Today I want to give you another story from Nella Last, the housewife-diarist
who so eloquently described the daily trials of the ordinary Briton in World
War II.
Good Friday [1941].
…..I rested and read until
lunch. It was easily prepared, for I
made the vegetable soup yesterday, and opened a wee tin of pilchards, heated
them and served them on hot toast. They
were only 5 ½ d., and yet were a better meal than two cod cutlets costing at
least 2s. I feel it would be better value if, instead of bulky, flabby cod and
other white fish from America, the Government brought in only dried and tinned
fish. So much can be made up from a 1s.
tin of salmon or tuna, and so little from the same value of white wet
fish. Besides there’s the “keeping”
value too.
I packed up tea, greengage jam in a
little brown pot, brown bread and butter, a little cheese and a piece of cake
each, and we set off after lunch. I have
been longing and yet dreading to cut this particular cake for some time
now. I made it last June, when butter
was more plentiful. It was one of two:
and one was for Christmas, and one to be shared between Cliff and my husband
for their birthdays on 11 and 13 December.
I cut only one, made it do over Christmas and thought I’d cut the other
at New Year. With my ‘squirrel’s love’
of a little in reserve, I made do and kept putting off until it got to Easter!
It’s a ‘perfect cake in perfect condition’, as my husband said. I wrapped it in grease-proof paper – four
separate wrappings – then tied it and put it in an air-tight tin. I expect it’s the last good cake we will ever
have –at least for years – and I do so love baking cakes and watching people enjoy
them (I myself prefer bread and butter on the whole).
Greengage Jam.
Rub ripe gages through a hair sieve,
and put them into a preserving pan; then, to a pound of pulp add a pound of
sifted sugar; after which boil to a proper thickness, skim it clean, and put it
into small pots.
The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined (1898), by John Mollard.
And
another recipe using greengages is here.
Quotation for the Day.
Large, naked, raw carrots are
acceptable as food only to those who live in hutches eagerly awaiting Easter.
No comments:
Post a Comment