Cooking .......

Is anyone else wondering why a police commander is in charge of the NZ mining crisis? With all due respect and while I am sure he is a very able man, should there not be a Specialist Mine Rescue Team there? Just wondering, and praying for those poor men underground and their families who wait. Apparently one is 17 and was working his first shift. And then there is the flooding in the Chinese mine as well.....

Ah, these disasters focus our minds, don't they, and make us so very thankful for so many things we take for granted on a daily basis.

Once upon a time, Geoff used to travel the oceans with his companies, and apart from a small area in SE Asia, they knew that piracy was not an issue to concern them. Then it spread. And when his route headed for West Africa, and the Far East, it became very evident that piracy was a real and present danger. They started practicing ways to repel boarders. Just like in those old sea-going novels. And off West Africa one time, they had to actually put their drills into practice. Fortunately they won the battle and the pirates were dispatched overboard. But suddenly, what was a mere theory and not a real worry, became very real indeed.

And we used to take for granted the fact that a huge ship would be safe. Oh no it is not. Not in 21C. Ironic, isn't it. In some respects, we seem to be going backwards. Piracy.

On a more prosaic note, please email me any stunning pork fillet (tenderloin) recipes. They were on offer and I thought I would buy some. Then realised that all my own recipe books were left in the mountains, and so I started trawling the internet. However, personal recipes are much more fun, so help? Please?

In the meantime, Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings are in the oven, and making the house smell wonderful. Who cares about hips anyway.........

21. Recipes shared among friends

When I got married, many moons ago, we did not have bridal showers. We had Kitchen Teas. All the female guests arrived clutching whatever the bridesmaids told them to bring - kitchen utensils ranging from wooden spoons to bread bin sort of things. Nothing wildly pricey. And along with their anonymous gift, they brought a recipe on a card from their own personal favourites. The bride then had to guess who the gifts were from, and a fun party was had by all.

I am sure I have talked about this before, and how after 25 years, my SA friends all bemoaned the fact that they needed another Kitchen Tea to replace aged utensils. It was a simpler time then, and very practical. And fun.

But I still have all those recipes written BY HAND. I remember individuals from their handwriting, and I am SO glad we had that tradition. I still make some of those dishes, and the memories they bring back are wonderful. Even the cooking terms used. It is all very different now. Not bad, just different.

So today, I am thankful for those old recipes. And I also have some recipe books I helped create for school funds, and one from the church I grew up attending. They too, are filled with faces, as well as recipes, in my mind.

My own recipe books are splattered with ingredients and very odd looking, but they have things like "Ros's crumble", "Sue's prawn dip", "Jean's scones", Moregranny's biscuits", "Auntie Erica's ginger cream" on their pages......... And there are times when I think I should put it all on the computer, but I hesitate, because my Granny wrote her crustless Milktart recipe in my book herself. My Mum has written in it too. It is mine. Priceless. Full of memories. Like the shortbread disaster, the church bazaars, Auntie Myra, stirring fudge, and Cathy's pears in wine. And Janet's Norwegian Kisses, now known to generations as Custies.

I can't change it. It is an heirloom now. There is history in those pages, and it makes me smile.

And that is a warm and happy feeling.