Nana's House

Our Nana, Rosina Victoria Slender (née Hopwood), much to her chagrin, was delivered of nine babies, all of whom thrived and grew into healthy children and young adults. My mother, Joyce, was her youngest.

Even though I lived with her until I was aged nearly 8, I have no recollection of her being a good cook, unlike several of her daughters. I am assured though that she was in her younger days, probably before cooking for a large family became a chore. According to Uncle Albert she won prizes at the Coolamon Show for her cream puffs and scones. She was famed for her treacle tart and her sultana-studded rocks cakes. I have never been certain if the rock cake reputation was because they were really good or really terrible. My memory of her baking them is vague at best. As to their palatability, I recall them as dry and unappetizing, but that is through the taste-memory of a child. On the other hand, Aunty Olive remembers them quite differently and looks forward to them right to the present day when Cousin Marilyn’s husband, Barry, bakes them. Whatever the truth about Nana’s rock cakes she could provide substantial meals at short notice for any number of family, friends and freeloaders who regularly happened to be seated around the dinner table, or as she would have described it, the tea table (in those days our evening meal was ‘tea’).

Olive and Dawn said that she could make food go a long way, for instance her  mashed potato patties filled with savoury mince. While browsing recipe books at Cousin Dawn's house, I have lately discovered a recipe in the Country Women's Association (CWA) Cookery Book that approximates Nana's potato patties. They are curiously named "Puffaloonies" according to the CWA. A recipe for them, along with a photograph of an experimental batch I prepared, appears below.  Nana might have used some lard or butter to  fry them. Feel free to do so if you are seeking an authentic culinary experience. I'm not sure if Nana would have used Gravox either but according to the CWA it is an 'optional' ingredient. In my mind’s eye I can see her shallow frying them on the old Kooka stove in the Blaxcell Street, Granville, kitchen. The oven door featured a blue kookaburra on its cream enamel surface. Nana had a slow combustion stove as well which she must have cooked on at some time. If I think really hard I can just remember a cold winter's night and a boiling kettle on the old stove. In time it was bricked over; a surprise in store for an enthusiastic renovator of the future.

Conveniently located immediately opposite Nana’s house was the little ‘Beehive Store’ owned by the Goodwins. Mr Keneally, known to Nana as Tom, worked there. His son Tom went on to become a well known writer. His grand daughter-in-law is now the Premier of NSW. Although small it was crammed with stock: large wheels of cheese, vats of milk ladled by the gill (about 120mls), tins of biscuits with any desired quantity sold in brown paper bags, ice cream in small waxed cardboard buckets accompanied by little wooden paddles, Kooka bars (think of Tim-Tams) and my absolute favourite, Pineapple Paddle Pops. Just like Pavlov’s dog, every day when the bell at East Granville Infants School rang, I would head straight to the Beehive Store for a Pineapple Paddle Pop. It’s a shame they don’t make them any more.

Fundamentally most children consider cooked vegetables, especially ‘greens’, as toxic. In this regard I was no different to most other children. Incompletely drained and incompletely mashed potatoes served with overcooked peas, swimming in their own tiny puddle of water, made a frequent appearance on our dinner (tea) table. But in 1956 help came; we bought our  first TV, a Pye 17”. Yes I was the first of the television generation. Eating my evening meal alone while watching  M.I.C.K.E.Y. M.O.U.S.E and dreaming of owning a set of genuine mouskateer ears, I, absent mindedly at first, discovered the crack between the lounge cushions and the space behind them; perfect for disposing of unwanted peas and lumpy potatoes. Fifty years and more has passed so I think that I can safely assume that I got away with it.

Joyce

Joyce McClure (née Slender), who preferred to be known as ‘Joy’, was the youngest of the nine children born to our grandparents. She was definitely a ‘mistake’ and remained very sensitive about this until the end of her life.

When it came to food she could be described as a reluctant cook but an enthusiastic eater. She loved chocolate, oysters, deep fried potato scallops, fish fingers, 4oz tubs of thick, rich Cahill’s caramel sauce eaten straight from the carton or over ice cream, deep fried Devon and just about anything prepared by her eldest sister Ivy. She hated tea and, with a passionate dislike that could be considered phobic, any type of fowl or chicken flavour. (Curiously one of our cousins shares Joyce’s fowl phobia). This meant that when Billie, her husband and my dad, won a chook at the local pub our neighbours were overjoyed to receive this majestic fowl, something that in the early 1960s, before intensive chicken farming was introduced, was considered a luxury. In return our neighbours, Eileen and Jack McCudden, invited me for a roast chicken Sunday lunch; my first. Despite being served with green peas, another dubious vegetable of childhood, it was memorable; golden and succulent.

