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B - Baking
Posted On: 08/22/2017 05:35:55

B – Baking

Today I thought about Baking a few cookies and Cakes to freeze for the occasions when the family comes home or friends come to visit.     Baking is something that I do very little of now unless our local Parish is holding a Fete or we are Catering for a function or Street Stalls to raise money for the school or Charities. … …..Gone too,  are the days when people could bake cakes, cookies etc. and take them into Aged Care  or Nursing home facility’s for the residents to enjoy some  “Home Made cooking”.    Having worked in An Aged Care Home for many years I know only too well how those resident’s enjoyed that food.   Once again it is prohibited because of Litigation Laws…..

 Personally I try to avoid eating too much cake or cookies.  Especially those ‘yummy ‘ rich slices made with chocolate, Milo, Peanut Butter, Mars Bars, Rum Balls  and so the list goes on !!....It’s much too easy to add extra weight that I really do not need to carry.

 My Mother, like all the women of that era was a great all round cook.   Scones especially were her specialty.  They just melted in one’s mouth…. She would whip them up in a flash    then put them on a tray to go into the Wood oven….On removing them she then would wrap them into a clean Tea Towel until they cooled.  This she said kept them moist and light   I remember my brother and I were allowed to cut the Scone Dough into either round or square shapes.   They were a great stand-by when we ran out of Bread.   My parents had but the one shopping day a week which was Thursday, when they would dress up in their best clothes and head off to the nearest Shopping centre some 10 miles away and stock up on supplies to last a week.

 When making Cakes or biscuits, after she had poured the mixture into the cake container we kids were allowed to grab a spoon and clean out what was left in the bowl …. For some unknown reason that mixture tasted extra ‘yummy’ .    When the baking was completed it was our task to wash the bowls, containers etc.  and put them away in the cupboard until next Baking Day.  There were times when Mum ran out of sugar or flour and it was my task to walk to the neighbour’s farm, usually with a large cup or Container, and ask the lady of the house if she could lend my mother the ingredient.     This she did, then the following Thursday after my parents returned home from their trip to the stores, Mum would measure the amount lent to her and I then took it back to the neighbour.     What do we do today if we run out of an ingredient??! ….. Grab the car keys and Jump into the car and drive to the Supermarket to buy it plus a few extra’s that we see on a ‘special’ ,  and grab them while it’s on a reduced price !!     Times surely have changed! …. Something my parents did not and could not do, simply because they didn’t have the money to buy extras.

 When my father was working out in the paddock ploughing or pruning the fruit trees in the orchard or the vines and it was school holidays, Mum would mix up a batch of scones then make a ‘Billy can” of tea (No Hot Flasks in those days) . Place the scones and 2 mugs into a basket and I would walk to the place where my father was working so that he could have his morning or afternoon Tea.  I shall never forget that when I walked up to my father he would stop what he was doing and say “Oh good, It’s “Crib Time”.. For years I wondered why he said this and what it meant. Then one day I discovered that before he married, he spent a few years working in the Mines at Broken Hill in New South Wales and when it came time for a meal break, The Miner’s called it ‘Crib Time”.  A term he continued to use thereafter. Apparently it is an old term used by the Cornish Miners many of whom migrated to parts of South Australia to work in the Copper mines here.

 When I left home to work in the Dry Cleaning establishment in Town, during those years I boarded with an Aunt & uncle.   Auntie Eileen was my Mothers sister. She too, was another fantastic Cook.  Her Sponge Cakes especially were something out of this world.    On Sunday mornings after we attended Church Services and returned home she would whip up a Sponge Roll using the ‘Hand held Egg Beater’, then put the mixture into a container to go into the wood oven.   After it was cooked she then rolled it up in a clean Tea towel until it had cooled.    After it had cooled she would spread Jam/Jelly and re-roll it.  This we ate for desert covered with lashings of fresh cream that was separated in the morning from the milk of the dairy cows..    What amazes me is that back in those days we ate good solid meals plus deserts, cakes, cookies and no-one was overweight!!.     Everyone was so active in those days as most chores/tasks had to be done physically by hand, plus most of the time we walked or rode bicycles everywhere.

 Here I must mention my cousin Brian one of their sons.  When friends came to visit, Brian would whip up fresh pancakes. They were so delicious that as fast as he made one batch they would disappear and he had to make another. This was something that he loved to do.   His reputation for making the best Pancakes and Pasties was well known around the district. Sadly they have all passed on now but the memories still linger of those wonderful people.



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Viewing 1 - 3 out of 3 Comments

08/27/2017 20:02:13



Altara3 wrote:

I enjoyed reading this, Pat.  It reminded me of my
Grandma, Mom's mother; she baked everything from pies and cakes to
bourbon balls,  as well as making candy. My favorite was chocolate
covered cherries!   I spent a lot of time visiting with her and Grandad
when I was little; and I'll never forget that the 'spare room' was
pretty much set aside--and kept cool--for the storage of all the candy
and baked goods.  We lived in a small town, so it was by word of mouth
that people knew about her baking. IT seemed there was always someone knocking on the door to either order or pick up baked goods or candy.


Her
'signature' item was Red Velvet Cake--made from scratch, of course. I
never did manage to make it just like she did!   Many years later,
commercial cake mixes came out with a recipe similar to hers--but hers
was much better, of course! 

Thanks Dianne I'm glad you liked the Blog.....  Your Grandmother sounded to be a marvelous cook.  They really knew how to make the most delicious food in those days. Very rarely did they measure ingredients. They knew what to add and how much by memory and taste.  My Paternal Grandmother migrated from Poland when she was 21 yrs. Each Christmas Day my father would pick her up so that she could spend the day with us. She always made the Xmas pudding. They were so delicious. Everyone came back for second helpings.... After she died at the age of 97yrs. my mother made the puddings and as good a cook as she was they never tasted the same.



08/23/2017 22:07:02

Thanks Mona and Billie. I'm glad that you enjoyed the Blog on my memories of what it was like growing up on a farm. These are memories I treasure.  Growing up on a farm, kids learn to be one with nature. To repect the animals and be involved with many things that the adults had to do. We worked hard but it never did us any harm and we all learnt to put our 'hands' to any chore/ task which made us very flexible when we all went out to work for wages. A few years ago I spent two years living in the City for health reasons and during all that time I yearned to be back home living in the rural ares. But everyone is different which thank goodness we are.



08/22/2017 19:26:26

I loved hearing about your life, growing up on a farm. I was 9 years old when we left the farm and moved to the city, but I still have vivid memories of the "good life" on the farm. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.




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