Let’s get one thing straight, I’m NOT a good cook! In fact I’m one of those cooks who often doesn’t measure ingredients, who makes do with what’s in the cupboard and therefore changes ingredients around and hopes for the best. I often think our grandmothers must have done the same during WW2.

And that is partly the reason that it’s taken me 20+ years to write my first WW2 recipe book…I just don’t think I’m good enough (oh and the lack of time due to my job and other family commitments).

I’m 60 next year and I want to achieve my dream, to create and publish my first proper cook book. A keepsake of my re-created WW2 recipes, re-created, re-photographed, re-written, in full colour, in a beautiful book…. More info here >>> https://the1940sexperiment.com/ration-book-recipes-new-book/

I’ve taken that first step. All the outline and costings are done and today I am deciding what recipes I will re-create for book 1. See my screenshot below…

I’ve dusted off my DSLR camera, located an area in the house where I will be able to set up props and photograph my food, bought a couple of backdrops when creating the scene for the food photo (see below) and once my final list of recipes is decided on, I’ll schedule baking days into some weekends where I can re-create and photograph recipes. My goal is to bake and photograph 8 recipes per month and to get the book completed and ready for printing in April 2026.

Thanks for all your support and all the sign-ups to be notified when the book is ready for order. This has really encouraged me to get this project moving!!!

Much love, C xxxx

Finally, after nearly 20 years of passionate WW2 baking, I am releasing my re-created ration book recipes, as full-colour keepsakes. Additionally, there will be lots of new content, photography, historical data and interesting information, readers hand me down WW2 recipes and hints and tips on frugal living on the modern day home-front.

The first 100 people on the wait-list will receive a 10% discount and a signed copy with a personalised note so please drop your email dress below and I will keep you updated on the books progress and full details on how you can purchase the books as we head towards next Spring.

Join the wait-list here

Thank you for your ongoing support. This will be a dream come true for me. 

C xxx

A quick update as I am literally getting ready for work!

We visited our local community gardens during my weeks annual leave. I’ve lived back in Swindon now for 5 years and had never visited, I’m kicking myself, the place is a lovely little haven!

Next year, when it opens for the summer, I will be a regular visitor as I’d love to see the gardens grow throughout the spring and summer.

TWIGS “Our gardens are places of healing. Engaging with nature through horticultural therapy is a powerful way of reducing stress and finding a sense of purpose.

The gardens are also a resource to give people who experience mental health problems the chance to regain confidence, self-esteem and to learn new skills”

Have a great day!

C xxxx

I’ve had a whole week off work and spent the time truly taking a break from everything and making sure every morning to take a walk around somewhere that would feed my soul and light that spark again.

A couple of days ago we visited our local community gardens called TWIGS (see video here) which was a wonderful little sanctuary of peacefulness and happiness. Before I left I picked up some herbs to grow in the garden as well as some tomatoes, cucumbers and a beautiful marrow!

What is a marrow I hear you ask!

“A marrow is the mature, large, overgrown fruit of a courgette (zucchini) plant, belonging to the same botanical species (Cucurbita pepo). Marrows are specifically bred for their larger size, harder skin, and longer storage life compared to courgettes, which are harvested when immature. They are often stuffed, baked, or used in savoury dishes and are a popular vegetable in Great Britain.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrow_(vegetable)

Marrows are such great economy vegetables!

I love marrows, so when I see them I buy them! In fact I need to grow some next year as they are so great not only for savoury dishes but for sweet preserves and chutneys too! However, I have NEVER heard of marrows being used as a pudding so when I saw the recipe for “Marrow Charlotte” on page 57 of one of my favourite WW2 recipe books “Health for All – Wartime Recipes” by Margaret Y. Brady, M.Sc, I had to give it a bash! I’d already made two portions of “marrow risotto” with half of the marrow yesterday so creating a dessert with the rest of it seemed like a good idea!

Marrow Charlotte

• 1.5 lb. young vegetable marrow
• 6 oz breadcrumbs
• 2 oz of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of black treacle (or golden syrup)
• 1 oz margarine
• 1 dessertspoon of lemon juice (can be omitted)

Method

Grease a pie dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a little sugar. Slice marrow thinly like an apple, leaving on the skin, and sprinkle with lemon juice (or substitute). Put a layer in the pie dish, then more breadcrumbs and sugar, dot with a few pieces of margarine, and run a little of the treacle over (I’m using golden syrup). Then put another layer of sliced marrow, and more breadcrumbs and sugar and treacle, repeating until the dish is full, ending with a layer of crumbs with dots of margarine on top. Add two tablespoons of water and bake slowly in a moderate oven for one hour, or until the marrow is soft and the crumbs crisp on top.

