Domestic bliss!

'Cracking Walnuts, Dad.

Yesterday evening  we found a recipe for  Moroccan meatballs that required me to put three onions through the kitchen mixer. It seemed a bit of a waste of energy as I could have chopped them with a knife.

Meanwhile my son Dan had to be kept entertained at the kitchen computer or on his iPad. "How different from my childhood," I thought.

It's true that I don't remember helping my Mum with the cooking much, but at my Gran's house in Swaledale we cooked a lot. She had no electricity and cooked on an iron range, fuelled by wood and coal. Our lighting was provided by paraffin lamps and candles as well as the flickering flames from the fire, we listened to a wireless set that was powered by a big battery. The tuning dial was huge and it had hundreds of stations written on it, but they all sounded like sound effects from a '50s space drama; all whistles, hums and static. You could usually get one of the BBC services, either the Home Service or the Light Programme. 

We did the cooking in the day time. Bread baking was an all day job and we even made our own sausages and fish cakes. My job was to mince the ingredients using a hand cranked mincer that was clamped to the table.  I put the meat through first, then onions and then bread which made great breadcrumbs and also helped to clean the inside of the mincer.

Making food by hand is a great way to keep children occupied and it's a social activity. Do you remember shelling peas with your mum? The food may not taste any better, but the task is more rewarding and you don't have an electricity bill to worry about. 

After the evening meal, we would play dominoes or cards, or make jigsaw puzzles. I can vividly remember those evenings, and the smell of the oilcloth on the table, but not the many other evenings I must have spent watching TV at home; or did I? There wasn't a lot to watch really, but I spent a lot of time with a record player and only three or four records.

Sponsored boat race.

So, last night I was thinking how to get Dan involved and there he was doing jigsaws, only they were on his iPad. That's OK though. Then Hanna decided to polish the silver bowl that was full of walnuts and Dan showed interest in cracking them open. So they spent two happy hours cracking nuts with their bare hands. 

Some of the shells broke neatly in half and I remembered making little boats from them with my Dad. We made a little flotilla and raced them. 

It was a perfect evening really. The Moroccan meatballs with cous-cous were delicious, by the way. That's something that neither my Mum of my Gran would have made, but they would have enjoyed them, I'm sure.