Joyce often said that she would have liked to have been a dietitian. She possessed a surprisingly good nutritional knowledge; not that she let this influence her culinary behaviour or eating habits to any great extent. There was an orange tree in the back yard but I don’t remember that we ate the fruit. Perhaps it was bitter. To ensure that I had adequate Vitamin C Joyce use to buy orange flavoured tablets which I gobbled with delight. Our first battle over food began the night after Pa Slender died when I was forced to eat over-cooked, mushy green beans which I promptly regurgitated and have subsequently regarded with suspicion to this very day. (To be edible they must be simmered for no more than 1 minute and then dressed generously with salt and lemon infused olive oil). Cottage / shepherd’s pie, or braised steak accompanied by lumpy mashed potato, appearing on the dinner table inevitably led to tears (mine) and a row with Joyce, Billie or both. However there were many things that Joyce cooked or baked that were delicious like the little red cans of Heinz Vegetables and Bacon i.e. baby food, delicate lemon flavoured melting moments, crisp potato pancakes, Devon and mashed potato rolls or rice-a-riso for birthday parties! In later years I looked forward to her All-Bran and apricot loaf. She made it for me when ever I visited Sydney and sometimes even posted it to me. To this day I make it regularly and love it topped with Parmigiana Reggiana or simply butter if I am feeling particularly indulgent.

Billie cooked well but infrequently. He was heavy handed with butter and cheese when he made baked beans and consequently they were delicious. Skilled at wrapping them around the end of a wooden spoon, he made sweet crisp brandy snaps. He was a dab hand at turning out perfect chocolate curls to decorate the Black Forest cakes that I made. His Christmas cakes were always good and sometimes the Christmas puddings were as well. Each Christmas Day he re-boiled the pudding that he had made some weeks earlier, suspended from a piece of sturdy dowel, in the old laundry copper. As he removed the calico wrap from one particularly beautiful pudding it stood gloriously proud for a moment or two before disintegrating into a heap of fruit and cake. The copper must have gone off the boil. Billie was furious. It was still really nice with ice cream and custard though.

When he was about 30 Billie worked away from home quite often. After one of these projects, the ultimately controversial North West Cape in Western Australia, he came home with a recipe for jacket baked potatoes. Eating potato skins was not so much regarded with suspicion as unheard of in those days. The 3 of us congratulated ourselves on our culinary adventure when Billie made his first batch. With a few adaptations these became a firm favourite of ours particular when the hot baked potato flesh was scooped out, blended with a sharp cheese, packed back into the potato shells and returned to the oven to bubble and brown. Joyce made then every Christmas; so do I. Billie also experimented with olives, salami and mortadella before many of his Australian contemporaries. He might not have been so keen if he knew that mortadella roughly translates into English as ‘dead donkey’. As willing as he was to try new and different food, Joyce never did get around to telling him that the cheesecake that he relished contained real cheese!

Other influences changed the way we ate at home, for instance Chinese food. In the days before cling wrap and disposable food containers we trekked to the local Chinese restaurant on many a Saturday night with our saucepans and returned home with them brimming with curried prawns and rice, sweet and sour pork and sometimes a prawn omelette. Joyce and Billie would put away a few glasses of beer which led inevitably to a night of singing around the piano or singing along to old 78 RPM recordings of Mario Lanza or the Great Caruso.

Olive

Olive was Rose and Fred’s second youngest. She was the last child born in the country and was a very little girl when the family moved to Granville. She has answered many of my questions about the family’s food history in particular about Nana, and about a salad dressing, ‘mayonnaise’, made from condensed milk. At Cousin Richard’s 18th birthday party and many other gatherings it was served with sliced tomatoes, ice berg lettuce and accompanied by sliced cucumbers dressed with brown malt vinegar. Condensed milk mayonnaise remains a favourite to this day with Olive’s family.

