V is playing Christmas music (to death) on the CD player. Just had Guadete which I like both as a song and as a Christmas song and then came someone’s rendition of In the Bleak Mid-Winter which reminded me:

As a kid (about 10ish) I had a book of poems. Not that I’m a fan of poetry (well, now that I think about it, that’s not entirely true) but this book had some great poems. Unfortunately, I can only, vaguely, remember one. And the point is that I really don’t remember it at all. But the writing was so powerful. It talked (but, probably, only for one line or two) of how cold it was and an old man who was blowing on his fingers (to try and warm them).

I have no idea why I told you this. But thought I would share it. If anyone knows this poem (I think it was quite long), I would be grateful if you could let me know as it would be nice to revisit it and see if it remains as powerful now as it was then.

We had a really lovely day yesterday and, today, this evening, we have a friend round dinner. Not S, as I mentioned in my previous post, but A who has been very ill recently so it will be nice to see her. She was enticed by the Yorkshire Pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding is a strange beast. For years, whichever recipe I used, it was very hit-and-miss as to whether they would come out burnt black and inedible or almost white and so soggy that they were just as inedible – or somewhere in between. It didn’t seem to matter what I did.

Then one day, when I was working in London, I bought an Evening Standard and there was a letter in there which gave the ingredients for Yorkshire Pudding which, it was said, were the best.

And, I have to say, in probably the last 25 years or so, the lady in question has been proved absolutely right! There has never been (fingers crossed for tonight, of course) a failed batch of Yorkshire Puds since! So thanks, Annie Rennison from Norwood. I reprint it here as tribute to her and her mother, whose recipe it was:

2 eggs
3 oz. plain flour
a quarter pint of milk.

Mix the eggs and flour and gradually whisk the milk into the mixture, a little at a time. Leave to stand for about 15 mins in the fridge. Put a little fat (or oil) in the bottom of each cup in a patty tin and put into a very hot oven (I always put it at it’s fullest) for a few minutes.

Take out and pour a little mixture into each of the cups and back into the oven for approx 15 minutes.

Really, thanks to Annie, I have NEVER had problems with Yorkshires since. If you’re still around, Annie, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.