One of my favourite television shows over here has to be Larkrise to Candleford. Based on a trilogy of novels written by the author, Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire at the end of the 19th Century, neither Todd nor I have ever missed an episode in all of the three series that have come out now. In fact we purchased them on DVD so that we could treat ourselves to turn-of-the-century village life anytime we wanted to!



A reader recently contacted me, and asked me if I had any knowledge of the type of food that would have been cooked in that era. An American, he and his wife are also great fans of the show, and were very curious about a cake that they had seen the old cook beating together in a bowl during one episode in series one.



Well, since the series takes place in the late Victorian era, I would have to say, without a doubt and with fair certainty, that it was probably a Victoria Sponge, or Victoria Sandwich Cake . . . a lovely buttery sponge cake that would have benefited greatly by some strong armed beating in a bowl.



It was the Victorians that invented this lovely cake by adding butter to an ordinary sponge mixture, which baked better in two flat tins rather than one deep tin. (Oh those Victorians, they were very clever at inventing things I have to say!)



The two cakes were then stuck together with a layer of tasty jam. According to Victorian manuals of the day, sponge cakes would have been made more for the nursery tea table than the drawing room, but we won't quibble the facts . . . the fact is that this cake is delicious, and I would serve it to anyone, child or adult!!



This is just the sort of cake one would imagine Dorcas and her employees at the Post Office sitting down to late in the afternoon . . . teatime . . . a china pot of steaming, freshly made tea at the ready to be served along side of lovely thick slabs of this moist and delicious sponge.



This is a real favourite around this house, and more or less tends to get treated like an ordinary every day kind of cake . . . but upon reflection, I know not why . . . coz it is fine enough to please even the most discerning of palates, and is anything but ordinary!!



I think Dorcas Lane would highly approve . . . it surely being my only weakness . . . something of which she knows full well . . . of this we would be in agreement. (Recipe adapted from the WI Cakes Cookery Book by Liz Herbert. If there is one thing the WI know alot about, it's baking cakes!)



*Traditional Victorian Sandwich Cake*
Makes one 7 inch cake
Printable Recipe

Popular during the reign of Qyeen Victoria, this cake remains popular to this day, which is a huge testament to it's taste and ease of baking! Don't be tempted to use all butter. This is one recipe that is better for the use of a mixture of butter and margarine.

3 ounces of butter, softened (6 TBS)
3 ounces soft margarine (6 TBS)
6 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, beaten
6 ounces self raising flour (a scant 1 1/2 cups)

To finish:
3 TBS raspberry jam
buttercream to fill (optional)
icing sugar or caster sugar to dust the top

Butter and base line two 7 inch sandwich tins. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.

Cream the butter, margarine, sugar and vanilla together until light in colour and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.

Fold in the flour with a metal spoon, taking care to use a cutting motion so as not to knock out too much of the air that you have beaten into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins, leveling off the surface. Make a slight dip in the centre of each.

Bake on a centre rack of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sponges have risen well, are golden brown, and spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool in the pan for five minutes before running a knife carefully around the edges and turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, place one layer on a cake plate. Spread with raspberry jam and buttercream (if using). Place the other cake on top, pressing down lightly. Dust with icing or caster sugar and serve.

By the way Commentor #63, Sheilagh, a Random Numbers Generator has picked you as the winner of the Delightful Hamper Giveaway. Contact me with your details and I will let the HamperGift people know where to send it. Thanks so much to everyone who participated and joined in on the fun. I wish you could all be winners. Don't be too disappointed though as I will soon be hosting another giveway hosted by the lovely people at Kellogg's . . . yes the people who bring us all those delicious breakfast cereals!

 

Here I am with another meals of the week post, this one covering Sunday April 2nd to Saturday April 8th. I have to say I am most appreciative of the feedback that I get from these posts. It is clear that you are being inspired from what I am cooking and eating and that makes me very happy!

Whether you are a singleton, or a couple empty nesters, or even a couple who just live on their own, its always nice to have some idea of what other people in the same situation do when it comes to preparing meals.

My mother was on her own for about 30 years prior to my sister moving in with her and my mother cooked herself a supper every day. They might have been simple things, but they were always nutritious and balanced.  

She loved to shop at M&M.  She would buy their boxes of marinated chicken breasts and steaks and fish and quite often that is what she would have along with some type of starch and some vegetables, or even just a salad.  Not all that inspiring to a person who likes to and enjoys cooking, but she was very happy with them.

Sometimes, if the local McDonalds was having an offer on Big Macs or some such, she would pick up a few and freeze them to enjoy every now and then. Again, not something I would choose to do, but she loved Big Macs!

She also used to love the Hungry Man Frozen Dinners and would buy them when they were on offer as well. She was especially fond of the turkey and stuffing one. I confess that every so often I like to indulge in a frozen dinner, but it is always on impulse and I am always disappointed when I get them because they always fail to measure up to the photograph on the box.  

I have not yet resorted to buying Big Macs and freezing them! LOL  Except for the occasional meal out I do cook for myself every day.  I will sometimes cook a bit extra and freeze that in single serve portions ready to enjoy on a day when I can't be asked to cook, or I am in a rush and don't have time to cook.

In any case here is what I cooked/enjoyed over this past week. This is only a reflection of what I had for my main meals of the day. Lunches (my evening meal) and breakfasts are a lot simpler and usually don't require much effort. I usually eat my main meal (if I am eating at home) at lunch time.  

For my breakfast I will have a muffin, or a bowl of cereal, maybe some toast, and occasionally I will enjoy some cold pizza from the night before. In the evenings I will enjoy a sandwich, or a salad, or a bowl of soup.  Sometimes another bowl of cereal. It all depends on if I am hungry or not and how hungry I am.

And without further adieu, here we go!