Cake decorating was a popular past time in the 50s and 60s. Being quite talented at this craft she made and decorated my parents’ wedding cake. She also made Dolly Varden cakes; at the time every little girls dream. A plain vanilla cake was cooked in a pudding bowl. Inverted, it became an enormous skirt, like the hooped skirts worn Southern belles; imagine Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind”. The top half of a doll was anchored at the waist to the cake before it was exquisitely decorated and embellished with icing so that the finished product was layered and lacy. A matching hat topped it off. My Dolly Varden was dressed in shades of sky blue. A Barbie doll could be used these days. To avoid a ‘surgical procedure’ carve a hole for Barbie’s legs into the inverted baked cake. This would also work well as an ice cream cake.

When cake tins with a recessed base became available Olive made frog-pond cakes for our birthdays. The recess in the cake was filled with diced green jelly, chocolate frogs embedded here and there and the edge piped with cream.

Olive was also responsible for introducing other food trends to the family; coleslaw, thousand island dressing, cheesecake and in later years mud cake.

Ivy

Ivy, first born to Rosina and Fred Slender, was the undisputed culinary star of the family. It has been said that she ‘cooked with love’. Nothing could be truer.

I recall summer evenings sitting in the back garden of her Earlwood house, Cocky swearing enthusiastically, “You bugger! You bugger! Dawn! You bugger!” as the family gathered for some celebration or other. Pavlova was presented as the triumphant finale to these family feasts. Outside it was crisp and delicate but full of succulent marshmallow inside and always topped with cream, strawberries and passionfruit. At the end of the evening after at least two helpings of Pavlova if not more, Joyce, Billie and I would waddle off to our little blue Morris Minor to head home, replete. Nothing will ever compare to Aunty Ivy’s Pavlova. (The first Pavlova recipe written below is NOT Ivy's. Cousin Dawn recently showed me the original. I wrote down the ingredients and being a little short of time committed the rest to memory. Consequently the 'method' is quite brief. I will get the full details when I am next in Sydney!)

It was Aunty Ivy who introduced the family to crème caramel in the ‘70s. She made it with a hint of orange. It was silken, cool…delicious. That was a long time ago and I only tried it once or twice but it will never be forgotten.

She also made Blitz torte by sandwiching two cakes with custard. Each cake had a layer of meringue as well as the cake layer. The meringue layers formed the top and bottom of the finished cake. The top meringue layer was sprinkled with slivered almonds and a hint of cinnamon before baking.

Dawn

Cousin Dawn, daughter of Ivy, took over where her mother left off. Being a fabulous cook she prepares family feasts for special occasions. The ‘duck’ made from the recipe that follows makes a regular appearance. The duck needs to be boned. Get the butcher to do it if you are not up to it. It is lined with a layer of just wilted silver beet, topped with a minced mixture of spiced chicken and ham, studded with pistachios, and decorated with a golden line of soaked dried apricots before being rolled, tied and baked. The sliced result is colourful and spectacular when served cold on a platter. Best of all it can be conveniently prepared, cooked and refrigerated a day before it is needed. Dawn is one of the few people I know who has made an ‘orgy of fowl’ where progressively larger birds are stuffed with small ones; a fowl equivalent of Russian Dolls.

It was Dawn who introduced me to the pleasure of smoked eel. Don’t be put off by the thought of it! Smoked eel is surprisingly delicious. If you can get guests to overcome their abhorrence of eels, this pâté will win lots of converts. My mother-in-law, a great lover of these slithery fish, taught me to look for eels that are not too fat. They are too oily and don’t have a nice flavour.

Whenever I visit Dawn I know that she, just like her mother before her, will have some Chocolate Caramel Slice on hand. She knows that I, just like my mother before me, cannot resist it.

Laurie

Fondly known by all of us as Laurie, Lorraine was another of Rose and Fred’s six daughters. She was gentle, kind and welcoming so it was always a treat to go to Cousin Wayne’s birthday parties. Her signature recipe was the patty cake, better known today as the cup cake. In the 1950s and1960s when other mothers were decorating their patty cakes with pale icing Aunty Laurie’s were always coloured bright pink or bright blue, gaily decorated and made with a lot of love. She was before her time.

