Just popped next door to collect a parcel from our lovely 82-year-old neighbour. She asked if I enjoyed cooking. When I replied in the affirmative, she thrust a stack of vintage cookery books into my hands, saying well these can be yours now! There are some goodies in there - including a Robert Carrier, no less - but I must confess this is the one that has captivated me immediately. I had never even heard of Nancy Spain, despite the back cover proclaiming her to be Britains favourite Radio and Television personality - a puzzling scenario explained by the fact that she was killed in a plane crash six years before I was born, whilst on her way to Aintree to commentate on the Grand National. Given this, plus the fact that her journalism resulted in two libel cases from Evelyn Waugh AND because she was a proud if not-entirely-out lesbian in 1950s Britain who counted Noël Coward* amongst her friends, I really feel I should make something from this in tribute. So, what shall it be, I wonder? Prune Kebabs or the Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad in Jelly?? *When Coward heard of the plane crash in which she and her partner and several friends died, he wrote in his diary: It is cruel that all that gaiety, intelligence and vitality should be snuffed out when so many bores and horrors are left living.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 18:50:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015