My son calls them Devils Bogeys. Never has been keen on sprouts, I could eat a whole plateful. My daughter weaned her boys on sprouts and parsnips, they still eat them now.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Lyn, depends on how you were brought up in this life. Mother cooked a meal 75% came from our own produce, it was tasty wholesome and what was on the plate was what you ate, no choices. If you were faddy you went hungry until you decided enough and ate what was in front of you. Wartime Rationing also reduced choice, reduced sugar sweets and we relied on what we had in our small holding, what Dad could grow. Everything in season although we were expert in preserving everything from the seasons glut. I have no memory of being hungry or being bored with my food, I watch the grandchildren turn there noses up at some things and smile, they have a choice we had none. It makes me think who were the lucky ones. A friend wrote she had made the cakes and puddings something I had until my Wife passed away, I miss the smell of the cooking the adding of the spirit to the cake every week and then the taste. The bought puddings and cakes I eat now with my Family on Christmas day are not the taste I remember. Frank.
Still got my Ration Book Frank! My daughter is strict with her two, they eat what’s on the plate, but then they were weaned on veg and savoury, not apple pudding etc out of jars and tins.
I was like a stick insect as a child, most times hungry, but had enough to keep going, as you say, no sweets, that was a bonus with rationing. Cant you teach one of your daughters to make the pudding for Christmas, easiest thing ever to cook, takes minutes to prepare.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
"Ah" Lyn, they can cook my Mother and Wife taught them as Mother taught me saying men should be able to look after themselves if the time came, she was right the time did come. We used to have "Pudding Sunday or stir up day" from being as early as I can remember. Every family member went to Grandma's in North Ormsby carrying fruit flour sugar eggs, that was us we had the chickens and of course beer rum and well scrubbed sixpences. Huge bowls would have the mix measured into them and the stirring began, it was hard work and seemed to take hours to us kids every one had a go and meanwhile a huge meal would be prepared based on Pork and Ham from us we had the pigs as well plus fresh vegetables from the gardens. The cakes would go in well lined tins the puddings into bowls and be sealed all ready to take home after dinner (lunch if you are a Southerner) where we kids would be sitting at a huge table among the adults, it taught us manners. getting home the cakes would be in the oven for four hours or so and the puddings in the big steamer for eight hours, the smell was gorgeous.
My daughters buy the cakes and puddings because few of us eat them now they much prefer something chocolate, the contents can now cost a lot more than the cakes you buy which tells me something, and where made cakes could last weeks bought ones dry up. Funnily after I lost my wife I did make the cake and pudding and it all vanished, I think the speed of modern living may have something to do with not making your own. Frank.
When they were tiny all our grandchildren used to take sprouts by the handful, then they went through the classic phase of turning their noses up at them. Now two of them will eat them again, the youngest said recently "they are just miniature cabbages really" that kid will go far! At least the recent couple of frosts will mean both the sprouts & parsnips will be tender & sweet. I remember coming home from the Allotments with my dad with hands blue with cold from picking sprouts on Christmas morning. We still eat seasonally as much as possible with most of it coming from my plots now, but we do buy things like Christmas pudding for the same reason as Frank gave, not many people eat it now & it's too much faf to make it. One of our family favourites it my OH's home made apple strudel using apples from our own trees (we freeze the excess crop).
My son calls them Devils Bogeys. Never has been keen on sprouts, I could eat a whole plateful.
