Eggs in a Nest

 

Golly, I can't wait to try this retro recipe!  eggs in a nest, how cute is that!

Especially as I gathered some scallop shells from Takapuna Beach last month and had been wondering what kind of nifty little cocktail bites I could use them for.

The thought of piping  a decorative mashed potato border around the edges would never have occurred to me until I saw this recipe on p.242 of the 1976 edition of the Good Housekeeping Family Cookbook. So much healthier than the scallops mornay which were one of my dinner party pieces many moons ago.

Ingredients:



450 grams of potatoes
25 grams of butter
a little milk
salt and pepper
4 eggs
50 grams of cheese (grated)

Boil the potatoes, drain well and mash, add the butter and beat until smooth. Pipe or fork a border of this creamed potato round 4 scallop shells or individual dishes ( or put the potato into a greased oven dish and make 4 hollows in it) Break an egg into each dish (or hollow)  and sprinkle with salt , pepper and grated cheese. Bake in the centre of the oven at 180 degrees C until the eggs are set (about 15 minutes)
 

The seventies as I never knew them.

This morning I found a copy of the Good Housekeeping Family Cookbook ( revised edition 1976) in the Milford Anglican Opshop. It's a riveting read which as it says " forms in itself a complete kitchen library."



 On page 761 was some advice on how to serve coffee:



" With coffee we are back in the domain of the hostess. At formal gatherings it should be served away from the table, in the comfort of the sitting room. And though the "ladies" are no longer obliged to "withdraw ,it's a natural break for them to go upstairs and repair their make-up if they want to. The hostess should ascertain exactly how each guest wants his or her coffee , and hand the filled cups. Then the host can take over the duties of offering liquers, cigarettes or cigars, and the conversation can continue. This formula is equally suitable for less formal occasions, though it depends on personal tastes and circumstances."



Well, that was England in the seventies while we kiwis were running around in jeans and drinking Nescafe from pottery mugs !

 

Good Food, Good Grief, Good God

This community cookbook was published by the Auckland Diocesan Catholic Women's League also known as Te Roopu Wahine a te Haahi Katorika in 1987.

The Catholic Women’s League began in New Zealand in 1931 in the Auckland Diocese,

There are no photographs but lots of homely recipes and quotations which exhorted the women of the diocese to lead a good Christian Life.. Here are a couple:



"It is good to have money, and the things money can't buy. But it is as well to check up occasionally to make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy."

 by Lord Cobham



And



Thank God for dirty dishes
They have a tale to tell
While others may go hungry
We've eaten very wel
With home and health and happiness
We shouldn't want to fuss
For by the stack of evidence
God's been very good to us!

anonymous



Here's some of the recipes I have tried.

The  'piklets' turned out to be pikelets. There were 3 recipes for these. The first two included cream of tartar ( the Edmond's cookbook does not use this ingredient, but l have noticed it in other community cookbooks of that era .



Pikelets are really just unsweetened or slighlty sweetened mini pancakes,traditionally served with jam and cream.




Piklets:



1 cup of flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 egg
3/4 cup of milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp of melted butter



Method:



Sift all the ingredients together, beat egg and milk together. Stir gently into the dry ingredients, add melted butter, stir lightly then do not stir again. Cook on greased skillet.

The second recipe was for Never Fail Piklets. The ingredientswere the same except that a teaspoon of golden syrup was added and the method which follows was different:





Method:

Beat the egg and sugar until thick, add milk and mix well. Sift flour and other dry ingrdients, and add alternately with milk. Melt butter and syrup and fold in.

The third recipe was similar to that in the Edmon'd cookery book but with less sugar



Piklets
1 cup of flour
1 desseretspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3/4 cup of milk
1 tablespoon of butter
1 egg

Sift together flour, bakign poswder, salt, add sugar, mix in beaten egg, add ilk, Fold in melted butter. Mix lightly.



An easy recipe for a Tomato Chutney



2 lb of tomatoes , cut
2 tsp salt
1 tsp of basil, oreganum or mixed herbs
2 tb of ghee or oil
2 tbs of honey
Pinch of cinnamon  ( optional)

Heat oil, add tomatoes, herbs and spices.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until thick
Stir in honey

Good with fired milk curd, stuffed vegetables, rissoles and vegetable pies)



This recipe for coconut loaf is one I used to make , but I lost the recipe so good to find it again.



Coconut Loaf



1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of coconut
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup of sugar
vanilla essence

Place flour, coconut, baking powder, milk sugar and vanilla  in a bowl and mix well. Turn into a greased 19 cm loaf tin .Bake at 180 degrees C for 1 hour. Use plain, buttered or iced.





And not to be  missed:


Irish Coffee

1 cup of cream
sugar
whiskey
fresh strong black coffee

In a chilled bowl, whip the cream. Spoon 2 tablespoons of whiskey, 1-2 tablespoons of sugar into each glass, stir ingredients together, fill not quite to the top with coffee and stir, carefully float the cream over the top