It was a measure of how sick you really were, if, as a small child, growing up in the 1950's post war Britain, when your mother was heard to ask,
"Could you manage a dippy egg, with soldiers?"
The proper response, so as not to sound too enthusiastically well,
" I'll try"
would herald the imminent arrival of a tray, (naturally being sick one was confined to bed) upon which would be, a boiled egg in an egg cup, a teaspoon, with which to hit the top of the egg to remove the shell, attendant 'soldiers', (slices of buttered toast cut into strips of a width that could be dipped into the soft yolk once the top of the egg had been removed) and a cup of weak, sweet, milky tea.
I have a tickly cough,
and a bit of a temperature
no egg cups, toast or butter.
In Australia, you have to have Vegemite on your 'soldiers'.
ReplyDeleteWasn't it lovely to be made to feel special like that? Makes it almost worth being sick.
Pump lots of Vitamin C - maybe 6000mg over a day. We do that and haven't had a cold in years.
How sppoky...I made Small Boy his first ever dippy egg and soldiers last weekend! He wasn't sure what to make of it, but I had a massive nostalgia trip. In fact I might have one for my tea x
ReplyDeleteThe curtains would be pulled and after suffering alone in the quiet and muffled shadows, the concerned face would appear round the door "would you like a cup of Bovril?". Not long after, the gold coloured tray would manifest, held aloft, and with a cup of Bovril and some Cream crackers (buttered). No matter how ill you were, this always seemed to help. It was lovely wasn't it?! :) Thanks for the memories. (Boil 3 lemons with a pint of water, add brown sugar and couple tablespoons of local honey and sip. Feel better soon. X)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was ill my mum used to bring a shovel full of the coal fire upstairs so that I had a coal fire in my bedroom ( as well as my hot water bottle)! Bliss, because I was usually ill in winter!
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