How times have changed

I havent read the entire thread, but am wondering if I'm the only person who instantly thought 'Vesta matches' when I saw the email in my Inbox a few moments ago ;-).

Hmm i remember camp coffee - my own grandma used to have it all the time when i was little(throwback from what they drank in WW2) I HATED IT! it tasted horrible! Sadly all she ever offered was this or tealeaf tea- or 'milk pobs'( bits of bread broken up in a cup of warmed sterilized milk! Yes i hated that too! I tell my kids about it now and youd think i was speaking martian language to them?yes i remember too the tiny nescafe coffee- much better- my mum used to get them when i was a bit older& she would take it for me when we called to my grans!(still not so nice with sterilized milk in though Does anyone remember the malt virol the child clinics gave out in the 60's? Meant to nourish kids i think- it was horrible,sticky&gloopy brown stuff that stuck to roof of your mouth- tasted nothing like malt! Still i guess was preferable to castor oil my own mum had when she was a kid! Glad baby/ child clinics changed it to vitamin drops when my kids were born or id never have got it down em!?

They do the pop tarts again! My son loves the the strawberry ones(yes the one who'se probably my mum re- incarnated!)

The matches were 'swan Vestas' i think

My goodness Miepl- where do you live, outer hebrides?I sympathise-id be lost without shopping deliveries

Blimey, I didn't know you could buy Vesta these days. I remember my mum and brother sharing a Vesta beef curry usually on a Sunday evening in the early 70's. Mum used to buy Camp coffee. If I remember right, it tasted sweet. I used to buy mine Findus Crispy pancakes as was mentioned. Usually the beef ones. Anyone remember the little boxes of powdered Symingtons soup. I used to love the tomato one.

Yes Beef Risotto was my favourite too! Used to have it on my own when DH was working, and kids in bed - happy memories! Also liked the Beef Curry, but used to pick out the "beef" as it was very synthetic!

I used to pick at it dry straight out of the packet! I was a strange child Didn't do me any harm.

I know you can get them now, but I loved having a bag of Smiths crisps with the little salt bag and a bottle of lemonade with a straw. That was my treat on summer weekends when Mum and Dad went to a local pub. They would come back to the car and we'd have the picnic rug to sit on.
Wasn't there Cadbury's drinking chocolate that had flakes of chocolate in it. Loved Five Boys bars.

Oh yes, I remember these. Newly married it was the height of sophistication to offer-up one of these, chemical laden delights. As you say, I hate to think what we would think of them now that our tastebuds have been properly educated!

They've done something to the paella. They've taken out whatever made it yellow (saffron, turmeric?) and it just doesn't taste the same.

Can t remember Symingtons soup but I do remember they made table creams which were a kind of blancmange pudding just sounded more posh.

I used to adore Vesta paella. Never had it at home but it
was my very occasional treat for myself when I was a very broke student.

Fray Bentos my friend used to call them "Caravan Pies" cos her mum always took them in the caravan with them..they still do those as well.

I used to cook all the Vesta meals when I first left home. I remember the crispy noodles in the chow mien sometimes didn’t all puff up. After that I leant slowly how to cook. Had no idea they were still available - you’d have to pay me to eat them now.

Each morning before school I used to have a teaspoonful of cod liver oil followed by a teaspoon of Virol to take the taste away. I can’t remember if I had them at weekends too, but they were very much a part of the ‘getting ready for school’ ritual.

why would we want to look on facebook @Blencathra we have our own special space here that's why we want nothing to do with fb

Coppernob Me too, or sometimes it was that bright green so-called tonic named Minadex which tasted awful, followed by Virol which was yummy.

I loved Vesta meals- chow mein chop suey beef curry prawn curry paella risotto - all dehydrated and soya mixed shaped meat - felt like you were cooking a meal-lovely

Oh yes Sparklefizz I remember Minadex too!

Oh yes....Vesta curry was my first introduction to ‘exotic’ cookery when I was a kid. I remember it didn’t taste too bad.... but that might just be nostalgia....or me not knowing any better!

Mum didn’t feed us any supplements ..... we got our fish oil from fish and our vitamins from fruit n veg!

Do you also remember those ‘double’ cans, with rice at one end and curry at the other? You had to open both ends of the can. Can’t remember the name of the product, but mum used to buy them for my father and we children thought they were very exotic!

Vesta Chow Mein, Beef Curry and Beef Risotto were our favourites - DM was a very good cook and I can't understand why she bought the Vesta meals which must have been more complicated when we all had different flavours! First time we had them was Boxing Day as a treat. We always had a Birds Trifle for Sunday tea or peaches and Carnation milk. It seemed to us that if it came out of a packet or tin it had to be good. We didn't have Blue Nun at the Berni when we went out to eat though, it was always Mateus Rose. Very sophisticated!

Onestepbeyond I think facebook is useful.