Topic: BIR 1983

[Peripatetic Phil]

Our own handwriting can be a surprisingly effective prompt to memory. When American chef and cookbook author Deborah Madison stumbled upon some old handwritten recipes from the 1970s, she was transported back in time. Jotted down in brown notebooks along with notes and doodles and food stains and lists of suppliers that she used for the restaurant Greens in San Francisco, the recipes were “a record of time spent fitting new thoughts together”, she wrote. “At times it looks careful and deliberate. Other times my hand gets distracted and strays, looks sloppy and tired. But mostly it conveys such a deep sense of discovery that reading through these notebooks, I am reinfected with the obsessive excitement I felt then”. She doesn’t think the same feeling would emerge from a list written on a computer: “There’s much to be said for the mark of the hand”.

From https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jan/21/signature-moves-are-we-losing-the-ability-to-write-by-hand?CMP=share_btn_url
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** Phil.

[Kashmiri Bob]

Remembered another '70's home food classic. This was also fairly regular fayre for us. Rissoles! Made with minced beef and onion. Mum had a Spong gadget; clamped on the work top. It was red. I have one somewhere, must find it. No bread bun or picked gherkins with these bad boys. Served with chips, peas and sometimes gravy. Brown sauce or ketchup, or both. Buttered white bread on a side plate, sliced on the diagonal

Rob

[Peripatetic Phil]

Crusts cut off, of course, and eaten with the little finger elegantly raised ?!

[curryhell]

Remembered another '70's home food classic. This was also fairly regular fayre for us. Rissoles! Made with minced beef and onion. Mum had a Spong gadget; clamped on the work top.

Just had these tonight.  I make these regularly, adding some coriander, cumin, paprika and mixed herbs. No gadget though, just an egg ring and a spoon. Prefer mine with mash and gravy.

[Kashmiri Bob]

Found my spong.



It's looking a bit worse for wear, so I have dismantled it and am soaking some parts in vinegar, to get the rust off. It's a fine gadget though. It's the deluxe cream coloured base version with a bright red wooden handle! The cream will match my microwave nicely. A respray is an option, but there is a rather fine gold Spong sticker on it and I would like to preserve this.

CH was right about the rissoles. It was indeed mash, peas & gravy. I am dreaming a lot about crinkle cuts lately. The bread and butter on the side though, oh yes.

Rob

[curryhell]

   When I see your pic, i realised I've an almost identical gadget hidden in the cupboard.  Not a Spong model but and not quite as vintage as yours, as mine has a plastic handle but fairly retro, since it's been in my kitchen for 35+ years and it was bought second hand at a  car boot sale. Mine has an "ideal home exhibition" sticker on it. As you can guess, it hasn't seen much use. Out of sight, out of mind lol, but ideal for making fresh bread crumbs for stuffing, which was the last time I used it back in .............. it's been a while 

[Peripatetic Phil]

Oh G@d, now I suppose I am going to have to find and photograph my late mother’s cream-maker (I can easily picture the wooden box in which it is stored, but I have absolutely zero idea where said box might be ...).