A little bit of magic

My lovely friend Tam posted an image today from Faerie Magazine which I loved and encouraged me to follow the Magazine on social network.  It reminded me of a time I used to buy the magazine  

and really, REALLY wanted to go to the Faerie Festival (I still do btw, I just think my little Cherub is too small at the moment). I think part of my desire to go is obviously due in part to their awesome Glamping Yurts.

So, looking over some of their images, it got me thinking of that other side of myself and my look.  That romantic, medievalist, Pre-Raphaelite side that I initially was going to indulge when I had no social life and hardly left the house so need not think of the practicalities of always wearing batwing sleeves and floor length skirts all the time.

Stream of Consciousness like, I thought about one of my favourite shows at the moment, Once Upon a Time and more particularly Snow and Charming (played by Big Love Alumni Gennifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas).

Particularly Snow, who traditionally would never be a character I would feel some commonality with, but this version of Snow...let's just say, I understood all too well why Archie needed to have a talk with her.

Anyway, the costumes, in The Enchanted Forest are lovely. Like this Tudor inspired lilac silk gown Snow is wearing in this picture. 

Stupid diet

It was all going well until Rosh Hashana, now I am off it and hormonally eating Belgian Chocolate (was on sale, don't judge me!)  Anyway, I am trying to get back on it and my current inspiration is a 20% sale at Lady Vintage.....

Lady Vintage is based here in the UK and has sizes up to 30....please note that is pretty big so NO ONE has any excuses not to look totally amazing this autumn!!!!

This is my favourite, it is called the Isabella Dress

My raw bread and burger recipe

Easy peasy experimental but worked a treat.  Mix dry ingreients together, mix wet ingredients together.  If mixture is too dry add some olive oil, if mixture to wet, add more Psyllum.

Psyllium Husks
Linseeds
sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
4 chopped sun dried tomatoes
Herbs and spices to taste (I like spice so I added Cayenne Pepper)

Lemon Juice
One mashed Avocado

Form into burger patty and use.  Alternatively smear thinly on a baking try and dehydrate either on the warm setting on the oven or in a dehydrator.

Bread came out INCREDIBLY!!!!

Diet Diary - Entry 1

Starting a new series on my very unVintage diet (well going back to Paleo is pretty vintage but, you know what I mean) and fitness regimen. 

So week 1 has ended and I lost 6lbs. But don't be too impressed because that is probably all water weight, though my bra fits better now. I am SO happy about that as any bigger in the cup and I might need a specially made one...yikes!

So instead of my usual treat of Poppy's Chips and a Jamaican Patty at Spitalfields market, these last two Thursdays my treat has been a Raw Imagination lunch at Planet Organics.  Last week I had the burger

which was AMAZING, today it was the Pizza.


My word, I don't know how they do it, it is only plant food and yet,  it is SO tasty and so filling you can't imagine a need to eat wheat bread or cheese ever again and then I check the price tag and remember.  This meal along with my green juice and the Cheese and Mushroom Muffin I brought the babe (which she loved btw)  cost exactly three times the price as my chip, patty and Tesco flavoured sparkling water (50p per litre) meal I usually buy on Vintage Thursdays (Spitalfields Market).

And again I rant about the terrible fact of having to pay just SO much for healthier food that poorer people (such as myself, I admit that) are priced out of the healthier food, who can afford to buy a raw meal every day?

I will say though it is very filling, I felt full for hours after eating.  I love my Raw Imagination Vintage Thursdays.  So, one more week until Holidays start, I am allowed to have one meal off to enjoy cooked food...huzzah.

Going to try to make my own raw burger tomorrow, I will blog about it and wish me luck!!!

*sob* I feel excuded

Or maybe I am taking some things too seriously?

I am only subscribed to three vintage bloggers only one of whom is a fellow Brit, it is a small vintagely world and I am so glad not to feel alone in it.

Yesterday her video was about something that I have a lot of experience in so I was excited to watch and finally got to comment, I was the first one to comment too. Yay!!!  I actually know something.

When I clicked back to read up on some of the messages later on, I noticed that, she had responded to every other comment but mine.  ;o((  I feel Mean Girl-d!

I think I have felt it more because I actually really identified with her on this issue, I have the exact same issue and it is something that bothers me so, knowing that I am not alone made me feel SO happy. 

Also, it reminds me of all those bloody events I have been to alone where they have there little clique and the organisers make no effort to even smile to a newbie.  I went to one event, organised by a well known Vintage group and one of the girls in that group, sat on a chair, facing the stalls, I smile at her and she looked at me as if I was an alien and turned to her friends to talk. 

