Mothers Day Comfort Food

I hope you've all had a lovely Mothers Day! I've had a great one!

Isla and I spent this afternoon cooking again. She's only recently got interested in helping out, and I really enjoy cooking with her. It also means that she's more willing to try new foods, if she has helped me cook it! She can be a bit of a wuss when it comes to new things, so this really helps.

Today, as it is Mothers Day, we have cooked proper comfort food. Childhood food. We had Sausage Casserole for dinner - not the aforementioned Italian Sausage and Bean Casserole, but a homemade recipe that my mum made years ago when I was a child. It's cheap and delicious.
For pudding we made a syrup songe. We are a little bit skint at the moment, so it's a case of looking in the cupboard and finding what we can make! I was desperate for a little sweetness, and not having any chocolate in the house, decided that we should make a pudding. Syrup Sponge is a real childhood dessert - definite comfort food!
It's the first time I've ever made it, and I was stunned at how well it turned out. It was absolutely delicious - spongy in all the right places, and gooey in all the right places! Even Isla ate it, and she's not big on spongy cakey type things. In fact, even my mum ate it, and she's not a pudding fan at all. She said it really did remind her of her childhood as her mum used to make it when she was small.

In those days, my Grandma was cooking for five people on a tight budget, so consequently I imagine that what they ate had to be good, solid food. Meat, two veg and potatoes, followed by a good, stodgy pudding. Rationing was still in force until three years after my mum was born, so it must have been difficult to cater for a family.

My Grandma has never liked or enjoyed cooking, unlike my mum and me. She did it because she had a family to feed, and she still cooks for herself to this day, because she likes to eat a well balanced diet. She still does it because she still can. She has taught me one thing though - the ability to make really good mashed potatoes! No lumps in mine!

Anyway, enjoy the recipes, and the rest of Mothers Day!