How my steak and kidney pie reached new heights

MY VERY new husband mentioned how much he loved steak and kidney pie, so i thought i’d give him a treat for Sunday lunch.

The fact i had shown little interest in school domestic science classes didn’t dampen my enthusiasm to have a go. My past efforts had been disastrous: my scones came out as rock cakes, my Victoria sponge was the thickness of a pancake and scrambled eggs had the consistency of rubber. Making the pastry for the pie was an utter failure and doing the filling filled me with dread. it began to dawn on me that if i were to give my husband an edible meal i had best cheat. So i bought a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie that came in a tin. With a bit of a tweak here and there, i felt sure i could pass it off as one i had made with my own fair hands. Having prepared the vegetables, i placed the tin in a pan of water and set it to boil for the required time. i forgot just one small detail — to pierce the lid of the tin. Fortunately, i was not in the kitchen when it exploded with an almighty bang. if i had been, instead of the kitchen being decorated with the contents of the tin, i would have been wearing them.

Fish and chips saved the day, as it continued to do on occasions when my culinary skills met with disaster. i did eventually learn to cook fairly decently, so my family were well fed if not hugely enamoured with my efforts. at least our dogs thought i was Delia Smith with the amount of food being passed to them under the table!