Step 1. Remove brains

As a child this line horrified and intrigued me. It’s the first line in a handwritten recipe in a cookbook which sat on our shelf as I grew up. One of my great grandmother’s in a collection of cookbooks which I am privileged to say are now sitting safe and sound on my own kitchen shelf.

They aren’t mine to keep, just to keep safe and learn from before they are passed on to family. The collection’s earliest book dates from 1908 and are mostly from my great-grandmother and grandmother, (Nanan). They are filled with newspaper clippings, notes in the margins and handwritten recipes shared between friends, written on the back on envelopes, shopping lists, bridge cards and even a solicitors’ letter.

As I grew up I was always drawn back to the books, fascinated by unusual ingredients, practical solutions and an astonishing level of assumed skill (I refer back to the ‘remove brains’, no other instruction or tips on this one!)

I still love to study these and I’m going to put them (and me!) to the test trying some of the recipes in my own kitchen.

Note: special request from husband not to start with this one!