Really it is hard going out there, especially as a single woman without friends already in, or willing to go with you.  You are constantly fretting about your look and whether you might be judged for not looking  "right" and judge for not looking vintage enough, hair not right, clothes not right, "Is she wearing modern shoes?"

It is not anyone else's responsibility to make me feel more secure of course, but I just wish people would be a little more courteous.

Changing my mindset

The Glamorous Housewife's diary entry for last week asked us to try and turn a boring thing into something fun.  So since then I have been making much more of an effort to think of cleaning of less like a chore, but something to enjoy and do you know?  It really has worked a treat!

I feel that this small mindset change has done wonders to how I feel and unlike the sort of manic 'making an effort/New Years Resolution' Pattern of behaviour when you go a bit wild and then you burn out after a couple of days obsessive cleaning, this is a lot less crazed, but instead a sustained effort at being more house proud and getting my backed up chores done too.

I have no doubt that I will have a much better flat by the end of all this.  I never in a million years thought I would have been suited to this lifestyle but as the time goes on, I am getting more comfortable with it.

I am a very happy and lucky woman.  Thank you Bethany!!!!

Were we happier in the Stone Age?

One of my historical minded friends forwarded this article on Facebook.  Here is a quote:

Romantics never tire of finding the dark side of every discovery. Writing gave rise to extortionate taxation. Printing begot mass propaganda and brainwashing. Computers turn us into zombies. The harshest criticism of all is reserved for the unholy trinity of industrialism, capitalism and consumerism. These three bugbears have alienated people from their natural surroundings, from their human communities, and even from their daily activities. The factory worker is nothing but a mechanical cog, a slave to the requirements of machines and the interests of money. The middle class may enjoy better working conditions and many material comforts, but it pays for them dearly with social disintegration and spiritual emptiness. From a romantic perspective, the lives of medieval peasants were preferable to those of modern factory-hands and office clerks, and the lives of stone-age foragers were the best of all.

 Ermmm, yeah, that is exactly how I see it.  Of course I don't totally romanticise the past, as a woman, especially one of colour, almost any time period in the last few years would have been a hardship for me.  I enjoy the freedoms of the modern age but the fact that I DO enjoy them, is only because I live in the West and I am relating my experience in the modern West.  Life is plenty different in other countries and I wouldn't have as much freedom as I enjoy in other countries.

No one really wants to reenact or dress like stone age woman.  Though I have to accept that it is probably the time period when people were at their healthiest and maybe even happiest.

The happiness levels of some of the remaining Hunter Gatherer communities is really much higher than in the West, it breaks my heart to see some of them give up their indigenous ways to follow the path of 'progress'.  The disaster that Imperialism wreaked on millions of peoples...well there just isn't enough restitution in the world.  But, well it happened, that is the dark side of the past and their is no use ruining our futures by dwelling on it.

The article presses on that there is a balance between the romantic view and the view of the progressives but then points out:

Even if we take into account solely the citizens of today's affluent societies, Romantics may point out that our comfort and security have their price. Homo sapiens evolved as a social animal, and our wellbeing is usually influenced by the quality of our relationships more than by our household amenities, the size of our bank accounts or even our health. Unfortunately, the immense improvement in material conditions that affluent westerners have enjoyed over the last century was coupled with the collapse of most intimate communities.

I realise this topic is far more in sync with what I usually post about on NN, how modern living has taken us (especially women) away from our much needed social support systems. This has been terrible for us.

True or false, the practical impact of such alternative views is minimal. For the capitalist juggernaut, happiness is pleasure. Full stop. With each passing year, our tolerance for unpleasant sensations decreases, whereas our craving for pleasant sensations increases. Both scientific research and economic activity are geared to that end, producing each year better painkillers, new ice-cream flavours, more comfortable mattresses, and more addictive games for our smartphones, so that we will not suffer a single boring moment while waiting for the bus.

The link between modern day expectations and happiness is a thoroughly interesting one.
In a world where we have access to 24hour news, social media and an idealogical wars, it is often easy to get overwhelmed by the negative aspects of modernity.  I have shed many tears crying over news items that broke my heart recently, I will spare you the details but I can honestly say that I was more encouraged than ever to avoid the modern world and descend further into neo-traditionalism. I might not be there yet and I don't think it is entirely healthy to avoid the world entirely, but I was sorely tempted.

I urge you all to read the article. Maybe if enough of us decide to forgo the march of 'progress' we will band together to make a more simple, but far happier world.

Post reenactment review - Whitby

Arrrgh, I am so fat.

The sojourn in the back of beyond and then pregnancy has left me busting out of my reenactment kit.  Funny enough when I first made it, I was still carrying a lot of baby weight from  my first pregnancy so it was huge.  I lost that weight and had to make everything smaller and now, well it was tight, lets just say.....

