My oh my, if you look in my kitchen drawers at all of the utensils and cooking equipment available today compared to our Mother’s equipment, what a vast difference.
On the windowsill in the kitchen Mum kept her assortment of wooden spoons in a jug, in the cupboard under the sink along with the saucepans, were baking trays, a round grater, colander, egg beater and potato masher. In the utensil drawer were an assortment of forks, knives, serving spoons, bean slicer, lemon zester, knife sharpener and slotted spoons. Now where have the slotted spoons disappeared to? They were great when mixing puddings and cakes when a beater wasn’t required.
In later years mum acquired a Sunbeam Electric Mixmaster which she stored in a cupboard along with her kitchen scales together with the metal weights.
Enamel bowls and pie plates, ceramic pudding bowls, mixing bowls, a small selection of salad bowls, a rolling pin and Martin Boyd rammekins took up about 80 cm wide and 90 cm high cupboard space.
My sister Marilyn spoiled her one year by buying a Le Creuset casserole which was much used, and still in use today by Marilyn.
The pressure cooker was used primarily for making soup and Chow Mein. Loved Mum’s Lamb Shank and Vegetable Soup, would you like the recipe? Well so would I, but will have a go as to what I remember, and thanks to my darling sister who reads my blogs I am sure she will be able to enlighten me further. I love getting her input.
Cut up or grate carrots, swede, turnip, chop onions and celery. Add to saucepan together with 1/2 cup pearl barley, one lamb shank and cover with water, season, then cook in pressure cooker for a rapid result or cook in a normal saucepan for a couple of hours until meat falls of the bone.
Keep the soup on the stove overnight, no not really, not with the heating we have in our homes nowadays. Our kitchen was usually pretty cool, so yes, the soup was left on the stove. Should there be left overs, add water from the next days vegetables to enable a second serving.
Chow Mein was a result of having quite an influx of Chinese into the country, not sure who wrote the first recipe but ours came from a pack of Continental Chicken Noodle Soup. Following is Mum’s recipe
1 tabs oil, 1/2 pound beef mince, 1 teasp curry powder, 1 onion sliced, 2 stalks of celery sliced, 1 cup sliced green beans, 1/2 cabbage finely shredded, 1 pkt Continental Chicken Noodle Soup, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 tabs rice.
Heat oil, brown mince, add curry powder, vegetables, soup mix, rice and water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until mince is cooked. Or as we had it, well done!
Now for my recipe –
1 slurp of olive oil, 500 gram beef mince, 1/2 tablespoon of curry powder, one onion diced, 2 stalks of celery sliced, 1 cup of sliced green beans, 1/4 – 1/2 cabbage depending on size, sliced, 1 packet of Continental Chicken Noodle Soup, good slurp of two of Dry Sherry
Heat oil in saucepan, add meat and curry powder, cook until meat it brown, add vegetables and soup mix, stir well, add sherry, stirring well again, turn heat down to low and cook for about 10 -15 minutes. Re-heat when ready to serve. I always serve the Chow Mein with Fried Rice.
1 quantity of cooked rice, 1 tabs of oil, 4 shallots sliced, 1 rasher of bacon diced, 2-3 shitake mushrooms, 1/4 – 1/2 cup of peas, 1/4 teasp. sesame oil, 2 teasp. soy sauce. Heat oil, add rice and bacon, cook for about 3 minutes, add sesame oil, shallots, mushroom and peas, cook for about 5 minutes, stir in soy sauce. Reheat when ready to serve.
I usually prepare these two dishes earlier in the day then put the rice and chow mein in the bowls I am going to serve them in, cover and microwave them till heated through.
sallyburke2 
I think that Andrew may have taken the split spoons. M
LikeLike
He did, but what I meant was that you can’t buy them anymore
LikeLike