Grandmothers know best

If my grandma hadn't died, she would be 101 right now. The Age of Decrepitude. There really is no point living to such a vast age and I wonder why more and more people are doing it. I suspect preservatives. Or perhaps it's just sheer laziness.

My grandmother is on the right

Anyway, my grandma was pretty choice. She knew lots and lots of things. Mostly about household and craft stuff. Living through wars (don't ask me which - big ones), meant she had a penchant for saving, recycling, making do and going without, which, now I come to think about it, is rather similar to my life as a stay-at-home Mum. With no vast sums of money happily kicking up their heels in a trust fund, giggling under my mattress or colouring my bank account balance even a slight shade of black, I am learning to do it on the cheap, just like her.

My grandma had a saying, 'If there's an egg in the house, there's a meal in the house'. I learned later she got that off an ad on the telly - but when I first heard it I was struck with wonder. An egg! A meal! Brilliant! So here's one of my favourite eggy recipes. It's cheap and choice. And if you've got a vege garden it's even cheaper and choicer.

PS I got this off Alison Holst. She is not my grandmother.

You need: onion, garlic, bit of oil, 3 eggs, cup of milk, 3/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup self raising flour, 2 potatoes, cup broccoli, 1/2 cup cheese.

Oil up a tin. Cook potatoes and broccoli. Chop spuds into cubes. Finely chop broccoli. Set aside. Cook onion and garlic in oil in a pot and let cool. Mix in eggs, milk and salt with a fork. Chuck in flour and mix with fork til just combined. Add veges and cheese. Pour into tin. Whack into a hot oven and cook for half an hour on 220 degrees C.