So besides knowing that I need to get back on that healthy wagon, what can I say about the weekend and, more importantly, did I finish my baby's outfit?   Yes I did and she looked very cute indeed in it. 

Wish I had a picture but my phone is stupid.  However, like last years baby shift, the chances of her fitting in it for next years (hopefully more busy) season would be slim.  So, I had better gain some better skills at making this kid more creative outfits, though I do say a little linen gown and a chemise is not all that shabby for a little baby.

My view of the battle

Don't be fooled, it was a pretty small battle, I managed to watch it whilst simultaneously sitting with one breast pulled out of my very tight stays to nurse.....of course any sane woman would have made herself some sort of front lacing bodice but...as we all know, I am not sane.

The banquet....oh dear, well that was a dud, oven broke, food very, very late, food bad quality and a lack of organisation meant I was not best pleased.
However, I cut a fine figure in a Tricorn it seems, as I was caught in the background of some Jack Sparrows kissing picture..

There were three Jack Sparrows at this bloody thing

The late night, tight kit and a life long desire to visit Whitby  (due to its Dracula associations) meant that on Sunday I put my usual goth lite outfit on and went down to the Abbey

Not only is a beautiful ruin with a wonderful history, but there was a Dracula play running and it was the last day...it...was....AWESOME!!!!!!

Acting was first class, it was incredibly funny, especially their little improvised vignettes when something unexpected happened.  Oh they were brilliant.  I am very fond of this sort of entertainment anyway and following a story around the grounds of a ruined Abbey is my idea of first class fun!
Play over, the Babe and I had a picnic, we spread my cloak on the ground and had, bread, cheese, banana and some chilli crisps looking out over the bay on the cliff side of the Abbey.

After lunch and a wriggly baby put back into her buggy, I did the audio tour...ooh baby fell asleep for her main daytime nap...huzzah!!!!!  I went for Tea Time in the Abbey Cafe run by the YHA.
Now I have just noticed that there are some Tripadvisor people who did not like the Cafe and rating them down because the price was high and the service slow.  That is a shame because they had, perhaps the best Carrot cake there that I have ever tasted....ever! I also went in after lunch so there was no queue and although coffee and a cake at just under £5 is expensive, it is comparable to London prices so I did not find it overly so. But I guess people from the Shires might be crying a river at that point.  Who cares the cake was AMAZING!!!!!!!!

Gift shop time, was looking for some sort of toy suitable for a baby since The Babe had been so amazing all weekend she definitely deserved something, found a whistle, a bit of Rock for my niece (please note Americans, Rock is a candy, not something found on the ground) and a Dracula key ring.
I took my Pirate hoarde (harhar) towards the till but....wait...what is that?  Some strange beverages?
never one to pass by a drinks cabinet I stopped to look at the English Mead's and Elderflower wines which I can easily obtain locally but...what is that bottle there?
The cute young beardy man who worked in the shop offered to pour me a taste.  He said it was a love it or hate it liquer, I was hoping to hate it, I really can't afford to spend money on booze as it cost me so much money this weekend so far but damn it, I loved it, I really, really loved it. 
So I brought it.

Are you kidding me, it is made by French Monks, of COURSE I had to buy it.

After a long, long walk down a winding cliff side route with the farmers wife (can't take the infamous 199 step cliff stairs because of the buggy) I went to town.  This English seaside resort was much more classier than some others I have been too and certainly beats the socks off its Lancashire equivalent, Blackpool. 

I went on a boat ride, it was a 40% sized reproduction of the Bark Endeavour, Captain Cook's ship that he used to sail the year long journey to Oz and NZ. I learnt that none of his crew got scurvy though, good for them that they had such good teeth when they went to steal the land of the Native Islanders.....Oh well, guess they got him in the end though.
BTW, my first adult boyfriend was one of his descendants.   I don't admit that often though because he was cray-cray!

After that lovely boat ride (only £3 for 25 mins) the little babe and I ended our time at the The Angel Hotel, a Whetherspoons pub, for dinner where she feasted on her favourite, chips and mayo.

Lovely day, I have nothing negative to say about Whitby at all.

Oh no wait...far too many chips shops fry their chips in beef dripping, which is disgusting, but very Northern so.....well c'est la Vie.

Silverware and Sewing

I don't know why, I impulsed brought a couple of silver knives and spoons at the market last week, they are heavy and lovely FAR too big for tea time but....I wanted them anyway.

