters, macaroni cheese, Bacon and Egg Pie.  Puddings were usually stewed fruit and something like custard, jelly, instant pudding (for non-kiwis it is sort of a light mousse).

 Looking back, it was a healthy diet if a bit meat heavy by today’s standards.  But NZ was a firmly Meat and Two Vege diet. Vegetarians were considered odd!  When I first was married, I followed this pattern. My first job after leaving Uni was in a bookshop and cookbooks were starting to be popular so I started to experiment. My first job in Britain was with a magazine that reviewed books and my editor used to pass out the books to all the staff at Christmas, As I was her secretary, I got first dibs and always chose cookbooks, the start of my massive cookbook collection.

This massive collection has dwindled over the last year as I have been decluttering but there are a couple of books I just can’t get rid of, they both come from the same source, my grandmother as a wedding gift in 1975 – Popular French Cookery by Mary Berry, it must have been one of her first books as it was published in 1972 and she is still going strong! The other was Suppers and Buffets by Marguerite Patten (1973). My goodness nearly 50 years old they have held up well.

 

I was going to post the Ottolenghi recipes I did this week, but I will now leave that to next week.  Instead, I will show pictures of my favourite recipe from each of the books.

Popular French Cookery   Cherry Pie (Clafoutis aux cerises)

 

It is cherry season here, so of course, I must use cherries, but in fact you can use whatever fruit you desire, after cherries rhubarb is my fave.

Suppers & Buffets   Cauliflower Basket

 

This dish used to be my husband’s favourite savoury meal. Its basically a whole cauliflower cooked the centre spooned out, green beans put in and covered with good old fashioned cheese sauce and baked till golden. I always have added a boiled egg or bacon bits or ham to make it more substantial. 

Ive realized while writing this I still roughly follow the pattern of my childhood.  Do you have a traditon around food.  Do eat the food of your childhood or have your eating patterns change radically?

Pantry challenge

One of the things I want to do this year is to eat more mindfully and I need to make a more concentrated effort on meal planning, as I am joining a U Tuber Becky from Acre Homestead in a Pantry challenge. In this you set aside a small amount of money for perishable goods such as eggs and fruit and veg and you then live of what you have in your stores for whatever period you set yourself.  Becky is doing two months; I have decided on 3 months and a sum of $200 for perishables over that period.  I have a deep pantry, but I suspect I have lots of stuff that is not necessary, and this will be a good opportunity to see what I do use the most of and adjust accordingly. So, a meal plan will be helpful and that is my goal for next week.

Oh dear, I have been quite wordy well done if you have got this far, lol! So, I will say bye for now and see you next week.

Think I will join Lucy on the couch and catch up on some of your posts.