Childhood favourites

Liz Ashworth takes a trip down memory lane for some good old-fashioned recipes

Do you wonder what life was like 70 years ago when Princess Elizabeth became Queen in 1954? I grew up in Elgin at that time, so here are my memories. In the dim interior of Guidies’ the corner shop at the foot of our street stood a large dresser which had a deep, heavy wooden drawer. This was where we spent our pocket money or “Saturday penny” for it was filled with such wonders as penny dainties, sherbet fountains, cherry lips, gobstoppers, cinnamon balls, iced caramels, liquorice laces and puff candy. Oh the delights of that sweetie drawer.

Wash day Monday, ironing Tuesday, then on Wednesday or Thursday mum filled the tins. She baked lemon shorties, sugary shortbread, Granny Mac’s gingerbread, melting moments and more besides. At the weekend she made scones, warm from the girdle spread with homemade raspberry jam. What a treat!

My sister Sue and I watched the Saturday night western on our black and white TV while we ate mum’s cowboy stew. A lasting memory, gosh it was tasty our first TV dinner!

“Ready meals” were those our mother cooked fresh each day. We loved mince and tatties, jammy faces, hot custardy rice pudding, Dutch roast, Scotch eggs, bacon flan or mum’s cheese eggs. The house was always filled with tasty aromas.

Later in the decade a Wimpy bar arrived in Elgin introducing us to Benders, ice cream floats, knickerbocker glories and banana splits.

A supermarket appeared on the High Street where we discovered Batchelor’s surprise peas, prepared by pouring boiling water over them. They were delicious! Mary Baker cake mixes gave many of us young would-be bakers the confidence to try. My favourite was orange and lemon small cup cakes topped with a neat circle of coloured icing.

Let us have a 1950s retro-cooking weekend. Head ’em out with mum’s cowboy stew. Fill a biscuit tin with lemon shorties then enjoy a warm girdle scone – don’t forget the raspberry jam!