So of course I only just started my sewing today...ooops, I need to be finished by Thursday afternoon as I have a guest over in the evening.  Strangely enough I am not worried, there is only SO much you can make for a toddler.  I am a bit worried about her feet being cold though. Wonder if I can fit in some booties?

ZESTfully Clean....

One of the things I wish to nurture in myself with taking up a more Neo Traditionalist way of living is a more proactive way of cleaning.  Right now I am very reactive and I must admit, I am not the best at cleaning...don't get me wrong, I have seen much worse but that doesn't recommend me.

Right now my living room has been hit by toddler....and as I said previously in the war between the front room and the baby, the baby will win....I have to accept that, but I still need to foster a sense of being house proud within myself.  No vintage lady worth her salt would have books piled up all over the place like I have at the moment....time to try and put that bookshelf together I think!!

Tea Time will most likely be taken with my Polish friend K. 

*squee* Pink Tea set for one

Finally opened my Royal Vale tea set, if you can call it that, it seems it is the left over after many breakages over the years, it is one of each cup, saucer, side plate and a sugar bowl, but it is perfect for my afternoon tea with a slice of walnut cake whilst the baby sleeps and I can catch up with Bethany over at The Glamorous Housewife. 

I know, I don't have a classy matching tea pot, have to use my boring old blue one.

Please excuse my cushions but they went to war with a 15month old and the baby won!

Still relying on storebrought cake...*oh the shame* I know I must get back to making my own again, I am a half decent baker when I set my mind to it (can't decorate for toffee though, I will admit) but I daresay I shouldn't be eating any of it at all anyway as I should go back on the poxy diet, at least until my holiday....*grumble*

I don't think I have baked anything since Hamantashen at Purim.... 

Vintage Mum - Back to the sewing board....

Yesterday my sister gave me a skirt, she had brought it for my niece but it was a little bit big around the waist, 'Can you take it in'? she asked me.  Well I had to say yes and with another event with the Pirates in less than a fortnight I will need to get another outfit together for the baby...Oh my word...it has been a while since I threaded a needle even.  Since the baby was born, having sewing paraphernalia out seemed foolhardy so everything is packed away in boxes and placed upon high due to this child's natural curiosity. 

However, I know have a couple of skirts with sewing issues that I have been ignoring as well as costume I will like to make, I am well overdue for starting up the sewing again....now if only I can drum up some motivation??

Vintage Mum, the good and the bad....

So my efforts for living a tad more vintage like is going fairly well, yes I have been meal planning, shopping frequently and sticking to my budget, I am pleased to report that I came in right on budget last week too, so this week I was able to buy a couple of items I wanted...very happy.

So, this morning,like any vintage mum about town, I texted a friend to meet for coffee (good), I was thinking Star*ucks (bad, N, very, very bad) she called back (very good) and suggested I go to her place instead (very, very good).
I brought cake (very good) alas it was shop brought (very, very bad).
In my defence I had already left the flat to do my chores when she called me and it was a totally spontaneous thing.

After I left there I went to a supermarket to buy for the weekend, I was happy to see an increase in loose vegetables, often it is usually just onions and potatoes loose but they have now added mushrooms and tomatoes to the loose list.  Lucky me because I only wanted two toms and a half a pound (being vintagely Imperial today) of mushrooms.  This meant that I spent less and  there will be less food waste.

So come on ladies....shop like our grannies did!!!

Walk like a Vintage Mum, talk like a Vintage mum.....

Yikes!  Yesterday I was horrified to see how much I had spent last week....what with buying food for my sister (who is hobbled at the moment) and treating us all to a pretty expensive (for me) Chinese restaurant meal, plus a couple of insane impulse purchases on the e(sucksallyourmoneyaway)bay.

I have determined that this week I need to rededicate myself to my NeoTraditionalist ethics and shop like my Gran did, with a budget and almost daily...let's be honest, the weekly shop is a by product of the modern supermarket, our Grandmothers, great grandmothers and beyond had to do frequent shops for fresh goods especially, they needed to get others delivered (which I do) and they couldn't carry much either as fewer people had cars.

So, I have decided to spend wisely and shop as often as I need, which might be daily.

I had already brought my salad box with juicing items so, this week at least, I have plenty of fresh goods......goodness knows what will happen next week as I have cancelled next weeks delivery.

Todays menu

Breakfast

A pot of yoghurt

Snack

1/2 Small Banana

Lunch

Wholewheat pasta  (not very vintage I know)
and Cheese, Salad


Tea

Tea du Jour: Green with Lemon
Bonne Maman Madeleine's

Dinner

Vegetable fingers
Leftover pasta Salad

Fortnightly check in

I finished my two week teeth lightening 'treatment'  It worked well and my teeth look fab.  Not artificially sparkling white, just back to normal ivory and not having that weird green tea tinge they have acquired over the years since my green tea habit began.

