A trip to Ely in spring sunshine.

 

 

Singing-girl is home for the weekend and this morning the sun was out, so along with mr digandweed, we decided on a trip to Ely, to stroll along the riverbank and wander around the magnificent cathedral, both beautiful in the spring sunshine.

 

 

We also paid a visit to the Waterside Antiques Centre next to the river; a fascinating place, stuffed to the rafters with lovely collectables of all shapes and sizes.

 

I was very tempted by the vintage kitchenalia and the beautiful china and then singing-girl spotted these -

 

 

 

 

If you have seen the film Julie and Julia, you will know that these are the books, written by Julia Child and first published in the USA in1961 which, years later inspired Julie Powell to work her way through them. She cooked 524 recipes in 365 days and charted her progress on a blog.

 

The books are full of useful techniques and recipes and are written, as Julia Child says for, 'the servantless cook' -so that'll be me then!- and at only £1.50 each they were a bargain I had to have!

 

 

They also  have some lovely line drawings.

 

 

 

The moulinette pictured above was an essential piece of equipment in many French kitchens, probably now superseded by the electric blender. The French family that we used to stay with for holidays when I was young had one and it was often in use for making delicious soups. Mum was so impressed that, on one of our trips, she bought one for herself and for many years I remember her using it at home. I almost wish we still had it!