There was a time when Christmas puddings always contained hidden treasures; mostly old money coins. I think that I am right in saying that the only reason most children ate Christmas pudding was to get at the money, and maybe for the warm brandy custard. Whether Laurie was being kind or careful I was never sure but she didn’t put coins in her pudding. This I know because I caught her quietly slipping a shilling under each child’s pudding as she served it. The result was a bunch of happy kids and no fatalities at the Christmas table.

Our Cousin Vonnie

Our Cousin Vonnie (Yvonne) is a 3rd generation foodie. Her grandparents (i.e. her father Norman’s parents), were 1st generation foodies who owned and operated a ‘ham & beef’ store; a forerunner to the delicatessen of today. Ned, one of Yvonne’s two sons, and indeed some of her 5 grand daughters are also showing definite foodie tendencies.


If my childhood memory is right, Norm was adventurous when it came to food. He introduced my parents to the many taste sensations of Chinese food which from tentative beginnings ultimately expressed itself as “It’s Saturday night let’s get Chinese” and many happy nights around the family piano. No doubt Norm’s friend Harry was influential in this. The first and possibly the only time I met Harry, the first Chinese person that I ever saw, was when I was about 18 months old. I screamed and was inconsolable to the great embarrassment of my parents and possibly everyone else who was at the Louis Street house that day. My dad, Billie, picked me up in his arms to try to stop my tears. I bet he wished he was anywhere else but there with his baby daughter on that day. Harry was of slim build, dressed, possibly cloaked, in black, with long glossy black hair, a Mandarin moustache, and long ebony cigarette holder and a top hat. In fact I am told that he was nothing like this and my mother until her dying day assured me that he did not wear a top hat.

We often visited the Louis Street house but I can’t remember eating there. I remember standing beside, and looking up at Aunty Bobbie as she worked in the kitchen, Cousin Joan playing the piano (Cheff method) in the back room, Cousin Yvonne coming home from school in her blue Parramatta High tunic, Cousin Brian about to go out on a date, Cuddles the pampered Pomeranian, even trips to the beach and a holiday house somewhere well north of Sydney where Joan tried to teach me to swim but nearly drowned me, hot Sundays in summer water skiing on the Hawkesbury River, but no food memory. There are two possible reasons for this: 1) we didn’t have dessert and 2) we didn’t have to eat anything terrifying to eat e.g. overcooked vegetables such as watery green beans.

The years have rolled on by and I have had the good fortune to meet up with Yvonne again and we have shared many culinary moments since that time. She has a real feeling for food and cooks at any opportunity. Whereas I am easily tempted to have baked beans on toast if I am alone after work, Yvonne will prepare a lovely soup from scratch. Entertaining after work comes easily to her and there have been many nights when I have cooked with her and been lucky enough to be a part of her circle of friends. Probably the most memorable occasions though have been when the two of us have opened a bottle of wine, cooked and then enjoyed the sharing of an autumn evening meal together.

As to wine we’ve savoured several. Yvonne did a Pinot Noir course not so long ago. This was not entirely about training the palate to the various nuances of the vintage. It started with growing the grapes, pruning and harvesting them before making the wine and bottling it. I had the pleasure of sharing her first bottle. It was not surprisingly superb.

Yvonne taught me how to prepare artichokes; a skill that I had wanted to acquire for years, as I adore the little thistles. We prepared and then ate possibly 2 dozen of them; peeled and put into acidulated water, cooked gently, cleaned and then sautéed off with peas and a hint of cream. Since then I haven’t tried to prepare artichokes because nice ones are hard to acquire in Brisbane and/ or are too expensive at $2/ artichoke.

Yvonne sometimes serves olive oil Tortas; Ines Rosales being the brand. These flatbreads are about the size of saucers and the shape of elephant ears; slightly sweet and slightly oily and carefully individually wrapped in waxed paper. They are delicious to nibble on with an antipasto plate and a glass of wine.

