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Dear Sistah Cake:
You are very, very smart to ask for lots of toys now for you ... er ... the PUPPIES. You will need to hold the toys most of the time, though, because how else will they learn how important they are?
Get a lot -- a LOT! -- of toys, and remember not to share ... oops! I mean TO SHARE. Yeah, share them. That's what I meant.
Like this, see?
McMiney, not McYoursie
plopped this mass of cake and icing into a bowl JUST so I could take a -totally pandering- "pastel puke" photo. XD lol
It looks like my profile website ^^;; www.natsukigirl.com Oh well... she doesn't have any defined likes or dislikes yet, so I just made what I thought was cute for her. We THINK her favorite color might be green, but we aren't sure yet. XD
Inspired by my little mochi.
Ears = Nutter Butter cookies
Eyes = M&M candies
Face = Nilla Wafer cookies
The rest is chocolate frosting, black & pink gel, and cakey goodness!
Soon to be blogged at www.merryantoinette.com
Only 2.3% of the Taiwanese population is native, 97.7% are ethnically Chinese
Taiwan is the size of Belgium but has 23 million residents, Belgium has 11 millions: 90% of the population lives along a strip of land along the east coast, 50% of the island is covered in forest
Taiwan is forward-thinking and progressive, it make gay marriage legal in 2019 unlike Japan, Korea and China where LGBT people face discrimination
Taiwanās official title is the Republic of China (RoC) and China is known as the Peopleās Republic of China (PRC)
The national dish is stinky tofu: Its crispy skin tofu has a crackling consistency surrounding the chewy, cakey goodness within. Each cube has an āinjectionā of soy sauce that gushes out with every bite. The secret of the stink is the fermentation process that can take several days to a week.
In Taiwan, white symbolises death and is worn at funerals
Red is used at weddings.
Taiwan has been ruled by China, Japan and briefly Holland
The National language of Taiwan is Mandarin
Taiwanese life are influenced by Chinese culture
Taiwanās Taipei 101 building was the tallest building in the world until until 2007 when the Burj Khalifa was built. {facts from -wheregoesrose,com
I've been tagged again, this time by Rachel and Chris Schneider ! Hehehe - what better that to create a selfie so you can read more random things about me!
All kidding aside, I really need to learn how to create portraits....especially self portraits. Especially since you can't see what you look like through the view finder. Bear with me during my learning curve! ;-)
16 thngs:
1. I am Indonesian/Irish/Welsh.
2. When I was a teenager, I wished I had blue eyes and blonde hair. Being ethnic was not ācoolā back then while living in the midwest.
3. I like to nibble the hard chocolate coating off of a ding dong first before devouring the cakey insides.
4. Iāve been married twice, once when I was 21 (lasted only 12 years) and recently, five years ago.
5. Rock and Roll runs through my veins and ultimately pulses out in a circular air guitar motion whenever I hear Van Halen.
6. I find little boxes and containers cute. Actually, anything miniature is cute.
7. I am a basically shy person who doesnāt like too much fuss made over her.
8. I am deathly afraid of tarantulas.
9. One day, I will learn to ride my ā84 Honda Magna so I can ride with the big boys.
10. I am so not high maintenance. Iām more like a tom-boy. A middle aged tom-boy nowā¦
11. In high school, I hung with the āburnoutsā however, I never smoked. They were cool. They never judged.
12. It seems like when I cook, everything is yellow or brown in color. (Yellow corn, mashed potatoes, rice, chicken, fishā¦you get the pictureā¦)
13. I can eat a whole bag of peanut m&māsā¦heheheā¦
14. I am afraid of failure.
15. I used to want to meet Brad Pitt ā before Angelina. Now I want to meet the actor who played Edward Cullen in the Twilight movie, all sparkly vanilla skinned and all.
15 1/2: I have very juvenile type humor.
16. I am not a terrorist ā even though the mall cop thinks me and my camera is.
Please don't use my image's on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. Ā© All rights reserved
I admit that I love baking. I think I'd do it every day if I had the money and enough people to eat the goods. ;-) It wasn't always that way... I grew up helping my dad more than my mom, as in those days I would have rather been outside with the animals - watching baby piglets be born, racing around the yard with the dog, playing games that involved spears and nunchucks with my brother (yes, I just referred to my brother as an animal... haha). But once I hit college and veterinary school, I found myself enamored with the process of baking: the recipes, the careful combination of ingredients, the smell of cookies and cakes in the oven, and, best of all, the delighted and occasionally impressed faces of my friends as they took their first bite.
Let me also say that I don't have the same relationship with cooking. That is still a chore, though I manage to do it fairly well now.
In any case, this is a recipe that should be shared, because these are perfect fall cookies - pumpkin. They are light and fluffy and moist, almost like a cakey cookie, and they pair up wonderfully with apple cider. So, here you have it. I usually double the recipe so that I have enough to give away.
Pumpkin Cookies
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick, softened)
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
Combine margarine, sugar, pumpkin and egg. Beat until fluffy. Combine all dry
ingredients, add to wet, beat until blended. Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-15 minutes. (Be careful, and pull them out before the bottoms start to brown up too much.)
Frosting
3 tablespoons butter/margarine
3 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons of milk
1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Combine butter, sugar and milk in bowl and beat, adding more milk if needed to make desired consistency. Add vanilla at end.
And there you have it. For the double batch I use just one whole can of pumpkin, even though there's only about 1 3/4 cups in a whole can, and it turns out fine. Because of the frosting the cookies tend to stick together if you pile them in a container, so it's best to keep them in the fridge if you do that. Oh, and of course you can add things to them, like chocolate chips or nuts or raisins, but I prefer the pure fluffy texture of an unaltered cookie.
