Episode 1: Bahamas 1967-1969

A bit of context: personal, historical and gastronomical!

Dad is the son and grandson of miners in County Durham; passing the 11 plus, he went to grammar school and then to University, training as a civil engineer. Mum was born in Somerset, and left school to work in the bank. Mum and dad met when dad joined a major civil engineering firm and went to take charge of a small part of a big project in Somerset. As well as wanting to succeed in work, he wanted to meet girls, so he and a friend joined the Young Conservatives there, and went on an outing to a BBQ. Also on that outing was my mum and one of her friends...and so mum and dad started dating.

After a time they talked about getting engaged, but dad was offered the chance to work in Fiji, and so they decided that dad should take up the offer, and they would get engaged when he got home, which they did. They married in June 1960, and spent some time in West Africa as well as the UK. Mum remembered dad had a more cosmopolitan approach to food than she did when they were first married, and asked her to make spaghetti Bolognaise...he described it as spaghetti with tomato sauce. Mum went out and bought dried spaghetti, and a tube of tomato purée which she squeezed over the cooked pasta...dad dutifully ate it!

I was born in 1962, and my brother was born in 1965. In June of 1967, dad was offered a post in charge of a project in Nassau, and so off we went for 2 and a half years. It was here that mum and dad met people who became great friends of theirs, and these people had also been working abroad, in places that had been influenced by American customs and food. As part of his job, dad had to entertain, and so it was that mum and dad began to go out for cocktails, and to host dinner parties for visiting company men and wives, and for their friends and families.

Various events stand out as events of those times: in 1967, Puppet on a String won Eurovision for the UK, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band was released, and Concord was unveiled. In 1968, Dad’s Army was aired for the first time, the Hong Kong Flu pandemic started, and Martin Luther King was assassinated. In 1969, man finally walked on the moon, Monty Python’s Flying Circus was on tv, and the halfpenny ceased to be legal tender. So much progress!

Gastronomically, it seems to be the time for more convenience food: angel delight, jelly and custard, Fray Bentos pies, and Smash. We had a freezer for the first time in Nassau, says dad, and so food could be stored more easily.

And so mum started keeping her dinner party planner, with the names of everybody who was invited, and the food that was served...

Comments

Episode 1, Bahamas, part 3: the actual dinner party

So, having made decisions, time to put them into practice. I invited 2 friends (thank you, Diane and Tina!) for this first retro dinner party, and it took me a very relaxed 2 days to make the preparations. First, the cocktail: the Moonwalk, made in honour of the moon landing, and supposedly the first thing given to the astronauts as they arrived back on earth. I purposefully didn’t try it before the dinner, as I wanted it to be a surprise for me as well as my guests…and it was gorgeous! Light, refreshing, and then a nice kick. Recipe: 1 measure of grapefruit juice (I used the bigger side of those measuring cups that come with cocktail shakers), 1 measure of Grand Marnier (well, I used Cointreau, because that was the orange liqueur that I had in the house) a couple of drops of rose water (I don’t know that I’d worry about including that again, because I couldn’t taste it) and 2 measures of sparkling wine, per person. I got 6 glasses out of the bottle, and rather happy we were… Star...

First real post, honest: an explanation of the title.

Probably I ought to explain the title of the blog? To be honest, I’m fairly certain I ought to, or risk possible arrest... In February this year (2021) my mum passed away (honestly, I’m explaining the title, not confessing something awful...) and during the grief and sorrow, of missing mum but looking after dad, and cooking in mum’s kitchen, I realised that the place I most missed mum was in that kitchen. Every where I looked was something that she had taught me to use, or a place I would sit or stand while she cooked and I watched or both of us cooked together, or her recipe books and folders of dishes that were part of her repertoire and had become part of mine. So I started to look properly through her books and folders, and pulled out one that I’d been aware of, but hadn’t fully explored: her dinner party planner. She and dad had always had people round to dinner, and been to friends’ houses, but I hadn’t seen the whole picture. Mum had kept a dinner party planner, not just oc...

Beef Stroganoff perfection...well, I think so!

I commented in the last couple of blog entries about beef stroganoff and my trials and tribulations: well, I think I have now cracked it! After the awful version that I served my dad and brother, I felt I needed to show them that I could actually cook it for a dinner party setting. So, with mum's recipe, and some of her methods, with a slow cooker and tips and hints from the Good Food Facebook group, I succeeded...as follows: For 3 or 4 people Ingredients: 225g steak per person 2 level tsp flour, salt and pepper 225g sliced mushrooms 225g chopped onions 1 tsp crushed garlic 1 tbsp oil 50g butter dash of sherry dash of lemon juice 1 can of consommé (you might need a second can, or you could just use some extra stock) 150ml sour cream 2 tsp cornflour The steak...well, because it's going in a slow cooker, it doesn't have to be best quality. I used rump, which obviously is more expensive than stewing steak, but it did turn out gorgeously melting. Mushrooms, I just used plain ...

Cooking my mother...time travelling through food

Search This Blog