by Shirley Mann
If you haven’t had the chance yet, I’d love you to read Lily’s War, which is available now, and Hannah’s War, which will be my next book. It is about Lily’s friend, Hannah, who works as a Land Girl during the War. If you’d like to find out a little bit more about me, the books I write and upcoming news, do sign up to Memory Lane, Bonnier Books UK’s community for lovers of heartwarming and moving stories about women’s lives, featuring wartime, family and romance MemoryLaneClub.
Best wishes,
Shirley
Mrs Hill’s Scone Recipe
First and foremost, I am going to hold my hands up and confess, my scones are like Bobby’s – more of a rock cake with a gargoyle face. Mrs Hill, of course, was an experienced cook and working on a farm, was able to find an extra drop of milk or maybe even some churned butter, but even she was limited in her supplies, especially when all those extra guests kept turning up so she had to be careful about what rations she used up. One person was only allowed 2oz of butter a week but 4oz of margarine, so I do remember my mother’s residual hatred of margarine that lasted her whole life. This recipe uses lard, which seems to be out of fashion these days, but I know there are real cooks who swear by mixing a bit of lard with a bit of butter, so maybe play with this recipe a little and see how you get on. The dates provided the sweetness when they were so short of sugar. Do let me know what your results are like.
Ingredients:
5oz flour
2oz lard
1 tsp baking powder
2oz dates, chopped
1 beaten egg
A little milk
Method:
Rub the lard into the flour with your fingertips. Add the baking powder, then the chopped dates. Add the beaten egg and a little milk and then leave somewhere cool for about 10 minutes before cutting them into round shapes. Bake in a hot oven for about 12 minutes and do remember, wartime cooks would never just cook one thing in the oven at a time, they would batch cook and then store them in the pantry in a sealed tin to maximise oven heat.
Of course, there would be days when there would be no supplies of dates or even sultanas but there were plentiful supplies of potatoes, so maybe these potato scones might have been on the menu too. I got this recipe from the wartime recipes in the wonderful book, The Old Rectory: Escape to a Country Kitchen (2017 Endeavour Press) by Julia Ibbotson.
Potato Scones (potato cakes)
225 g. (8 oz.) mashed potato
225 g. (8 oz.) flour
2.5 ml. (0.5tsp) baking powder
Salt and pepper
Mix potato, flour, baking powder, and salt and pepper together with enough milk to make a stiff paste. Roll out to about 5 mm. (0.25 in) thick, cut into rounds. Fry in a little oil until golden brown. Serve hot with butter if available.
I hope you enjoy these two recipes; I’d love to hear whether they are a teatime hit in your family. I’m certainly going to see if I can use them to improve on my scone track record so far.
Don’t miss Shirley Mann’s inspiring debut novel . . .
World War II is in full swing and Lily Mullins is determined to do her bit for the war effort. Her friends and sweetheart have all joined up and Lily’s sure there must be a role for her that goes further than knitting socks for the troops!
When she decides to volunteer for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, Lily soon discovers that she has a talent as a wireless operator. Helped along the way by a special gang of girls, she finds strengths she didn’t know she had and realises that the safety of the country might just be in her hands . . .
Available now
And watch out for Shirley’s next book . . .
Hannah’s War
It’s World War II and Hannah has joined the Land Army. A city girl from birth, she only joined because her beloved grandad taught her how to grow vegetables on his market garden in North Wales.
But when Hannah arrives at Salhouse Farm she is way out of her depth. Hard work, muddy hands and a shared dormitory lie before and soon she realises this is not going to be a cosy life in the countryside that she imagined . . .
Available in ebook October 2021 and paperback March 2022
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First published in the UK in 2020 by Zaffre
This ebook edition published in 2020 by
ZAFFRE
An imprint of Bonnier Books UK
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Copyright © Shirley Mann, 2020
Design and photography by Henry Steadman
The moral right of Shirley Mann to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-83877-223-9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-83877-222-2
This ebook was produced by IDSUK (Data Connection) Ltd
Zaffre is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK
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