Serve with milk or soya custard sauce.

Total cost for 2 portions = 50p

C xxx

Hi all,

I’ve got half a marrow and fancy a pudding so later I’m going to bake a “Marrow Charlotte” and will film the recipe for my blog/YouTube. It will just be a very quick recipe but at least it’s a recipe and might be enough to light that spark again and get back to posting/creating again. It’s from the book “Health for All – Wartime Recipes” by Margaret Y. Brady M.Sc and it’s one of my favourite books.

I will do a proper catch up video in due course but for now it will be taste testing “Marrow Charlotte” – it sounds so unusual I just have to bake it tonight and share it with you.

Also, am currently looking for ways to cut my spending down. I don’t know about you but I’m simply horrified at the amount I spend on food. I’m going to start using up all the hoarded dry/tinned supplies in my pantry to offset the cost of my grocery bills!

Love to all,

C xxx

Everything went wrong and then everything went right. I’m back again but it will be a slow return.

Thank you for popping by, thank you for your messages, for your support and understanding. I had to step back from blogging, social media, and YouTube as I was burned out, chronic pain and fatigue, personal/family worries, and I literally just felt terribly unhappy (not that anyone would have known).

Stepping back from it all, from any extra pressures outside trying to maintain my job/livelihood, enabled me to think, to rest more, to have less to cope with and things began to feel a bit better a few weeks ago. I could see that beautiful dappled sunlight between the boughs of the trees.

As Autumn has arrived, I feel excitement and hope for the future again instead of focusing on negativity and worrying about everything. I LOVE the cool, crisp air, the rain, the autumn sunlight, the orange, red and brown leaves falling and the squirrels returning to the garden.

And just when things were starting to feel more positive, a few weeks ago we had big changes at work and I felt for a few moments that everything was going to come crashing down. I won’t go into detail but after a few unsettled weeks, yesterday I signed a contract for a new role within the company, for a position I really wanted as a “Digital Learning and Engagement Specialist”. The role will bring with it challenging times (for me) but it is exactly what I wanted to be doing.

And with that, this morning I stepped out into the sunlight, into a beautiful autumn day, and walked to my favourite coffee shop, bought a loaf of sourdough, drank coffee, and wrote in my journal while watching the world walk on by and I felt happy, calm and I smiled.

Love to all, C xxxx

COMMENT 6/10/2024

Thank you all for your lovely comments, I did so enjoy reading them all just now xxxx I’ll ease myself back into posting more regularly here and on YouTube but I probably won’t be back into doing videos until nearer Christmas as they are time consuming and I know the next month or two will be very busy with the new role and with doing my diploma too. I do appreciate you taking the time to make me smile xxx

Have a wonderful Sunday, C xxxx

This is not a permanent step-back. This is rather taking control of my life, recognising that things are a bit much for me right now and it is OK to take time out for a while and not feel guilty.

My initial thoughts were a 2-3 week break but I recognise now that I need longer to regroup.

I’ll not be updating the blog until September the 1st, nor my social channels and YouTube.

I then will be returning with energy and passion for the subject I love so much.

I’m still dropping into my Facebook Group 4 or 5 times a day to see if there are any admin duties and to read some of the posts but Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, Pinterest, my Facebook pages and my blog will not be uploaded with any recipes/content etc.

Sending much love and good thoughts, thank you for messages, I will be replying in September after having a proper break.

See you in September, C xxxxx

So I’ve used up all my 16 points for the month now because this evening I had a craving for tinned peaches and luckily “Mr. Bill Brown” (he who runs the grocers on Victoria Road) had a few cans on the shelves when I went shopping yesterday. It’s early days for rationing, I’m sure it will be harder to find my favourite treat in a few more months!

Anyone who loves tinned peaches knows that it’s so easy to eat them all! The tin actually contained 2.5 very small peaches in juice. It was heaven. However, afterwards, I did give some thought to how precious that can of peaches would have been a year or so into rationing when things began to get very scarce. That can of peaches would have been shared among a complete family no doubt. I did feel a little guilty…

So apart from the peaches (which I ate 1/2 an hour ago), what else did I eat today?

Breakfast: Porridge with a spoonful of milled flax and a large cup of tea. I had coffee at work.

Lunch: I wasn’t hungry at my normal lunch time as I felt hot and bothered having walked back from work but when I did eat lunch an hour later than normal, it was leftover stew with some spinach leaves and two slices of bread. I drank water.

Dinner: Again I didn’t feel hungry but eventually ate around 7pm. On my menu I was down for making “vegetable mince” and mashed potatoes but I wasn’t fancying that so instead I had a bowl of lettuce topped with a baked potato (leftover from yesterday) that I chopped up and fried. Enjoyed a large mug of tea afterwards.

