Light Fruit Cake Recipe

[cookie1]

I just realised I have that Esk Valley book. It was Mum's. the recipe sounds lovely.

[Nikkit]

It did djinni, haven't got time to take a pic right now, but it turned out lovely!

As usual I didn't have all the ingredients so swapped the orange rind for a drop or 2 of orange water. Gave it a nice flavour!

Cookie - didn't have time for yours, but hopefully will this week.

[cookie1]

No worries. You have the recipe when you feel so inclined. 

[troupie]

I can remember Ritz fruit cake being a special treat as it was 'bought' when everything else we had was home made. Funny that, now we want everything home made to get rid of the nasties. Oh for my mums recipe book.

[Nikkit]

Thanks Cookie.

I seem to run out of time over the weekend, work, friends for dinner Sat night, and a quiet horse ride got in the way! Maybe this week.

[mab19]

I have all my mum's recipe books including her hand written recipes and even some of my grandmothers.  I love looking through them.

[Nikkit]

I also have some handwritten recipes of my Nana's. Like you Mab, I love reading through them as well.

Does make me smile though, my Nana wasn't the best cook (unless it was sago pudding - she made that awesomely!!) She would put dinner on after breakky on the old wood stove and it would sit there and simmer away all day, summer, winter, spring, autumn. Didn't matter the time of year that wood stove was always going. Something was always simmering away on it!

And my Grandma was a dreadful cook too. She would stew a good rump steak and fry anything that should have been stewed! And she boiled mutton. I can still smell it now. Ergh!!  (and I think I already said that here somewhere, but it is a smell that will live with me forever!!)

[cookie1]

Nikkit the smell of boiled mutton is something you never ever forget. During seeding or ploughing times if Mum was short of meat for Dads lunch sandwiches we always had an evening meal of boiled mutton. Usually the shoulder. Oh yuk. Talk about tasteless grey stuff. I can still see it sitting on my plate with the boiled pumpkin, cabbage, carrot and potato, even though it would have been at least 55 years ago.

[judydawn]

I don't think my Mum ever boiled mutton (she did corned beef) but if she had, I certainly wouldn't have eaten it    I was a very fussy eater as a child.

[Nikkit]

There is no comparison between corned beef and boiled mutton Judy. Chalk and cheese!
Corned beef is lovely, boiled mutton shouldn't even be fed to dogs!!

I am so glad my Mum didn't resort to boiled mutton during seeding or harvest time Cookie. Mum would stay up all night and cook and then spend all day on a tractor or on the header, looking after stock and all the other jobs that have to be done around the farm. Food was very important to Mum and no-one ever got anything that was below standard!

I often ask her now - how did she cope in those busy times? She was expected to do as much as Dad on the farm, plus keep the house, cook, and look after us kids. She shakes her head and does wonder herself! Needless to say I do remember being picked up off the school bus in the tractor or header numerous times and sitting on the floor doing my homework while Mum drove.

[judydawn]

Your Mum is a legend Nikkit, the farmer's wives I knew weren't expected to do that much 

[cookie1]

She sure is a legend. My Mum never worked on the tractor or header. She sometimes helped with the sheep and of course was flat out from sun up to sun down at shearing time. Look out if the shearer's breakfast wasn't on the table at 7.30am, a full cooked breakfast of course. Then scones at smoko, lunch of cold meat and salad, afternoon tea of fruit cake and other cake, then dinner of a hot meal and sweets. Thank goodness they didn't have supper.
How big was your farm Nikkit? Ours was 3760 acres. Wheat and sheep.

[Nikkit]

I have to admit that my Mum is an amazing woman. She doesn't think so, she just thinks it was what she had to do. She worked darned hard for 40 years on the farm next to Dad.
On top of all the farm work Mum had an amazing garden and an orchard with over 50 fruit trees. She would 'bottle' fruit (in the old Vacola pan) jam, pickles, you name it. The pantry was full of Vacola bottles! She also had over 100 roosters going at all times to kill so we had chicken in the freezer. She was also a wildlife carer and so we had roos/possums/birds/animals in the house that she would be rehabilitating. Was a bit of a zoo!
Even now that Mum is "retired" she doesn't stop. If we want to visit her or have her look after the kids we have to book her at least a month in advance! I know she would drop everything to do anything for us, but I believe that this is her time now and she deserves to do what she wants to do.
I love my Mum!

Cookie the farm was 5000 acres, my Grandfather cleared the first 2000 odd by hand back in the 30's. We were wheat, sheep and cattle.

[judydawn]

She sounds an amazing woman Nikkit and you are right, she does deserve to do whatever she wants to do and it's nice to hear she is keeping herself busy.  I'm sure she loves having the grand children though.

[Nikkit]

She does love having the kids Judy, will do anything for them.

After my Dad died we decided that life is not a dress rehearsal and you are a long time dead, not much point sitting around!