ENTERTAINING dinner parties at home were becoming all the rage, back in the middle 1960s, so it seems, and the Craven Herald was happy to oblige with a weekly recipe, from its cookery writer, Margaret Alden.

Every week, throughout 1965, Margaret came up with a recipe, from iced soup to lemonade, and Cornish 'splits.'

Many of her recipes were inclined to lean towards the luxurious, rather than the healthy, and made liberal use of sugar, syrup and full-fat milk.

A recipe for Cornish Splits featured in the summer, 1965, because of all the holidaymakers making their way to the coast. Splits, which seem to have been scone-like, were small buns made with yeast, explained Margaret, and generally eaten with clotted cream and jam, but could also be eaten with golden syrup and cream - which was "indescribably" good, she added.

Margaret advised readers to arrange to have pots of clotted cream sent by post once you were home, so you could invite your friends around for a holiday dinner party.

Cornish Splits required 1lb of plain flour, 1 level teaspoon of salt, 1oz of butter, half a pint of full-fat milk, 1 teaspoon of dried yeast and a teaspoon of caster sugar. The butter was melted, added to the milk, which was then added to the yeast and sugar. The mixture was then poured into a well, formed out of the flour and salt. The resulting dough was then left, covered in a basin, and allowed to rise. After about an hour, it was ready to knead out, and formed into small, round buns, which were then placed on a greased baking sheet, and cooked in a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

The buns were then split when cold, and filled with jam and cream - or golden syrup.

Margaret's iced cucumber soup was a perfect way to use up all those cucumbers readers had been growing in their greenhouses, she explained.

It required one medium cucumber, one tablespoon of wine vinegar, one teaspoon of sugar, a pint of chicken or veal stock, a teaspoon of chopped parsley, a teaspoon of chopped chives, a quarter of a pint of pouring cream and salt and pepper to taste.

To make, the cucumber was grated fairly finely, sprinkled with the vinegar and sugar and left for 30 minutes. It was then put in a saucepan with the stock, brought to the boil and left to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, after which it could be sieved - or left, depending on whether you wanted it to be smooth, or not. Seasoning was then added before the soup was put in the fridge to cool, cream added just before serving.

Another of Margaret's recipes was for "potted liver and bacon" which she described as a somewhat grander version of "faggots". But whereas faggots were a substantial meal, potted liver - or pate - was delicate of texture and made a wonderful buffet dish.