Steamy pictures

 Before you think we've been over boiling the cabbage this is taken through a window of our garage and the condensation is actually on the outside rather than inside. We seem to have a micro climate at the back of the house where this happens, particularly on the garage and conservatory. 
 Steam on windows always takes me back to childhood in the 50's. One thing that photos of 50's interiors fail to illustrate is the smell. In my memories what comes to mind about my childhood house is the smell of damp. That's where the reference to over boiling cabbage comes from. My mum didn't just boil cabbage, she pureed it. She wasn't the only one in our area either. Most of my mates' mums did the same and the school cooks took it to a high culinary art. Everything in the kitchen seemed to be boiled or steamed. Food was not so much processed back then as boiled to death, I'm not sure how much nutrition was left by the time it reached the plate. Boiled veg followed by steamed puddings would turn the kitchen into a sauna (there were no cooker hoods or extractors in those days). 
 Then my dad would get back from work and if it had been raining would hang up his mackintosh by the back door. I'm not sure whether that mac ever fully dried out through the winter, and damp mackintosh has a particular scent that is unforgettable. 
 So one for the sentimentalists - eau de boiled cabbage and damp mackintosh.