Enjoy!
Day 118 Year 4 ...tend to stay at rest.
Oh that Newton knew what he was talking about too.
*drifts back into a drowsy state*
Then there is the other Newton. The golden figgie delicious one.... mmmm...
*wakes up, clears throat and sings*
"Ooey, gooey, rich and chewy inside.
Golden, flaky, tender cakey outside.
Wrap the inside in the outside,
Is it good? Darn tootin'
Doin' the big Fig Newton.
(Here's the tricky part)
The big Fig Newton.
(One more time)
The big Fig Newton."
Why yes, I did actually take Newton's First Law of Motion and combine it with a Fig Newton jingle from a million and half years ago.
Aren't you glad you stopped by this morning to witness my silliness??
Yeah, I knew you would be, you funny flickrers out there.
P.S. I used to dash around the house singing this song while on rollerskates and wearing alien antennae.
I was quite the vision of madness back then as well.
Sorry no pictures of that though.
You'll have to use your imagination.
Happy Birthday Lush! ummmmm just in case I don't get to do you a cakey shot...hope you have a great day :)
brain's also a little fried i tried texures but will need to read up...lol
THE DOCTOR: Oh dear oh dear, I can see I'll have my hands full with this lot. First things first though: the care and keeping of me. Now, to find something to eat. Something...cakey, I think. *switches his sonic screwdriver to "Cake" setting*
A round up of some visits from nearly a decade ago when I just posted general shots, to my surprise I took shots of details too, and didn't post them at the time.
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Monday 10th September 2012
I can now reveal that being on Holiday is officially better than being at work. It is a Monday morning, and we have bottled another batch of beer, and i have mopped the floor as we did manage to mess it up, slightly. The house now smells like a brewery, which would not be a bad thing only it was just eight in the morning, and it is a tad early for beer, even for me. In an exciting move, we are heading to Tesco in a while to get ingredients for out Christmas cakes.
Yes, cakes. One is never enough. A couple of years ago, we tried one in November and had to bake another one to replace it. We don't marzipan or ice them, and just leave them with their cakey goodness and Christmas spiciness.
Friday seemed to go on forever until it got to five to four and it was time to head home. The technicians had come ashore early and gone home, so I had the office to myself, therefore my hearty laughing at the Kermode and Mayo film review went unheard except by me.
So, off to Tesco for a week's shopping, and ended up getting enough stuff to last the weekend. And once that was done and paid for, loaded up the car and back home and now the holiday could really begin.
And Friday night was spent watching football. Yes, now the Olympics and Paralympics are coming to an end, it means we must return, ashamed like a unfaithful lover to the old dependable. And England began their World Cup qualifying campaign with an away game against Moldova. I did have to ask Jools to Google Moldova to find where it was, as I really didn't have a clue.
Anyway, it is behind the fridge just to the lest of Romania, apparently.
And England strung together at least 5 passes, played well, and scored 5 goals; and yet managed to look unconvincing switching off several times, just before half time and in the second half and could have easily conceded goals. Just to remind you, by some quirk, England are currently ranked the third best team IN THE WORLD, which I suppose goes to show just how much you should trust information coming out of FIFA towers.
Saturday morning after breakfast we headed to Mongeham for some foraging action, so we can make jam and jellies. We knew of a footpath behind a garage that is just lined with plum and greengage trees. We picked a couple of pounds and then headed on up the A20 and M20 to head to The Weald for a tour of 'interesting' churches.
Each year English Heritage organises a long weekend where many buildings are open for people like us to visit and photograph. Last spring we visited St Lawrence at Mereworth; and while is it a wonderfully beautiful church, the doors were locked and we wanted to see inside.
First of all we headed inside the M25 to a tiny, but beautiful village on the edge of the Weald where stockbrokers and hedge fund managers have their homes with fine views onto the Garden of england. All along the main road huge gates with security cameras guarded the mock-Tudor mansions hidden behind mature trees.
We turned off down a narrow lane and headed towards to small village of Trottiscliffe; which is not pronounced the way it is spelt so to make the unwary visitor appear stupid. It is pronounced 'Trozli', if Wiki is to be believed.
At the end of a long dead end road leading to a row of cottages and an old stable block is the church. I don't think i have ever seen a church in a more perfect location, it is one of those places that you have to be going as you'll never just pass it.
There was a churchwarden waiting at the door and happy to answer questions and tell us the history of the church. Dominating the tiny church is, what I now know to be from Westminister Abbey is the biggest pulpit I have seen outside a er, cathedral.
We take our leave and head to Mereworth.
We were the only visitors at the church, we parked the car on the verge outside, took in the glorious design of the church before going in. First thing you do see is a pair of spiral staircases; one to the gallery and the other to the bell tower. And straight ahead is a simple wooden door leading to the main body of the church.
I won't try to describe the church, please use the link on the pictures to go to my Flickrstream. The design is glorious, and looking pristine as it has just been restored to its former glory. Or original glory.
Once again there was a churchwarden to greet us, offer us refreshments and answer any questions.
