Monday 17 November 2014

Sunday Lunches

Out to lunch yesterday (Sunday), the farmer, friend W and I.   Other friends also lunching in the same venue, so that we met and chatted to six other folk while we were there.

The farmer had roast pork (with crackling) and W and I had slow roast leg of lamb - with these came Yorkshire puddings (2 each if we wished), gravy in a gravy boat, cauliflower cheese, broccoli, carrots, diced turnips, roast potatoes and a roast parsnip each.  Are you full up just reading this?   Would you believe that we all had a pudding afterwards, the farmer pear crumble and the two of us raspberry meringue roulade. After coffee in the lounge we staggered out to the car and drove home.  None of us had another crumb to eat on Sunday.

One of the main reasons I like to go out to lunch on Sunday (the traditional day here in the UK for a roast lunch) is that as there are only two of us, any joint of meat I buy will be very small.   When we go out we are eating slices cut from a whole leg of lamb or a very large joint of pork or beef - and it tastes so much better.  

The farmer and I were talking at lunch time about our childhood and Sunday lunch and we both agreed - our parents bought a large joint (and usually rotated between pork, beef and lamb with maybe a chicken now and again, although chicken was a luxury food in those days and chicken for us was usually old hen from our own flock and she had to be boiled and eaten with white sauce.  And mother always had to lie and say it wasn't one of ours, otherwise I wouldn't eat it!)

That large joint was eaten hot on Sunday, cold slices on Monday (wash day) with fried vegetables (remember bubble and squeak?), cottage or shepherd's pie on Tuesday and perhaps even Wednesday as well, with plenty of veg to eke the meat out further.  Our mothers were jolly good managers and  certainly in the case of my own mother there was never that much money to spare.  But by golly we ate well, supplemented as we were by plenty of vegetables out of the garden (no frozen food for us, we didn't even have a fridge).

Not really back to 'normal' eating today - still taking it steady!

17 comments:

angryparsnip said...

My goodness that lunch sounds so wonderful. I love all the veggie you had. Dessert too !
Could you not buy a large joint of meat and then cut up the rest and freeze it to eat in the winter ? possible to eat in a stew or shepherd's pie ? or is it just too large ?
My mother did all the thing with the Sunday dinner your Mum did. Shepard's Pie was a favorite of mine.

cheers, parsnip

A Heron's View said...

Oh' yum I haven't had bubble and squeak for donkeys years and thank you for making my mouth water !

ChrisJ said...

Oh yum, yum! That sounds wonderful. We used to have roast beef every Sunday -- and of course Yorkshire pudding. I don't know when I last made a Yorkshire pudding. It's been a while.

Heather said...

That roast dinner sounds wonderful though I wouldn't want cauliflower cheese with it. My Mum had a joint on Sunday and made it last well through the week. Like you, we seldom have a joint - it just isn't worth it for two.

Joanne Noragon said...

Oh, yum, there's not much there I would skip. I had no idea about Yorkshire pudding until maybe fifteen years ago, when my sister in law visited from England. My uncle came for a meal, mentioned the fabulous Yorkshire puddings of his army days during the war. At his next visit Hazel made one. My uncle took one bite, stood up. went around the table and kissed her. I have to say, I thought it that good, too.

Julie Clay Illustration said...

Your Sunday lunch sounds grand, it must be a good place to go?? I love Sunday lunch and remember it just as you say with the joint spinning out over the week, wash day Monday, he he, traditions.:)

John Going Gently said...

Bubble and squeak on Monday
The highlight of my week

Hildred said...

A Sunday roast was always traditional at our home....my father went to early communion and stayed home to tend the roast and make the Yorkshire pudding while we girls, including my mother, went to sing in the choir at eleven o'clock service - your lunch sounds delicious, Pat. Haven't had roast beef or lamb for such ages (sigh)....

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

I had to look up "joint of beef" again - seems I forgot since last time. I think it is what we call a roast in the US - at least the photos seem to show that.

Your lunch sounds wonderful - and pudding in the U.S. is a specific dessert - made with milk and sugar and eggs and cooked and stirred until thick. You can have chocolate, vanilla, butterscoth, tapioca or bread pudding. Or you can make it into a pie - into a baked crust you pour the pudding and can add things like coconut (coconut cream pie), bananas (banana cream pie) or even just plain chocolate pudding in a baked pie crust makes a delicious chocolate pie. Hmmm,now I'm hungry for dessert - or at least for a pudding pie.

Gwil W said...

Like your new picture.

Frugal in Derbyshire said...

We have a roast every Sunday, but at tea not lunch time. The family always turn up, so it is worth doing the whole thing, including a pudding, something we don't have when there is just the two of us.
I always cook more veg than we need so that we can have bubble and squeak on Monday or Tuesday
I don't think it is worth roasting a small joint, it tends to be too dry.

Cro Magnon said...

My mother was the same. The roast would last until mid-week in some form or other, then the soup even longer. When I was small we mostly ate huge joints of beef.... it was so much cheaper in those days.

MorningAJ said...

We quite often have bubble and squeak - but I cook extra veg specially so we can have it the following day. (Often for breakfast!)

We also regularly have a large joint and slice up the spare so I can freeze it in portion sizes for use later.

There's not a lot goes to waste in our house!

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

What a beautiful header today. A bit mysterious but with all that light off to the left side......
Love the description of your "Sunday lunch" from childhood.

Mary said...

Love that photo I'm seeing today - England's special loveliness!
Yes, grew up eating the same way before becoming a vegetarian! Mum's Sunday joints were good but her Yorkshire puds were the best part - rising up so high in the tin we couldn't get them out of the tiny oven! And you must remember Toad In The Hole - delish! All fresh vegs from the market garden across the road - and usually a fruit crumble or steamed pud, treacle and Spotted Dick being my favorites. (Americans always want to know more about the latter pud - and get huge laughs at the thought of one!).

Oh the memories - oh the days of the perfect British childhood!

Thanks dear - Mary x

P.S. I'm craving Bubble & Squeak today!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for adding to the memories.

Mac n' Janet said...

We've been to England so many times that Sunday roast has become a tradition for us too. Your meal sounds terrific.