Is a sad week.

Cake baking is on hold. There. I said it.

Take deep breaths.

Love baking cakes. Too much it seems. Husband and I have put on muchly weight in last couple of years. Lots recently due to discovering old recipes. Find baking therapeutic. Love creativity of baking. Love sharing cakes. Have not been sharing enough cakes though. Don’t think it’s all down to cakes. Love chocolate too. And other cheeky snacks. But cakes are part of the problem. Has to stop. Have got family portrait being taken in a few weeks. Concerned I will have cake oozing from pores.

Exercise more + eat fewer cheeky snacks = way forward

Will continue cooking recipes from books but focus on savoury more fulfilling-dinner-type recipes. Make next recipe last cake recipe. Below is homage to successful and not so successful cakes cooked in last year.

Book 13 / Be-Ro Home Recipes Scones Cakes Pastry Puddings / Macaroons

Book is falling apart. Must have been well loved. Book does not have date. Suspect it’s from 1950s. Google Be-Ro. Very excited. Picture of book is on website’s ‘about’ page. Also discover that ‘In the early 1920s, plain flour was the flour most commonly used. Self raising flour was considered a novelty – consumers bought plain flour
direct from the miller and self raising flour was only sold into independent
grocers. In a bid to make self raising flour more popular among the general public,
the company staged a series of exhibitions in the early 1920s where freshly
baked scones, pastries and cakes were sold for a shilling to visitors. Fascinating. Discover Be-Ro still produces recipe books. Is now up to 41st edition. Twitter followers say they remember books. Some still have them. Others threw them away. See that some people sell old ones on ebay. Tempting. Not sure where I’ll put another 39 books. Husband instructs me to move away from computer.

Flick through book. Not sure what to cook. Then spot macaroons. Macaroons not like modern macaroons / rons. But do have almond type paste. Have never made modern macarons. Suspect these may be completely different. Look much easier. Mix almonds and sugar with beaten egg. Recipe is quite correct. Do not need whole egg. Recipe for pastry is straight forward. Don’t use lard though. Don’t like lard. Use marg instead. Roll out pastry. Add jam. Look like jam tarts. (Made jam tarts with puff pastry once. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Jam went everywhere. Ruined tin) Add almond mixture. Then pastry strips. Put in oven. Get distracted. Am a v.distracted cook. Almost burn macaroons. Decide to photograph from good angle and not show burnt ones. Neighbours Mick, Rob and Barbara taste test them. (See I do give some cakes away, just not enough). Verdict: very tasty, like bakewell tart, much appreciated, thanks.

Macaroons taken from a flattering angle

Homage to cakes: not such a success

No more fishy cakes for me

Cake stand now in storage

Back in July I bought 85 cook books at auction. Was a random purchase. Auction is once a month. Is like a house clearance auction. Have been back every month. Have since bought cappaccino maker, foot spa and coffee table. But no more cook books. Until now. Discover there’s another box in this month’s auction. Look closer. See there’s a Mrs Beeton. Or maybe two. And someone’s own handwritten recipe book. Other people seem interested in box. Not sure what to do. Can’t stay for whole auction. Taking mother-in-law back home after village firework display. Should I even buy more cook books? Have nowhere to store them. Do I need more books? Husband seems concerned I may take over living room with books. Decide to leave it to fate. Place maximum bid I think books are worth. If I’m outbid then was not meant to have them. Wait several hours. Miss a call. Check answerphone. Discover mother-in-law won three handbags she placed bid on. And the books….? Yep got them! Was close though.

Oh dear. I have more books. Will have to add them to list. No longer cooking my way through one person’s collection of 85 cook books and pamphlets. Now have 135. Only one duplicate. Now to find somewhere to put them…

100 Ways with Cheese, Maggie Black 1976,

100 Ways with Eggs, Anne Ager, 1976

Beeton’s Book of Household Management, 1989 edition

The Book of Garnishes, June Budgen, 1986

The Book of Salads, Lorna Rhodes, 1989

Cake Decorating, Janice Murfitt, 1986

Chicken, Linda Fraser, 1997

The Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook, Patricia Lousada, 1987