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One of the few eighteenth-century churches in Kent, built in 1746 by the 7th Earl of Westmoreland. Surprisingly for so late a date the name of the architect is not known although it is in the style of Colen Campbell who designed the nearby castle, but as he died in 1722 it is probably by someone in his office. The main feature of the church is a tall stone steeple with four urns at the top of the tower, whilst the body of the church is a plain rectangular box consisting of an aisled nave and chancel. Inside is an excellent display of eighteenth-century interior decoration - especially fine being the curved ceiling which is painted with trompe l'oeil panels. At the west end is the galleried pew belonging to the owners of Mereworth Castle - it has organ pipes painted on its rear wall. The south-west chapel contains memorials brought here from the old church which stood near the castle, including one to a fifteenth-century Lord Bergavenny, and Sir Thomas Fane (d. 1589). The latter monument has a superb top-knot! The church contains much heraldic stained glass of sixteenth-century date, best seen with binoculars early in the morning. Of Victorian date is the excellent Raising of Lazarus window, installed in 1889 by the firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. In the churchyard is the grave of Charles Lucas, the first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross, while serving on the Hecla during the Crimean War.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Mereworth
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MEREWORTH.
EASTWARD from West, or Little Peckham, lies Mereworth, usually called Merrud. In Domesday it is written Marourde, and in the Textus Roffensis, MĆRUURTHA, and MERANWYRTHE.
THE PARISH of Mereworth is within the district of the Weald, being situated southward of the quarry hills. It is exceedingly pleasant, as well from its naturalsituation, as from the buildings, avenues, and other ornamental improvements made throughout it by the late earl of Westmoreland, nor do those made at Yokes by the late Mr. Master contribute a little to the continued beauty of this scene. The turnpike road crosses this parish through the vale from Maidstone, towards Hadlow and Tunbridge, on each side of which is a fine avenue of oaks, with a low neatly cut quick hedge along the whole of it, which leaves an uninterrupted view over the house, park, and grounds of lord le Despencer, the church with its fine built spire, and the seat of Yokes, and beyond it an extensive country, along the valley to Tunbridge, making altogether a most beautiful and luxuriant prospect.
Mereworth house is situated in the park, which rises finely wooded behind it, at a small distance from the high road, having a fine sheet of water in the front of it, being formed from a part of a stream which rises at a small distance above Yokes, and dividing itself into two branches, one of them runs in front of Mereworth house as above mentioned, and from thence through Watringbury, towards the Medway at Bow-bridge; the other branch runs more southward to East Peckham, and thence into the Medway at a small distance above Twiford bridge.
Mereworth-house was built after a plan of Palladio, designed for a noble Vicentine gentleman, Paolo Almerico, an ecclesiastic and referendary to two popes, who built it in his own country about a quarter of a mile distance from the city of Venice, in a situation pleasant and delightful, and nearly like this; being watered in front with a river, and in the back encompassed with the most pleasant risings, which form a kind of theatre, and abound with large and stately groves of oak and other trees; from the top of these risings there are most beautiful views, some of which are limited, and others extend so as to be terminated only by the horizon. Mereworth house is built in a moat, and has four fronts, having each a portico, but the two side ones are filled up; under the floor of the hall and best apartments, are rooms and conveniences for the servants. The hall, which is in the middle, forms a cupola, and receives its light from above, and is formed with a double case, between which the smoke is conveyed through the chimnies to the center of it at top. The wings are at a small distance from the house, and are elegantly designed. In the front of the house is an avenue, cut through the woods, three miles in length towards Wrotham-heath, and finished with incredible expence and labour by lord Westmoreland, for a communication with the London road there: throughout the whole, art and nature are so happily blended together, as to render it a most delightful situation.
In the western part of this parish, on the high road is the village, where at Mereworth cross it turns short off to the southward towards Hadlow and Tunbridge, at a small distance further westward is the church and parsonage, the former is a conspicuous ornament to all the neighbouring country throughout the valley; hence the ground rises to Yokes, which is most pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, commanding a most delightful and extensive prospect over the Weald, and into Surry and Sussex.
Towards the north this parish rises up to the ridge of hills, called the Quarry-hills, (and there are now in them, though few in number, several of the Martin Cats, the same as those at Hudson's Bay) over which is the extensive tract of wood-land, called the Herst woods, in which so late as queen Elizabeth's reign, there were many wild swine, with which the whole Weald formerly abounded, by reason of the plenty of pannage from the acorns throughout it. (fn. 1)
Ā¶The soil of this parish is very fertile, being the quarry stone thinly covered with a loam, throughout the northern part of it; but in the southern or lower parts, as well as in East Peckham adjoining, it is a fertile clay, being mostly pasture and exceeding rich grazing land, and the largest oxen perhaps at any place in this part of England are bred and fatted on them, the weight of some of them having been, as I have been informed, near three hundred stone.
THIS PLACE, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, was part of the possessions of Hamo Vicecomes, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in that book.
In Littlefield hundred. Hamo holds Marourde. Norman held it of king Edward, and then, and now, it was and is taxed at two sulings. The arable land is ninecarucates. In demesne there are two, and twenty-eight villeins, with fifteen borderers, having ten carucates. There is a church and ten servants, and two mills of ten shillings, and two fisheries of two shillings. There are twenty acres of meadow, and as much wood as is sufficient for the pannage of sixty hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth twelve pounds, and afterwards ten pounds, now nineteen pounds.
This Hamo Vicecomes before-mentioned was Hamo de Crevequer, who was appointed Vicecomes, or sheriff of Kent, soon after his coming over hither with the Conqueror, which office he held till his death in the reign of king Henry I.
Ā¶In the reign of king Henry II. Mereworth was in the possession of a family, which took their surname from it, and held it as two knights fees, of the earls of Clare, as of their honour of Clare.
