My Nan's Special Sunday Lunch

Talking of High Tea and my Nan's cooking reminds me very much of an occasion when we went to see her one Sunday. Now ever since I was small Nan has always cooked a proper Sunday lunch, making the most of seasonal produce and making a little go along way by being careful what she served up and how she served it. We always had Sunday lunch it would probably be a small piece of pork served with home made apple sauce, at this time of year sprouting broccoli, carrots and mashed potato and roast potato and parsnip. Oh and Nan's home made sage and onion stuffing. Yummy. Her and my granddad grew all of their own vegetables rarely did they buy them that was anathema to them The meal was always good first time round and she used to get a second sometimes a third meal out of everything. Monday was always traditionally her washing day [old habits died hard] so Monday's meal always consisted of cold meat and bubble n squeak. If there was anything left from that it used to go into a soup and even that was delicious. My mouth is salivating as I am writing this remembering her and her cooking. She was our matriarch and was fondly known as the Duchess.

Although we live in Peterborough I used to go and see her as regularly as we could in Lincoln where she lived and used to spend the day with her and we used to have a lovely time.

Nan had often heard us talk about Chinese meals. Now bless her heart she had never had a Chinese meal in her life, but not to be outdone she decided that this particular Sunday when we went she was going to do something different for us - unbeknown to us. When we got there she calmly announced that we were having something a little different she did not know what it would be like but it would be an experience. My lovely little Nan had been to the shop and grabbed some ingredients which she classed as Chinese had brought them home and cooked them. What she in actual fact had bought was an Indonesian Packet Mix Meal - basically the sauce ingredients to which she provided chicken and then did not know what to serve it with - she didn't know that you had rice with most of these dishes. So Nan being Nan did it with mashed potato! And do you know that was one lovely meal and one that has stayed in our memories as being a Special lunch with Nan.