That made me snort coffee Lyn. Have to remember that. I could also eat a plateful. No heathens here Frank in that regard @Allotment Boy the youngest said recently "they are just miniature cabbages really" that kid will go far! That is what I call them, I never had a problem with non sweet ones. I can't ever remember a nasty tasting "mini cabbage"
Happy everything to everyone ....Happy Bah humbugs too
Allotment Boy,This is becoming Christmas past, Christmas brings back so many memories. Dad would say sprouts without a frost are not sprouts, I do not remember many winters we did not have early frosts though. I walked up the garden for our daily veg, it was a large walled garden with stables pig sty's hen and goose runs although Dad let them wander the garden, we never seemed to get caterpillars in the greens so that worked. All the walls had fruit trees and we had a small orchard, the fruit was harvested and preserved in Jams, Bottled and even dried though the stables were ideal for apple storage, I still love anything apple and remember my late Wife's apple charlotte with a watering mouth. The house and stables are still there, when Dad left, a four bedroom house was built on it, the loft over the stables became a flat and the rest three garages. The Garden was split into four and the last time I passed part was still growing some beautiful vegetables. Children often will not try things, I was picking up two Grandchildren from school and feeding them, I had instructions as to what vegetables they did not like, (most). I always cooked some mince all the veg separate then put it through a purifier and it went in the mince, they never noticed. I also did some nice lean beef as they would not eat meat, I would have that on my plate and one day Granddaughter asked if she could try it, they now eat all meats and it was topped of when my daughter came to collect them also eating with us, "Mum why can't we have food like this at home" she still talks to me. Frank.
Frank, you make me laugh ! I said to my OH last night, "Do you think every generation complains that Christmas isn't what it used to be, it was so much better in their day?" He replied that it was probably always thus, but in our case, it is right ! I am so glad I was born when I was, so that I can remember when Christmas was about one special present (if you were lucky), and feeling safe & loved. We were in the supermarket yesterday, and people were stocking trollies with selection boxes etc. and they all looked so bloomin' miserable. I know the political situation doesn't help, and I am sure people got stressed "back in the day" , but it seems that Christmas is now something to be endured. The only thing that saves me,is our neighbour's 3 year old son looking at the neighbours Christmas lights. The look on his little face gave me hope !
AnniD, Christmas is still what it always was, it starts earlier is all. There were Christmas things in the shop at the back end of August this year, why? We had Pudding Sunday in November although we knew they needed to mature so thoughts of presents never entered our heads. Two weeks before the date we would get the Christmas tree potted up then a week before it would be brought in and decorated, the Paper chains home made would be hung and out would come the paper decorations that folded up to be stored Bells and such opened up and clipped. We had gas light plus a single electric bulb in every room, we preferred the gas as it was soft warm and over the fire place so we could sit on the fender seats and read by a Deluxe three mantle light and keep warm as well. Most of the food came from our own garden, the hens had stopped laying way back but Mother had a big stone pot full of eggs stored in Isinglass which covered the shell and stopped air getting in, we could shell an egg drop it in the frying pan and it would be fresh as the day it was laid. It was always a goose on the day, Turkeys had not been invented apart from American movies, our own Ham and pork. Our presents appeared like magic after the stocking, always an orange sweets and some toy, i collected a mass of mechano then had to fight Dad to build things with it. New year was always a Cock bird the only time we ate chicken in the year another Christmas pudding and a big family do, next day it was all put away for the next year. Mother cooked the meal put out four plates and the dog bowl each got the same it was put in front of you and you ate it dog and all, (no we did not eat the dog). Peter he lived seventeen years on what we ate sprouts and all. I enjoy Christmas with the family but they do not have what we had and have to shop for everything, that is hard work, i understand the sour faces it is hard graft compared with just going up the garden. Frank
Posts
My daughter weaned her boys on sprouts and parsnips, they still eat them now.
Wartime Rationing also reduced choice, reduced sugar sweets and we relied on what we had in our small holding, what Dad could grow. Everything in season although we were expert in preserving everything from the seasons glut.
I have no memory of being hungry or being bored with my food, I watch the grandchildren turn there noses up at some things and smile, they have a choice we had none. It makes me think who were the lucky ones.
A friend wrote she had made the cakes and puddings something I had until my Wife passed away, I miss the smell of the cooking the adding of the spirit to the cake every week and then the taste. The bought puddings and cakes I eat now with my Family on Christmas day are not the taste I remember.
Frank.
My daughter is strict with her two, they eat what’s on the plate, but then they were weaned on veg and savoury, not apple pudding etc out of jars and tins.
