Hi there,
A granddaughter’s love for her grandmother is a special bond that is hard to put into words. It’s a relationship built over years of shared experiences, memories, and love. From the moment a granddaughter is born, she is showered with love and affection from her grandmother.
As she grows older, the granddaughter realizes that her grandmother is not just a caregiver but a friend, confidante, and mentor. She learns to appreciate her grandmother’s wisdom and guidance and cherishes the moments they spend together.
In the end, a granddaughter’s love for her grandmother is a testament to the power of family and the importance of love. It’s a bond that transcends time and distance and is a source of joy and comfort throughout the granddaughter’s life.
I am starting out this special month of May salute to special women with a story from V. M. Sang, who blogs at aspholessaria.wordpress.com. Viv is an accomplished writer and cook, and she is sharing with us a recipe from her grandmother and her memories of her grandmother, Emily Littler. Viv’s grandmother is the beautiful woman seen above on her wedding day.
Viv’s Story
My grandmother was one of the best cooks I’ve known. Someone once said that she could make a delicious meal out of an old boot!
She was born in 1878 and lived until 1965. As a result of her long life, she lived through times of hardship, like two world wars and the Great Depression. I think it was this that made her so resourceful with cooking.
She came from a working-class family, and was in service to a local doctor, eventually becoming his housekeeper. I suppose that this experience stood her in good stead for managing her own house when she got married.
She had six children, one of whom died. My mother was the middle of the five living ones.
We all loved her greatly. She was a Victorian down to her toenails, though. Many is the time when I’ve gone to visit her before going into town to meet my friends.
“Haven’t you got any gloves?” she would say, on a hot summer day. “A young lady shouldn’t go out without a pair of gloves on.” Then she would go and find a pair for me to borrow! (They came off as soon as I was out of her sight, of course.)
She also had a similar view about necklaces.
There were a few discrepancies in her character, though. She loved watching wrestling and boxing on this new-fangled thing called a TV. I always thought it out of character.
She was also very strong-minded. You didn’t argue with her, although I don’t ever remember raising her voice to anyone. And she was kind and generous.
I came into possession of a very small book. It only measures about 12.5cm (approx 5 inches) by just over 8 cm (approx 3.5 inches). I have no recollection of how I came by it. It has a number of hand-written recipes in it. Many of these contain large amounts of fat and the puddings are steamed for hours.
At the back of this little book are some accounts. They are dated 1909. It’s interesting to see the prices of various things at that time; e.g. eggs 1shilling (which is the equivalent of 5p), shoes 3 shillings, and repairing boots, one shilling and sixpence. (about 7.5p).
The recipe I’ve included is one I remember very well. Grandma used to cook it for lunch and I loved it. Which reminds me—I haven’t made it for a long time. Must remedy that.
If you want to see more of Grandma’s recipes, and also others I’ve collected over time from friends and family, many going back to the 1950s, you can see them in Viv’s Family Recipes, available from Amazon and other sites.
Savoury Pancake Filling
(Grandma’s recipe), A very simple, but delicious recipe
Ingredients
125g large open capped mushrooms
2 onions
2 tomatoes
½ x1 teaspoon of sweet herbs (I would guess that this is similar to Herbes de Provence, since you seem to be no longer able to get sweet herbs. I have used Herbes de Provence quite successfully.)
Method
Fry the onion a little and add the mushrooms and tomatoes.
Continue cooking until all vegetables are done, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot on pancakes, rolled up. Either make your own (preferable) or you can buy ready-made pancakes.
This makes an interesting first course or light lunch.
About the Author
Viv Sang was born in Northwich, Cheshire in the United Kingdom. She trained as a teacher in Manchester and taught in Salford and Heywood in Lancashire before leaving to raise her children. She moved to Fair Oak, near Southampton where she taught Maths until moving to Redhill in Surrey. Here she taught Science, Maths and IT in several Croydon Schools.
She enjoys walking and cycling as well as various crafts such as knitting, crochet,card-making and tatting. She also enjoys going abroad on holiday and looking at historic buildings and stately homes.
She paints as well as writes novels and has begun to post some poetry on her blog http://aspholessaria.wordpress.com/.
Recently she has become involved in volunteer work in a local park that had become very neglected. She contacted a local councillor who found out that the park had been set up by the local council on land given by a local landowner, since deceased. After the initial work, it was handed over to the community to look after. Over the years this fact has been forgotten and so the park was looking neglected. (The council only cuts the grass.) Together with some neighbours, Viv has begun to revamp the park and remove brambles and self-seeded ash trees and done some weeding and re-planting.
She now lives in East Sussex with her husband and enjoys looking after her grandchildren.
She has 10 books to date, all published by Next Chapter. These comprise seven fantasy novels: The Wolf Pack, The Never-Dying Man, and Wolf Moon, all part of The Wolves of Vimar Series. Jovinda and Noli, and The Making of a Mage, part of a series of prequels to The Wolves of Vimar. Elemental Worlds is a 2 book series. The books are The Stones of Earth and Air and The Stones of Fire and Water. She has also written two historical novels, one set in Roman Britain, called Vengeance of a Slave, and the other in Viking Britain, called Jealousy of a Viking. She has also written a recipe book called Viv’s Family Recipes.
Thank you, Viv, for sharing your memories of time spent with your grandmother and her delicious recipe.
20 responses to “V. M. SANG’S VICTORIAN GRANDMOTHER”
What a lovely tribute to her grandmother, and a very interesting recipe. Our grandmothers knew how to feed their families and got creative with what they had on hand. I applaud each and every one of them.
Thank you for your kind words. I agree that our grandmothers had to be resourceful.
Judy, that generation definitely had a can do attitude.
Hi Bernadette, this is a lovely post about Viv’s grandmother. Thanks for the recipe 💞
Thank you for visiting Bernadette’s post. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I did as a child. And now, of course.
You are very welcome Robbie. It is always my pleasure to post stories about wonderful women.
Such a lovely story Bernie! Thank you for sharing it. Grandmothers are so important in our lives, as are those wonderful grandchildren! Love the part about the gloves!
Thanks Dorothy, my grandmother inspired me to be the woman I am today. The part about the gloves made me laugh too.
What a lovely tribute! Our grandmothers were the best 😍
They certainly were. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Thank you for having me on your blog, Bernadette. I appreciate it.
It is my pleasure and you gave our readers such a wonderful story and recipe.
My grandmother was a loving influence on my life and I try to do the same for my grandchildren.
A wonderful story. I believe grandmothers all over the world were the same. This is such a simple but delicious looking recipe. Thanks so much, Viv and Bernadette.
I am in total agreement with you Darlene on both points.
A very special tribute to a dear grandmother – and the recipes extra special too!
What a wonderful tribute to Viv’s grandmother. It is also a great reminder to each of us as to what we would like most to be remembered for! Thank you for posting this.
The savory pancakes look positively mouthwatering, and I especially loved “meeting” Grandma Littler. She sounds like a bona fide “character!” So proper as to insist on gloves, but gleeful in watching wrestling on TV? Oh my gosh, what a hoot! 🙂
She does sound like a real “character”. The best people.
A lovely tribute and memories. The stuffed pancakes are unique and sound delicious!