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Shelagh Chalmers, 74, from Melrose, Scottish Borders, has created a unique family recipe book that is a real legacy of love.
My mother died when I was 17, so I had to step up and cook for our family. Mum left behind a little recipe book that she had compiled. I loved her old recipes, written in her familiar handwriting, which I would have a go at. The first cake I ever baked was from that book – a delicious jam cake. To this day, I have treasured her book, and I have always said come fire or flood, my mum’s recipe book is one of the first things I would save.
I met my first husband, John, in 1971 and we had four children: Anna, Amy, Andrew and Angus. I was proud when they all started baking at a young age because I felt that I had passed on something that my mother was so passionate about. Of course, there were disasters, such as when they attempted a horrendous chicken and chocolate recipe, but they are wonderful memories!
There were times, after studying to become a doctor, then working as a GP, that cooking felt like a chore. But it was always worthwhile when we would all sit together to eat around the dining table. One by one, my children flew the nest, and eventually it became just John and me. Cooking for the two of us was a lot more relaxing.
FAMILY HEIRLOOM
In 2002, my husband left the family home, and we divorced. A year later, I met another John. We bonded over the fact that we were both GPs and with him I felt safe and secure. Seven years later, we married. He is a good cook and would make me everything from Pea and Mint Soup to Marmalade Steamed Pudding with Drambuie Custard.
Writing a recipe book had been ruminating at the back of my mind for years. Just as my mother had left me her recipe book, I wanted to leave a family heirloom for my children.
When lockdown began in 2020, I decided there was no better time to start writing; it was a good distraction from the fear and isolation I felt over the pandemic.
The 375-page book, Family And Friends On A Plate, is full with the recipes that mean something to me and my family, and which I have collected over the years. It is also packed with family anecdotes, such as how my mother was a self-taught domestic science teacher, and how my son Angus became a chocolatier for a year after university. There is a certain egocentricity about writing a personal cookbook – I’m aware of that. But I think it’s a little bit of healthy narcissism really, because it is spreading joy. It’s a ‘ladle of love’, which I self-published. It’s perhaps too personal to sell to the public, so instead, I decided to print o
