It seems like an awfully long time since I have done one of these but ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to, straight from the vaults of 1972, The Nancy Spain All Colour Cookery Book.
Don’tcha just love it when you open the first page of a book and just know you have found something to treasure. The All Colour Cookery Book opens with this…
Yep…a black and white photo.
I guess “all colour” meant something different back in 1972…
Then let’s mosey over to page 3 where Nancy gets her kit off…no, sorry to disappoint, it’s not that sort of page 3….although equally shocking for the folks of 1972 I would imagine is the following:
“That is because my partner’s “presentation sense” is very, very highly developed and she uses colour in “laying out” her Sunday or Saturday lunch as an artist would “lay out” his palette”
What? Did I read that right? Did Nancy Spain just out herself? Who knew there were lesbians back in 1972? Ok, no we all knew that…but I always assumed that those times were a lot more homophobic and that people were a lot less open about their sexuality….then again, it was the ’70’s…people were flinging car keys into fruit bowls with wild abandon…maybe being out and proud was nothing back then…as it should be now…. Anyway, you go girl!
Whenever I read these old books, I can’t help imagine the personalities of the authors…In a really early post I spoke about my crush on Jules J Bond; Greta Anna Teplitzky is the cool girl in school I always wanted to be. And Nancy and I, would have just been besties…who wouldn’t be best friends with someone who takes photos of themselves holding oversized vegetables over their heads…
Or with oversized cookware…
Or who hold parties based on obscure Nationalities….
Or who begins a piece called “The Three Musts for Every Party” with the words:
“Drink is all important…”
She’s definitely a girl after my own heart!
She’s fun, she’s boozy, and a little bit kooky, and we’d never fall out because we both fancied the same boy! Why would we not be friends?
(Ps the other two musts are food and music).
So, this has just been the taster, we’ll have a closer look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the contents of the book over the next few weeks.
Oh, and welcome back WordPress followers…who knew you would all drop off when I moved platforms? Specifically because I was assured you wouldn’t drop off when I moved platforms…but you’re back now…I think, I hope…Let me know if you are.
Meantime, I’ll be moving house and planning my Liechtensteiner themed housewarming party….you can all come, but only if you wear the Liechtenstein National Dress and bring me something from there. Although I remember from a Year 8 geography project that their main produce is postage stamps… Wear this & bring booze…from anywhere. I’m not fussy….
I’ll handle the menu.
Wikipedia tells me popular Liechtensteiner foods include asparagus, bread, pastries, rosti, schnitzel, sandwiches and yoghurt. If I wasn’t already in the middle of moving house, I might up sticks to Liechtenstein…the cuisine sounds fab! And that national dress has a kind of cute raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Sound of Music vibe….
I’d love to say that I’ll be spending my week planning a holiday to Liechtenstein. However, the reality is packing and unpacking boxes….although my new house is going to be awesome…I”ve already set up the bar…
And cookbook corner is looking wicked good…
Still have an enormous amount to do so, best be doing it, instead of arseing about on the internet all night.
Have a great week whatever you do!
