The warm weather has brought the bulbs out over the weekend. These displays along the backs of Trinity College are always uplifting after the cold of winter.
Aconites and Crocus
Signs of Spring
The warm weather has brought the bulbs out over the weekend. These displays along the backs of Trinity College are always uplifting after the cold of winter.
Duke of Cambridge Tart and other Victorian Jubilee Recipes (5)
The Duke of Cambridge and his Tart, Afternoon Tea and the Sinking Feeling
At home in Belvoir Castle the Duchess started a craze for tea parties sending out invitations for tea in the afternoon at 5 pm. This practice extended to London, was adopted by Queen Victoria and by 1855 some very formal tea parties were taking place.
Prince Albert died in 1861.Heartbroken, Victoria retreated to Osborne House and it was at this time that the famous Victoria Sandwich was named after her.
 |
| Victoria Sandwich
Recipe
for serving : good quality raspberry or apricot jam
butter cream or whipped double cream
For an outdoor party butter cream is safer
Method:
Butter Cream
3 oz butter
6 oz icing sugar
1 drop vanilla essence
1 tablespoon milk
Method
Put all the ingredients into a medium sized bowl and beat well until all the ingredients are blended and creamy, use as wanted.
The Royal Family have continued the practice of holding tea parties in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.If you are lucky enough get invited this is a wonderful excuse for ladies to buy a lovely hat and for gentlemen to wear morning dress.
Battenburg Cake is another Victorian favourite believed to have been made in honour of the wedding of Queen Victoria's granddaughter to Prince Louis of Battenburg in 1884.
Battenburg Cake
This is essentially a Victoria Sandwich mixture divided in 2, one half is coloured pink with some food colouring and the 2 halves cooked in a an oblong cake tin with a thick fold of non-stick aluminium foil to divide the mixtures.When the cakes are cool cut and arrange the colours as shown using warm apricot jam to glue them in position them cover the whole thing in an oblong of rolled out marzipan large enough the wrap around the cake with the seam underneath.
This cake can be time consuming and tricky, there are many good commercial ones on the market, Marks and Spencer's version is a nice one.
The name Battenburg later became changed by the family to Mountbatten as they thought it sounded too German after 2 wars had been fought with Germany.
Prince Philip , husband to Queen Elizabeth 2nd is a member of this family .
The Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904) and his tart
The Duke of Cambridge was a grandson of George 3rd.He joined the army at the age of 9 years and remained a professional soldier for most of his life.He was a florid man with a huge moustache and after Prince Albert's death often stood in to escort Queen Victoria and help her entertain foreign dignitaries.The title of Duke of Cambridge has now been given to Prince William and his bride Kate Middleton is now the Duchess of Cambridge.
Duke of Cambridge Tart
Recipe
4-6oz shortcrust or sweet pastry-
(Supermarkets like Sainsbury, Tesco, Waitrose sell good ready to use pastry)
Filling
3 oz butter
3 oz sugar
4 oz raisins (or chopped candied mixed peel)
2 os chopped glace cherries
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons rum or brandy
grated lemon rind
Method
Note
This recipe can be made into individual small tarts.
|
eBooks for Kindle and other new projects
Time to start a new project so I have written a very short story just to see if I can work out how to upload some writing onto Amazon for publication on Kindle.
Time consuming but got it on eventually, crappy cover but will try to do better next time.
Story title :Raw Material: Janet Cockerill
Visit to Asia seems like a distant memory now the temperatures are sub zero.
Swimming in December in Kuala Lumpur
Betty celebrates birthday with friends - Community - Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Betty celebrates birthday with friends - Community - Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Some old Northamptonions may remember Adrien Bracken, this is his Mum, many from our parents generation knew her.
Some old Northamptonions may remember Adrien Bracken, this is his Mum, many from our parents generation knew her.
Happy Hour at The Hilton Kuala Lumpur
This is a nice time of day in this steamy city of many cultures.Malaysia is a predominantly Moslem environment so consumption of alcohol must be done with discretion.
Shopping seems to be a big past time here, everywhere is geared up for Christmas with jingle bells etc playing in the stores. I cannot imagine that anyone here has the faintest idea what a " One horse open sleigh" is.Lights, reindeer, Santa Claus all mixed up with tropical settings. No mention of the religious significance.
I keep being asked what a minus temperature feels like and does it snow where I live.
Answer :yes.
Shopping seems to be a big past time here, everywhere is geared up for Christmas with jingle bells etc playing in the stores. I cannot imagine that anyone here has the faintest idea what a " One horse open sleigh" is.Lights, reindeer, Santa Claus all mixed up with tropical settings. No mention of the religious significance.
I keep being asked what a minus temperature feels like and does it snow where I live.
