Sunday Girl

Who doesn't love a Sunday Roast? Originating in England it was traditionally eaten after church on Sunday. Served with beef in the 15th Century it has gone on to be a popular meal with other meats and, for we vegetarians, nut roast. Accompaniments include roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding.

A Yorkshire Pudding was originally known as a dripping pudding and was a simple meal or starter made with flour, eggs and milk and served with gravy. The intention was to fill up on this basic meal when meat was not abundant. In America a similar dish is called a popover.

Christmas - New Year!

So, here we are in the lull time between the excitement of Christmas and the expectation of a new year.  My Christmas Day was spent with family; they eating turkey, pigs in blankets(!) and chipolatas and ... yes, sharing my nut roast!

I have to say it was a triumph.  The recipe I used was from an old Cranks recipe book as follows:

1  medium sized onion

1oz/25g butter

8oz/225g mixed nuts

4oz/100g wholemeal bread

1/2pt/300ml vegetable stock

2tsp/10ml yeast extract

1tsp/5ml mixed herbs

Salt & pepper to taste

Basically you just blitz the nuts and bread finely.  Chop and saute the onions.  Boil the stock and yeast extract.  Combine everything.  Place in a greased shallow baking dish and bake at 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4 for 30 mins until golden brown.

It looked a little like very dark stuffing and not particularly appealing but tasted absolutely delicious!

Around our dining table jokes and stories are shared, old and new.  Every year we await a mention of the RAF by my father and father-in-law (both of whom did National Service) and my mum shares a tale of a friend who would fry left-over Christmas Pudding with his cooked breakfast.  It's our tradition to share these stories and Christmas is all about tradition.  New Year, on the other hand, is all about resolutions and new beginnings.

My resolution, as always, is to be a better person.  I have already resolved to write this Blog for a year and, as part of that, aim to try out more vegetarian recipes.  Happy New Year and watch this space!