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Mum's cooking that I cannot equal however hard I try.

(35 Posts)
giulia Sun 04-Feb-18 08:05:33

My mother used to make the most perfect roast potatoes and perfect chips. She used good old lard for both. She dried the potatoes and/or chips carefully. Try as I may, I just cannot beat her potato cooking. Is there anything your mother cooked, and you loved, that you can't equal? My mother's egg sandwiches were also to die for - and you would that is an easy thing to copy. She would use salad cream in a bottle. Maybe salad cream has changed - it has a sweetish aftertaste to me now.

NannyJan53 Sun 04-Feb-18 18:38:21

My Mum makes amazing sausage rolls. I always used to take a batch into work at Christmas for the buffet we had on the last day.

When I retired last May, they were all bemoaning the fact there would be no more sausage rolls!

In fact she has always been a wonderful cook and baker, and still is at the age of 88!

Auntieflo Sun 04-Feb-18 18:58:37

Like many others, mum made beautiful pastry. Her meat pie dinner, with very dark greens and mashed potato was so good, and a favourite of mine. She never had a pair of scales, but used to measure flour by the tablespoonful. Bread pudding was another favourite., with or without custard. We never seem to have stale bread these days.

1974cookie Fri 09-Feb-18 18:20:15

My lovely Mum made the best cottage pie ever, but for the life of her, Mum could not make pastry.
Bless her dear heart, she tried, but she just did not have the light fingered touch.
I swear that you could tile a roof with my mum's pastry.
?

varian Fri 09-Feb-18 18:34:01

My dear Mum was an absolutely lovely person but she had no interest in cooking. She had better things to do.We all taught ourselves to cook as soon as we could. I love cooking.

Greyduster Fri 09-Feb-18 22:20:11

My mother’s cooking was largely unremarkable, but she did a good Sunday lunch. When she cooked on the old Yorkshire range, with its fire oven, the beef would be cooked on a rack above the Yorkshire pudding so that it caught the meat juices. When she had to switch to a gas cooker, that practice had to stop and we all missed it. She made excellent rabbit stew with herb dumplings. Mine is an also ran.

Cherrytree59 Fri 09-Feb-18 22:58:17

My grandmother could feed a dozen people from one chicken!
Her soup were hearty and tasty, wonderful comfort food.
Her time were full of home made cakes and her pantry full of lovely jams and preserves.
This cooking gene was passed on to my mother and in turn to my sister.

Cherrytree59 Fri 09-Feb-18 23:02:36

Yikes pressed post too soonblush
Should read 'her tins were full of homes made cakes'

Just to add The Cooking Gene passed me bysad

Synonymous Fri 09-Feb-18 23:03:36

I come from a very long line of good bakers/cooks and my DD and DS are both following on as are DGC. My Granny had the family bakery which was very popular. Everyone in the family had their own speciality and I think you have to find your own speciality and not expect to be the same as anyone else in your family. I am much better than my mother in everything except for her girdle scones and apple pies but DH says mine are every bit as good as hers were. hmm
DD taught her now SIL to cook while they were at uni and she is a very good cook. Her granny tells her to stand on her tiptoes to make her pastry after she has washed her hands in iced water!
DH loves cooking anything and everything and has inherited that from his mum, my DMIL, who was Cook in a very large House. I feel the need to use the capital letters as she was brilliant and I was in awe! grin Her cakes for afternoon tea were legendary and exquisitely decorated with real flowers, picked from her garden, which she frosted with egg white and caster sugar.
To cook/bake successfully I think that you have to really enjoy what you are doing, have bags of confidence that it is going to be superb and most important of all feel well. If I am not well enough I know not to bother!

1974cookie Sat 10-Feb-18 17:22:19

My mouth is absolutely watering Greyduster at your mums' Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding cooking method even though I do not know what a Yorkshire range is ??.
I can imagine though that there must have been some really glorious smells in the kitchen.