Wednesday 31 December 2008

On Treacle Tart and Other Matters


Treacle Tart is a recipe that I associate with my mother.
It is not a complicated recipe
but my mother makes wonderful pastry
and the combination of crisp pastry
and slightly sticky, sweet filling is perfect.
Eat it slightly warm and with lashings of cream
after roast beef and horseradish sauce
and then you have had a real English Sunday Lunch.
Just the sort of cooking that should remind you of home.

I have lost my way with cooking recently.
It used to come so naturally that I hardly thought about it
but I struggle to find the enthusiasm after a day at work.

I must find a way to reincorporate it into my life
because I don't want my family to associate me
with the taste of a ready meal.

I have a shelf of wonderful cookbooks
and access to a fruit and vegetable market;
farmers shops and excellent supermarkets
and so I have no excuse.

This will be my most important New Years Resolution:
to rediscover my pleasure in cooking
and practice until it becomes second nature again.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks just delicious! Sometimes I feel the same way about cooking.... and then other times I have the energy and time to really cook a wonderful meal. I think they will always remember the good meals! :)

You might need to post the recipe!???

RW said...

you and I are on the same page - it is our goal to expand our repetoire and we are going to try to eat more locally - sort of the 100 mile diet - but slightly amended.

Anonymous said...

This is a good resolution. I may need to join you in your effots.

Happy new year to all at the Magpie nest.

French Knots said...

Mmm Treacle tart reminds me of my Mum's Sunday Roast, the large pie dish and her pastry cut in a latice work on the top.
I'm in a cooking rut too, the same few things keep appearing on the table so I need to make an effort too.

carrie said...

There is nothing like a treasured family recipe to inspire one's cooking!

Hope your New Year is a happy one!

Ali said...

That's a good resolution. I think, when you're busy, it's so easy to get into the habit of the same old same old.

Someone wise once wrote that we only have a finite number of meals left before we eat our final one and he was determined not to waste a single opportunity. Sounds a good principle.

Ali said...

That's a good resolution. I think, when you're busy, it's so easy to get into the habit of the same old same old.

Someone wise once wrote that we only have a finite number of meals left before we eat our final one and he was determined not to waste a single opportunity. Sounds a good principle.

Attic24 said...

Wishing you a happy, bright, peaceful, fulfilling year ahead Alice, hope that 2009 brings you all you wish for, which includes culinary inspiration.
Very much looking forward to following along with you over the next 365, what joy!
Love and hugs
Lxxxxxx

Unknown said...

Alice - you've been coping with all that starting a brand new job demands - don't be so hard on yourself - the cooking will come back when you least expect it - Happy New Year to all in the Magpies' Nest

Gina said...

That sounds like a lovely resolution Alice. Sorry to hear you haven't been well over Christmas but hope you are fully recovered now. Wishing you a very Happy New Year. I'm looking forward to more of your wonderful blog posts in 2009.

blackbird said...

I definitely have an excuse...I can't even THINK of cooking when I get home at 6 - though 6 doesn't sound so terribly late, does it?
Bravo to you!

JuliaB said...

Me too! i know exactly what you mean and I don't have a full time working excuse. I will join in with your resolution! Hope you are feeling much better now. x

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year Alice and family, and good luck with the resolution. :)

Jackie said...

Don't be too hard on yourself. Enjoy cooking when you can, not beacause you feel guilty if you don't. I am envious of those farm shops and fruit and veg markets. In my Village we have a convenience store with dubious veg, and a chap who drags a horse box round on the back of a tractor, but who does no nonsense veg.

BreadBox said...

I too have lost my way. I hesitate to admit it, what with my blog name incorporating food, and all. But it's true.
So, in the new year I have resolved to get my cooking genes to fit again.
And I resolve to celebrate hearing that you have rediscovered joyous -- and delicious --- cooking!

Mary said...

Happy New Year Dear Alice -

And I will be interested to hear how you go with your resolution..

tess said...

sounds like a resolution worth keeping to me.
we used to have a cat called treacle tart.....

kristina said...

The tart looks amazing! And I'll definitely be joining you in the cooking resolution. It's so hard to feel inspired after a full day at work, but I'm sure we can do it. K x