New BBC2 Back in time for dinner

Grimbal

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've seen those tin openers, but we always had ones with the turning wing nuts since I can remember, which would've been mid-60s. So I've not used one. Like this we had: https://www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk/images/user/081110174816.jpg

We must have inherited our one from somewhere I guess then - I was born early 70s, and remember mum using one in the house where I was born, so until '81. The parents in the show seems older than I am now, so they must have been around in their childhood/teenage years. It was both frustrating & amusing to watch in equal measure

We have one of those wing nut ones now ! We have a fancy one that leaves nice smooth edges that we use routinely but have the old fashioned one as a reserve should the main one fail & we can't get into the baked beans

moneyistooshorttomention

Wot? No spam....now I do remember spam from my childhood and think that was around in the 1950s:rotfl:. Yuk.

No-one but no-one would have cold liver that I can think of...duh!

Did wonder why the woman didn't seem to have clicked that bacon might be on the menu, as that's one of her no-nos, and I guess they were hoping for a row to make Good Television at that point. I was there thinking "You wouldn't get me onto a programme like that for any era before the 1970s or so....if then...as it would amount to a set-up situation hoping for Good Television".

I well recall that food of the 1950s and 60s was just plain yuk/yuk and more yuk as far as I was concerned. Spam/fish fingers/jelly and blancmange/vegetables that were boiled to death and probably didn't even get as much as a pat of butter to garnish them.

It took a lot of endurance to eat the diet of that era imo. I don't recall EVER thinking "That was a nice meal/tasty" about anything I ever got fed - whether by my mother or my school.

Goes off - very thankfully - to eat the rest of my 21st century breakfast. Porridge (soaked overnight in its milk - aka a cooked version of overnight oats) with fruits and superfoods/nice bread/real coffee.

[Deleted User]

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

As for the girls and cleaning I was rolling up. "Well I am going to university to be able to earn money"
So who is going to do all the cooking, laundry and cleaning while she is at uni?:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

All in all it was the best comedy I have seen in years :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I've always thought that everyone, regardless of gender, should learn household management at school including how to make balanced meals, manage money and clean. We only did about 6 food technology lessons the whole time I was in school and then we made cakes.
I came to uni quite knowledgeable about cooking and basic cleaning as I had been caring for my Mum while my Dad had to work away so the mortgage could be paid. But some didn't have a clue, even in 3rd year i came across students who didn't know how to put the laundry on! :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

I remember having once bought in the early 1960s a tin of Olde Oak Ham which my husband loved and I thought tasted disgusting as it was surrounded by this jelly like stuff which made me heave I only bought it the once and it was at Christmas, and once used up I never bought it again.I have lost count of the amount of tims I have slced my finger on a tin of sardines or corned beef with the little keys .Also those tabs that the keys fit into were always breaking off grrr... Not much tinned stuff around when I was growing up as rationing was the order of the day.My late Mum wouldn't countenance 'black market' stuff at all.We grew most of the veg and raised chickens. I remember her getting some snoek in a tin which was some sort of south african fish and it was appalling in smell and tastebut if it was on your plate you ate it or went hungry.
No choice in what you liked or didn't like .The most horrible thing I have eaten apart from this snoek, was tripe, I cannot abide either the taste or smell.Think of eating a wet flannel facecloth with onions and you've got it about ringht.But I never went hungry which is what she was more interested in.

Some strange concoctions and it was best not to inquire too closly what it was you were actually eating at times:):):)I shall watch this programme with interest The 1950s seem like a lifetime ago to many people but for some of us, it, and the 1940s are in living memory :):)

TravellingAbuela

Despite us having an electric can opener MrTA will only use one of the old stab ones. He insists they are more reliable!

goggle

It never ceases to amaze me with programmes like this why they don't also have a "competant" family - you know, one where the mother, despite working a full time job, actually also knows how to cook/cope

I'm sure that I & many other people here could have coped perfectly well with opening the pilchards, making the liver & onions appetising and producing a spectacular "crown" dessert
Why on earth she served the children cold potatoes & liver I don't know, surely even a 1950's mother would have warmed them up - fried off in a bit of that lovely dripping would have made a nice tea & still adhered to the "leftover potato & liver" that was written in the "National food survey"

I'm sure showing people who actually could cope & make it look really nice/tasty etc would be considered "poor viewing" by the people who think laughing at others is fun, but I think it would be really interesting to watch

115K

drinkupretty wrote: »

I came to uni quite knowledgeable about cooking and basic cleaning as I had been caring for my Mum while my Dad had to work away so the mortgage could be paid. But some didn't have a clue, even in 3rd year i came across students who didn't know how to put the laundry on! :rotfl:

I had the same experience at university, I had to show a few people how to use a washing machine.:D

Ballymackeonan

Has anybody else got the "Stork" cookery book that celebrated things coming off ration? I still have my mum's treasured copy - although she never used a food mixer, everything was mixed by hand - literally - as the warmth of the hand broke down the fat much more easily and allowed quicker mixing than a wooden spoon would.

I barely remember rationing, but do remember a lot of game in my early years. My gran, by then widowed and living with us, was a farmer's daughter with lots of country relatives, who regarded pigeons as a nuisance so there were always some available - plus I learned to gut a fish when I was young.

I've got a book "How to run your home without help" published in 1949, which estimates time for housework as 1-2 hours per day for daily tidying, a further 2-3 hours for each day's special task (like washing on Monday etc) plus 3-4 hours a day for shopping and cooking. Add to this making clothes for the children, if not also for yourself... and patching, darning, mending!

maman

goggle wrote: »

It never ceases to amaze me with programmes like this why they don't also have a "competant" family - you know, one where the mother, despite working a full time job, actually also knows how to cook/cope

I'm sure that I & many other people here could have coped perfectly well with opening the pilchards, making the liver & onions appetising and producing a spectacular "crown" dessert
Why on earth she served the children cold potatoes & liver I don't know, surely even a 1950's mother would have warmed them up - fried off in a bit of that lovely dripping would have made a nice tea & still adhered to the "leftover potato & liver" that was written in the "National food survey"

I'm sure showing people who actually could cope & make it look really nice/tasty etc would be considered "poor viewing" by the people who think laughing at others is fun, but I think it would be really interesting to watch

Which seems to be the premise of so much reality TV which is why I choose not to watch.


I couldn't agree more about last night's programme. The reason the family were having unpalatable food in the early 50s wasn't because of rationing but because she was a carp cook. Ironically, I'd bought liver for the freezer only yesterday. I won't be serving it up cold and grey! The family had an allotment and she could so easily have made a tasty onion gravy and extra veg.


I do know all the reasons/excuses why many people don't learn to cook but it's hardly rocket science if you really want to know how (strange she made the effort for boss's family). I was only thinking that if she'd asked the elderly ladies that came to tea for some tips she'd have learned a lot.


I'll keep watching as I like the social history side. By next week (60s) they should be able to go for Chinese/Indian or to a Berni steak house so she need never cook again!!

fizzypotter

Grimbal wrote: »

We must have inherited our one from somewhere I guess then - I was born early 70s, and remember mum using one in the house where I was born, so until '81. The parents in the show seems older than I am now, so they must have been around in their childhood/teenage years. It was both frustrating & amusing to watch in equal measure

We have one of those wing nut ones now ! We have a fancy one that leaves nice smooth edges that we use routinely but have the old fashioned one as a reserve should the main one fail & we can't get into the baked beans

I was born 1973 and remember these tin openers too, maybe we inherited one too