SLOW COOKING

We were talking about old style jaffle irons.. and that led to this..

" Bet that tasted better as well! I still miss the rice puddings my Mum used to make in the bread oven of our black-leaded fireplace..."


In our house, that was the epitome of slow cooking... when the oven was finished churning out those magical breads, scones, cakes or roasts, then the baked bread and butter puddings, and the rice puddings, would go in, so as not to waste the heat. Rice puddings, creamy and moist, fragrant with cinnamon, or sometimes a little marmalade and a sprinkle of nutmeg... and whomever set the table without complaint, got the skin off the top... remember that... and remember setting the table for EVERY meal?

It was also when the apples went in to soften for apple pie on the 'next bake' if they lasted that long... Mum would slice some for the pies and bake some whole, the core scooped out and a knob of butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon in the centre... we kids would stand before the stove, drawing in as much of the fragrance as we could, with great deep sighs, till Mum laughed and said we had just drawn all the flavour through our noses. We had little idea of what flavour meant I guess, as there were cries of ''yuukkk!!" and we would race outside and wash our noses under the tap from the tank... Mum was still laughing and we couldn't work out why. As for the sliced apples, well, Dad would pinch most of those, also sneaking some of the cream from the ice chest and add a sprinkle of brown sugar... sometimes, he'd give us a little, to keep the secret, but we think Mum really knew all along, as he just got a hug when the apple was gone... whereas we'd get a swat with the tea towel...


As well as using the jaffle iron, I loved our toaster, a large, long handled, three pronged fork that Dad had made, which we would hold over the fire... and try not to burn the bread, or, worse still, drop it...

Lots of lovely memories...

(c) Crissouli