Roger, son of Eustace de Mereworth, possessed it in the above reign, and then brought a quare impedit against the prior of. Leeds, for the advowson of the church of Mereworth. (fn. 3)
William de Mereworth is recorded among those Kentish knights, who assisted king Richard at the siege of Acon, in Palestine, upon which account it is probable the cross-croslets were added to the paternal arms of this family.
MEREWORTH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.
The church was dedicated to St. Laurence. It was an antient building, and formerly stood where the west wing of Mereworth-house, made use of for the stables, now stands. It was pulled down by John, late earl of Westmoreland, when he rebuilt that house, and in lieu of it he erected, about half a mile westward from the old one, in the center of the village, the present church, a most elegant building, with a beautiful spire steeple, and a handsome portico in the front of it, with pillars of the Corinthian order. The whole of it is composed of different sorts of stone; and the east window is handsomely glazed with painted glass, collected by him for this purpose.
In the reign of king Henry II. the advowson of this church was the property of Roger de Mereworth, between whom and the prior and convent of Ledes, in this county, there had been much dispute, concerning the patronage of it: at length both parties submitted their interest to Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, who decreed, that the advowson of it should remain to Roger de Mereworth; and he further granted, with his consent, and that of Martin then parson of it, to the prior and convent, the sum of forty shillings, in the name of a perpetual benefice, and not in the name of a pension, in perpetual alms, to be received yearly for ever, from the parson of it. (fn. 13)
The prior and the convent of Ledes afterwards, anno 12 Henry VII. released to Hugh Walker, rector of this church, their right and claim to this pension, and all their right and claim in the rectory, by reason of it, or by any other means whatsoever.
In the reign of king Henry VI. the rector and parishioners of this church petitioned the bishop of Ro chester, to change the day of the feast of the dedication of it, which being solemnized yearly on the 4th day of June, and the moveable seasts of Pentecost, viz. of the sacred Trinity, or Corpus Christi, very often happening on it; the divine service used on the feasts of dedications could not in some years be celebrated, but was of necessity deferred to another day, that these solemnities of religion and of the fair might not happen together. Upon which the bishop, in 1439, transferred the feast to the Monday next after the exaltation of the Holy Cross, enjoining all and singular the rectors, and their curates, as well as the parishioners from time to time to observe it accordingly as such. And to encourage the parishioners and others to resort to it on that day, he granted to such as did, forty days remission of their sins.
Soon after the above-mentioned dispute between Roger de Mereworth and the prior and convent of Ledes, the church of Mereworth appears to have been given to the priory of Black Canons, at Tunbridge. (fn. 14) And it remained with the above-mentioned priory till its dissolution in the 16th year of king Henry VIII. a bull having been obtained from the pope, with the king's leave, for that purpose. After which the king, in his 17th year, granted that priory, with others then suppressed for the like purpose, together with all their manors, lands, and possessions, to cardinal Wolsey, for the better endowment of his college, called Cardinal college, in Oxford. But four years afterwards, the cardinal being cast in a prƦmunire; all the estates of that college, which for want of time had not been firmly settled on it, became forfeited to the crown. (fn. 15) After which, the king granted the patronage of the church of Mereworth, to Sir George Nevill, lord Abergavenny, whose descendant Henry, lord Abergavenny, died possessed of it in the 29th year of queen Elizabeth, leaving an only daughter and heir Mary, married to Sir Thomas Fane, who in her right possessed it. Since which it has continued in the same owners, that the manor of Mereworth has, and is as such now in the patronage of the right hon. Thomas, lord le Despencer.
It is valued in the king's books at 14l. 2s. 6d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 8s. 3d.
Ā¶It appears by a valuation of this church, and a terrier of the lands belonging to it, subscribed by the rector, churchwardens, and inhabitants, in 1634, that there belonged to it, a parsonage-house, with a barn, &c. a field called Parsonage field, a close, and a garden, two orchards, four fields called Summerfourds, Ashfield, the Coney-yearth, and Millfield, and the herbage of the church-yard, containing in the whole about thirty acres, that the house and some of the land where James Gostlinge then dwelt, paid to the rector for lord's rent twelve-pence per annum; that the houses and land where Thomas Stone and Henry Filtness then dwelt, paid two-pence per annum; that there was paid to the rector the tithe of all corn, and all other grain, as woud, would, &c. and all hay, tithe of all coppice woods and hops, and all other predial tithes usually paid, as wool, and lambs, and all predials, &c. in the memory of man; that all tithes of a parcel of land called Old-hay, some four or five miles from the church, but yet within the parish, containing three hundred acres, more or less; and the tithe of a meadow plot lying towards the lower side of Hadlow, yet in Mereworth, containing by estimation twelve acres, more or less, commonly called the Wish, belonged to this church.
The parsonage-house lately stood at a small distance north-eastward from Mereworth-house; but obstructing the view from the front of it, the late lord le Despencer obtained a faculty to pull the whole of it down, and to build a new one of equal dimensions, and add to it a glebe of equal quantity to that of the scite and appurtenances of the old parsonage, in exchange. Accordingly the old parsonage was pulled down in 1779, and a new one erected on a piece of land allotted for the purpose about a quarter of a mile westward from the church, for the residence of the rector of Mereworth and his successors.
This comes in a variety of colors, a rainbow of colors will be out at the Frost event starting on the 13th! This is 100% original un-rigged mesh.
Not very exciting, but some of my cakey friends might be interested! Plus it feels kinda wrong not to show this part before it all gets covered up, after spending so long on it! LOL! ! :-)
The bottom of this weekend's wedding cake, which I have been SO looking forward to for a while now!
This is the bottom double barrel, which I ganached lastnight. It's a 9 inch caramel mud and a chocolate mud underneath all that ganache! It's about 7 1/2 inches high.
