Mavis: Is an Ooner Spism a Spoonerism?
Us: Ha Ha Ha Ha
We are very sad in our family!
10/11/2011
5/11/2011
Mrs Robins’ Fruit Cake
Years ago, when I lived in Sheep Country, I belonged, thanks to Husband Number Two, to the Austin Healey Club. Through that group I made many friends, including Tarn and Fit, with whom I still keep in touch, mainly through Christmas Cards and occasionally with visits.
I met Dianne Jones, a great cake baker. We didn’t keep in touch but her typewritten, much smeared recipe is in my recipe folder along with many others shared with people who, like myself, love to cook. There were always home made cakes in the Jones household and in particular there was a wonderful Bara Brith (fruit loaf) that was served buttered and could not be eaten by the single slice.
Dianne was tragically diagnosed with an auto immune attack on her liver. I don’t know what has happened to her, but every time I bake this cake, I think of her and wonder.
This weekend I decided to sort out my ‘Baking Cupboard’ which was overflowing with so many bags and packets they rained down on anyone who opened the door. Onto the counter I gathered currants, raisins, sultanas, goji berries, glace cherries, dried apricots, ground almonds, crystalised ginger and more. Mrs Robins’ Fruitcake sprung to mind and I weighed the fruit and ginger, multiplied up the other ingredients and made 4 loaves of Bara Brith. Half of one was immediately devoured by Whizz and Mavis and pronounced good.
So here is the recipe, in the hope that Dianne has overcome her illness and with fond memories of irresponsible days B.C. (Before Children).
Mrs Robins Fruit Cake
Ingredients
4 oz margarine or butter
6 oz granulated sugar
6oz currants
6oz raisins
2oz chopped peel
1 cup/8 fl oz water
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 heaped tsp ground mixed spice
2 beaten eggs
4oz self raising flour
4oz plain flour
pinch salt
Method
- place margarine, sugar, fruit, peel, water, bi-carb and mixed spice into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for one minute. Allow to cool.
- Line a 1lb loaf tin.
- Beat eggs, flours and salt into the cooled mixture and pour into tin.
- Bake in middle of oven, gas 4/350F/180C for one to one and a half hours until a skewer poked into the middle comes out dry.
- Cool in tin then turn out. Improves with time so if you can resist, keep it overnight before cutting. I never manage this!
3/11/2011
More on Teenagers
11 years ago, when Horace was the age Mavis now is, Whizz and I moved to this village of Pebbleditch we now call home.
Mavis knew nobody so I decided, as newly appointed editor of the Pebbleditch Parish Post, to appeal in the magazine for volunteers to start a youth club. Four people eventually turned up and we, in a very inexperienced way, started, what turned out to be a demanding project, to try and appeal to the teenagers of Pebbleditch and distract some of them from getting into trouble. Horace would have nothing to do with this and remained horizontal in her bedroom.
With the help of youth services I began to get to know the young people and to see that the ones who were rebellious and troublesome were actually nice kids with lots of potential but it was very difficult for me, a spoiled, middle class, middle aged woman to get through to them. I wanted to tell them how many options they had but I always managed to lecture them and eventually I decided I was out of my depth. I never lost that liking of teenagers and a powerful feeling of hopelessness that I was not equipped to do more.
I redirected my energies and with another group lobbied the powers that be to set aside local money for facilities. We looked into skate parks and youth shelters and so on and actually, the Parish Council was persuaded and has held over quite a large sum of money each year to provide these things for the young people (a whole new set by now), once the large amount of building development has been completed in our village.
The young people of pebbleditch have a new, younger parish council and members who speak up for them, and I think also that the demographic of the village has changed with many more houses being built.
So, now Mavis is at ‘that age’. Of course she has lived here most of her life so doesn’t feel isolated.
Over the horizon galloped Youth For Christ, a most wonderful organisation offering to set up Youth Cafes. The parish councillors were in the right frame of mind to provide the funding, and this week Whizz and I, and a very respectable number of other volunteers went along to the first Youth Cafe run by a remarkable and impressive group of young adults.
I’m getting to the point here. One of the young adults, call him Tom, had been attending a youth cafe run by the group since he was 11. He was an absolute tearaway when young and a fantastic and inspiring person now. To see him at the cafe, aiming straight for the troublemakers and building relationships with them gave me the hope that I too could make a difference. Tom was the example I needed, to help with what I have always felt was possible, and I don’t have the words adequate enough to explain how moving I have found this.
I work in a primary school, with the less able members of the class and I worry that these little dots are in danger of becoming the troublemakers of the future. The National Curriculum (in my opinion) sets them up to fail all the time, erroding their self esteem and aiming them straight for the edges of society. Not all of them will end in trouble but I feel in my bones that I will see some of them tearing around at the youth cafe in a few years time, being ‘related to’ by Tom (and I hope by me too).