Cookbooks. Lemons.

Cookbooks are one of those things. Things that entice and tempt and promise, but are fundamentally flawed because the real outcomes of the cookbook depend on the cook, and I'm not a devoted cook. So I have 2 cookbooks I actually use, one is for birthday cakes and desserts, and the other is a general practical book with all the staple plain recipes and helpful pictures of everything. If I want to cook a fancy mud cake, I use one book, if I want to cook french toast or roast chicken, I use the other book. And mostly I use neither, since I am happy to eat things that come under the umbrella of 'stew' or 'stir-fry' and therefore don't need recipes.

I also have a big fat 70's style cookbook by Ellen Sinclair, who produced a lot of Women's Weekly cookbooks. She's a poor man's Margaret Fulton. And it looks like the classic MF or WW book everyone's mum has. Big, with lots of recipes in 2 columns, broken up every few pages with a full page REALLY UNAPPEALING photo of some of the dishes. It's woeful by today's standards. Much less impressive than the Cook's Companion or Jamie's Ministry of Food or the 5 ingredients books. I was thinking of getting rid of it because it was only from a library sale, and because of the lack of pretty pictures I will never flick through it for inspiration. BUT, I have discovered what it's for.

The index.

I had 3 lemons from a friend's parent's tree. What to dooooo…. Lemon is lovely. Why is a bad car a lemon? Nothing wrong with lemons. I will not let them go mouldy (one got away from me there), I will use them up. And give this cookbook one last chance before I chuck it.

Look in the index and there are about 30 things to do with lemons! Slices, cakes, chickens, lambs, drinks…. I chose a lemon and coconut slice, because it only has about 8 ingredients, it uses 2 eggs and I had 2 eggs. Don't need a picture because I know what a slice looks like. Flat. You slice it up. This is brilliant! If the slice is nice, the book is a keeper.

Unfortunately on Saturday one of my eggs was dodgy, so I couldn't make the topping yet. Mum delivered a fresh dozen from Granny's chooks on Sunday, and also a bag of lemons. Monday night I completed the slice. I think I didn't beat the eggs long enough, I stopped at "frothy" because "creamy" seemed impossible, so the mixture wasn't thick, maybe it should have been. But it firmed up when I baked it. Today I ate some, and it's everything I hoped. A biscuit base and a sweet lemony light and squishy top. The book lives!