Answer :yes.
Singapore Cocktail Hour
This is Singapore at 6.30 pm .Everyone in the Hilton Hotel seems to gather in the executive suite for happy hour.This is great, European wine plus delicious Asian savouries, satays, dumplings, curries.
It has rained for much of the time we have been here but this is tropical rain, like a warm shower so everyone just takes an umbrella and walks around regardless. The temperature is 32 degrees c , the rain comes as a relief.
This is a lovely and sophisticated city, safe and trouble free.
Today we went to the zoo, this has been shaped out of the surrounding tropical rain forest.A wonderful colony of orang-utangs. Local birds join in the fun,the plants are lovely, orchids everywhere.Too difficult to photograph as the rain cloud makes everything dark and flash upsets the animals.
It has rained for much of the time we have been here but this is tropical rain, like a warm shower so everyone just takes an umbrella and walks around regardless. The temperature is 32 degrees c , the rain comes as a relief.
This is a lovely and sophisticated city, safe and trouble free.
Today we went to the zoo, this has been shaped out of the surrounding tropical rain forest.A wonderful colony of orang-utangs. Local birds join in the fun,the plants are lovely, orchids everywhere.Too difficult to photograph as the rain cloud makes everything dark and flash upsets the animals.
Travel Check for Singapore
I am spending the last few days before travelling to Singapore and Kuala Lumpa checking I have not missed anything vital for a smooth journey
Today I was deciding which medication to take and found that anything containing codeine is not permitted in Singapore.This is a common ingredient often combined with paracetamol in the UK. I take it occasionally for back pain, something I am likely to get after a 12 hour flight- care should be taken with it as it is addictive.
My local pharmacy has suggested paracetamol with antihistamine as an alternative so I will take this.Hope this will be ok , I do not want to disobey local laws.
If I get arrested for this, dear friends, please get me out of jail.
Today I was deciding which medication to take and found that anything containing codeine is not permitted in Singapore.This is a common ingredient often combined with paracetamol in the UK. I take it occasionally for back pain, something I am likely to get after a 12 hour flight- care should be taken with it as it is addictive.
My local pharmacy has suggested paracetamol with antihistamine as an alternative so I will take this.Hope this will be ok , I do not want to disobey local laws.
If I get arrested for this, dear friends, please get me out of jail.
Degas and Leonardo da Vinci in London, Vermeer in Cambridge
If you are visiting England some of the world's best art exhibitions are on in London and Cambridge this winter.
Degas and the Ballet at the Royal Academy is lovely, especially the drawings.I notice that some of them have been lent by someone from Pasadena.It seems that a millionaire living there bought them for his wife who was a ballerina. How romantic.
Leonardo da Vinci at the National Gallery has very complementary reviews. If you do not have a ticket already be prepared to stand in line for a long time.
Vermeer at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge has irresistable paintings of women by Vermeer and others of the period. Cambridge is a good place to visit if you want to get out of London for a day.Go to the Copper Kettle on the way to the museum for coffee or the fantastic all day breakfast.
London 2012 Olympics Avoided by Tourists
No Olympic Tickets For Us !
Not one member of my sporty family has managed to get a ticket for the London Olympics (2 of them London Marathon Runners who raised thousands of pounds for charity).
Every time I drive past the building site with my disappointed grandchildren I now see a colossal waste of money that has nothing to do with me or the million UK citizens who did not get any tickets.
We are now being bombarded with advertisements offering chances to win tickets by a variety of so called sponsors-- I do not want to win anything, I want to buy tickets .
Now it seems that tourist bookings for that period are down by 90%. Serves you right you greedy hotels who upped your prices.
I shall not buy one souvenir of this event.
We all know that FIFA big wigs, corporate noteworthys and other hangers on will be sliding into their free seats but perhaps they will have the funds to make purchases as they exit through that grandiose shopping arcade they have built.
Malaysia and Singapore- Vaccinations Needed
Hepatitis A-it was good to find that the vaccination I received in 1998 is good for 25 years. Given that we shall be staying in an urban environment for both Singapore and Kuala Lumpar we only needed
Typhoid
Diptheria/Tetanus/Polio Combined.
Warned to use lots of deet type insect lotion, use only bottled water both for drinking and teeth cleaning and not to touch any animals.
Arms aches a bit but so far no other effects.
The Travel Clinic very efficient
Useful website: http://www.nathnac.org/
Typhoid
Diptheria/Tetanus/Polio Combined.
Warned to use lots of deet type insect lotion, use only bottled water both for drinking and teeth cleaning and not to touch any animals.
Arms aches a bit but so far no other effects.
The Travel Clinic very efficient
Useful website: http://www.nathnac.org/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)