On Sunday nights I like to cook the evening meal for the family. I find it both enjoyable and relaxing cooking, especially with a glass of wine. I do have to confess that this is not every Sunday but I do like to do this reasonably regularly. This Sunday as I was looking through the recipe books for inspiration I came across Trixie’s Treats. This was a book created by my Aunt Teresa with contributions from all of the family to celebrate the life of my Grandmother who was a fantastic cook. Grandmother passed over ten years ago and one of the sadness of my life is that neither my wife or my children ever got to meet her.
Grandmother was a huge influence on my life, and some of my earliest happy memories were of being at her house in Worthing, England. Whether watching the lawn bowls - which for some reason, at the age of five I thought was a fascinating game - or being at my Aunt Et’s beach hut, endlessly bowling cricket balls to my brother Tim while Mum sunbathed and read. I used to relish staying at Grandmother’s, and foodI have to say was one of the main reasons. As my family knows, I had a huge appetite and for me the constant stream of meals that my Grandmother presented was my idea of paradise. However, before our stay Mum always used to drum into us the Golden Rules of staying at Grandmother’s: And the final, most important one: 4. Never leave anything on your plate - you can always come back for more. I remember my brother Tim bringing a girlfriend to Grandmothers making sure to explain the rules thoroughly about what was expected. She at first did very well making sure she finished everything that was on her plate. She was then asked if she would like some more, which she declined saying it was delicious, only for Tim to pipe up that she would love some more, she was only being polite. The look of panic on the poor girl’s face as she started on yet another meal (such was the size of seconds) had to be seen to be believed. Despite beads of sweat running down her forehead and obvious discomfort from the amount she had eaten she did manage to complete it all, such was Grandmother’s fearsome reputation. There are certain things that I remember as a small child, being served breakfast was a treat, as it wasn’t something that I was particularly used to. I invariably had homemade bread with scrambled eggs, which continues to be a favourite of mine to this day. Grandmother would be in the kitchen in her dressing gown, dispensing tea or coffee, and further flame grilled toast as required. It was a brilliant start to the day. Grandmother had a great sense of humour, when she found something really funny, her shrieks of laughter were completely infectious. When my brother and I lived with Grandparents when we had out first jobs, there were often occasions when something tickled her, her laugh being so infectious that we would also be crying with laughter as well - made even more funny by my Grandfather ’s straight face! Grandmother always liked to serve people what they wanted - a famous occasion being when she was carving the beef one day and commented to my Dad that the meat was a bit gristly. My Dad made the fatal mistake of saying that he didn’t mind gristle at all - in fact he quite liked it! Consequently at any future meals we had Dad got served all the gristly bits of the roast.
Grandmother did try new recipes out on us when we lived with her, which were nearly all successful, apart from one occasion when she made Tomato Sorbet for the first time. We all sat there, chipping away at this red, translucent block of ice, trying to make sure that it didn’t appear that we weren’t enjoying it. Thankfully Grandmother came out with the comment “This is absolutely disgusting” and burst out laughing, giving us the freedom to do the same. This, however, did not make you feel that you could ever volunteer information. I think it was my brother who got Grandfather to admit to Grandmother (after 50 years of marriage) that he didn’t actually like leeks! The only insurrection I can think that was partially successful was my youngest brother Robin protesting that he didn’t want the food he was served by placing a napkin on his head. We were all told to completely ignore him, which ironically was what Robin wanted us to do anyway! Christmas was always the time of year I particularly enjoyed. It was, it seemed to me, a constant set of meals. I realise now that this was not only due to the amount of meals we had, but also the amount of talking, and conversations that went on, rendering a normal meal three times longer than most other families. Breakfast would be followed quickly by Elevenses (tea or coffee and a cake or biscuit, to those of you who are unaware of this meal!). This was swiftly followed by Christmas lunch, which tended to be a bit of a marathon affair. No sooner had the smell of sulphur dissipated from the indoor fireworks then Grandmother invariably announced afternoon tea which consisted of egg sandwiches, flapjacks, bridge, orange and date cake. At this point of the proceedings adults tended to flag a bit. I don’t know whether this was due to the constant washing up, or the fact that they couldn’t eat any more! Tea was swiftly followed by supper with Sausage Pie and fruit salad. To me this was the perfect Christmas - constant eating and drinking and lots and lots of laughter. This always seemed louder on fondue night on Boxing Day, which due to my age, I was never allowed to attend. I will miss mealtimes with Grandmother, not only for the wonderful food which I ate, but for the laughter, humour and debate that meal times always brought. egg sandwiches, flapjacks, bridge, orange and date cake. At this point of the proceedings adults tended to flag a bit. I don’t know whether this was due to the constant washing up, or the fact that they couldn’t eat any more! Tea was swiftly followed by Supper with Sausage Pie and fruit salad. To me this was the perfect Christmas - constant eating and drinking and lots and lots of laughter. This always seemed louder on fondue night on Boxing Day, which due to my age, I was never allowed to attend. I will miss mealtimes with Grandmother, not only for the wonderful food which I ate, but for the laughter, humour and debate that meal times always brought. For those of you who are interested this is the recipe that I chose for the book. Gunter’s Ice Cream 2 pints double cream 3oz wholemeal bread 1oz castor sugar 3tbs honey 1 tbs orange juice Slice the bread, remove the crusts and dry in a slow oven for 20 mins. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the sugar and put into the freezer compartment for 30 mins. When the bread hardens, but before it becomes really hard, reduce to crumbs in a coffee mill. Melt the honey and orange juice. Pour over the crumbs then amalgamate with the cream and return to the freezer for a further 2 hours. Delicious! 