Supper: My appetite returned and I craved peaches so had the whole can! Enjoyed my final mug of tea!

I also had some cough sweets as my throat was scratchy and dry today.

Much love, C xxx

I admit, it was hard to not GRAZE on bits and bobs, here and there, as I went about my day.

Although I wasn’t hungry, I still ate my porridge for breakfast with a large mug of tea at 7 am as I knew I wouldn’t be back home to eat lunch until around 1 pm. At the office I normally have a piece of fruit at around 10:30 am but today I decided to go without as I’m trying to establish what is purely habit and what is actual hunger. During the morning at work I also enjoyed 2 cups of coffee! The perks of working is that back in the 40’s, tea and coffee would have been available to purchase from the canteen.

I work from home in the afternoon so as soon as I got in at lunch time I resorted to 1/2 a can of baked beans on 2 slices of toast placed on a nice large bed of salad leaves. I absolutely love my green leaves. Afterwards I had another mug of tea and a sliced apple before cracking on with my to-do list. It’s a BIG one and in never seems to get completed but that is good, it keeps me in a job! I then got hungry again a couple of hours later and ate a sliced tomato and had ANOTHER mug of tea.

As soon as I finished work later I grabbed a medium baked potato (I’d baked earlier) and foolishly used up 2 oz of my vegan cheese and gobbled it down as I was so hungry and then proceeded to make my planned dish which was vegetable stew. I chopped up 1 medium potato, 1 medium parsnip, 1 medium carrot, 1 small onion, a couple of stems of celery, 3 large tomatoes and some herbs, salt and pepper and made enough for a few large bowls. I’ll be having any leftovers for lunch tomorrow with buttered bread.

And that is it so far! Its 6pm and I know in a couple of hours my stomach will be rumbling again, luckily I have a ladle or two of stew I can afford to have and still have some for tomorrow.

Several times today I’ve had to give myself a stern talking too when I almost reached out for a cracker or a biscuit. Hoping over the coming weeks to break that habit.

Here are photos of what I have eaten today. I forgot to take a photo of the baked potato and cheese though.

Thank you so much again for all the lovely comments on my last two posts. I’ve read them all and will try and respond this evening once I settle down for the evening.

Much love, C xxxx

You made me cry. You really did. You are beautiful. Thank you. Taking time from your day to offer support on my blog post this morning truly touched me. Your support always does but for some reason that really hit me this afternoon when I needed it. Your positive comments mean the world.

I’ve had a busy day. I visited my parents and then cleaned the house downstairs including yesterday’s washing up STILL in the sink! I also cleaned the gas hob, did the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and then chatted with a visitor. I also gave JoJo (our remaining Guinea Pig) some love and attention before sitting down with my journal to write down this week,s menu.

Of course, during wartime Britain, after I had written my menu I would have set off early on Monday morning, with my ration book and basket, joining a queue at my local shop to pick up my rations and hope that I’d be able to get the dried or canned goods on points that I needed for my weeks planned menu. Time travel again forward to 2024, and, after writing my menu, I can simply pick up my mobile phone and place my ASDA shopping order and almost be guaranteed to get what I want and delivered, without queueing, the very next day. Quite honestly the modern way of shopping is a Godsend when you work full-time so as much as I like the thought of popping out for a stroll with my shopping basket and a gossip with Mrs. Bridges at number 24, Asda online saves me so much time.

What am I eating this week and what did I buy on points?

I have plenty of staples in my cupboard such as porridge oats and bread. I also still have lots of pulses but nevertheless used some of my points to order 1 lbs of yellow split peas (2 points), 1 lb of haricot beans (2 points) plus two cans of baked beans (4 points). We are currently on 16 points per month at the moment so I’m going to set aside my other 8 points to use at a later date. I tend to buy a lot of dried pulses as they are great for protein and fibre and are low in points.

Here is my menu for the week…

What is the current state of my food cupboard?

Would you believe it I am still on my 8 oz of sugar from week 1 of rationing! I have bought sugar each and every week though as I am stockpiling it to make preserves (see below). I am planning to make some jam and applesauce! Currently I have a good supply of dried foods such as beans and pulses and dried fruit which should last me months. It helped that I already had quite a bit in my larder before rationing began. The things I find a challenge are milk, tea and cheese. I don’t take my egg ration as I don’t eat them but if I did I am sure that would be a challenge too!

Free download coming this week

I have this wonderful pamphlet with lots of pages and information about preserving and canning published in the 1940s by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. This one is the Growmore Bulletin No. 3 and I really hope you enjoy it so please check back as I will post it later this week! For now I thought you might like to see the first few pages!

Much love and thank you once again, C xxxxx