I first learned of the existence of Waldorf salad from Fawlty Towers. Like Basil, I had no idea what it was:
Customer: “Could you make me a Waldorf salad?”
Basil: “Waldorf salad. I think we’re just out of Waldorfs.”
But by the end of the episode – unlike Basil – I was pretty clear on how to make one:
Customer: “No! No cheese! It’s celery, apples, walnuts, grapes!”
Basil: “Right!”
Customer: “In mayonnaise!”
Basil: “Right!”
The blackberries are ripening early this year. I gathered two big bowlfuls this morning, plenty for a delicious blackberry-apple kuchen.
This yeasted apple streusel cake is less sweet than your typical coffee cake. The cake itself is quite light and is enhanced by the crunch of the streusel topping. I’d intended to make it for an afternoon snack, but the day got away from me and I ended up serving it with dinner.
Turns out that it’s also very nice accompanied by a nip of brandy…
The apple streusel cake recipe I followed comes from the For Love of the Table blog. Continue reading
There are lots of recipes for Dorset apple cake around. Having tried a few, I’ve settled on this one.
This lovely cake is surprisingly light, fresh and lemony. I always make it with Bramley apples, liking their tartness and they way they become so fluffy when cooked. Plus we have a tree in the garden… Continue reading
Apple crumble is one of the first things that my mum taught me to cook, as I imagine her mother must have taught her. Crumble always on the menu at my grandparent’s house: apple, plum, peach are the ones I remember best. She would serve it with tinned milk, cheaper and more readily available than cream. While Britain excels in the realm of cream – the range on offer in Canada is far more limited even now.
I was surprised to learn that crumble originated in World War II Britain, when food rationing meant pies were off the menu. Women made crumbles instead to eke out their supplies of butter and sugar. Which leaves me wondering why my English-born grandmother was such a crumble queen – given that she emigrated to Canada in 1927. Continue reading
I love applesauce – such bright, cheerful stuff, and a great way to reduce a trug of apples from our trees down to size. Every autumn, I make several batches to freeze for the winter. Our apples are pretty tart, so I generally add some sugar, but it’s not necessary.
I always make applesauce in a pot on the hob. My mum used to make it in the pressure cooker. I’m not sure why, as it’s so quick to make, but she did. In one of my earliest memories, I was sitting at the kitchen table while Mum was making applesauce. There was a problem with the pressure cooker lid, and she called for my dad to help. Continue reading
It wasn’t that easy finding a Dutch World Cup meal I thought we’d all enjoy eating, especially as a lot of the food seemed more like winter fare. I eventually settled on slavinken — ground meat seasoned with herbs and wrapped in bacon before being panfried – which I served with appelmoes (applesauce). If I make these again, I’ll cook six and freeze six for another meal — Adam ate two, but the rest of us were fine with one. Continue reading
Easier to eat than regular meusli, and a cold alternative to porridge in the summer months.
Apparently it was “invented” by the Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a pioneer of holistic health, who served it to patients in his sanitorium. Continue reading
Ten More Bites 