I was watching a late movie, one of those Edwardian things from the BBC with a lovely young governess rushing through dim passages with a candle, her taffeta skirts making a delicious rustle, the handsome lord of the manor— a looming and mysterious presence with a murky past. Seems the only fun in the old manse was down "below stairs" as the British say—the servants were living it up in the kitchen and enjoying Roly Poly Pudding.

I perked up—what on earth was that? The following day I scoured my oldest cookbooks and surfed the Internet to investigate. It seems Roly Poly is different in every corner of England, and here are a couple of the recipes I found.

Old Fashioned Roly Poly

This recipe is converted from European measurements.

12 ounces plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

6 ounces suet, finely chopped

Water to mix

Jam

Cheddar cheese

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, then add suet and mix well. Add just enough cold water to make a soft but firm dough. Roll out on floured surface into a rectangle ¼ inch thick and spread with a "goodly" amount of jam, almost to the edge. "Damp" the edge and roll up tight. Wrap the pudding in a clean well-floured cloth and tie the ends. Place in a large pan of fast-boiling water, lower heat and simmer covered for 2 to 2 ½ hours. Turn out and slice for six servings, and serve with cheddar cheese.

Obviously, you can choose your own favorite jam here—a suggestion would be a well-flavored fruit jam such as raspberry or apricot.

Modern Berry Roly Poly

¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, divided use

½ cup light corn syrup

2 Tablespoons soft butter

½ cup hot water

2 cups biscuit mix

1/3 cup evaporated milk

3 tablespoons cool water

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 ½ cups blueberries

Sweetened whipped cream

Heat ¼ cup sugar, corn syrup butter and hot water to boiling and pour into an 8 inch baking dish. Set aside. Combine biscuit mix, remaining brown sugar, evaporated milk and cool water until mixture just forms a dough. Roll out on floured surface to an 8x12 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with blueberries and cinnamon, then roll up jelly roll fashion. Cut into ¾ inch slices and place each slice flat on hot syrup in pan. Bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes and serve warm with sweetened whipped cream.

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Some of you might recall that Beatrix Potter once wrote The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or the Roly Poly Pudding in 1908. She dedicated the book to her intelligent pet rat Sammy, whom she calls an accomplished thief. The hero of the adventure was actually Tommy Kitten, but Sammy and his wife caught the hapless feline and threaten to turn him into a pudding. An animated version came out in 1993 called The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends.

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These recipes may bear some distant relation to a jelly roll, but remind one more of a slump, buckle, crumble, clafouti, grunt, cobbler, betty and crisp—all very old- fashioned names for a combination of fruit and dough. If you have a particular family favorite, I'd love to hear about it and you might see it in print.

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On another subject, I had an e-mail from Islander Jan Drummond telling me about her memories of Bavarian-style hot potato salad, and what a shock it was when she discovered that other people served the salad cold with mayonnaise. Sacrilege!

I attended college in Wisconsin where we had hot potato salad for lunch every other Thursday in the dorm, along with sauerkraut and delicious sausages (probably brats). I have printed recipes for this salad before, but it's been 15 years. Jan once won a prize with hers and it sounds so good that it's worth passing along.

Drummond Potato Salad

4 ½ to 5 pounds red potatoes

1 pound plus 3-4 slices bacon, chopped*

½ medium onion, chopped fine

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup white vinegar

1 ½ cups water

3 tablespoons sugar

½ medium green pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon salt or to taste

½ teaspoon black pepper

*(Today's bacon is leaner than in the past and doesn't yield as much grease as formerly.)

Potatoes should be cooked, cooled, peeled and sliced -do not dice or cube- and set aside while you make the sauce.

Brown chopped bacon in a skillet, remove the bits from the grease and add them to the potatoes.

To the bacon grease, add the onion and sauté about five minutes, until soft.

Add a little water to the cornstarch and blend well. Add this mixture to the grease, stirring until smooth. Add the vinegar, water, sugar, green pepper and celery. Simmer and stir occasionally, adding salt and pepper (some bacon is saltier than others).

When sauce thickens slightly, remove from heat and pour over potatoes and bacon. Toss gently and serve warm. This serves 10-12.

NOTE: Cook onion in bacon grease, but add pepper and celery uncooked at end.

Tip from Jan for chopping bacon: Allow frozen bacon to thaw slightly and use a serrated or electric knife to cut the block of bacon into bits.

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Here are two quick and easy potato recipes which I often serve -no peeling for either one.

Rosemary Potatoes

Scrub and cook small red potatoes in the microwave until tender—finish them in a toaster oven to crisp the skins. Cut into quarters and place in a small bowl with a little olive oil, chopped fresh rosemary, salt and cracked pepper. Add garlic if you like. Toss and serve.

Cream-baked Potatoes

Scrub and slice small red potatoes thin. Place in a sprayed baking dish and add some melted butter, grated Parmesan cheese and a little heavy cream or half-and-half (use milk if you prefer, but it won't be as good). Sprinkle with cracked white pepper and bake at 400° for 45 minutes. The cheese is salty, so you don't need to add salt.

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Marion Nicolay is a regular contributor to the Marco Eagle. Contact her via e-mail at marion387@earthlink.net.