Proof of the Pudding

How fantastic is this!

This handsome young man is Josiah, the son of my friend and colleague Denise. Josiah and Denise spent some time yesterday making custard shorties from my blog recipe, and kindly let me use this photo to show that the 'pass it on' method has worked.

Jamie Oliver is my cooking 'god' - but he is not the first one to share the message of 'pass it on'. My 'pass it on' guru's are Maud Bostock, Iris Bradbury, and Carole Banks - my great-gran, grandma, and mum respetively. On Sunday mornings I was woken up by the smell of sunday roast and victoria sponge. And right from an early age (I think about 4) was shown how to measure ingredients, mix them, then as I grew older, cook them.

Its called spending time with your children - and this is my point. Baking is a fabulous way to bond with your children and spend time together as a family - and if your face's end up covered in flour, and you cant stop laughing at each other, all the better. Take photo's of your efforts and make a scrap book, write the recipes from my blog alongside the pictures. An instant recipe book that when your child grows up and leaves the nest, they can take it with them. Cheap and cheerful. Now there's a credit crunch tip for you !!