The setting can be a table out by the pool where we sit in the warm twilight finely chopping garlic, parsley and preparing a salad to go with the best beef imaginable cooking on the BBQ. If it is cold we cook indoors, chat, reminisce, exchange stories and listen to music as we cook. In particular I love the tenor Vittorio Grigolo. You can listen to him by following this link to his website… http://www.vittoriomusic.com/

You might also like to visit Yvonne’s other website to find out more about her skin care range ...
Griffin & Row

Uncle Albert and Aunty Dot and Some Family Food History

Dot

Her name before marrying Ross Slender, the 6th of our grandparent’s children, was Dot Thurbon. I don’t remember too much about her cooking from my childhood but I certainly do in more recent times. Can she cook! In the years soon after Billie, my father, died, Joycie and I often had the good fortune to share a roast dinner or Christmas lunch at Dot and Ross’ table. Now Dawn, and Auntie Ivy before her, certainly demonstrated superior skills in the making and baking of chocolate caramel slice. But, I have to say that Aunty Dot’s is their equal in this particular skill. However I remember mostly her crystal clear jams and of course her rose garden.

Albert

The Belgiums were our allies during World War I. Consequently Uncle Albert was named Albert Belgium Slender after King Albert of Belgium. Albert, the uncle, not the king, was the first boy born to our grandparents. He wrote the story of his life, “The Long Journey”, and included in it some of his food memories. The following extracts are taken from “The Long Journey.”

“Grandma (Hopwood) and Millie would prepare the meals for the men (i.e. chaff-cutter crew). There was a long table in the large dining room with long stools on each side of the table where the men would sit to eat their meals…Our Hopwood grandparents had their own fruit trees, grape vines, and always had vegetables growing. Grandma always had a cupboard full of jams and preserves. To get jars for the jams and preserves they used to tie a kerosene-soaked piece of string around the top of the bottle and then light the string. When it was alight they would plunge it into a container of cold water. The top of the bottle would fall off where the string had been tied. To deal the jam they would pass hot beeswax over the top of the jar and then paste brown paper over the top”


“A cooler safe was used to keep milk, butter and meat fresh. It was made with hessian which covered a two foot square framework. There was a galvanized tray on the top, filled with water that had pieces of flannel hanging over the side of the hessian. The water would drip onto the hessian and the breeze blowing through would keep the inside cool.”


“Johnny White’s Store…had a large heap of sawdust in the yard…where he kept blocks of ice in the summer. The sawdust kept the ice from melting…He also had an ice chest in his shop. Sometimes when I was coming home from school past his shop he would give me a drink of iced water. This was something that I looked forward to – just plain old ice water - a real luxury in the summertime”

You can access the full version of "The Long Journey" by clicking here

Some Family Food History

Grandma Hopwood referred to above was born Victoria Rosina Pettigrove. One of her nieces, May Yardley (née Pettigrove) who was a contemporary of, and cousin to, Nana Slender, wrote about her memories of the food she associated with her grandparents (i.e. Victoria’s mother) John and Rhoda Pettigrove…


…Grandmother was left to develop the property (after John died) and this she did very successfully with the help of her family. She was only about 5ft tall, but she was a very strong person in every way. I suppose she was the real pioneer, when you think about it. There was a lovely orange grove around the first dwelling - later another was built on the McMillans / Leitchville roads corner - and Grandfather John grew the trees and orange pips he saved. Some of the fruit was lovely and some of it a bit sour, but people thought they were wonderful! You know, in those first early years, all of their staple supplies came form Echuca. It was a three day trip. One day to get there with the horse and dray, one day to collect supplies, and another to drive home. They only went a few times a year. The flour and sugar came in 50lb bags and the tea in big tins. Sometimes, for a treat, they would bring back salted Bloater fish - they were a real luxury - and these would be minced, with Grandmother’s homemade butter added, also mustard and a touch of nutmeg, then it was steamed in a basin and potted up. It was stored in summer time on ledges carved into the thick mud brick walls. Things kept well there. I forgot to tell you about the huge walk-in fireplace in the first house. It was right across the end of the room, with an iron kettle hanging from a bar. They killed their own meat of course, and the pigs were smoked over the fire. There were quite a few aboriginals living in the area when Grandfather came, and they were very friendly and never caused any trouble. The Pyramid Creek was full of fish, and the aboriginals would sometimes bring the beautiful fresh fish to the kitchen door and exchange them for flour, sugar and tea. My father said the head of the tribe was a tall upstanding man, every inch a king. There used to be a big black fellows over on the banks of the creek. I wonder if there's anything left of it now?