I am not seeing much change to my face but I will give it more time, you never know.

The biggest change has been what the juicing is doing to my milk supply, I feel so abundant and now I just can't seem to get the babe off my teats!  It is a bit regressive as she is actually supposed to be reducing her feeding and having more food. But I don't know whether the extra nutrition is making my milk taste simply yummy or what but she can't get enough of it. 

I know weaning is going to be really, really hard with this one!

Beauty Progress

Juicing is going great, teeth are looking fabulous and are already a shade or two lighter despite the increase of beetroot in my diet thanks to the abundance of the stuff in my juice box this week.
In a minute I shall be doing the second application of the turmeric facemask that is suppose to lighten out uneven skin tone and as I have some scarring from the electrolysis I had over a decade ago which still bugs me, I will try just about anything to even out my dark patches. So I was happy to see this post by Natalie at Vintageous (she has mask of pregnancy that she is trying to get rid of).

Sad to see some of the suggestions after the video feature self hating women trying to just look 'light'....Colourism is just plain nasty :(

Juice, teeth, body, face..stat!

Yes, I am a month past schedule in getting back on  my beauty regimen. 

When I thought how much more (albeit comparatively less than most people I know) time I used to put into looking good, I really do feel this last year I have let myself go.  For good reason of course, who has the bloody time for all that with a young baby?

However with the Babe's growing independence and my growing social life, invitations for trips and reenactment events. I am going to need to get back to looking and feeling retro fabulous.

Luckily for me there is plenty of advice on You tube about improving one's self without needing to invest in a whole lot of dosh wot wot...firstly is the lovely Natalie at Vintageous talking about how she got her pearly whites...

Luckily one thing I always have to hand is plenty of bicarb!

She also has plenty of videos to aid me in improving my skin and a good old pin up work out! ;o)

As for my hair, this is a really good video showing a 50's style set on natural afro hair.
Since my hair is 100% natural now, this is the type of style I tend to go for when I bother to do it at all.

I am hoping that with a few weeks of working hard on myself, I will feel beautiful and confidant and the beginning of this season.  Hope these videos give you some inspiration about where to start on your beauty regime, especially if you have a had a bit of a break like I have.

Underpinnings

A friend posted this the other day, it totally cracked me up because I had just done that exact thing, realised that I was wearing my bra far later than normal for me and enjoyed the relief that came with taking it off....but then I am fairly large chested and my thoughts about it were always bound up with that fact, it never occurred to me that my small breasted sister felt the same.  But now I hear it is a universal feeling....Ah the great Sisterhood, how much we share!

I thought back to the equally joyous feeling I get when removing the corset, even if it isn't laced too tight so you are comfortable and you feel like an utterly amazing sex Goddess in one, the joy of taking it off and letting your body relax....oh it is lovely.

This is not a tale of the modern day, this is a tale of women from time immemorial, ever since we decided our boobs needed a bit of support on a daily basis, we have been enjoying the feeling of taking it off also....notice in the 18thc. we had bed jackets and robes.  In the 19thc. Teagowns.
These clothes were designed to be worn as informal wear, to put on after the stays come off!

Sometimes that Victorian lady just couldn't be bothered to put that corset on when she wasn't going anywhere, sister coming around for a cup of  tea?  Sod it, wear the Tea gown, she can cope with some boob!  

Thinking about this fact reminds me that all of us women are bound by similar experiences going back over time, decade after decade, century after century.  Next time you sigh and smile after taking off your bra, think of the ancestors taking off their own bras and corsets and doing the exact. same. thing.

New Bathroom

Woot!  My new bathroom is being put in, a shower finally and everything new from the floor up!

You know my grandmother brought me a nice shower curtain once, I did not have the heart to tell her that I did not have a shower so couldn't use it, but now I will have and CAN use it!!!  Swish!

I am happy. Won't be very historical looking but I will try my best, I wanted to continue with my blue and white theme, the flooring will be blue, which should make the bathroom look brighter than when I had that wood coloured vinyl down. 

I will take pictures!

Result

I would love to tell you all that I lost some weight, but it seems that my hardly used digital scales have decided that they don't need to work any more.....PoS newfangled #!!&!

I should have got a mechanical one, my mechanical one lasted years......

Just proves the older stuff is better.....

End...

Today is the final day, I wish I could have been more creative but, well I have had a sickly child these last couple of days and, of course, I did very little shopping.  One thing I rather missed was the convenience of all the oven ready food I still have in the freezer, this week I either had to work for it OR go hungry, so I went hungry far more than I would normally have. 

