and the love is free: 11 lessons learned from my mothers kitchen
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19 Comments
very sweet post :) your mum sounds like a great lady.
What a lovely tribute to your mother, Jules.
My now-grown kids have just started asking for the recipes they grew up with – I hope they can look on them with the same kind of love that you do with yours…
Safe travels, dear!
What a lovely post. And I totally agree that passion fruit makes the best desserts!
Hi Jules,
I was born in Germany and our potato salad has always bee a great bon with our guests. My grandmother’s secret was that she poured hot (homemade) stock over the still warm potatoes. She then proceeded the way you do, although in Southern Germany, we did not use bacon (or Speck) and brown onions instead of spring onions. I use a bit of neutral oil to finish it off.
I also find that pink fir apple potatoes are the best as far as waxy consistency as well as flavour are concerned.
Kind regards
Erika
This is lovely! I’ve only recently found your blog – enjoy it tremendously! Thanks! xo
Great tips! especially the lamington one. I never would have thought of that.
I’m with you on finger licking (which is an odd sentence now I look at it..)! I love the things you pick up from mothers in the kitchen – certain things I do just because my mum does and I’m not even sure they make sense but I do them because it’s my part of carrying on family history.
I’m sorry you’re missing your mum so much at the moment – I’m about to go back to England for the first time since my dad’s funeral and am half excited (it’s been almost 4 years) and half terrified cause he won’t be doing the crossword on the sofa. I hope that this bit of missing her turns round to lots of lovely memories that make you laugh and smile AND cry!
What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful tribute to and about your mom.
Your mom’s German potato salad looks fabulous!
:-) Mandy
I’ve been thinking of your mother, too. With gratitude and admiration. Yesterday my daughter asked for a lemon meringue tart, and I decided to try her recipe. It is simple and the end result was lovely (although I followed your advice and used Jamie’s crust recipe). Here in the Balkans we aren’t in the habit of using concentrated milk, and the preparation reminded my of primary school chemistry lessons! For the first time in my life I wondered at the magic of concentrated milk turning into tender yellow cream in contact with lemon juice. I also told my daughter about her making 21 ‘lemeringues’ in 21 consecutive days for your brother’s 21st birthday and we had a good laugh while she patiently waited for the crust to cool. A lovely evening! And this morning, the remaining meringue was studded with caramel coloured pearls, gorgeous in the shy morning sunshine! Thank you, Jules!
Number 7 is a great tip. I’ve always found pan fried meatballs gain a triangular shape and often fall apart. For spaghetti & meatballs, I simply pop the raw meats into simmering tomato sauce for a easy, tender result.
vera
thanks for sharing your lemon meringue pie story. LOVE it!
claire
hope you have a lovely trip – I think if you’re looking for the memories they’ll be there.
erika
thanks for sharing your real german potato salad recipe – I think my mum got hers from a book that came with our first microwave or something so I’ve always wondered how really ‘German’ it was – glad to hear it’s in the ball park.
lucy
great lady is an understatement!
Your mother had some very wise tips. I similarly learnt much about food from my mother. Great post.
My version of german salad has some german mustard (noting your mothers dislike of Dijon she may not have liked this addition).
Wonderful tips for mother’s day. Like you, I’m not convinced about the one about not licking your fingers. But the rest look really great! :)
This is an inspiring tribute to your mom. U hope you have a special Mothers Day:D
What a beautiful post and a lovely tribute to your Mum!
My love of cooking came from my maternal grandmother who was an amazing baker – Saturday afternoons spent with her in the kitchen making doughnuts, victoria sponges and apple pies are some of my happiest childhood memories.
Totally agree on the baking meatballs before adding to a sauce suggestion – I never looked back once I took that piece of advice from a friend a couple of years ago.
Scared to try the German Potato salad recipe – think I would be hard pressed not to polish off the whole lot at once!
Loving this blog!!
I purchased “And the love is free” book last year … and love it. My daughter and I have together cooked many of the recipes.
Jane
so glad you and your daughter are cooking together from my book! you’ve made my day
Jules – What is lamington? {Remember I’m Irish – !!]
Niall,
Great question!
