The recipe book.

I had a sudden surge of nostalgia the other day, and wondered if I could find my Grandmother's recipe for a Saffron Loaf.

(As Saffron cake/bun/ bread is a staple of Cornish Diet, I could have bought any of them, but I wanted to make my own.)

So this little book came out.

Grandma's recipe book, with notes by many of the recipes giving the name of the friend whose recipe it was. 

As in, 'Fruit cake, Mrs Hooley', or

'Sponge pudding, Dorothy, very good'

Isn't this beautiful handwriting?

Every now and then a different 'recipe' is interspersed with the others. This one is for furniture cream, between the pages for Yorkshire Parkin and Puzzle pudding.

This one is the oddest.

It's for a tonic, a pick-me-up.

Not too sure about this!

'Put 3 eggs into the sieved juice of 4 lemons.

Let them stay for 4 or 5 days until the shells are dissolved... Carefully lift the eggs out into a basin. empty out of skins, beat up well and sieve them into lemon juice. 

Add a noggin (!) of rum and sugar to taste.

Cork up in a bottle.

Dose, a wine glassful 3 times a day.

Twice a day is often enough.

It will clear all coughs.'

I think twice a day would be more than enough for me.

So many of the recipes are very much geared to frugality and wartime shortages. It's a fascinating little book, and even nicer as every now and then a recipe in my mother's handwriting is popped in. Maybe I should add one or two.

I never did find the Saffron loaf, but so enjoyed my browse with Grandma.