But today I was not going hungry because I had plenty of left overs but with a sick child, a headache and not much else available, today would have been a very miserable day, so thank goodness for that large dish full of hot pot, it has kept me warm and comforted through three mealtimes.
As usual, I slept through breakfast.

Lunch

Leftover Lancashire hot pot and toast

Dinner

Leftover Lancashire Hotpot and

Savoury Scones

4oz flour
4oz medium oatmeal (omitted, used self raising flour instead)
1tsp Baking powder (omitted due to using self raising flour)
1/2 tsp salt
2oz shredded cheese (omitted)
1oz fat (used butter)
Milk

Mix dry ingredients, rub in fat and then add enough milk to make a really soft dough, fold out onto floured surface and flatten out, shape into triangles and bake in moderate oven for 15 minutes or until brown.

 Taste

These were nice and very appropriate for a stew type of dish.  I would have preferred to have some cheese of course and some dried herbs would have been really nice in them also but these were nice and tasty without.

No cheese left...

Snack

1 Apple

Monday, the calm before the Storm

 I call today the calm because everything opens up again tomorrow, life is back to normal after the holidays...bah!

Yummy

I was up half the night dealing with a crotchety baby so awoke at a ridiculous hour, missed breakfast entirely again and thought I may as well wait until lunch, however I was NOT in the mood for cooking so thank goodness for this recipe:

Lunch

Quick Welsh Rarebit

2 slices bread (mine was homemade bread so thick slices)
1 tsp Margarine (omitted)
1 tsp Chutney or Yeast Extract (Marmite)
2tbs Grated Cheese

Toast bread, spread with Margarine and Marmite/chutney
Add cheese and put back under grill until cheese has melted, serve with Salad.

Taste

Well what can I say really, it is cheese on toast, carbs + fat...what's not to like?  I think a side salad was a bit ambitious for January, I served mine with a nice heap of sauerkraut.

Fresh out of the oven

This spelt the end of the cheese by the way, so tomorrow will be entirely cheese free.

Dinner

Lancashire Hotpot

3/4lb of meat (used Leftover Tivall Slicing sausage from yesterday)
2 carrots
1 Onion or Leek
3lbs potato (I used three small potatoes and third of a swede)
1 dessertspoon of fat or dripping (omitted)
1/2 pt stock (I used about two)
1 dessertspoon of flour
salt and pepper to taste

(opt. I added a small cauliflower because it needed to be used and I used extra stock and added a 3rd cup (80grams) of barley to this pot)

(MP Classic recipe)
Add cut up and sliced meat and veg and half the potatoes and place in casserole dish, add fat and cover, bake for half an hour. Take out of oven, add stock, and the flour (mixed with some of the stock as a thickener) and the rest of the potatoes, salt and pepper and bake for a further 10 minutes without the lid until potatoes are brown (around 10 mins)

Natja's vegetarian version - place stock, onions, potatoes, carrots and cauliflower in casserole dish, add parboiled Swede if fancied) mix in barley and cook for 30 mins with lid on.

Take out and stir, add Tivall sausage cut into mouthsized chunks and flour thickener (you may need to use more flour than the classic recipe), stir and put back in oven without lid for another 10 minutes at least.

Finished dish

Serve with bread

Taste

This came out much better than I could have imagined, tasty and wholesome, just a lovely stew. I will admit for putting a bit of mixed herbs in mine.  It was heavy in sage which was lovely and really enhanced the flavour.
Truly a dish that never goes out of fashion.

Afters

Tinned fruit salad

Sunday - Sick Child

Further to my earlier post and quite obvious really, I  had porridge for breakfast.

My little baby is ill, we had a very difficult night and a very demanding day so I ate the rest of the biscuits for an afternoon tea and endevoured to make a Lancashire hot pot for dinner, did I get to do it?
Did I heck, I am typing with a baby on my lap at the moment, she doesn't want to be let down and so.....before I knew it, it was 7pm and I hadn't made a start on the hot pot, what is a Mother to do?

I tell you what she is to do, cheat....well sorta....

I had a pack of Tivall vegetarian slicing sausage

in the fridge, I was thinking I could use it as some sort of substitute sausage meat, than I thought i could use it in the hot pot but then, when looking for inspiration I came across Spam Hash on
 Carolyn Ekins exceptional 1940s Experiment blog. She lost 69lbs eating Wartime Rations for a year...blimey and I am daunted by a week!!  Good on her!

However, from my experience so far, if I lose any weight it will be because I skipped so many meals rather than the calorie content of them so far. 

