Give us your favourites

[Kath]

We all have them, the ones your mam/mom used to make, the ones you find on the net that are delish... just share, I will.

 

[Gregorius]

Gingerbread cakes remind me of my boyhood days, when a friend of my mother, her husband and her children would come to our house for dinner on the Sunday night before Christmas. Every year she would bring a gingerbread cake that she had baked. They were such beautiful cakes that it was almost a sin to cut them up and eat them.

 

[Kath]

Well I didn't really mean what other people baked, but I did say that didn't I.  I meant what did YOUR granny make when you were a child that you loved and remember her for.

My gran used to make coconut cake.  It was a tray bake, every time I visited her, which was more than once a week, there would be a square of coconut cake for me, I loved it.  I must try to reproduce that for my grandkids if they visit more often.

 

[Gregorius]

You are right Kath, my mother's friend was not a family member, but I considered her an aunt because my mother was an only child. So I didn't have an aunt to become attached to. But that lady, she always treated me like I was her adopted nephew. With her car, she drove me and her children to elementary school every day. One of her sons was my desk mate and my best friend from childhood, Every afternoon we would be together at my house doing homework and playing games.For as long as I can remember, this foster aunt would bake a gingerbread cake specifically for dinner on the Sunday before Christmas Day. Dinner that always took place at my parents' house. On that occasion we would exchange gifts to put under the Christmas tree.
I remember with joy those magnificent cakes. They were much more beautiful than the one that appears in these photos.

I don't remember any delicious lunch prepared by my grandmothers, who, in my opinion, didn't like to cook and spend their time in the kitchen in front of the stove. When I went to their house, during Sunday lunch, were served food prepared by the restaurant near the house, or were purchased in the grocery store.

 

[Kath]

Oh my, great photos of things baked by others.  But I love the memory of things from your childhood.

I have to sort out bakes for my great grandchild, she is experiencing a milk allergy.  I saw it in action last night, she had a couple of biscuits and a couple of chocolates and she broke out in red itchy spots and dry flaky skin that I could actually feel.

So I need to go back to basics and make her my Grandmas coconut cake.

This Is covering it on the baking front...

 

[Kath]

Your grandmas ginger cake will live in your memory for ever... just like my grandmas coconut cake... These are memories we will never forget.

Problem is, we now see our grandkids so infrequently, that baking for them is not feasible, it will go stale between visits.

 

[koolrebel]

South Australian Pie Floater

Pie floaters are an iconic South Australian street food snack. This pie floater recipe features a crispy, flaky beef pie floating in a delicious homemade mushy pea soup. Serve with your favourite sauce for a filling meal – lunch or dinner!

Mushy peas for a pie floater


Ingredients

• 1kg blue boiler peas (not green split peas)
  
• 5 litres of chicken stock or water
  
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
  

Method

• Pick over peas to remove any discoloured ones or foreign material. Rinse peas by putting into a large glass or plastic container, covering with water and swishing around with your hand.
  
• Drain the water off, then cover peas with cold water again.
  
• Add 1 teaspoon of bi-carb and mix well, making sure the peas are well covered to the top of the container.
  
• Put container in a cool place and leave overnight, so the peas can absorb as much of the water as they can.
  
• Next day, the peas will have doubled in size.
  
• Rinse peas well again and place in thick-bottomed stock pot with chicken stock and 1 teaspoon of bi-carb. Add absolutely no salt or the peas will never soften.
  
• Bring peas to the boil, watching carefully as it froths up, stirring regularly.
  
• Reduce heat to a simmer peas and keep cooking, stirring occasionally.
  
• Around 20 - 30minutes into cooking the skins will separate from the peas. Keep stirring the mixture so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
  
• Cooking time depends on the seasonal quality of the peas, but around 1 to 1.5hrs, depending on how mushy you want your peas.
  

Best meat pie ever

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
  
• 2 teaspoons paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
  
• freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1.5 kg chuck or blade steak, cut into 2 cm chunks
  
• 425g can chopped tomatoes
  
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced
  
• 2 red onions, cut in half and finely sliced
  
• 1 stick celery, finely chopped
  
• 250ml (1 cup) red wine
  
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
  
• 300g button mushrooms
  
• 30g flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, roughly chopped
  
• 375g packet puff pastry
  
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
  

Method

• Cooking method: Baking
  
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 F/Gas 4).
  
• Place the flour and paprika in a bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Add the beef and toss until it is covered in flour. Place in an ovenproof casserole dish.
  
• Add the tomato, garlic, onion, celery, red wine and thyme and stir. Cover and cook for one and a half hours, stirring occasionally.
  
• Add the mushrooms, cover and return to to the oven.
  
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for one hour, or until the sauce is thickened slightly and the beef and mushrooms are tender.
  
• Remove from the oven and stir through the parsley. The filling can be made up to a day in advance to this stage.
  
• Increase the oven temperature to 200 degrees C (400 F/Gas 6).
  

 

[Kath]

kool rebel, how did I not see this post ages ago. 

It looks very much like something from a Pie & Mash shop in London.  Not that I'm familiar with that as I live hundreds of miles from there.  But I do love a good pie and am working on that at the moment... In my freezer are 3 apple and 3 cheese and onion pies.  In a week or two, I intend to add some mince and onion pies to the list.  I do allow a concession of Birds Eye chicken pies, they are made by a well known company, I confess a liking for them, so they are in my freezer too.

 

[Kath]

Well I didn't really mean what other people baked, but I did say that didn't I.  I meant what did YOUR granny make when you were a child that you loved and remember her for.

My gran used to make coconut cake.  It was a tray bake, every time I visited her, which was more than once a week, there would be a square of coconut cake for me, I loved it.  I must try to reproduce that for my grandkids if they visit more often.

I'm talking about my Gran here, because it's important and I have a story to tell you about her.  At one point she had a cake shop, then one day a regular customer came in and asked Gran for a favour to borrow a cake she had made.  Very odd I know, but Gran was curious how you could borrow a cake.

Some hours later the customer brought the cake back.  How does that work Gran said... The customer replied... They can't have a piece if I don't cut it

I promise you that it's true..