 

SUNDAY APRIL 2ND - Air Fryer Roast Chicken

Sunday supper at my sisters. My sister did a lovely roast chicken in her air fryer, and we enjoyed that along with some oven roasted tender stem broccoli, potatoes and sweet potatoes.  It was a small chicken, which fit into the air fryer perfectly.  The chicken turns out with extra crispy skin and is lovely and moist, very tender and juicy.

My sister always cooks a lovely supper. 

MONDAY APRIL 3RD - Creamy Curried Sweet Potato Soup

I wasn't overly hungry when it came to supper time on Monday.  I cooked up a small batch of Curried Sweet Potato Soup. This was lovely.  I garnished it with an additional drizzle of coconut milk and some toasted coconut flakes. I enjoyed with some warmed up Naan Bread.  I make a lovely Yeast Free Naan from scratch that is really easy to make.  It goes wonderfully with soups like this or with curries.

TUESDAY APRIL 4TH - Cheesy Ranch Chicken & Bacon Foil Packs

I had a really busy day on Tuesday with hospital appointments up country, etc.  I prepped these delicious foil pack chicken dinners in the morning, ready to take out of the fridge and pop into the oven when I got home.  Foil pack dinners are a real favorite here because they take very little effort, are a simple meal in one and there is very little to clean up when done.  

You can make as many or as few as you like. If you don't want to cook in foil, you could also do in a small covered casserole dish. This one has both sweet and white potatoes on the bottom, also broccoli florets, tossed with a bit of oil and seasoned with ranch dressing mix, topped with chicken, which is also seasoned in the same way and then topped with cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon. Quite simply delicious! 

WEDNESDAY APRIL 5TH - Supper out with Dad and Cindy

I always go out for supper with my father and his friends on Wednesday Evenings.  This week my sister joined us. We go to a local eatery called The Big Scoop.  

The special this week was a Toasted Western Sandwich with fries.  I make a really great Oven Baked Western Sandwich with Oven Baked Hash Browns.  It is sized perfectly for just two people and always goes down a real treat. You can't beat cheap, easy and delicious meals like this one! 

THURSDAY APRIL 6TH - The Best Oven Baked Pork Chops Ever

You can't beat a pork chop supper!  I had picked up some nice thick bone-in chops for a bargain price because they were at their sell by date. Not a problem. Bring them home and freeze them right away for a tasty supper later on. I cooked one of them on Thursday. 

These were big chops. Large enough to feed two people.  Breaded and baked, dotted with butter, then drizzled with a delicious honey mustard glaze, this was really REALLY delicious. I served with the half of the box of scalloped potatoes that I had not cooked the week before and some yellow wax beans. Tender,  juicy and delicious!

FRIDAY APRIL 7TH - Tuna Melt Casserole

I had not  made this delicious Tuna Casserole in a very long time. I cut the recipe in half because here is only me.  Fat rigatoni pasta mixed with tuna and broccoli florets in a lush cheese sauce, topped with sliced tomatoes and more cheese and baked until bubbly and delicious!

I enjoyed this with a side salad and some crusty bread!

 

It was four years ago today we lost our mother unexpectedly.   At the time I was living way over in England and had no way of getting home.  She had been in hospital, but was doing well.  We had no reason to believe that she wouldn't fully recover.

I miss her every day. We were always very close. It still pains me that I was unable to say goodbye properly.

I decided to make myself a picky-bits Teatime Supper today to help distract myself from the nasty weather we are having outside and to cheer me up. Just because I now live alone, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a nice teatime supper ever now and then. 

This was something I often did when I was in the UK.  You don't always feel like making a bit meal do you?  Sometimes picky bits are just the ticket for filling that gap!  Supper in the UK was always something quite different than dinner. 

Supper is meant to be something much more casual than dinner.  Supper can be an evening meal but normally when one is invited to supper the invitation is quite different than when one is invited to dinner, which is usually more formal. Supper can also mean a hot or cold snack before bedtime.  

It is not meant to be meat, potatoes and veg, but rather a rather informal gathering of picky bits and cakes. Not as formal as a high tea, but meant to be enjoyed on a small plate, next to a fire and, if you are so lucky, enjoyed with some bright conversation and company.

It is a delicious opportunity to gather together some picky bits that you have in house into a simple repast of tasty delights that will please everyone, all washed down with hot cups of tea of course! 

Some things to bear in mind when making Cheese and Tomato Sandwiches.  One, make sure you use a really nicely flavored cheddar cheese. I used some cheese that I had leftover from Christmas. It had not gotten used.  A two year aged cheddar that was nice and sharp and well flavored.  

Grate your cheese by hand on the large holes of a box grater.

Use a serrated knife to cut your slices of ripe tomato thinly, and then leave them to drain on some paper towels for about 10 minutes. This helps to prevent them from making the bread soggy.

Butter both slices of bread. This not only helps the cheese to adhere, but it also keeps the bread from drying out and getting soggy as well.  

I add the grated cheese to the buttered side of one slice of bread, top with the sliced tomato, add a grinding of black pepper, and then place the other slice of bread on top, butter side down.  Slice as you wish.

Something crunchy is also very nice to add to the table.  Today I added some sweet mixed pickles and slices of sweet eating apples. Oh, how I miss the pickled onions you get in the UK. They are rather larger than our pickled onions and not so sweet, having been pickled in malt vinegar.

You could do crisp raw vegetable sticks such as carrots and celery, or thick slices of cucumber. Potato Chips/Crisps also go down very nicely if you are so inclined.

Of course, one of the highlights of any supper/tea table is something sweet to end the meal.  This can take the form of cakes or cookies, just whatever tickles your fancy really. Today I had a few cakes leftover from Christmas and some small dainties (Queen Anne Slices, date squares, etc.)