I was like a stick insect as a child, most times hungry, but had enough to keep going, as you say, no sweets, that was a bonus with rationing.
Cant you teach one of your daughters to make the pudding for Christmas, easiest thing ever to cook, takes minutes to prepare.
We used to have "Pudding Sunday or stir up day" from being as early as I can remember. Every family member went to Grandma's in North Ormsby carrying fruit flour sugar eggs, that was us we had the chickens and of course beer rum and well scrubbed sixpences.
Huge bowls would have the mix measured into them and the stirring began, it was hard work and seemed to take hours to us kids every one had a go and meanwhile a huge meal would be prepared based on Pork and Ham from us we had the pigs as well plus fresh vegetables from the gardens. The cakes would go in well lined tins the puddings into bowls and be sealed all ready to take home after dinner (lunch if you are a Southerner) where we kids would be sitting at a huge table among the adults, it taught us manners.
getting home the cakes would be in the oven for four hours or so and the puddings in the big steamer for eight hours, the smell was gorgeous.
My daughters buy the cakes and puddings because few of us eat them now they much prefer something chocolate, the contents can now cost a lot more than the cakes you buy which tells me something, and where made cakes could last weeks bought ones dry up. Funnily after I lost my wife I did make the cake and pudding and it all vanished, I think the speed of modern living may have something to do with not making your own.
Frank.
Mmmhh... I like both, sprouts and marmite. Would definitely try it.
I could also eat a plateful.
No heathens here Frank in that regard
@Allotment Boy the youngest said recently "they are just miniature cabbages really" that kid will go far!
That is what I call them, I never had a problem with non sweet ones. I can't ever remember a nasty tasting "mini cabbage"
Happy everything to everyone
....Happy Bah humbugs too
All the walls had fruit trees and we had a small orchard, the fruit was harvested and preserved in Jams, Bottled and even dried though the stables were ideal for apple storage, I still love anything apple and remember my late Wife's apple charlotte with a watering mouth.
The house and stables are still there, when Dad left, a four bedroom house was built on it, the loft over the stables became a flat and the rest three garages. The Garden was split into four and the last time I passed part was still growing some beautiful vegetables.
Children often will not try things, I was picking up two Grandchildren from school and feeding them, I had instructions as to what vegetables they did not like, (most).
I always cooked some mince all the veg separate then put it through a purifier and it went in the mince, they never noticed. I also did some nice lean beef as they would not eat meat, I would have that on my plate and one day Granddaughter asked if she could try it, they now eat all meats and it was topped of when my daughter came to collect them also eating with us, "Mum why can't we have food like this at home" she still talks to me.
Frank.
We had Pudding Sunday in November although we knew they needed to mature so thoughts of presents never entered our heads. Two weeks before the date we would get the Christmas tree potted up then a week before it would be brought in and decorated, the Paper chains home made would be hung and out would come the paper decorations that folded up to be stored Bells and such opened up and clipped. We had gas light plus a single electric bulb in every room, we preferred the gas as it was soft warm and over the fire place so we could sit on the fender seats and read by a Deluxe three mantle light and keep warm as well.
Most of the food came from our own garden, the hens had stopped laying way back but Mother had a big stone pot full of eggs stored in Isinglass which covered the shell and stopped air getting in, we could shell an egg drop it in the frying pan and it would be fresh as the day it was laid. It was always a goose on the day, Turkeys had not been invented apart from American movies, our own Ham and pork.
Our presents appeared like magic after the stocking, always an orange sweets and some toy, i collected a mass of mechano then had to fight Dad to build things with it.
New year was always a Cock bird the only time we ate chicken in the year another Christmas pudding and a big family do, next day it was all put away for the next year.
Mother cooked the meal put out four plates and the dog bowl each got the same it was put in front of you and you ate it dog and all, (no we did not eat the dog). Peter he lived seventeen years on what we ate sprouts and all.
I enjoy Christmas with the family but they do not have what we had and have to shop for everything, that is hard work, i understand the sour faces it is hard graft compared with just going up the garden.
Frank