Grandmother kept a few cows, and even though I was only seven at the turn of the century, I can remember the cellar dug into the ground. This is where the milk was set in big pans, and in the morning the lovely thick cream was skimmed off the top and made into butter. This was sometimes traded for other goods in the district …

This information obtained by Maree Morris who is the grand daughter of Nana Slender’s sister Jane Chitts (née Hopwood).

Family Recipes

Nana’s Rock Cakes
21/2 cups SR flour
155g (5 oz) butter
2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 small cup sultana
Salt
Milk

Mix all ingredients together with enough milk to make the mixture the consistency of scones. Drop spoonfuls on a buttered sheet, and bake in a fairly quick oven for 5-7 minutes.

Treacle Tart
Short pastry
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 level teaspoons mixed spice
1 cup treacle (or Golden Syrup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Line a small pie plate with pastry, trimming and fluting the edges. Combine breadcrumbs and spice and turn into the pastry case. Warm treacle and lemon juice and pour onto crumbs. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and cook further 10 minutes.

Puffaloonies (according to the Country Women's Association Cookery Book and just like Nana's patties)
1kg potatoes, mashed
1 onion, finely chopped
leftover cold meat (chopped or minced)
salt and pepper
thyme or mixed herbs
self-raising flour
gravox (optional)
milk
oil for frying

Mash the cooked potatoes. Prepare the filling by cooking the onion. When tender, add the meat and seasoning and thicken with a little flour and add some Gravox if you wish.
Mix the mashed potato with milk until it resembles the consistency of thick porridge. Add enough flour to form a fairly stiff dough which is rolled out and cut into circles of a manageable size. On each circle place  a tablespoon of the mince mixture in its centre and then seal, like a little cornish pastie. Flatten  a little before  frying in bactches.

Caramel Sauce (claimed to be similar to that served at Cahill's restaurants)
60g of butter
4 tablespoons of condensed milk
8 tablespoons boiling water
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 dessertspoons golden syrup

Melt butter, sugar, condensed milk and golden syrup over medium heat.
Stir with wooden spoon until mixture is a rich, deep caramel colour (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and add boiling water, a little at a time, mixing well.
Return to heat and boil for a few minutes. The mixture will thicken as it cools.

Cottage Pie
http://www.taste.com.au/
1kg Desiree potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup hot milk
6 cups cooked Basic mince (see below)
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 cup beef consommé or beef stock (see note)
2 tablespoons lemon thyme leaves
1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
Method
Peel potatoes. Place into a saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return to saucepan. Add butter and milk. Mash until smooth.
Place mince into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until warm. Mix cornflour and 2 tablespoons of beef consommé in a jug to form a paste. Add remaining consommé. Add to mince with thyme. Cook, stirring, until sauce comes to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce thickens.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 6cm deep, 24cm x 30cm (base) lasagne dish. Spoon sauce into dish. Top with mashed potato. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and potato is golden brown. Serve.
Basic mince
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
1 green capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
1kg lean beef mince
400g can chopped Italian tomatoes
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and red and green capsicum. Cook for 3 minutes or until soft.
Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Add tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until thick.
Use immediately or allow to cool completely then freeze for up to 3 months in a container just large enough to hold mince.

Joyce’s Potato Pancakes
Great with sour cream, or even apple sauce.

500 g potatoes
1 egg
1 tablespoon of flour (you can use more and it is easier to handle but not as delicate)
½ teaspoon of salt
oil for frying
Method
Peel and grate the potatoes. Squeeze out excess moisture. Add the egg, flour and salt. Pour enough oil in the pan to cover the base. Drop tablespoons of the mixture into the hot oil and fry gently until golden brown. This takes about 6 minutes. Turn once. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with sour cream.

Makes about 25 pancakes.

Joyce’s Apricot Loaf
This is delicious - on its own, with butter or with finely sliced Parmesan cheese. I generally make 4 at a time and keep 3 in the freezer. It stores really well and is terrific sailing / picnic food.

125 g dried apricots, chopped
1 cup All-bran
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
(Optional) walnuts 125 g

Mix together apricots, bran, milk, honey and brown sugar and then leave overnight in the refrigerator. Expect it to look just awful at this stage. Next day add sifted flour and walnuts to the mixture. Line a not-too-large loaf tin with baking paper and cook in a moderate oven for 1 hour or until cooked when tested. Refrigerate overnight before using.
(Quite Very nice with cheese)

Joyce’s Melting Moments
Makes about 30 completed biscuits.

