December nineteen forty-two,
party planned, but what to do ─
rations gone, no sugar, no butter,
no sweet delight to ice the cake
Mum had begged and bartered
the wherewithal to bake.
In the garden, not much to gather ─
potatoes, onions, parsnips.
Parsnips are sweet mashed to a lather.
Solution found, the cake is iced
without telling a soul.
Games played with shrieks of delight,
wartime party tea a wonderful sight
Candles blown out, cake demolished
in seconds, declared a triumph
against adversity, relished
but never repeated.
Zany Miz Quickly gave us the line “Passing on the Mother. How can you not use a line like that somehow?” I swithered and moithered, fossicking in my memory before coming up with the true story of my fifth birthday.
Vivinfrance's Blog 
This is really delightful. I actually made a parsnip and potato mash for my son when he was in grade school one year. They were studying what the soldiers in the Civil War (in the states) ate.
I tried to look it up but I only saw the two veg cooked separately – though I thought there was a special name for that cruel mix. Anyway I liked it.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/mashed-parsnips-and-potatoes-recipe.html
You’ve opened a window to history. Amazing how challenges are met.
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Love it! You got it right with this one.
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You did fantastic!
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Well, my Mum did!
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🙂
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This gave me goosebumps, Viv…how powerful it is to see the strength of a mom determined to give her little girl a Happy Birthday…thank you, for sharing this memory. ♥
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I’ve been reading a lot of World War two novels lately, and this really brings it home. I was too young during the war to remember these kinds of details, so my mother did tell me she had to use a coke bottle for my feelings. She was unable to nurse and just put my formula in that. But in France, Great Britain, and all the other countries where the war happened, how many more hardships they endured.
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Love the poem. Very evocative of a bygone age.
And …. how did you get your poem to format as a poem in the reader? Mine always come in a big sausage line. How do I avoid this?
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With perseverence and repeated editing – it usually takes about 4 goes, actually adding 3 or 4 double spaces between stanzas. The worst problem is with process notes which usually jam up against the rest of the text on first hitting publish. WordPress has a new editing system, but it’s no better.
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Thank you Viv
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This is so difficult to achieve. I live in hope, but at the moment it appears impossible.
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kudos to your mother who was not to be deterred.
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I never fail to be amazed by the inventiveness of British housewives during WW2!
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Oh my. Parsnips have never been my favorite of vegetables, but perhaps they’re worth another try.
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Have you tried them parboiled, coated in flour and grated parmesan and then roasted for 30 minutes or so? Gorgeous! My Dad used to say he hated parsnips – I think his mother used to just boil them when he was young – but I converted him by cooking them like this.
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I’ve not tried the parmesan, but roasted round the meat is my favorite way to eat them (other than on a cake, of course)
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And diabetic-friendly, I suspect! 🙂
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Have you never tried making a cake with parsnip again? I wonder what it would be like. I’ve made them with carrots, obviously, and courgettes but never thought about parsnips. Off to Google in case there is a wonderful recipe 😉
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This was long before the fashionable carrot cake came along.
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Hmm! This one looks good – what with Christmas coming up – and gluten free too, apparently. http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/spiced-parsnip-cake/
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or this one: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12983/catherine-berwicks-parsnip-and-maple-syrup-cake
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Yum – you might have hit on something here!
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like it.
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