Some random thoughts on preserving our produce
Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:52 pm
Have just picked a huge amount of redcurrants and decided to convert some to reducrrsnt syrup for winter use with porridge, hot drinks etc.
Coulsn't remember remember exact recipe so pulled off the bookshelf my old faithful Marguerite Pattern paperback book on Preserves bought the year after we got married. (Price 2/6d pre decimal currency !). The pages are brown with age now and all falling away from the cover, stuck in with brown ageing Sellotape as it has been referred to so regularly over the years. In this rapid age of change there's a very reassuring feel about its continuity!
I still have my mum's first cookery book acquired in 1937 which is in a similar state of decay. It's also stuffed with lots of little scraps of paper in her handwriting with some of the Austerity recipes which were issued during the war years so reading it is like having a mini history lesson on times past. Woolton Pie anybody?
At a time when almost everything is available instantly on tap in a supermarket it feels a shame that many of these food preserving skills are a forgotten art to a younger generation who have never known about food shortages and the art of making the most of what you had or were able to grow to eke out your rations.
Incidentally I still have ankther redcurrant bush to pick which looks similarly overloaded with fruit. Any innovative preserving ideas welcome!
Coulsn't remember remember exact recipe so pulled off the bookshelf my old faithful Marguerite Pattern paperback book on Preserves bought the year after we got married. (Price 2/6d pre decimal currency !). The pages are brown with age now and all falling away from the cover, stuck in with brown ageing Sellotape as it has been referred to so regularly over the years. In this rapid age of change there's a very reassuring feel about its continuity!
I still have my mum's first cookery book acquired in 1937 which is in a similar state of decay. It's also stuffed with lots of little scraps of paper in her handwriting with some of the Austerity recipes which were issued during the war years so reading it is like having a mini history lesson on times past. Woolton Pie anybody?
At a time when almost everything is available instantly on tap in a supermarket it feels a shame that many of these food preserving skills are a forgotten art to a younger generation who have never known about food shortages and the art of making the most of what you had or were able to grow to eke out your rations.
Incidentally I still have ankther redcurrant bush to pick which looks similarly overloaded with fruit. Any innovative preserving ideas welcome!