The Recipe Books

Being retired farmers, my Nanna and Poppa still grew fruits and vegetables for their own consumption and a large patch in the backyard always had something growing. Pie melons, Choko, Pawpaws, Cape Gooseberries and even a few Macadamia trees are some of the things I remember.

Nanna's and Grandma's cookbooks both reflect the fact that they had produce to spare and there are a quite a few recipes using pumpkin, choko, mangoes, tomatoes and other vegetables that were grown either on the farm or in the home garden.

It is interesting to browse through these cookbooks and see that most of the recipes are for baked goods and desserts. Biscuits, pies, tarts, puddings and cakes are what they mostly wrote in their cookbooks, Mum's book too is mostly composed of these.

You can also see the sharing and networking that went on then too. Many of the recipes have the names of people who shared their favourites written beside them. One thing though, I have noticed my Grandmothers both referred to their "Friends and acquaintances" using their Title and Surname in many cases, and when it was a relative or very close friend then they would use the more familiar First Name and/or Surname.

To follow the tradition, I like to do a bit of cooking with my grand-daughter when she comes to stay and many of the things we make are not written down. Muesli, fruit kebabs, scrambled eggs (her other Grandma taught her to cook scrambled eggs) toasted sandwiches, fancy drinks, pancakes and all manner of biscuits are some of the things we have managed, and only two weeks ago she was making fried rice under instruction from her Grandfather. I could hear them in the kitchen, with him teaching her how to crack eggs so you don't get the shells in the bowl. (Most difficult to get out and who can't stand the crunch as you find a piece of missed shell in your food! )

Here are the instructions for Fruit kebabs. This recipe is for my GD's Cookbook (probably it will take the form of an interactive DVD - who knows?)

Fruit Kebabs

These are easy to make with children. I used the long bamboo skewers and cut off the sharp point and then cut them in half. These were for a Teddy Bears' picnic and were extremely popular.

Ingredients:

Seasonal fruit - make sure it is all sweet and ripe

• pineapple (half a large ripe one)
• kiwi fruit (Chinese gooseberry) 4-6
• strawberries 250 g punnet of fairly large fruit 12 - 15
• rockmelon (Cantaloupe) (half a large one)

Other firm fruits can be used if desired.

Method:

1. Wash and cut strawberries into halves lengthways
2. Peel kiwi fruit, cut into eight pieces
3. Peel pineapple and cut length ways into pieces about 2-3 cms thick. Then cut into chunks
4. Peel and de-seed the rockmelon and cut into chunks about the same as the pineapple.
5. Place all prepared fruit into separate bowls
6. Thread each skewer with one of each fruit. Or devise your own patterns.
7. Continue till all the fruits are used up.
8. Store in refrigerator until needed.

If desired you can roll them in coconut or chopped nuts and serve them with a vanilla yoghurt BUT they are just nice on their own!

Enjoy!