My darling mother passed away eleven years ago and not a day goes by when I don't miss her. This coming Sunday is mother's day and as always I shall buy a bunch of flowers and place them beside the above photo in memory of my gorgeous mum. The photo is old and has been exposed to light but I treasure it dearly as it was the last photo taken of mum and I together.
Mother's day was originally called mothering Sunday as it was a Christian holiday when people returned to their mother church, commonly known as to have gone 'a-mothering'. This progressed into a day when domestic servants were given the day off to visit their mothers, it was often the only time whole families could gather together, usually servants were not given free days off. Children and young people in service would pick wild flowers en route home to give to their mothers.
Mother's day is still about honouring mother's, however, the simple token of flowers, and more importantly, time spent with our mum's, has been swallowed up by commercialism, nowadays every one jumps on the bandwagon, shops are awash with 'mother's day gifts and cards, and it has become the busiest day of the year for eateries all over the country, I have several friends who work in restaurants and they all dread the mass of people that descend on them on this particular day.
My mother's Italian heritage meant that she was a fantastic cook and I wish that I had written down more of her recipes for posterity. One of my absolute favourites was my mum's bread pudding, fresh from the oven and sprinkled with sugar it was heavenly! I've never tasted bread pudding that compares with my mum's.....ever!
I've googled recipes and looked in cookery books to no avail, I've never been able to emulate mums recipe. I know that mum used suet which none of the recipes I've read include, which is probably why the end result is dry and cakey as oppsed to wet and juicy. So I took the bull by the horns and blind baked a bread pudding using pure instinct as opposed to a recipe, and I cracked it! I ended up with mum's bread pudding.
Bread pudding
Recipe
A loaf of stale bread, crusts removed and broken into small pieces
1/2 pint of cold water
75g soft brown sugar
Half a cup of milk
50g suet
1 egg beaten
100g dried fruit: you can use raisins, currants or cranberries
1 teaspoon mixed spice
Preheat oven 180c/gas mark 4
Soak bread, drain and squeeze out excess water with your hands
Mix bread with the rest of ingredients
Put mixture into a greased baking tin
Bake for 30-40 minutes
Allow to cool slightly, slice and sprinkle with sugar
'Treat your mother with loving care,
You will only know her value when you see her empty chair'
-author unknown
Happy mother's day
Love Donna xxxxxxxx
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