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If I had to choose a dessert to epitomise the sixties, this would be on the Top 3 list.  The fact that its served in a freaking pineapple just says so much about this dish. LOOK AT ME I CAN AFFORD PINEAPPLES!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I give you Marguerite Patten's American Chocolate Pudding.  It has walnuts, it has cream, it is amazing. Serve it to your friends, serve it to your enemies, serve it to your grandmother.  If you do, you will make friends and influence people when they realise you are brandishing an American Chocolate Pudding.

First post for 2014, well only 5 months late.  But let me make it up to you with Chocolate!

There is a distinct lack of seafood recipes on this blog.  The main reason is that I don't really do seafood, and the idea of it makes me turn a little green. But, I know that the hundreds (HAHAHA) of emails and comments that I get on this blog each week do request that I do a few more seafood related posts.  So here is one... and as we're on a theme of soups and chowders today, this one is quite apt.

The temperature has dropped here in Exeter.  And now is the perfect time to start looking at Soup and Chowder recipes for an instant hot savory fix.

For someone that writes about food, has a general preoccupation with culinary matters and mixes with those who have brilliant gastronomic taste, I have very crude food tastes.  And the idea of Nettle Soup doesn't really do anything for me, despite the majority of people who I have spoken to over the years who have said how nice it is. I encourage you to give it a go.  If it is nice, tell me and it might encourage me even more to go and pick some and see what happens!  Nettles are a free and abundant plant, but be careful you pick from a spot that you know has not been treated with weed killer.

A few notes with this recipe.  First off it needs gelatine, so make sure you inform any vegetarians who you might be offending.  Alternatively you could try using pectin, but the consistency might suffer if you do so it might need a bit of tweaking to make a vegetarian-friendly version. It requires lots of Ginger Biscuits, so by default I am in love with this recipe already just by reading it!

The great thing about Christmas is presents.  Sometimes, however, it isn't that easy to fork out lots of money for presents especially when you know that the stuff you're buying them could be easily made yourself with all that spare time that you might or might not have. Our friend Hannah makes fudge for people, normally different flavours in different wrappings, but all hand made.  It is a sweet idea (literally) that has given me a few ideas myself for Christmas presents. Marguerite Patten is a great lover of sweets and nice things, as well as the staple 'Roast Beef' stuff she has many other books dedicated to sweets and making thereof.

Beef Bourguignon is one of those classic 'childhood' recipes, a staple classic that your mum shows you how to make before you disappear to university and ultimately fending for yourself. It can be slow cooked, or like this recipe, it can be used in a Fondue. This is a party piece, a classic sixties non-cheese fondue.  There is quite a bit of prep, but it'd be perfect for that authentic sixties/seventies feel to any themed occasion.

Without a doubt the best part of Christmas is the excuse to have Mulled Anything.  Wine and Cider tend to be the traditional choices, but here is a fascinating little recipe for Mulled Ale!

A theme tonight.  Now its the sister of the Christmas Pudding, again this needs lots of brandy!  Christmas Cakes have mixed origins, but take a gander at this lovely website to get the full fascinating history.

Love it of loathe it, that time of year is bearing down on us.  It is about this time the foodies among us, start thinking about Christmas Pudding, which takes a lonnng time to make if you do it properly. So I invite you to have a go at Marguerite Patten's version, and see if you can make one just like you used to have when you were a kid (hopefully a good thing).

Moist Chocolate Sandwich.  Very much a variation on a theme, but a quite delicious theme.  

I have such good memories of this recipe.  It reminds me of that quintessentially English past time of High Tea or even being a young lad at the village Fete etc. It is also pretty easy, as most of Marguerite Patten's recipes are.  If you don't like Orange, you can use Lemon rind instead.

Another amazingly easy recipe from the hayday of the Beatles... This recipe is in anticipation that we might actually have a summer.  My mum always makes this recipe, and although the whole 'bread-as-pudding' concept is not one I can quite get my head around it is always enjoyable with lashings of custard.

I present most probably the easiest recipe ever.  If you are terrified of baking, this is a good place to start.

I love Walnuts.  That is all.

The Victoria Sponge or Sandwich, as it is referred to here.  See the previous post for the Chocolate Layer Sponge, which relies on this recipe for the basic sponge recipe. The Victoria Sponge has a relatively unremarkable history , but it is the very notion of the British act of High Tea.  It is also a very difficult recipe to get truly perfect.

Seems to be the most logical idea really, start at the first card rather than pick random cards.  Further efforts to digitise the Marguerite Patten Cookery Card Index. I did cave in and buy some more cookery cards today, but I'll whitter on about that in my next post. This is a really basic sponge recipe.  But it opens itself for modification and 'jazzing up'.  I have to admit, this is a slightly pointless recipe unless you have all the cards lying around.  The Victorian Sponge recipe, is pretty basic anyway, but I might jump ahead and scan in Card 31 and Card 2, just to give my efforts some validity.