Anyway back to the food, I used her recipe (which I won't replicate here because it is available via the link) and used about a third of the slicing sausage and it tasted fab, I will leave you to make up your mind if it looks Spam like enough but it sure tasted better than spam!!!!

Red onions as usual

Addendum

Breakfast crisis,  I used up all of my porridge....I have decided for the sake of getting into the spirit to not replace it and make do. 

Saturday at home

Brunch

Bread and butter
Knob of cheese
Pear

Dinner

Finishing off the last of the cabbage today by making what the English charmingly call 'Champ' of course the Irish have a much nicer name and call it Colcannon.

Champ

Mashed potato
Cabbage

Mix both together, easiest dish of the week 

Fried red onions

Finished dish, not pretty but tasty

Afters

Banana custard rolled oat chew

Made up oaty pudding

If you recall on the previous post that I was inspired by the oaty biscuit recipe from yesterday, I reused it for this made up pudding today.

4oz wholemeal flour
4oz rolled oats
Raisins
2oz brown sugar  Mix well and then rub in about 1oz of butter
Mix milk until it clumps together and then spread evenly on a greased dish and bake in moderate oven until brown.

Use it whilst warm to top Birds custard (I'm not cheating, it has no eggs) and sliced banana

Warning, this is a biscuit recipe, if you have any left overs, the rest will harden in the dish, save yourself some hassle and cut into slices and remove from dish to cool, the leftovers will make nice oaty biscuits for another time.

Friday - Peace

Yay!!!!  I got my new phone to work!  Normal pictures can resume


Breakfast

Porridge

Finally, today I discovered how bloomin HUGE the sugar ration is...blimey who would have thunk it guv?  But then I thought wait a sec, if I has in the habit of, several cups of tea a day, each having a teaspoon full of sugar, over the course of a week, than suddenly the ration doesn't look so huge.

But for my modern eyes, who drinks tea and coffee without, it looks very generous and gives me plenty of sugar for any baking....but only if I have enough fat for them!

Lunch

As has been the case this week I am missing the occassional meal because the days are so short and I have been waking up so late, so instead I had an early dinner.


Dinner

Yesterdays leftover piece of Woolton pie, more sauteed savoy cabbage, a little bread
and

Cheese beans

Finished plate, cheese beans on the right side of plate

 1/2lb dried beans soaked overnight ( I used cannalini but you can use almost any medium sized bean, needless to say, this day and age we know better than to boil beans in their soaking water but back then they treated beans like Vegetables and assumed you were keeping the goodness, now we know we are just getting rid of some nasty  oligosaccharides, so I am going to dispense with Ms. Patten's wisdom and say, throw out the soaking water and use fresh water to boil.) Boil until tender.

2oz grated cheese
1tbs Vinegar
1/2tsp mustard
1 -2 tbs mint and parsley chopped together (I used a small amount of dried herbs instead)
2tsp Worcester sauce (I have looked everywhere for Worcester sauce without anchovies, however I can't find any and so, in great Make Do tradition, I used a bit of garlic sauce instead)

Drain beans but keep a bit of bean water, add all ingredients (except herbs) to pot with the bit of bean water and stir until cheese has melted, add drained beans and toss, top with chopped herbs.

Taste

I realise that with using the garlic sauce instead of Worcester sauce the taste would probably be a lot different to what Ms Patten created, however that is not to say the taste was bad, on the contrary, they were very nice, the only problem I had is, I used much less than 1/2lb beans but followed the recipe otherwise, this meant my sauce was plentiful enough but I couldn't taste the cheese at all, could it have been the stronger taste of the garlic sauce?  Probably, but Worcester sauce has a strong taste too and I would fancy making the sauce again without the two ounce limit to see if it really made a difference.



Afters

Rolled oat Macaroons

Oatmeal biscuits, they did not spread as per the recipe, probably because of the less fat I used

3oz Margarine (replaced with a bit of oil)
2oz Sugar
1/2-1tsp almond essence (didn't have, omitted)
1tbs golden syrup (didn't have, replaced with honey)
4oz self raising flour
 4oz rolled oats
Milk to mix

Mix dry ingredients together, than margarine, syrup and essensce to make a crumble (oooh gives me ideas...) consistency.  Add enough milk for mixture to bind together, form balls and bake in moderate oven for 15-20 minutes.

Taste

Ok, I know there were a lot of replacements in this biscuit recipe, regardless they were lovely and I am sure would taste even better with the required about of fat and essence.

