In the height of summer we had a series of power outages the result of storms passing through. Milk in the refrigerator does not keep if the electricity is off and the daytime temperature is the 40's. So, I bought long-life milk ... to me coffee without milk is quite simply Y U K!
Months later there are still packets of long-life milk in the pantry cupboard. Knowing that I wouldn't likely use it before its 'best by date' I decided to make blancmange, which to me is just another glorified word for custard. Last night we had rhubarb and blancmange as dessert.
While stirring the mixture in the pot a recollection sprung to mind. Long long ago when a child I read about girls going to boarding school, and I will confess that at the age of nine or ten attending boarding school and getting up to all the hi-jinx described in the pages of books I would have loved to spend school terms at boarding school. [That desire did wear off ... before I was of boarding school age!]
The mention of blancmange for tea at boarding school sounded to me the height of luxury. [I didn't realise it was only custard.] The use of a 'foreign word' in the context of a school dinner resounded in my mind ... anything foreign must be great to a country girl who had travelled no further than 50 miles north to the nearest city, and that was a huge adventure.
As I dished up the rhubarb and blancmange my mind was still back in last century where girls had daring, and exciting, adventures attending boarding school, and where they ate blancmange for tea.
I also remmber times when I wanted to be in boarding school from the same reasons as you did:) The hebrew word for '"blancmange" is a word that we never use in everyday life (i had to google blancmange), may be for the same reason too.
ReplyDeleteCustard was a standard to pour on to make anything dessert at my house.I didn't know what junket was until I was in my 30's. Once I discovered it and also had fresh, warm cows milk there was lots of junket, flavoured and unflavoured, for dessert and as drinks. I've been meaning to try the hot milk cake in the Favourite Cakes thread on the DTE forums. It looks foolproof :)!
ReplyDeleteMemories! Blancmange,junkets,rice puddings.rhubarb in anything. Yum. It is funny how many boarding school stories were around and how we would dream of all the "fun"times they appeared to have in comparison with our dreary lives.. Thanks for the thought provoking trip down memory lane. Might go and cut some rhubarb.
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