1968

1968 was a great year. In the September of 1968 this Margaret was born in the little city of Nieuwpoort in the South of Holland - the 2nd of 3 girls. My mother was reading an English book during the pregnancy where the heroine was named Margaret and she was so enamoured of the character that she bestowed her name on me. Not so enamoured that she could remember the name of the book years later when I asked - once this story was brought to my attention.

Half a world away the other Margaret was also involved in a birth of sorts. It was the year Margaret Fulton released her very first cookbook "The Complete Margaret Fulton Cookbook" Paul & Hamlyn 1968. There have been many revised and updated editions of this book and I have the fabric bound incarnate released in 2004. The book has changed in many ways, one being to change the ingredients to the metric system. I think this will make baking easier for me but I have been scouring the Vintage Book stores on-line to try and locate a 1968 copy. I have decided that I 'must' have one and so the search begins :) But the recipes, and the style are still the same.

Last night I made myself comfortable and began the process of choosing the first recipes I would make. We are having friends over for lunch on Monday (public holiday - yay) and it is the perfect opportunity to unleash. What I didn't expect to happen to the degree that it did was the nostalgia I felt as I turned the pages. There are recipes in this book I clearly remember my Mum making, recipes that reminded me of certain events, days, times. Both with my family and with Mr M's. It was fantastic. And it is this journey through my life that I am ready to explore.

So, what did I decide I was going to attempt? I am going to make 2 things. A French Onion Soup followed by Beef Pot Roast. Neither of which I have made before but both envoke warm yummy feelings. AND in the spirit of Margaret I will make these using a Beef Stock I will make myself, which means using a bouquet garni I will need to put together. I can already see that planning is going to be a big key to success in the venture and that the baking of main meals will be restricted to weekends until I win the lottery and can afford to stay home during the day to cook ;)

So with my ingredients list in hand I will head to the shops and see if I can find a butcher that sells a rolled brisket.. LOL