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07:42:00 o'clock BST
Things treasured
Most nights when I go to bed, I bring a book or two with me to read.....usually something spiritual, which I will read first, then a cookbook or two, which I will skim through for a few minutes, and then the latest novel I happen to be reading at the time, which I will read until I am about to fall asleep. My husband looks at the pile of books by the side of my bed and just shakes his head as it grows. Every couple of days he gives me a gentle nudge and I sigh...and put them all away....I think I must have over 200 cookbooks now and no, they are not all at the side of my bed, but they have all been by the side of my bed, at one time or another. They line the walls in our library and Todd is always amazed that I can find any recipe I am looking for without having to spend hours searching. In fact, I can call him from work and tell him exactly where to find one that I am looking for, and need him to bring up to me. I love all my cookbooks...they are precious friends to me. I could never ever get rid of one...even if I don't use it very often. The reason I have any of them at all is, because at one time or another, I fell in love with each one of them. There is one in particular that I really treasure. When I was growing up my mother didn't have many cookbooks. She still doesn't. Most of her recipes are in her head or scribbled onto various scraps of paper. There was an old red covered Lawrencetown Co-op cookbook that is now falling apart, a small paperback book on cooking meat and then this one that I treasure. It's called the "Money Saving Cookbook" by Ida Bailey Allen and was only one of a series of books "The Essential Home Library". This was a series of books for the home, covering topics such as cleaning, sewing etc., each volume a different colour. I used to love to read through all of them, but the cookbook was my favorite. I spent many an hour as a young girl, poring through it's pages, now yellowing and loose in places. Published in 1948 it is a glimpse into a bygone era...an era when most women were homemakers and spent their days keeping a home for their husbands and families...an era without many of the timesaving equipment and appliances we have today...an era when food was uncomplicated, simple, good and hearty. There was not alot of convenience foods around, and foreign food was considered exotic. The Country was just coming out of the second of two World Wars, and while there was still rationing over here in England, it was a time of great prosperity in North America. As a girl, I adored this book, but then there weren't alot of cookbooks in the home to glance through...some of the first recipes I cooked were from this book. Then, as a young wife and mother, every time I came home I came armed with a notebook where I would labouriously copy down the recipes from this book by hand. Finally, after watching me do this for many years, my mother decided to gift me with it and it truly is priceless to me. There's not alot of recipes contained in it's pages that are relevant anymore. Our tastes are far more sophisticated and the times for cooking vegetables in it are way off...I seriously doubt that asparagus or broccoli boiled for 20 minutes would please anyone's modern palate! But there are still a few gems inside those pages that I go to from time to time. Mostly I just read it because it reminds me of my childhood and the innocent beginnings of my cookery obsession....a treasured reminder of my first amateur attempts at cooking for my family. Here's one recipe from between it's pages that is still good to this day.
*Baked Breaded Pork Chops*
Serves 4
These delicious tender pork chops have always been a favourite with my family. The apple juice is my own variation. If you wanted to, you could use other fruit juices in it’s place or even some apple cider. Tender and moist, with a lovely crisp crumb on the outside, these are real pleasers
4 large pork chops, any cut
Salt and pepper
Powdered sage
Fine dry bread crumbs
Apple or tomato juice
Dust the chops with salt, pepper and sage on one side. Then cover with the crumbs. Place in an oiled pan, crumb side up, and bake in a hot oven 220*C/450*F until beginning to brown; add a little hot water, apple juice or tomato juice. Then turn the chops over, dusting the second side with the salt, pepper and sage, and more crumbs. Lower the oven temperature to 180*C/350*F and continue to bake until the chops are well browned and tender, about 35 minutes. If desired, small halved peeled sweet potatoes may be baked in the same pan.
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03/10/06 09:39
Susie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/sus