Manda's Menus

Yes to the modern cook it is actually possible to make a delicious Spaghetti Bolognaise, or Spag Bog as it is called in our house without the use of a single jar of off the shelf, and its just as quick and easy with a couple of great little flavour enhancers. INGREDIENTS: 500gm mince 1 onion 2 tomatoes 3 mushrooms 1 beef stock cube or beef gravy mix 1 cup red wine 1 spoon of crushed garlic 1 spoon of basil pesto 150ml cream Flat pasta - special cheat below Grated parmesan METHOD: Big pot of water goes on to start boiling first so its ready for the pasta. In that great heavy based pan with a nice dash of olive oil - throw in the finely diced onions, especially if you have children then they can't find them and pick them out.  Then the finely sliced mushrooms, and finally the tomatoes.  The only reason to this order is that tomatoes are more liquid and the chopping board gets slippery and therefore a little dangerous when you have a sharp knife. No culin...

This time of year is the perfect time to enjoy comfort food. Not the nasty unhealthy, psychological type of food that is not good for you, but the real true physical warmth of a great home cooked meal. Call it slow cooking, call it cheating, call it what you want, there is nothing better than a good old fashioned meal that Grandma made on the wood stove to warm every part of you. Most of us haven't got a wood stove I know, but we do have the modern equivalent the crock pot or slow cooker.  These are fantastic for putting together a quick meal in the morning and letting it just roll through the day while you're at work.  Then you walk in, throw the oven on, whack in a loaf of garlic bread, or a soda loaf (see last week's blog) and in the time it takes to remove your shoes pop on your slippers and flick the switch on the heater - dinner is cooked. This week's is one of my Grandma's recipes using some really basic ingredients but turning out an absolute...

I feel very privileged to have inherited a copy of this amazing tome of Australian publishing and indeed feminism. My Grandmother was married at 8am on Monday 6th June 1921 in the little South West town of Greenbushes.  It was a double wedding with her older sister not only being married the same day but also engaged on the same day earlier in the year. Some of the measurements are quite difficult to follow with terms such as a gill, quart, pint and a wineglass (I like that one) used.  Rather than temperatures in Farenheit or Celcius, cooking directions are for a hot or quick oven, a slow oven, and sometimes to leave on the hob.  Gas and electric stoves were not common, and everyone had a wood stove.   Adverts are for some familiar stores and products including Milk Arrowroot biscuits and Nestle milk. As difficult as some recipes are, and as heartfelt the post World War I sentiments in certain adverts I love the recipes and still use many of them now as a stand...