250g butter
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 ½ cups plain flour
½ cup cornflour

Lemon Cream
60g butter
½ cup pure icing sugar
1 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
3 teaspoons lemon juice

Biscuits
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Added sifted flours and mix well. Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fluted tube. Pipe rosettes on to a lightly greased oven tray or one lined with baking paper. Bake in a moderate oven for 12 minutes until pale golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Join biscuit pairs with lemon cream.

Lemon Cream
Beat butter until smooth. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar. Beat until light and creamy. Beat in lemon juice and rind.

(You might need to chill the lemon cream and the biscuits a little before assembling if making at the height of summer)

Olive's Mayonnaise (Salad Dressing)
Condensed milk
Hot English Mustard to taste
Brown Vinegar
Salt and pepper

Mix ingredients to taste and leave in the refrigerator to thicken. If too thick use a little milk to get the correct consistency.

Pavlova 6 egg whites
2 cups castor sugar
1 ½ tsp vinegar
1 ½ tsp vanilla essence

Fruit topping
Mixed fruit of choice, passion fruit, bananas, strawberries etc.
300ml whipping cream

In a bowl (not plastic) beat the egg whites until they stand up in stiff peaks. Add the sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed if using an electric mixer. When all the sugar has been thoroughly incorporated and a stiff glossy meringue has formed, fold in the vinegar and vanilla essence. Grease some aluminum foil and cover a baking tray. Spoon the meringue mixture on to the foil. Mould up the sides with a spatula and make a slight depression on top. Or you can spoon the mixture into a 20cm (8 inch) greased spring-form tin and lightly smooth the top, or even a flan dish. If using a gas range turn the heat to the lowest temperature just before putting the Pavlova in to cook for 1 ½ hours. If using an electric oven, cook the Pavlova at a low temperature (150oC) for 45 minutes and then turn off the heat and leave for 1 hour. When cooked, remove from the oven and cool completely. Leftovers: Keeps in a cool dry place for several days. Handy Hint: If using a gas range set the oven at hot (230oC). Immediately you start to beat the egg whites, turn it down.
Serve with... whipped cream and fresh fruit piled on top.

Ivy's Original Pavlova Ingredients4 egg whites
8oz sugar (1oz = approx 28 grams)
1 level tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 dessertspoon vinegar

Beat egg whites stiffly. Gradually add sugar and when well incorporated add other ingredients. Last of all. fold in cornflour.

Créme Caramels Grand Marnier
Serves 6
Caramel
½ cup sugar
½ cup water

Custard
1 ¾ cups of milk
½ cup cream
¼ cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier
4 eggs

Caramel sauce
Combine sugar and water in a pan, stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, then increase heat and boil rapidly until the mixture turns deep golden brown. Do not stir at this time or mixture will crystallize. Pour caramel into 4 individual heat proof dishes such as a small soufflé dishes, rotate so that the caramel coats the sides and base. Protect your hands with a tea towel as this is very hot!

Custard
Beat eggs, vanilla and sugar together lightly. Combine milk and cream in saucepan; bring to scalding point, cool slightly. Add Grand Marnier; pour gradually over the egg mixture, stirring all the time. Strain into a large jug. Pour custard carefully over caramel in dishes. Put in baking dish with hot water coming half way up the sides. Bake in a moderately slow over (120o-180oC) 25-30 minutes until set. Remove from water, cool and then refrigerate. Turn out carefully onto serving plates. Decorate with whipped cream and Toffee Oranges.

Toffee Oranges
1 orange
½ cup water
1 cup sugar
Peel orange and break into segments, being careful not to break membranes; dry with absorbent paper, allow to stand at least one hour to dry out. Put sugar and water in saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved, bring to the boil, boil uncovered until the toffee is light brown. Remove from heat immediately and allow bubbles to subside. Using a fork dip orange segments into the toffee, remove, allow excess toffee to drip off the orange. Put onto a greased tray or greased greaseproof paper. For a thicker coating of toffee, when cool, dip segments in toffee again. Best prepared about an hour before serving.

