New Farm Library hosted an interesting morning this week “My Mother’s Kitchen”.
The idea was to re-live the memories of childhood. I quote “Pick your favourite of the classic recipes that were handed down to you, and bring a copy of the recipe to swap with others over morning tea.” It made for an interesting mix of recipes.
Nadira bought along a Sri Lankan curry; Santina shared with us her Italian baked pasta dish; Halina and Urszula served a selection of savoury Polish dishes. All were delicious and varied and gave an insight into other cultures.
We followed with a selection of ‘sweets’ prepared by Monica and Barbara, Tatiana served her Auntie’s Russian Masurka cake and Australian Lamingtons, and I baked my mothers Bread Pudding – solid English fare.
The table was decorated with produce from Tatiana’s garden and there was a big selection of cook books on display from the library. I was able to load myself up with a bag full of cook books to gorge on. Don’t think I could manage to satisfy my urge for cook books without my library card.
Talking of cook books what I didn’t realise was that Monica and Barbara were published authors and had produced a cook book of their own. Barbara would be remembered by students at All Hallows School in Brisbane as nun Sister Mary Basil. And that is how she met Monica who was a pupil at the school, and whom she taught.
The cookbook “Basil Over Time” (not Thyme) refers to Barbara as Sister Mary Basil, and I don’t think they could decide on “Time” or “Thyme”. Either way, it’s a great little book beautifully illustrated and I’m looking forward to trying out the recipes Old and New. Here is the book.
I thoroughly enjoyed the morning, and would recommend it to anyone who is involved in a group and is thinking “what shall we do next”.
Sep 18, 2012 @ 18:42:38
That book looks really interesting! I love cookbooks too. Where abouts would a girl go to purchase a copy?
Sep 19, 2012 @ 02:59:28
Hi Mrs Yub. Thanks for visiting. I’ll check with Monica.
Sep 18, 2012 @ 20:02:33
Sounds like you had a great morning and a brilliant idea for a group. My favourite recipe from when I was a child was Chocolate Crackles – made with cornflakes, cocoa powder, dried milk and golden syrup.
Sep 19, 2012 @ 03:03:00
I remember chocolate crackles. Lots of lovely sugar and carbs, I think I even made them myself once I could hold a big spoon – way back in the dark ages.
Sep 19, 2012 @ 09:24:29
That sounds like a wonderful way to spend a morning. I’d love to do something like that.
Sep 19, 2012 @ 10:05:42
Thanks for visiting Heidi. It was a great way to get to know more about other cultures. One thing I noticed about the whole morning is that all the foods our mother’s (or fathers in some cases) used to cook was ‘from scratch’. No preservatives. Just fresh food.
Sep 19, 2012 @ 15:35:04
I wish we had events like that around here Jean! I might just have to start something myself soon…it was my mums birthday yesterday and she passed away earlier on this year. We planted a claret ash (her favourite tree) for her. It would be lovely to share some of her favourite recipes around. :). Cheers for a lovely post
Sep 19, 2012 @ 19:30:41
Thank you for visiting Fran. It’s a lovely idea that you plant a tree for your mother. It was good to share our mother’s recipes around.
Sep 20, 2012 @ 01:44:13
I wish we could have a morning like that. Could you imagine if we didn’t all live so far away from each other, we would have a wonderful time swapping loads of recipes and we would all chat for hours!
Sep 20, 2012 @ 06:12:25
It was a great morning, getting out the old recipes, and remembering the sort of food we were eating years ago. Lots of carbs! We couldn’t be further away could we – I know Leicester as I’m from the West Midlands. I may have mentioned it before. If I was over there I’d love to visit your allotment, in the meantime I’ll follow all your news (and recipes) on the blog.
Sep 24, 2012 @ 09:53:49
I’ll bet that kitchen smells wonderful! Great photos.
Sep 24, 2012 @ 16:20:06
Thank you Gracie. When you ‘cook from scratch’ I don’t think you can avoid wonderful aromas in the kitchen! One of the joys of cooking.