Lamingtons are little squares of plain butter cake that have been covered on all sides with chocolate icing and then rolled in coconut… you need to try them some time!
very sweet post :) your mum sounds like a great lady.
What a lovely tribute to your mother, Jules.
My now-grown kids have just started asking for the recipes they grew up with – I hope they can look on them with the same kind of love that you do with yours…
Safe travels, dear!
What a lovely post. And I totally agree that passion fruit makes the best desserts!
Hi Jules,
I was born in Germany and our potato salad has always bee a great bon with our guests. My grandmother’s secret was that she poured hot (homemade) stock over the still warm potatoes. She then proceeded the way you do, although in Southern Germany, we did not use bacon (or Speck) and brown onions instead of spring onions. I use a bit of neutral oil to finish it off.
I also find that pink fir apple potatoes are the best as far as waxy consistency as well as flavour are concerned.
Kind regards
Erika
This is lovely! I’ve only recently found your blog – enjoy it tremendously! Thanks! xo
Great tips! especially the lamington one. I never would have thought of that.
I’m with you on finger licking (which is an odd sentence now I look at it..)! I love the things you pick up from mothers in the kitchen – certain things I do just because my mum does and I’m not even sure they make sense but I do them because it’s my part of carrying on family history.
I’m sorry you’re missing your mum so much at the moment – I’m about to go back to England for the first time since my dad’s funeral and am half excited (it’s been almost 4 years) and half terrified cause he won’t be doing the crossword on the sofa. I hope that this bit of missing her turns round to lots of lovely memories that make you laugh and smile AND cry!
What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful tribute to and about your mom.
Your mom’s German potato salad looks fabulous!
:-) Mandy
I’ve been thinking of your mother, too. With gratitude and admiration. Yesterday my daughter asked for a lemon meringue tart, and I decided to try her recipe. It is simple and the end result was lovely (although I followed your advice and used Jamie’s crust recipe). Here in the Balkans we aren’t in the habit of using concentrated milk, and the preparation reminded my of primary school chemistry lessons! For the first time in my life I wondered at the magic of concentrated milk turning into tender yellow cream in contact with lemon juice. I also told my daughter about her making 21 ‘lemeringues’ in 21 consecutive days for your brother’s 21st birthday and we had a good laugh while she patiently waited for the crust to cool. A lovely evening! And this morning, the remaining meringue was studded with caramel coloured pearls, gorgeous in the shy morning sunshine! Thank you, Jules!
Number 7 is a great tip. I’ve always found pan fried meatballs gain a triangular shape and often fall apart. For spaghetti & meatballs, I simply pop the raw meats into simmering tomato sauce for a easy, tender result.
vera
thanks for sharing your lemon meringue pie story. LOVE it!
claire
hope you have a lovely trip – I think if you’re looking for the memories they’ll be there.
erika
thanks for sharing your real german potato salad recipe – I think my mum got hers from a book that came with our first microwave or something so I’ve always wondered how really ‘German’ it was – glad to hear it’s in the ball park.
lucy
great lady is an understatement!
Your mother had some very wise tips. I similarly learnt much about food from my mother. Great post.
My version of german salad has some german mustard (noting your mothers dislike of Dijon she may not have liked this addition).
Wonderful tips for mother’s day. Like you, I’m not convinced about the one about not licking your fingers. But the rest look really great! :)
This is an inspiring tribute to your mom. U hope you have a special Mothers Day:D
What a beautiful post and a lovely tribute to your Mum!
My love of cooking came from my maternal grandmother who was an amazing baker – Saturday afternoons spent with her in the kitchen making doughnuts, victoria sponges and apple pies are some of my happiest childhood memories.
Totally agree on the baking meatballs before adding to a sauce suggestion – I never looked back once I took that piece of advice from a friend a couple of years ago.
Scared to try the German Potato salad recipe – think I would be hard pressed not to polish off the whole lot at once!
Loving this blog!!
I purchased “And the love is free” book last year … and love it. My daughter and I have together cooked many of the recipes.
Jane
so glad you and your daughter are cooking together from my book! you’ve made my day
Jules – What is lamington? {Remember I’m Irish – !!]
Niall,
Great question!
Lamingtons are little squares of plain butter cake that have been covered on all sides with chocolate icing and then rolled in coconut… you need to try them some time!