The foodstuff of history

demiurgically_m and I have raided my grandmother's recipe book and have had fun cooking. She did all the heavy work and I made all the mistakes, which was very fair.

For immediate gratification, we made a condensed milk tart, which was like a lemon meringue pie but with a liquid interior. A very yummy lemon meringue pie. I was evil and had some, despite the sugar. I did make her take home the rest, to save me from myself. We think we know what went wrong with the interior (not allowing for the idiosyncrasies of my oven) and we were rather impressed at the overall deliciousness of the thing. Here is the recipe:

"1 tin condensed milk, yolks of 2 or 3 eggs, juice and grated rind of 2 small lemons. Beat milk, grated rind and juice of lemons and egg yolks till thick. Place in a pastry shell. Beat white of eggs and a little sugar and pile on top of filling. Bake till brown. Bake shell first."

For later joy, we started on Christmas puds. They are a two day effort, and I get to finish them tomorrow. demiurgically_m will collect hers at an appropriate time and then, if they are really scrummy, I will report on the recipe. Right now - since the mixture is, after all, for *Jewish* Christmas pudding - it is resting underneath a teatowel covered with suitably magic words: matzah, cholent, kreplach, bagels...

We worked out that the pudding recipe probably dates from around World War I. We had to adjust a couple of ingredients a surprising amount, but things like currants and sultanas and flour are easier than way back when. No picking and sorting and sifting anymore.

And I had forgotten that the vast amounts I cook (I tend to cook in multiples of six) is still less then what my grandmother would have cooked, so I foolishly doubled the ingredients to make sure that demiurgically_m got a pudding to take home. We ended up having to mix it in a 17 litre saucepan. And somehow I have to steam each pudding for nine hours. I have one pudding basin. Tomorrow could be entertaining.