Not only did I steno chapter 5 shortly after writing the previous blog post, I then wrote chapter 6 before even writing a pre-steno-blog. This is undoubtedly an extraordinary Monday. Maybe it’s a July thing and all July will be extra-productive. Or maybe I’ll peak early and peter out by the end of the month. I know what’s most likely, unfortunately.
Chapter 5 was about the box of treasures at a family friend’s house, Auntie Mary. I enjoyed writing about it because I can remember so little of fact that the chapter is probably largely my imagination. What I do remember is that the box of treasures was a big wooden chest-like box that was always tightly closed until my arrival at Auntie Mary’s. She was one of those rare adults who made me feel like the most important person in the room and whom I genuinely looked forward to seeing. To add to her charm, there were always biscuits as well as the magical box full of trinkets. I am very happy to have had an opportunity to recall a little bit of that childhood magic.
As for chapter 6, already stenoed, that is about salad cream, which really is Heinz Salad Cream. My dad was a strong believer in disguising lettuce with salad cream. There is always salad cream in my fridge and, surprisingly, it gives me a sense of connection between my dad and the family he left behind in Latvia when he was a teenager. It also provides me with what are some of my earliest food memories and cookery has been significant to me throughout my life.
After writing the salad cream chapter, based on memories I shared about my mum’s amazing salad lunches, I knew exactly what I wanted to eat for lunch. Within two hours of finishing the chapter, I had been to two local supermarkets (one failed to stock any ready-made pastry; a day full of first world problems), made and eaten the perfect nostalgia lunch. I had Iceberg lettuce with radish (star-cut in half, like my mum always did), cucumber, tomato and fresh raw peas, topped with cress (for the peppery taste of rocket; rocket has far better PR than cress and cress seems really old fashioned) and, of course, salad cream. I made a Waldorf/coleslaw salad (carrot, cabbage, celery, apple, onion, salad oil, cider vinegar, French mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper with a few toasted hazelnuts), a potato salad (potatoes, salad cream, chives, salt and pepper) and a bacon, onion, mushroom and cheese quiche. And, because the oven was on (I have so become my mum), I also made cheese straws, to me the epitome of snack sophistication and deliciousness.
I had wanted to make a saveloy sausage and kidney bean vinaigrette dish, but it turns out saveloy is out of fashion (there is no deli counter at either of the two close-by supermarkets I went to; surely supermarket deli counters still stock saveloys?!). The Polish section of my Asda offered a far greater selection of cooked sausage than I knew existed, but it had to be saveloy. Another day.
(I have very, very foolishly just Googled “saveloy sausage”. The hunt for saveloy to recreate the vinaigrette dish is probably now off; some things are best remembered rather than re-experienced)
Chapter 7 will be about the scar I have on my knee and some very vague memories that are probably related to photographs from around that time rather than actual memories.