Do You Remember When.......

Cooking in days past.

My goodness, I was just looking at an air cooker online and it took me back to the days when my siblings and I were young. To some of you, this will no doubt sound absolutely yuk! But in my darling parent's defence as well as all parents back then, there were no refrigerators and freezers, just your average council house ready built pantry and the kitchen cabinet.

The yuk bit? I distinctly recall my dear Mum buying two large blocks of LARD every two weeks. No such luxury as Oil or Oven chips back then. If we were having home-made chips for dinner, into the large basket chip pan went a whole brick of lard.
Once all the chips were done, (and wow, did they taste fantastic at the time) mum would leave the lard to set hard again in the saucepan ready for the next time during the week when we kids without fail would be demanding more chips. She would just wash the basket out. Once the lard had set, she would then cover the pan with a large dinner plate and onto the shelf in the pantry it would go. If she needed lard for anything else that week, she would scoop out a spoonful from the chip pan to put in a frying pan for such as bacon (which dad had a whole side of bacon hanging on a hook in the pantry encased in some sort of netting, and just cut off the slices as and when he fancied some).

Breakfast ingredients all seemed to go into two large frying pans. The eye-level grill on the cooker was only ever used for Toast! Sausages, Bacon, Black Pudding, Fried Eggs and Fried Bread. No discrimination, they all went into the two pans wherever they fitted. And…. even that frypan Lard that had been used would not be wasted, once cold but before it had set, it would be poured into a special jug that Mum had and that I remember had lost its handle at some stage. Next time during the week that anyone wanted a fry-up for breakfast,(almost everyone most days as nine of us) that lard which had already been used, was used again and again as it gathered all the flavours from the breakfasts already cooked and eaten throughout the week.

The used chip lard and frying lard would only be discarded at the end of each week when another large block of fresh lard would be unwrapped and plonked into the chip pan to start its job all over again at the start of the next week.

LOL. Just typing this makes me think that the health- conscious of these times must be in danger of going swivel-eyed just from the thought of it!

Strange really, how times have changed. A dish of Jelly was always on the shelf in the pantry, ready to have condensed milk poured over it when served, so was a blancmange, maybe a rice pudding. Skimmed and Semi-skimmed milk were still a dream away, it was only full-fat milk back then in bottles, we kids always insisted that Mum shake the bottle first as the 'cream' on the top always seemed to float in our tea! There seemed to be only a choice of real Butter or Stork Margarine, Butter was the mainstay in our household, all 6 blocks of Kerrygold a week.
Stork was only ever used for the dozens upon dozens of jam tarts and apple pies Mum seemed to bake every single day. Bisto gravy powder or flour was the only additive available to help with making gravy for our dinners. Sausages seemed to explode every time they went into the frying pan.

Can anyone else think of how different times were when it came to cooking back in the days of the 50’s? Makes me chuckle now when I think of every mod con we have and the choice of foods.

Re: Do You Remember When.......

I can remember most of that. Yet we survived & there was no allergies to food or behaviour problems then. If a kid was a little sh&t, that is what they were.

Re: Do You Remember When.......

LOL, quite true Tiffany. My youngest brother, unlike the rest of us whom, when babies, enjoyed the occasional bottle of warm tea complete with sugar and milk, would when given the bottle, throw it with all the force of his little arms, right across the room! He hated Tea then, just as much as he does to this day. Another of my brother's seemed to exist solely on Mashed potatoes or Chips only with Tomato Ketchup for his dinner. Mum and Dad tried everything to get him to eat other foods without success. That went on right the way through childhood until he met his girlfriend (wife) and she subtly introduced him to the delights of other food tastes. (He eats anything and everything now).

Funny though, not one of us was ever overweight eating such unhealthy foods, and 'fat' children were quite a rarity.

Re: Do You Remember When.......

That brought back some memories, especially the lard in the chip pan. As kids, we used to watch it melt as it heated up getting more liquid until only a `crust` of lard remained floating on the top and that too slowly disappear. The lard was never filtered after use so got more and more discoloured as the days progressed. Never did us any harm eating chips a couple of times a week or having a good fry-up. (Still have one of those once a week except for the fried bread and sausages (replaced with healthier Quorn version).
I presume everyone had one of those cupboards with mesh doors to keep food fresh and away from flies, and, a thick stone shelf to put plated goods such as butter (Stork in our case) on?

Re: Do You Remember When.......

We must have been posh as we had a fridge - well, a large cubic biscuit tin sunk into the ground outside the back door which was used to keep milk and butter cool during the summer.
My mum was never much of a cook - I didn't realise vegetables could be tasty until I had left home. Her idea of cooking a cauliflower, for example, was to cut it in half and boil it until it was a grey mush. My nan was a much better cook and her cakes and pies were unbelievable. She never measured anything yet they always came out perfect.
On the subject of lard, one of our favourite delicacies was the 'dripping' left over from a roast dinner. This stayed in the larder in an earthenware bowl and was used for wonderful bread and dripping sandwiches!! MMMMMMM!!

Re: Do You Remember When.......

Shrops your evocative account of your Mum cooking with lard and the chip pan brought back memories I thought had long gone .
I have to say it has me in tears ,that’s how it was in our house too.

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Yes indeed we did with both Judd. No such thing as weighing scales or measuring jugs either, you only saw scales and weights in the shops sold by the pounds and ounces. (Lord, I do miss our old pounds and ounces).
I especially look back in fondness at the bottles of Pop Mum ordered off 'Jack the Coop Man' who used to deliver all the groceries on his come and buy it van every week.
Corona pop - we used to have 2 x bottles Lemonade, 2 x bottles of Cherryade, 2 x bottles of Orangeade and 1 each of Limeade and Cream Soda pop delivered. YUM! that once a week delivery tasted fantastic along with a KitKat each and several comics to read, The Dandy, Beano Lion, Tiger, Topper and Beezer for my brothers and Bunty, Mandy and Judy for me. (I was a sucker for those plastic bangles they gave away for free!)

Re: Do You Remember When.......

Yes. Lots of different things. No fridge but, being on a farm, we had fresh milk every day. Lots of it. Not pasteurised of course. And we had hens so a ready supply of fresh eggs. My father was a good gardener so we had fruit and veg on hand.

We had beef cattle but they were sold. However, we had a butcher and a grocer who delivered.

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They were, I don't remember ever seeing an over weight kid when I was a kid, despite the food we ate, most of it home cooked & fresh. Though school dinners left a lot to be desired.
We were I think more active then. We had bikes, go carts, made usually by our Dad's or male relatives, & scooters to play on/with. We had no i phones or computers in those days either, we were very active.

Re: Do You Remember When.......

I remember my Dad eating that regularly.