Of course, we weren't the only family who went through these hard times. The world was at war, and food was in short supply. Everyone just did the best they could I guess. I do remember having things like baked beans or scrambled eggs on toast, tomato or vegetable soup, and occasionally canned corned beef mashed into potatoes with 'mushy peas.' For those of you who have never eaten or tried mushy peas your missing out on a tasty treat.

Dried peas, are soaked overnight then cooked in salty water with a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of baking soda. A tablespoon of malt vinegar added after the peas are cooked enhances the flavor. I loved them then and still do, but they sure can give you gas, and usually send me into total orbit. As you can imagine, I don't have them too often anymore, they're far too dangerous.

Sometimes we had pancakes, not at all like the monster thick pancakes served in North America but little thin things, sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar. More like crepes I suspect. I remember that I didn't liked them very much, and I'm still not a great lover of pancakes even today.

I also remember having some weird things to eat too, like bread and warm milk covered with condensed milk. Brown sugar sandwiches with lard instead of butter. We even ate lard on toast sprinkled with a little salt, and I can clearly remember sitting on the front step of my Aunty Floss's house with my cousin John, both of us tucking into a sandwich of cocoa and sugar, sprinkled on bread, and spread no doubt, with the inevitable lard. Why I should remember this incidence I don't know, as it's of little consequence, but for some reason I do, and I remember John was making me laugh over something. He was a couple of years older than me and I thought he was wonderful. I guess it was just one of those jolly little memories that stay in the mind.

My granddad raised chickens too, so I imagine we were lucky and always had eggs, a luxury during those war time years. Egg and chips was a favorite dinner choice for us all. Sprinkled with salt and pepper, smothered with tomato ketchup, and eaten with slices of bread and butter, it was delicious. Later, when the war was over, baked beans and big fat sausages was added to this dish and it is still a favorite with my family today, and, I still make the chips (french fries) with fresh potatoes. Nowadays of course, we fry them in a light oil, but during the war that was unheard of, and we used slabs of melted lard instead. We don't have this meal too often nowadays, as I imagine it's very fattening, and not an altogether healthy food choice. You should try it though, it sure is good, and a quick, easy, and very tasty meal. By the way, if you decide to give it a try, you must definitely use Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce and of course Heinz tomato ketchup. At one time that was the only choice we had in Britain. Other brands came on the market after the war was over. At least that's how I remember it.

Unfortunately the English are well known for being very poor cooks, serving tasteless unseasoned food and often relying on tomato ketchup or Daddies Sauce spread over the cooked dish to add the needed oomph. We were lucky, as my mom was an excellent cook and always prepared meals which were full of flavor with lots of seasoning in them. There is one dish that my mom would prepare that does stick in my mind, and it's one that still makes my mouth water when I think of it. Creamed potatoes and buttered nips, a combination of swede, parsnips, and turnips, served with either canned corned beef or Spam and covered with what I thought was then, a delicious onion gravy. Made with a powdered gravy mix, very different from what we use today, now I think it's gross, but back then it was a treat. I think my mom added the onions to gussy the flavor up a bit. The corned beef I'm sure was a luxury, but I think we had canned Spam quite often as I remember we had it lots of times.

It was however the buttered nips that I enjoyed so much, although I doubt if there was much butter in them, especially during the war. When I was finally able to have my own veggie garden I couldn't wait to grow some of these wonderful little gems. Not so little though, the ones I grew always turned out quite large.

I planted rutabagas, parsnips, and turnips. Rutabagas are called swedes in England and I think it is this particular vegetable that adds so much flavor to casserole dishes and stews. When they are picked fresh, and not too big, they are quite a treat eaten raw and are great sliced thinly in a salad.

The instructions on the seed package informed me that parsnips are best harvested after a frost, and as we nearly always got frost in September in Alberta I did not have to wait too long. Would you believe that I had to get Terry to give me a hand to dig the bally things out of the ground. I swear they had grown clear down to Australia. They were huge. At first I thought they might be too 'woody' but fortunately I was wrong. They were sooo good, and there was oodles of them. In fact I not only had enough for the whole year, I was able to freeze them too. I just dry froze them, simply peeling, cutting them into cubes, and then putting them into airtight plastic bags. I never grew any last year and still have some in the deep freeze. They've probably lost some of their nutritional value but taste as good as ever. Well, that's my story for this week, next week I'll write a little piece about.

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