Kasey and Karena: Nana's old-school meals and treats (+recipes)

Herald on Sunday·

11 Apr, 2015 06:00 PM3 mins to read

We are lucky we were able to know our grandparents and be brought up eating their food. Photo / Bite, Herald on Sunday

When we look back through our childhood photos, we are reminded of how amazing our grandparents were at cooking and baking. So many photos are of big family gatherings with huge tables groaning with food and lots of smiles on everyone's faces. They had immaculate gardens and the way they dressed was always so effortlessly classy. We feel like much of what was in fashion then is coming back in now, especially when it comes to cooking.

Making things from scratch and sitting down at the end of the day to a home-cooked meal is something we love and is a tradition our family has passed down to us.

We are lucky we were able to know our grandparents and be brought up eating their food. We are also thankful that our family has kept the recipes of their signature dishes, which we reference all the time.

Our grandmothers' recipes are always great inspiration for when we are stuck trying to concoct our own creations but, this time, we want to share their unadulterated versions of a few classics (with the permission of the rest of our family, of course).

My maternal grandmother, Bridget Ngahuia Te Awa, was a fantastic cook who had the huge task of feeding my mum and her 10 brothers and sisters.

We think Kasey inherited from her the gift of making delicious meals with pantry basics. She was the queen of making tasty food on a budget. This oxtail casserole was one of Mum's favourite recipes that Nan would make. It's hearty and a comforting dish for the family.

Our paternal grandmother, "Nana Jill" Rogers, was renowned for her baking skills. We have to admit we insisted on not trying Nana's sultana cake for a few years because we were certain we didn't like cakes with dried fruit in them.

Oh, how wrong we were. This cake is moist and also light. Our mum has adopted it as her go-to cake when she has to bake. It is a must-try.

"Nana Helen" Hinton is not related to us by blood but she has been in our lives as long as we can remember. She is another great baker. When we asked her for her scone recipe she said she had to make them so she knew how much of everything she put in as, like us, she tends not to measure when she cooks.

The trick is to not over-mix or handle the dough too much because you want the scones to melt in your mouth.

We are proud to share these family recipes with you. We love that our family has held on to these recipes for us and we encourage you to keep your family's favourite recipes in a safe place. We found a lot of inspiration for our cookbook in our grandmothers' recipes and we are excited it will be something we can pass on one day.