Just hope I can do a good job of covering it!
This is my cakey cupboard where I keep cake dummies for wedding fairs & consultations or according to my husband - " more clutter" !!!!
I've been waitin' for this one
Turn it up
Slow songs, they for skinny hoes
Can't move all of this here to one of those
I'm a thick bitch, I need tempo
Fuck it up to the tempo
Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pitty-pat
Look at my ass, it's fitty-fitty-fat
Kitty cat, kitty cat, kitty-kitty cat
Prrr me a glass, boy, I like my water wet
Throw it back
Catch that
I need a jack
For all of this ass, but it won't go flat
Baby, baby
Come eat some of this cakey
He look like he could gain a little weight
Lick the icing off, put the rest in your face
A round up of some visits from nearly a decade ago when I just posted general shots, to my surprise I took shots of details too, and didn't post them at the time.
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Monday 10th September 2012
I can now reveal that being on Holiday is officially better than being at work. It is a Monday morning, and we have bottled another batch of beer, and i have mopped the floor as we did manage to mess it up, slightly. The house now smells like a brewery, which would not be a bad thing only it was just eight in the morning, and it is a tad early for beer, even for me. In an exciting move, we are heading to Tesco in a while to get ingredients for out Christmas cakes.
Yes, cakes. One is never enough. A couple of years ago, we tried one in November and had to bake another one to replace it. We don't marzipan or ice them, and just leave them with their cakey goodness and Christmas spiciness.
Friday seemed to go on forever until it got to five to four and it was time to head home. The technicians had come ashore early and gone home, so I had the office to myself, therefore my hearty laughing at the Kermode and Mayo film review went unheard except by me.
So, off to Tesco for a week's shopping, and ended up getting enough stuff to last the weekend. And once that was done and paid for, loaded up the car and back home and now the holiday could really begin.
And Friday night was spent watching football. Yes, now the Olympics and Paralympics are coming to an end, it means we must return, ashamed like a unfaithful lover to the old dependable. And England began their World Cup qualifying campaign with an away game against Moldova. I did have to ask Jools to Google Moldova to find where it was, as I really didn't have a clue.
Anyway, it is behind the fridge just to the lest of Romania, apparently.
And England strung together at least 5 passes, played well, and scored 5 goals; and yet managed to look unconvincing switching off several times, just before half time and in the second half and could have easily conceded goals. Just to remind you, by some quirk, England are currently ranked the third best team IN THE WORLD, which I suppose goes to show just how much you should trust information coming out of FIFA towers.
Saturday morning after breakfast we headed to Mongeham for some foraging action, so we can make jam and jellies. We knew of a footpath behind a garage that is just lined with plum and greengage trees. We picked a couple of pounds and then headed on up the A20 and M20 to head to The Weald for a tour of 'interesting' churches.
Each year English Heritage organises a long weekend where many buildings are open for people like us to visit and photograph. Last spring we visited St Lawrence at Mereworth; and while is it a wonderfully beautiful church, the doors were locked and we wanted to see inside.
First of all we headed inside the M25 to a tiny, but beautiful village on the edge of the Weald where stockbrokers and hedge fund managers have their homes with fine views onto the Garden of england. All along the main road huge gates with security cameras guarded the mock-Tudor mansions hidden behind mature trees.
We turned off down a narrow lane and headed towards to small village of Trottiscliffe; which is not pronounced the way it is spelt so to make the unwary visitor appear stupid. It is pronounced 'Trozli', if Wiki is to be believed.
At the end of a long dead end road leading to a row of cottages and an old stable block is the church. I don't think i have ever seen a church in a more perfect location, it is one of those places that you have to be going as you'll never just pass it.
There was a churchwarden waiting at the door and happy to answer questions and tell us the history of the church. Dominating the tiny church is, what I now know to be from Westminister Abbey is the biggest pulpit I have seen outside a er, cathedral.
We take our leave and head to Mereworth.
We were the only visitors at the church, we parked the car on the verge outside, took in the glorious design of the church before going in. First thing you do see is a pair of spiral staircases; one to the gallery and the other to the bell tower. And straight ahead is a simple wooden door leading to the main body of the church.
I won't try to describe the church, please use the link on the pictures to go to my Flickrstream. The design is glorious, and looking pristine as it has just been restored to its former glory. Or original glory.
Once again there was a churchwarden to greet us, offer us refreshments and answer any questions.
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One of the few eighteenth-century churches in Kent, built in 1746 by the 7th Earl of Westmoreland. Surprisingly for so late a date the name of the architect is not known although it is in the style of Colen Campbell who designed the nearby castle, but as he died in 1722 it is probably by someone in his office. The main feature of the church is a tall stone steeple with four urns at the top of the tower, whilst the body of the church is a plain rectangular box consisting of an aisled nave and chancel. Inside is an excellent display of eighteenth-century interior decoration - especially fine being the curved ceiling which is painted with trompe l'oeil panels. At the west end is the galleried pew belonging to the owners of Mereworth Castle - it has organ pipes painted on its rear wall. The south-west chapel contains memorials brought here from the old church which stood near the castle, including one to a fifteenth-century Lord Bergavenny, and Sir Thomas Fane (d. 1589). The latter monument has a superb top-knot! The church contains much heraldic stained glass of sixteenth-century date, best seen with binoculars early in the morning. Of Victorian date is the excellent Raising of Lazarus window, installed in 1889 by the firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. In the churchyard is the grave of Charles Lucas, the first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross, while serving on the Hecla during the Crimean War.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Mereworth
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MEREWORTH.
