This is very much a dessert from the 70s. Brandy Alexander Pie together with its twin Grasshopper Pie were all the fashion back then. They are basically the same recipe but this one has brandy and creme de cacao and the other has creme de menthe and creme de cacao. I liked this one, but I think you can see why they both went out of favor.
Ham is one of the things that has changed enormously on our table and in our cooking over the years. In Australia it wasn’t served very often. At Christmas the big treat was chicken, not turkey or ham which were very American and not available as they are today. The only way we saw large pieces of ham at our house was from a tin – the best brand being Mayfair. This old recipe at first glance sounds a bit strange, but the combination of ham, mustard, ginger and pineapple could taste quite good, I think I’d top it with a bit of cheese though. Might be worth retrying with a better quality piece of ham?
This is a recipe I used to make for dinner parties in the 1980s. Mum must have asked for the recipe and my daughter wrote it out for her and added the lovely drawing. Needless to say she did not go onto becoming an artist….
This recipe is in my brother’s lovely flowing handwriting, which means that my sister-in-law gave to Mum back in the 60s. Mum used to make it for casserole style entertaining and it tasted quite good, although personally I was never that fond of the tinned pineapple, you can use fresh pineapple instead if you have the same problem. You need around 750g of sausages.
These were definitely an afternoon tea delight. Coming home from school to find some of them left on a plate after Mum’s friends had gone home was a marvellous treat. With a bit of luck there were a few sandwiches and other goodies left as well. Argh, the good old days when there was time to have fancy afternoon teas………………….
As you can see this recipe comes from a publication called WOMAN and is dated November 12, 1951. Must admit I’ve never heard of the magazine, but fruit crumbles have been around for a long, long time so it’s not surprising this recipe dates back that far. The difference with this recipe is that it uses bananas mixed in with the apples and I think that would taste great, especially with a little ice cream or cream on top.
Mum made quiches with lots of different ingredients, but I think this crustless one with Chorizo sausages was was a bit of a departure from her usual style. I think she would have found it quite a change from the bacon or ham she usually used.
Rabbit was a much more common ingredient when I was growing up and although it’s not as popular or as readily available these days it can still taste good if cooked correctly. The secret is to make the meat tender, but not dry. This is one of the recipes that Mum used.
This a classic slice recipe, not just for my family, but for many Australian families. I’ve started with Mum’s original handwritten version and then added the typed version from my own recipe collection. On the side I’ve added the metric conversions. To be honest I’m not sure when Mum first started making it but I’ve dated it from the 1950s . I do know though that it still tastes great.
What did we do before coconut cream in a can? The answer is in this old recipe of Mum’s. She may not have had canned coconut cream or a jar of curry simmer sauce or paste, but Mum’s curried sausages were still great and you can see by the age of her recipe that she’d been making them for a long, long time.
CURRIED SAUSAGES
Put coconut in saucepan with cupful of stock or water. Bring to boil, boil for a few minutes. Strain off liquid, discard coconut. Fry flour and curry powder in a little fat for a few minutes, add liquid from coconut, add sugar and lemon, stir well. Cook until smooth, pour into saucepan. Fry sausages till brown add to curry sauce. Slice onion and apple, fry till brown in little of sausage fat. Drain. Add to sausage and curry sauce. Cook slowly for 1 hour. Rice or chutney may be added.
