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Sunday 3 November 2013

A Wallow In My Memories

First let me offer a warm welcome to Janice, a new follower, if you have been here for a few days then I aplogise. I am a bit lax in looking at my counting thingamujig.

I know that several of you joined me for afternoon tea a few days ago, I had so much fun baking that I did some more today. I was awake early and could almost hear my Granny saying " come on Pam the oven is getting hot and the tea is made"

She liked to do her Sunday baking in the wall oven, the sort where you light a real fire under it and stick your arm in the oven to see how hot it was. There was an indicator on the front but she preferred the arm test!

Just as we did then, 55 years ago, I started with sausage rolls and shortcakes.


I only made 900 gm of flour into pastry whereas we used to use about 5 lb.

The shortcakes are assembled like this.


Roll out the pastry and dab butter over 2/3 rds, sprinkle with sugar and dried fruit.



Fold up the naked bit halfway and then fold up again to cover the fruit.



Roll out so you can just see the fruit through the pastry, brush with a little milk and a final sprinkle of sugar, cut up and cook at 200 c for around 25 minutes.

Lovely with a cup of tea, when if they get stale warm them up and have with custard, we have not had them like that for as long as I can remember.

I also made a tray of little quiches, Granny called them Breakfast Pies.


I made 2 more Apple and Walnut cakes from Dirt Under My Fingernails, that is 4 since I read the recipe, Shaz you have a lot to answer to. 



 They are a little darker this time as I had some SR wholemeal flour to use up also this time I put the walnuts in the cake with the apple, I did not mean to I was distracted by Francesca walking through the kitchen and swiping a sausage roll and a mini quiche as she went.
Why is it that any baking swiped off the cooling tray as twice as nice?
Any way I picked up the walnuts instead of the apples and in they went, hey ho it still looks good, Nev has got one as well as some sausage rolls and quiches. 

My next baking day will be some of the latest recipes from Sharon of Miss Townmouse. Between them I will be lucky to get into jogging bottoms soon, never mind my LBJ,  Little Black Jeans.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A bright sunny day.

2. Watching Ben running round with a sock in his mouth like a puppy.

3. A fresh breeze blowing my laundry dry.

4. My latest project looking good so far.

5. Planning a trip to do some Christmas window shopping, I do not need to buy anything but like to harvest some ideas ready for next year.

I do not like to do laundry at the weekend but in the winter I take advantage of every good day and today is perfect, strong sunshine and a lively breeze.

I will be sewing and pressing later so will get my laundry ironed in the meantime.

Francesca has just made more tea so .             TTFN       Pam

12 comments:

  1. MMMM...I can smell the gorgeousness of your kitchen form here! It all looks lovely Pam, and my Nanna and my mum used to have proper baking days - I tend to just do one or two things these days - if at all.

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    1. I do not bake too much but like to have some in the freezer and I can rely on my neighbours to help out.

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  2. (QuoteI do not like to do laundry at the weekend but in the winter I take advantage of every good day and today is perfect, strong sunshine and a lively breeze.Quote)

    Me too I stripped the bed this morning, all out on the line and it started to rain, I was upstairs making the bed, just wrestling with the kingsize duvet cover (don't you just hate trying to get the wretched thing on???) when DB called up and said it was raining, hey ho, it can wait, so it got left out, by lunch time there was another dark cloud heading our way so in it came, its dry, smells gorgeous, all folded up waiting to be ironed.

    I do not iron a lot of thiings but I do love freshly ironed sheets and pillowcases on the bed.

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    1. I iron my sheets and pillowcases and the duvet cover but only the side that touches me. The sheer pleasure of having a shower and sliding between freshly ironed linen is bliss, I do not enjoy the ironing but the pleasure is so worth the pain.

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    2. Mmmmm clean bedding! Those fruit pastries might just get a whirl in my kitchen next weekend Pam x

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    3. They are so easy to make,and cost next to nothing.

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  3. We always called that pastry dried fruit thingy Fly Paper ... it was always made with the last bit of pastry at the end of the baking session. My Dads treat .. he loved it smothered with butter .. happy days.

    Vicky x

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    1. We always used the last quarter of the pastry but they went in while the oven was hot, then as it cooled down other things were cooked. Then to use up the last of the heat a big rice pudding would go in, if we did not eat it hot it was spread with jam and sprinkled with coconut and eaten like cake.

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  4. My Nana used to make those shortcakes, seeing how you made them brought back some lovely memories bakin g with her, like yours she used to make huge batches of baking, but then they lived on a farm and she had all the farmhands to feed. Isnt it fascinating how recipes travel the world. I like the idea of the same recipes being made at the opposite ends of the world even during the 1950's and 60s and even earlier. That apple and walnut cake is to die for, everyone loves it. PS as kids we used to call that shortcake "Fly Cemety"!

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    1. I suppose that as people started to move around the world they took their favourite recipes with them. I agree with you on the cake, we had a slice each, and the rest of that cake is sliced and in the freezer, Nev had the second one.

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  5. I've been reading your blog for a long time (and commenting occasionally) and so I thought I should 'follow' you. I read all my favourite blogs via Bloglovin so never think about the following thing. The baking looks delish. I've just made a large and small pan of seafood lasagna. DS#1 &DIL are coming over for supper and I'll send the small one home with them. That will save them cooking one night this week. We've also finished shovelling snow. 15cm yesterday and today. Hopefully that's the end of it for a little while.

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    1. I love lasagne and do make a seafood one every now and then. I hope that we do not get shoveling snow this year.

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