EASTWARD from West, or Little Peckham, lies Mereworth, usually called Merrud. In Domesday it is written Marourde, and in the Textus Roffensis, MĆRUURTHA, and MERANWYRTHE.
THE PARISH of Mereworth is within the district of the Weald, being situated southward of the quarry hills. It is exceedingly pleasant, as well from its naturalsituation, as from the buildings, avenues, and other ornamental improvements made throughout it by the late earl of Westmoreland, nor do those made at Yokes by the late Mr. Master contribute a little to the continued beauty of this scene. The turnpike road crosses this parish through the vale from Maidstone, towards Hadlow and Tunbridge, on each side of which is a fine avenue of oaks, with a low neatly cut quick hedge along the whole of it, which leaves an uninterrupted view over the house, park, and grounds of lord le Despencer, the church with its fine built spire, and the seat of Yokes, and beyond it an extensive country, along the valley to Tunbridge, making altogether a most beautiful and luxuriant prospect.
Mereworth house is situated in the park, which rises finely wooded behind it, at a small distance from the high road, having a fine sheet of water in the front of it, being formed from a part of a stream which rises at a small distance above Yokes, and dividing itself into two branches, one of them runs in front of Mereworth house as above mentioned, and from thence through Watringbury, towards the Medway at Bow-bridge; the other branch runs more southward to East Peckham, and thence into the Medway at a small distance above Twiford bridge.
Mereworth-house was built after a plan of Palladio, designed for a noble Vicentine gentleman, Paolo Almerico, an ecclesiastic and referendary to two popes, who built it in his own country about a quarter of a mile distance from the city of Venice, in a situation pleasant and delightful, and nearly like this; being watered in front with a river, and in the back encompassed with the most pleasant risings, which form a kind of theatre, and abound with large and stately groves of oak and other trees; from the top of these risings there are most beautiful views, some of which are limited, and others extend so as to be terminated only by the horizon. Mereworth house is built in a moat, and has four fronts, having each a portico, but the two side ones are filled up; under the floor of the hall and best apartments, are rooms and conveniences for the servants. The hall, which is in the middle, forms a cupola, and receives its light from above, and is formed with a double case, between which the smoke is conveyed through the chimnies to the center of it at top. The wings are at a small distance from the house, and are elegantly designed. In the front of the house is an avenue, cut through the woods, three miles in length towards Wrotham-heath, and finished with incredible expence and labour by lord Westmoreland, for a communication with the London road there: throughout the whole, art and nature are so happily blended together, as to render it a most delightful situation.
In the western part of this parish, on the high road is the village, where at Mereworth cross it turns short off to the southward towards Hadlow and Tunbridge, at a small distance further westward is the church and parsonage, the former is a conspicuous ornament to all the neighbouring country throughout the valley; hence the ground rises to Yokes, which is most pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, commanding a most delightful and extensive prospect over the Weald, and into Surry and Sussex.
Towards the north this parish rises up to the ridge of hills, called the Quarry-hills, (and there are now in them, though few in number, several of the Martin Cats, the same as those at Hudson's Bay) over which is the extensive tract of wood-land, called the Herst woods, in which so late as queen Elizabeth's reign, there were many wild swine, with which the whole Weald formerly abounded, by reason of the plenty of pannage from the acorns throughout it. (fn. 1)
Ā¶The soil of this parish is very fertile, being the quarry stone thinly covered with a loam, throughout the northern part of it; but in the southern or lower parts, as well as in East Peckham adjoining, it is a fertile clay, being mostly pasture and exceeding rich grazing land, and the largest oxen perhaps at any place in this part of England are bred and fatted on them, the weight of some of them having been, as I have been informed, near three hundred stone.
THIS PLACE, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, was part of the possessions of Hamo Vicecomes, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in that book.
In Littlefield hundred. Hamo holds Marourde. Norman held it of king Edward, and then, and now, it was and is taxed at two sulings. The arable land is ninecarucates. In demesne there are two, and twenty-eight villeins, with fifteen borderers, having ten carucates. There is a church and ten servants, and two mills of ten shillings, and two fisheries of two shillings. There are twenty acres of meadow, and as much wood as is sufficient for the pannage of sixty hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth twelve pounds, and afterwards ten pounds, now nineteen pounds.
This Hamo Vicecomes before-mentioned was Hamo de Crevequer, who was appointed Vicecomes, or sheriff of Kent, soon after his coming over hither with the Conqueror, which office he held till his death in the reign of king Henry I.
Ā¶In the reign of king Henry II. Mereworth was in the possession of a family, which took their surname from it, and held it as two knights fees, of the earls of Clare, as of their honour of Clare.
Roger, son of Eustace de Mereworth, possessed it in the above reign, and then brought a quare impedit against the prior of. Leeds, for the advowson of the church of Mereworth. (fn. 3)
William de Mereworth is recorded among those Kentish knights, who assisted king Richard at the siege of Acon, in Palestine, upon which account it is probable the cross-croslets were added to the paternal arms of this family.
MEREWORTH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.
The church was dedicated to St. Laurence. It was an antient building, and formerly stood where the west wing of Mereworth-house, made use of for the stables, now stands. It was pulled down by John, late earl of Westmoreland, when he rebuilt that house, and in lieu of it he erected, about half a mile westward from the old one, in the center of the village, the present church, a most elegant building, with a beautiful spire steeple, and a handsome portico in the front of it, with pillars of the Corinthian order. The whole of it is composed of different sorts of stone; and the east window is handsomely glazed with painted glass, collected by him for this purpose.