Drinks

A note about drinks,  I read this interesting historical tidbit on Wikipedia

During the Second World War, other fruits rich in vitamin C, like oranges (from Florida), became almost impossible to obtain in the United Kingdom, due to the U boat campaign. Blackcurrant cultivation was encouraged by the Government, and the yield of the nation's crop increased significantly. From 1942, almost the entire British blackcurrant crop was made into blackcurrant syrup (or cordial), almost all of it manufactured by Carters, and distributed to the nation's children for free without the Ribena brand name, giving rise to the lasting popularity of blackcurrant flavourings in Britain.

 Reason enough to keep on drinking my blackcurrant squash then!

Walking out as a wartime mum

Today I went out to the library and shopping with my sister, perfectly appropriate wartime activities and I stuck to my guns only eating the kind of food that would have been available/fashionable at the time, this meant at Lunch I said hello Cheese Ploughmans and goodbye Halloumi and falafal wraps.

I had a slice of naughty carrot cake and lashings of ginger beer.....

Shopping was an interesting experience in near period appropriate frustration as I couldn't find any dried egg or egg substitute anywhere....brought some dried herbs and mustard powder and my second pint of milk, I am painfully aware that there is only one more pint available after it, luckily I don't take milk or sugar in my tea.  Have used none of my sugar ration yet.


Dinner

The famous (infamous) Woolton Pie

Dice and cook about 1lb each of the following in salted water potato, swede, carrot, cauliflower (or whatever winter veg you have available) strain and keep back some of the vegetable water mix vegetable water with a bit of vegetable extract (I used stock) and add oatmeal (in true make do fashion I am using flour due to lack of oatmeal) to thicken. Pour gravy over vegetables in a casserole dish.
Top with mashed potato and bake until golden, serve with brown gravy.

I am serving mine with a side of sautéed savoy cabbage.

Happy New Year 1940!!!!

Welcome to my first (and possible only, who knows?) week of eating within British WW2 ration limitations, using recipes based mostly on 'We'll eat again"

My first job today was to weigh myself. The argument being, that you will actually be healthier by consuming proper food even if you use full fat than all the highly processed foods we normally eat today, including low fat, low calorie etc.

As usual I missed breakfast and aimed to have lunch ready around 1pm.

For the purposes of frugality to keep in the spirit, my savoury cooking fat will be  the left over oil in a jar of artichokes.. How is that for making do??

Normally I would aim for a soup and bread combo for lunch, but seeing as I haven't made any bread I had to sacrifice my one solitary egg to make some batter...yes, my first dish today was pancakes of all things...

Lunch

All purpose batter recipe

4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 pint of water and milk mixed
1 dried egg powder (I used 1 fresh egg)

Plain pancakes, can be served sweet also

Mix dry ingredients and then whisk in some of the milk, add egg (if using fresh) than add some more of the liquid until you have a smooth consistency, fry until golden.  Makes about four smaller sized pancakes.

To serve savoury pancakes serve with fried onions, cheese or fried vegetables.

Finished product

I used a small bit of my cheese ration, grating it between pancakes and then topped with two very small onions slices and fried in the same frying pan as there was plenty of fat left in it.


The pancakes are crepes really as plain flour is used, not self raising, but they had a nice taste, but I can't help but feel that it might be because I used a fresh egg instead of dried, if I recall correctly, dried egg leaves quite a bitter aftertaste, at least it used to.

Obviously having to ration my cheese I used a great deal less cheese than I normally would in a dish, however I found that I still liked it and could taste the cheese find (it does help that I buy mature or extra mature cheddar only).  The fried onions were delicious.

 By the way, anyone who is curious to see what one weeks worth of cheese ration looks like this is it

Dinner

Roasted butternut squash (italics means plain veg on side and not not  in book)
Potato salad
1 1/2 potatoes, chopped in smaller pieces and boiled in salted boiling water
1/2 pint milk (or milk and water)
1.5 oz flour
1 tbs vinegar
1tbs chopped parsley (I had none so I omitted it)
1tbs chopped mint
4oz dried cheese (omitted)
 salt and pepper

Mix small portion of milk with flour until it is the consistency of cream, set the rest of milk to boil, when it starts to boil add flour/milk mix.  Reduce heat and keep stirring until sauce thickens, add vinegar, herbs and salt and pepper, add boiled potatoes and then stir to coat them fully in sauce..

Recipe says to leave to get cold, I ate them hot however.

Taste

To be honest I found it a bit plain, you can't get over the fact that it is really a white sauce and not mayonnaise. The recipe does say you can add some mustard powder if available but of course, I do not have any available though I think it would have improved the dish considerably.
I was hesitant to  use any more of my precious cheese ration, I livened mine up by adding raw garlic and red onion but I know that is not to everyone;s taste.

No picture I am afraid, the only vinegar I have is balsamic so it looked like brown sludge  (yes, yes I know all the middle class problems jokes).