The Colour Book of Low Fat Cooking, Carol Bateman, 1981

Colourful Entertaining Cooking for the Hostess, Audrey Ellis, 1975

Cook & Book, Swiss International Hotels

Cookery in Colour, Marguerite Patten

Cook Happy, Josephine Terry, 1946

The Dairy Book of Home Management, 1980

Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course 1996 edition

Delia Smith’s Cookery Course Part 1, 1981

Delia Smith’s Cookery Course Part 2, 1981

Delia Smith’s Cookery Course Part 3, 1981

Delia Smith’s One is Fun, 1985

DK Pocket Encyclopedia Herbs, Lesley Bremness, 1992

Dutch Cooking, Heleen AM Halverhout,

Egon Ronay’s Guide to the Best in Freezing, 1975

English Electric E70 Self Clean Cooker Book

Essentials Pasta, Christine McFadden, 2001

Exciting Flavours of Asian Cooking

Farmhouse Cooking, Liz Trigg, 1997

Fast Fresh Food, Louise Pickford, 1998

Fondue Cookery, Alison Burt, 1973

Food and Cooking in Roman Britain History and Recipes, Jane Renfrew, 1985

Food and Cooking in Medieval Britain History and Recipes, Maggie Black

The French Farmhouse Kitchen, Eileen Reece, 1979

Good Housekeeping’s Cookery Book, 1966

Good Housekeeping Kitchen Log Book, 1985

Handwritten Recipe Book

Italian Farmhouse Cooking, Judy Bugg, 1994

Jill William’s Book of Freezing, 1974

Just for One, Katharine Blackmore, 1988

The Lean Plan, 1984

Lesley-Anne Ivory’s Spice Jars cards

Low-Fat Cookery, Wendy Godfrey, 1990

Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book

Novelty Cakes & Other Novelty Food, Janice Murfitt, 1987

Pasta, Anna Del Conte, 1998

Pasta, Linda Fraser, 1998

Rick Stein Cooks Fish, 1987

Slim and Healthy Cookery

Stanford and Westenhangar Golden Jubilee Recipe Book, 2002

Sweets without Sinning, Gwyneth Dover, 1990

Thorn Cookery Book

Woman’s Own Book of Casserole Cookery, Jane Beaton, 1967

Am starting to learn more about person who owned collection of books bought from auction. So far have identified:

1. They liked Sainsburys (many books in collection are from supermarket)

2. They once cooked for two people (ingredients for recipes for 4 people have been halved in margins)

3. They were a busy housewife / working woman (many books have this theme – cooking nice things quickly)

4. Had some connection with Hampshire (must have, were once willing to go to Botley to get flour)

Like last book, next book is also connected with a product. Whatever happened to company’s which produce baking ingredients also publishing books of recipes? Am sure mum’s favourite recipe book was one she got free with something, or she sent off for it. Hang on. Will phone and ask. Estimated duration of call to ask question and get response = 7 mins. Stay there.

Am back. Was 17 minutes. Got slightly distracted. Mum started telling me about man she saw at bus stop other day laughing hysterically. Went to have a nose. Said ‘I was never going to believe what she saw’. Saw man with big dog with goggles on in sidecar on motorbike. Said to mum ‘am sure I’ve seen that too’. Turns out article on dog is today’s metro. Think mum should be journalist. Get back on to book. Mum recalls being given Stork margarine recipe book at school in 1967. Learned to cook from it each week. Was told by teachers she had to buy Stork margarine. Says she used to try and buy cheaper one and disguise it as family didn’t have much money.

Shocked at school’s attitude to corporate sponsorship of domestic science lessons in 1960s. Mum says she’s thrown book away now. Probably a good thing. Must have spent thousands of pounds over the years buying Stork margarine.

Feeling nostalgic. Remember having bacon roll as child. Suspect now this may have been from mum’s Atoria suet recipe book she also had. Decide not to use Be-Ro flour. Rebelling against brand names. Use supermarket flour instead. Suet pastry recipe v.straightforward. Mix flour, salt and suet in bowl with cold water and roll out. Feels fatty. V.worried about fat content. Am not going to be eating it (not eaten meat since was 16). But husband is. Worried about husband’s belly. Starting to discover cooks of many traditional recipes from 40 or 50 years ago were less concerned about fat content of recipes. Read with interest article about Mrs Beeton by Xanthe Clay, thinking that old recipe books are fab, but times and tastes do change.

Cook bacon, onion and parsley. Roll out pastry, spread on bacon mixture. Roll up tightly. Cook. Take out of oven. Looks v.fatty. Warn husband. Husband is hungry. Doesn’t care. Says to serve with tomato sauce or a good brown gravy. Picture is of peas and carrots. Husband wants neither. Serve with chips. Husband’s verdict, is very tasty, stodgy, would eat again, but not often. Salad anyone?