In the reign of king Henry II. the advowson of this church was the property of Roger de Mereworth, between whom and the prior and convent of Ledes, in this county, there had been much dispute, concerning the patronage of it: at length both parties submitted their interest to Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, who decreed, that the advowson of it should remain to Roger de Mereworth; and he further granted, with his consent, and that of Martin then parson of it, to the prior and convent, the sum of forty shillings, in the name of a perpetual benefice, and not in the name of a pension, in perpetual alms, to be received yearly for ever, from the parson of it. (fn. 13)
The prior and the convent of Ledes afterwards, anno 12 Henry VII. released to Hugh Walker, rector of this church, their right and claim to this pension, and all their right and claim in the rectory, by reason of it, or by any other means whatsoever.
In the reign of king Henry VI. the rector and parishioners of this church petitioned the bishop of Ro chester, to change the day of the feast of the dedication of it, which being solemnized yearly on the 4th day of June, and the moveable seasts of Pentecost, viz. of the sacred Trinity, or Corpus Christi, very often happening on it; the divine service used on the feasts of dedications could not in some years be celebrated, but was of necessity deferred to another day, that these solemnities of religion and of the fair might not happen together. Upon which the bishop, in 1439, transferred the feast to the Monday next after the exaltation of the Holy Cross, enjoining all and singular the rectors, and their curates, as well as the parishioners from time to time to observe it accordingly as such. And to encourage the parishioners and others to resort to it on that day, he granted to such as did, forty days remission of their sins.
Soon after the above-mentioned dispute between Roger de Mereworth and the prior and convent of Ledes, the church of Mereworth appears to have been given to the priory of Black Canons, at Tunbridge. (fn. 14) And it remained with the above-mentioned priory till its dissolution in the 16th year of king Henry VIII. a bull having been obtained from the pope, with the king's leave, for that purpose. After which the king, in his 17th year, granted that priory, with others then suppressed for the like purpose, together with all their manors, lands, and possessions, to cardinal Wolsey, for the better endowment of his college, called Cardinal college, in Oxford. But four years afterwards, the cardinal being cast in a prƦmunire; all the estates of that college, which for want of time had not been firmly settled on it, became forfeited to the crown. (fn. 15) After which, the king granted the patronage of the church of Mereworth, to Sir George Nevill, lord Abergavenny, whose descendant Henry, lord Abergavenny, died possessed of it in the 29th year of queen Elizabeth, leaving an only daughter and heir Mary, married to Sir Thomas Fane, who in her right possessed it. Since which it has continued in the same owners, that the manor of Mereworth has, and is as such now in the patronage of the right hon. Thomas, lord le Despencer.
It is valued in the king's books at 14l. 2s. 6d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 8s. 3d.
Ā¶It appears by a valuation of this church, and a terrier of the lands belonging to it, subscribed by the rector, churchwardens, and inhabitants, in 1634, that there belonged to it, a parsonage-house, with a barn, &c. a field called Parsonage field, a close, and a garden, two orchards, four fields called Summerfourds, Ashfield, the Coney-yearth, and Millfield, and the herbage of the church-yard, containing in the whole about thirty acres, that the house and some of the land where James Gostlinge then dwelt, paid to the rector for lord's rent twelve-pence per annum; that the houses and land where Thomas Stone and Henry Filtness then dwelt, paid two-pence per annum; that there was paid to the rector the tithe of all corn, and all other grain, as woud, would, &c. and all hay, tithe of all coppice woods and hops, and all other predial tithes usually paid, as wool, and lambs, and all predials, &c. in the memory of man; that all tithes of a parcel of land called Old-hay, some four or five miles from the church, but yet within the parish, containing three hundred acres, more or less; and the tithe of a meadow plot lying towards the lower side of Hadlow, yet in Mereworth, containing by estimation twelve acres, more or less, commonly called the Wish, belonged to this church.
The parsonage-house lately stood at a small distance north-eastward from Mereworth-house; but obstructing the view from the front of it, the late lord le Despencer obtained a faculty to pull the whole of it down, and to build a new one of equal dimensions, and add to it a glebe of equal quantity to that of the scite and appurtenances of the old parsonage, in exchange. Accordingly the old parsonage was pulled down in 1779, and a new one erected on a piece of land allotted for the purpose about a quarter of a mile westward from the church, for the residence of the rector of Mereworth and his successors.
Oh boy, if only I would remember which cookbook I found this recipe in! They were yummy but a bit "cakey" for my taste.
LINZER HEARTS (originally Stars ;-) )
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ready in: 4 hours 15 minutes
Yield: 4 dozen sandwich cookies
Serving Size: 1 Cookie: 50 calories ;-)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cherry or red currant jelly (I used red currant)
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
In a large bowl, combine sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add milk, vanilla and egg; blend well. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; mix well. Cover with plastic wrap' refrigerate 3 hours for easier handling.
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Using stockinette-covered rolling pin (I did not cover it with anything), and well-flowered pastry cloth (also don't have that), roll out 1/3 of dough at a time to 1/8-inch thickness. (Keep remaining dough refrigerated.) Cut with floured 3-inch star-shaped cookie cutter. Using 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out center of half of the dough stars to form cookie tops (I didn't do that either - my particular stars cutter looked odd with the opening, not so pretty as the picture showed in the cookbook). Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Return dough centers to remaining dough for rerolling.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 3 to 5 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute' remove from cookie sheets. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.
