Hi, all, and welcome back.
I’m a little behind in my posting, but want to comment on The Great War: It was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when
World War I officially ended. It is a much bigger observation here in the UK than in the US. Although we had men and women fighting in the war, we didn’t have the war come directly to our shores.
Here in Cullen, Anne and I attended 2 memorial services for that day. One was at the Cullen Tennis and Bowling Club, Saturday night the 10th, and the other was at the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) Sunday night the 11th.
Both were heart-felt and moving, but very different. The first was a program of music of the era, presented by performers from the area. At times, we had a sing-a-long. There were 2 men who gave some tribute to those who fought and died, but mostly it was entertainment.
Saturday night tickets were £10 and included a light dinner and tea or coffee. The dinner choices were macaroni and cheese or stovies. Since I didn’t know what it was, I tried the stovies. Stovies are serves with skirlies. Stovies is (are) a meat dish and skirlies have oatmeal in them.
The second one, Sunday night, the 11th, was a the Presbyterian church. It was much more solemn and serious. Three men took turns reading excerpts from diaries, newspaper clippings and other documents of the times.
The recruiting posted is interesting. It says:
12,000 women wanted for war service not. Your boy and your girl
pal are in it. Why aren’t you? Don’t fail them.
You can join –
1. QMAAC – Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army corps as cooks, clerks,
Waitresses, Pals Battalion (for the American Army) for
friends wanting to serve together as clerks.
2. WRAF – Woman’s Royal Air Force as cooks, clerks, waitresses,
Technical workers – training as need arises.
3. WRNS – Women’s Royal Naval Service as cooks,
Clerks, waitresses, technical workers.
4. AWLA – Scottish Women’s Land Army
As Milkers, Forestry Workers, etc.
Smart Uniforms – Good Pay – Ample Rations
Apply to your nearest Employment Exchange
I think the comment about “Smart Uniforms” is interesting. Sign of the times, I guess. Also, it is sad that “Ample rations” might be an incentive. Food was scarce.
Recipe for Stovies:
Ingredients
Serves: 4 1)
25g beef dripping
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 to 7 large potatoes
1 beef stock cube
1 tin corned beef
pepper to taste ‘
- Melt beef dripping in a stock pan and add finely chopped onion.
While onions are cooking begin to peel and slice the potatoes. Keep occasionally checking the onions but you want to really cook them until they start to brown as this is what makes this recipe so tasty. Even if they burn do not worry, the burnt bits come off the pan as potatoes cook and enhance the overall taste. - When you are happy that onions are browned nicely add the sliced potatoes, then slowly add enough water to cover approximately three quarters of the potatoes, usually anything from 500ml to 1 litre. Add the crumbled stock cube and then open the tin of corned beef and add one large chunky slice (about a quarter of a tin) to the potatoes and onion. This really adds flavour to the potatoes as they cook.
- Simmer until potatoes are softened, around 15 to 25 minutes depending on how thick you have cut potatoes. You want them to be just soft, not mushy. Occasionally prick the centre of a potato with a knife until it starts to go through.
- When you are happy that potatoes are soft enough add the remaining diced corned beef and warm through. It can be served immediately, but I like to transfer it to an oven dish and put it in the oven at around 200 C / Gas 6 just long enough to add a crusty topping, around 20 minutes. I also create a crusty top by putting it under the grill for 5 minutes with the grill door closed. I add a bit of butter to the top, too.
Recipe for Skirlies:
They tell me that Skirlie is a Scottish word for toasted oatmeal
50g of butter or dripping
1 onion – finely chopped
175g oatmeal
Salt and pepper
- Melt the butter in a pan and add the onion, frying gently to soften.
- Stir in the oatmeal, season and cook gently for 10 minutes.
- Serve with Stovies
I’ll leave it to you to figure out the grams. You can get a converter on the internet somewhere. That’s what I do.
I hope this inspires you to try out a new recipe. I will see you the next time. Bye.