Aunty Ivy’s Blitz Torte
This is Aunty Ivy’s recipe for Blitz Torte taken directly from her prized recipe book. (A tart fruit could also be added between the layers and stiffly whipped cream could be substituted for the custard layer…my comments, not Aunty Ivy’s)

4oz (120g) butter
½ cup castor sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks – beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 tablespoons of milk
4 egg whites
¾ cup of sugar
½ cup of slivered almonds
1 level tablespoon of castor sugar
½ teaspoon of cinnamon

Cream the butter and sugar and sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the vanilla, egg yolks, milk and dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Spread this into 2 greased 9” square sandwich tins.
Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add the sugar gradually and beat until the meringue holds its shape. Spread over the unbaked mixture in both tins and then sprinkle with almonds and cinnamon.
Bake in a moderately (160o-180o C) cool oven for 30 minutes. Cool and join the 2 layers with a layer of custard.
(Note that the meringue layers will be on the top and bottom of the cake).

Custard Filling
2 level tablespoons custard powder
1/3 cup castor sugar
Pinch f salt
1 cup of milk
1 egg beaten
1 level teaspoon of butter

Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Stir in milk and egg. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and allo0w to cool before using. For extra richness beat in ¼ cup unwhipped cream as the custard cools.

Dawn’s Stuffed Duck
1.8kg fresh duck
6 spinach leaves
60g dried apricots
30g butter
1 garlic clove
500g ham
2 chicken fillets
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1 egg
30g (shelled) pistachios
2 tablespoons oil

Method
Get your butcher to de-bone the duck. Alternatively de-bone the duck by cutting off wing tips at the second joint. Cut through the skin down the centre back. Follow the shape of the duck and gradually ease the flesh away from the bones. Repeat with the other side of the duck. Holding the rib cage away from the duck gently cut the breast bone away from the flesh. Hold thigh up with one hand, cut around the top of the bone to remove the flesh, scrape the bone down to the next joint, cut around the flesh again, and scrape down to the end. Turn flesh from the legs and wings inside the duck. (The fresh duck can be frozen at this stage until you are ready to complete it. If freezing, make sure that you keep it flat to aid rapid thawing.)

Soak apricots in cold water for 1 hour and then drain. Melt butter in a pan and add peeled and chopped onion and crushed garlic. Cook until tender and then remove from heat. Place spinach leaves in a saucepan of boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain and cut away any thick stems. Mince the ham and chicken fillets in batches. Place meats in a bowl with the onion mixture, herbs, egg, salt and pepper and mix well. Add pistachios. Put the (thawed) duck on a flat surface. Line it with 3 of the spinach leaves. Place half the meat mixture down the centre of the duck, on the spinach leaves. . Arrange apricots, overlapping, in a single row down the centre of the meat. Cover with remaining meat mixture. Arrange remaining spinach leaves over the meat.
Fold one side of the duck over, then the other. Sew the flesh of the duck with dark cotton and tie at intervals of 2” with string. Bake uncovered and baste frequently. Allow to cool and wrap in foil. Refrigerate overnight. Serve in slices.

Smoked Eel Pâté
1kg smoked eel (always choose the slimmest eel)
60g butter
60g packaged cream cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of cream
Salt and pepper

Method
Remove the skin from the eel and scrape the flesh from the bones. Place the flesh in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the softened butter and cream cheese, then lemon juice and cream Process until smooth and add salt and pepper. Place in a serving dish. Refrigerate overnight.
(Based on a recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly)

Chocolate Caramel Slice
Base
1 cup sifted self-raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
125g melted butter

Filling
400g sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup

Topping
150g cooking chocolate
20g copha

Base
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Press into a greased 28 x 28 cm lamington pan. Bake at 180oC for 10 minutes.

Filling
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir over moderate heat until boiling. Continue stirring constantly x 5 minutes. Spread over base. Return to oven for a further 10 minutes. Remove and cool

Topping
Combine in a double saucepan. Stir over gentle heat until melted. Spread over the cooked slice and refrigerate. When set cut into squares using a warm knife.

Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced oven. Line muffin or mini-muffin pans with paper cases.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, vanilla and sugar in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition (mixture will separate at this stage). Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Stir in half the flour. Stir in half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk until combined.

 3. For 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pans use 2 level tablespoons of mixture. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Alternatively, for 1 tablespoon-capacity mini muffin pans use 1 tablespoon mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

 4. Stand cakes in pans for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.