To assemble cookies, spread 1/2 teaspoon jelly over bottom side of each whole cookie. Sprinkle powdered sugar over tops of cutout cookies; place over jelly. (kind of odd sequence in my opinion, don't you think: I spread 1 cookie with jelly, then put the other half of the sandwich cookie on top of it. When I was done, I used a sieve to sprinkle powdered sugar over all of them and then arranged on the plate...)
Brownies (double batch because these will be popular at the office):
4 eggs
1 1/2 Cup (C) sugar
2 teaspoon (tsp) vanilla extract
1 C melted butter
1 1/2 C cocoa (I used unsweetened you can sub sweetened if you like em sweeter)
1 1/3 C unsifted flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Mix together eggs, sugar and vanilla until well moistened then add butter. Stir together in a separate bowl the cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. Stir this mixture into the egg mixture until blended. Add chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake for 27 minutes. (25-35 depending on your oven less time means chewier brownies. If you like them cakey then bake them closer to 35 min.)
Place on wire rack to cool and "frost" with coconut topping (recipe follows).
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
6oz white chocolate (chips or chop bark)
8oz cream cheese softened
1 1/2 C sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp coconut extract
Melt chocolate, stir in cream cheese, add coconut and coconut extract. Spread over slightly cooled (5 min) brownies.
Chocolate Icing
6oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
Melt chocolate and butter, spread over coconut frosting.
These Dulce de Leche sandwich cookies are dangerously delicious! Soft, cakey, and filled with sweet dulce de leche!
From Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
www.sporkorfoon.com/spork_or_a_foon/2010/03/twd-dulce-de-...
A cupboard full of dummy cakes for wedding fairs ( and ones I just can't throw away!!) and anything cakey!!!
I read about this unusual chocolate chip cookies a long while ago made with mesquite flour. When I finally visited Austin, I didn't waste time and hit up Central Market immediately to pick up a couple of bags. This flour is so fragrant! The smell is not so much smokey but a warm mellow cocoa aroma.
My preference for chocolate chip cookies leans toward soft, cakey, and chewy. This recipe is right up my alley. Each ball of dough was about the size of a golf ball and it didn't spread much in the oven (11 minutes for me). As soon as they came out of the oven, I took a flat bottom bowl and a piece of parchment paper to flatten the cookies. That was my secret to getting perfectly round and thick cookie.
Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz (because he has the ingredients by weight) who in turn adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking. I used all-purpose flour and a half/half mix of granulate sugar/light brown sugar. Mixing these two types of sugar for a great texture and flavour for chocolate chip cookies is a trick that I remember reading from Cook's Illustrated a few months ago. My batch yielded 34 cookies even though there were so much dough. This matches the yeild in Swanson's recipe but way off from Lebovitz's. I'm not complaining though because the extra thickness help keep these cookies soft and moist.
Read more at Dessert By Candy.
These are like little lemon cakes. They took a lemon tree full of zest and juice to flavor the Ricotta. Oh those clever Italians! š®š¹
I have several āsafeā recipes, dishes I cook (yes all puddings) that I know taste good and work and that I wouldnāt feel ashamed to present at dinner. Well, tāother day all that was thrown into turmoil when my signature dish of crumble was cooked by a friend. His was a thoroughbred crumble whereas mine was a cart horse ā and in comparison mine makes you feel like you may in fact have eaten a carthorse. After my crumble most people are rendered immobile for a couple of hours (It may be something that the police should look into using). After his pure-bred version of the same dish I could still have danced a maypole with no fear of a stitch.
So anyway, the recipe was shared; scribbled out in haphazard handwriting, and I wished that I had watched him more closely as he had made the dish rather than glugging down the vino whilst jabbering on about the latest craze amongst kids to set fire to wheelie bins and inhale the fumes. The very thought of getting close enough to a wheelie bin to set fire to it makes me want to wretch; itsā un-ignited aroma is so terrible ā I commend their bravery, though I definitely think that is something they will need to have a few mints to cover up afterwards.
I digressā¦ So I have the recipe and I go out the very next day to buy the ingredients try to recreate the dish. I buy all the same brands and measure the amounts properly instead of just pouring out bags of flour and sugar until it just āfeels rightā. The beast goes in the oven and I sit fretting over my wine while I wait. Like a new mother I check it is still breathing regularly, well every time I top up my wine which is 5 minutely. I chew my fingernails as I waitā¦.
It wasnāt the bloody same!
His was all crunchy and caramelized and mine is soggy and heavy and cakey. It was delicious in its own right and in its own incarcerating way but I hadnāt succeeded in cloning his dish.
Why is it we can be given a recipe, follow it to the scribble, do everything they did and yet it come out entirely different?
I think all cookery books could well be rendered irrelevant after this because clearly whatever I cook whilst following Nigellaās recipe is absolutely nothing like what she actually would have produced in between sucking her fingers and gazing seductively at the camera.
I felt terrible pressure to produce a triumphant dish so that I could report back the magnificence of the recipe and my compliments to the original chef ā but instead I had to admit failure. Then again, maybe those people who share recipes know that we stand no hope of mimicking their dish, maybe they take pleasure in the fact that no one can do it as well as they can, maybe they doctor the recipe to ensure failure and secure our admiration foreverā¦..
this is my new favourite recipe, from david lebovitz's 'the perfect scoop'. i love the texture - chewy, good thin crust on top and most of all, not cakey. i like! :D
but then the recipe called for 250g sugar...which personally i find wayyy too much, so i cut it to 180g which was still a bit sweet. i'd use bittersweet choc next time
Skyline and Cakey... Bumped into these two hooligans at Greenwich.. wives included :) It was a lovely afternoon,great to meet up after all this time..
Off to sleep now.............