When I emptied my family home, I found this set of “Cooking with” leaflets. I have no idea when they were published, but the information on the back shows they came from the British Farm Produce Council in Knightsbridge, London. My best guess is that they are from the 1970s.

They have been sitting on a shelf in my work room for over a decade while I tried to work out what to do with them. Some of the recipes are, erm, challenging to my modern palate, and double cream seems to feature quite frequently.

I didn’t photograph all the booklets. Instead, I just picked the ones that were printed across two pages so I could fit in all the details. After all, it would be terrible to only find half a recipe for “Rhubarb and Kidney Curls” or “Turnip Twists,” wouldn’t it?

I don’t know if my mum ever made any of them, and I don’t really have an emotional connection to them. Even so, I have loved flicking through the pages trying to find a recipe I might actually want to cook. The best one so far comes from the cauliflower guide (tho I did have to look up what a gill was).

Salad Sprigs
FOR 4 (no cooking involved)

1 large cauliflower
1 medium-sized onion
½ cucumber
½ gill cider vinegar
½ gill salad oil
1 oz caster sugar
Salt and black pepper
1 teaspoonful dry mustard
Watercress

Method: Cut the cucumber into ½” dice and soak in cider vinegar for ½ hour. Meantime, blanch the cauliflower in boiling salted water for 5 minutes, drain well and divide into sprigs. Drain the cucumber and put cucumber and cauliflower into a basin. In another bowl, mix together the salt, pepper, dry mustard and sugar. Stir in the vinegar drained from the cucumber. Stir in the oil. Pour over vegetables and turn well in the dressing. Chill. Turn into a serving dish and garnish with fresh watercress sprigs.

And from the Apple guide:

Apple Salad
FOR 4 (no cooking involved)

2 dessert apples (British, of course)
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
2 sticks celery
½lb carrots
2 tablespoonsful salad cream dressing

Method: Remove cores from unpeeled apples then thinly slice. Toss in lemon juice. Thinly slice celery and grate carrots. Mix all ingredients with the dressing and turn into a dish.

This next one feels like it would be ridiculously sweet, but it is a nice idea in principle:

Casseroled Tomatoes
FOR 4

8 medium-sized tomatoes
2 oz butter
¼ pint water
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ Ib honey

Method: Skin the tomatoes and put into a fireproof casserole dish. Melt the butter and mix with all the other ingredients. Pour over the tomatoes. Cover closely and bake at 300°F, Gas Mark 2, for about half an hour until the tomatoes are tender. Serve with the juice as an unusual accompaniment to veal or duck.