Favorite foods from the time of Henry VIII . . .

In case all this chat about bygone days of Henry VIII and company has stirred a culinary interest, there is a neat link that takes some of the recipes of that time and puts them within the possibility of accomplishment by the modern day cook. Even if you don't go for taking 'chances' in the kitchen, it is an interesting read about Medieval cooking.

http://www.bitwise.net/~ken-bill/med-p1.htm

Another site with a specific recipe for Medieval cookies looks like a fun project for a unit study at home for that particular time in history.

http://sarumseminar.org/cookies.html

The Phantom Mother

There seems to be more than one ghost wandering the halls of Littlecote House over the years. When we walked into the small chapel, we noticed a plaster statue of a small infant just setting on the window sill. Turns out it is the baby being referred to in the following:

The phantom mother
Another Littlecote House ghost seems to have appeared to Peter de Savary soon after he became owner of the property. He decided to hold an auction sale of unwanted furnature and other stuff from the house. As he was walking around the house on the morning of the sale, he encountered a mid-aged woman dressed in modern clothes in one of the corridors. Before de Savary could ask her how she came to be there, the woman spoke. She told him that he was wicked and evil for removing her baby's clothes from the chapel. She told him that if he returned the box to its proper place, he would prosper. However, she warned him, no good would come if he failed to do this. She then seemed to disappear before the startled man's eyes.
de Savary remembered the box. He had removed it from a window ledge in the chapel. He eventually found it amongst the other items for sale. When the box was opened, it did indeed contain baby clothes and some paper that dated them to 1861. Not surprisingly, he put the box back on the chapel window ledge where he had originally found it.

http://www.real-british-ghosts.com/littlecote-house-ghost.html

As our tour group exited the chapel, our guide encouraged us to NOT move the little chest of baby clothes and you can believe we walked way, way around it!

The Haunted Bedroom

 

Our guide, Evelin, telling the story of the haunted bedroom IN the actual haunted bedroom. Although the Allied forces did occupy this and other rooms of the house during the war, no one of them ever reported anything strange going on in the house. Personally, I'll stick to sunshine and modern buildings!

Meeting up with Jane Seymour at Littlecote House

Jane Seymour was courted by Henry VIII at Littlecote House in Hungarford, England. Obviously, Marc has taken it upon himself to offer her a little advice.

Littlecote House and Wild William Darrell - The Haunted Bedroom

The last of the Darrell owners is connected with several scandals and the house's resident ghost story. Wild William Darrell's father had left the house to his mistress Mary Danyell, but Darrell was able to recover it when he came of age in 156. He spent lavishly, left his debts unpaid, and went to law with most of his neighbours, acquiring enemies in the process.

He had an affair with the wife of Sir Walter Hungerford, his neighbour; when Sir Walter sued for divorce, she was acquitted, and Sir Walter sent to prison. Some years later, Mother Barnes, a midwife from Great Shefford, recalled being brought blindfold in 1575 to the childbed of a lady, with a gentleman standing by who commanded her to save the life of the mother, but who (as soon as the child was born) threw the baby into the fire. Barnes did not name or indicate either Darrell or Littlecote, but his enemies quickly ascribed this murder to him.

My son, Marc, seems to be a witness to the event but how he got into the picture, I do not know!

Texas Sheet Cake

There are many variations of this recipe so feel free to add your own touches when you want to make a tasty dessert for the family. It does make a big cake but it still seems to disappear quickly.

TEXAS SHEET CAKE
Start the frosting when you put the cake in the oven as you want to ice the cake almost as soon as it comes out of the oven.

2 sticks butter or margarine
4 tablespoons (rounded) cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup sour cream (low-fat may be used)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

FROSTING:
1 stick butter or margarine
4 tablespoons (rounded) cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 (16 oz.) package powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup walnuts, chopped & toasted
1 dash salt

In a saucepan, melt two sticks of butter; blend in four rounded tablespoons cocoa. Add water. Stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Pour boiled mixture slowly into dry ingredients while beating at medium speed. When well-blended, add ½ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Mix well. Pour into greased and flour-dusted 15-in. x 10-in. pan. Bake 20 - 25 minutes at 350°F. Remove pan from oven and put frosting on while cake is hot. Allow to cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.

FROSTING: Melt one stick butter in saucepan. Blend in cocoa. Add milk; mix thoroughly and let come to a boil. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; blend well. Spread frosting over warm cake and sprinkle on the chopped nuts

A good start on the Austrian Cookie Recipe Search . . .

I just discovered this recipe on Annie's Recipes and it seems to have the exact flavors I was looking for in a unique cookie. Haven't tried it yet but figured getting it copied down somewhere insures I won't forget about it down the road!

Austrian Butter Cookies Recipe
Makes 3 dozen

Ingredients:
•1 cup flour
•1/2 cup butter, softened
•2/3 cup slivered almonds
•1 cup sugar
•Chocolate Frosting:
•1 tbsp butter
•1/3 cup powdered sugar
•1 egg yolk
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 square unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

Instructions:
1. Sift the flour and sugar together.
2. Add the nuts and vanilla.
3. Blend in the butter.
4. Stir with a spoon until a soft dough is formed.
5. Chill for 1-2 hours.
6. Roll the dough out on a floured board to 1/8" thickness.
7. Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter and place rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 375F for 7-10 min.
9. Can be made into a sandwich cookie. Traditional method is to spread thinly with jam, cover with a second cookie, then cover top with chocolate frosting and a sprinkling of nuts.

Chocolate Frosting:
1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add egg yolk and chocolate.
3. Blend well.

Is there quilting after jet lag . . . ?

 
I'm almost done with clearing up the after-vacation clutter, washing the travel-weary clothing, putting away suitcases, and all. I'm really getting anxious to set up my sewing maching and work on some quilts or similar projects.

This is a picture of a relatively recent oversized baby quilt. I always make baby quilts large so they can be used longer than just for a tiny baby. I also firmly believe in exposing babies to lots of color early on to stimulate their minds and eyes. I've noticed babies tend to turn towards colors that attract their attention. Sigh . . . I'm seemingly in the minority here as this one has certainly not attracted a buyer! To mine own self be true, right?

Cookie Monster!

 

When I bake, I don't usually stop at just one batch! I enjoy baking so any excuse has me making four or more batches of cookies to enjoy and share with friends. For some reason, people like being our neighbors!

I tried a lot of interesting cookies and treats on vacation and have been searching the Internet for replicas of some of my favorites. Initially, I thought Germany was it as far as pastries and cookies go but after a visit to Salzburg, Austria, I was converted otherwise. I think it was because they had more flavor and somewhat less sugar. I'm fondly recalling, right now, a nut triangle cookie with three corners dipped in semisweet chocolate. Yes, have to get serious about my cookie research. It's all part of the historic value of the vacation, right?

Any good recipes I find and try, I will post here.

Catching up with California . . .

 

After being out of the country for over two weeks, I'm finally waking up to the changes in seasons going on here at home. Odd, however, that we had some fairly hot days in Germany while my husband reported that it remained relatively cool and comfortable in California.

My favorite part of each season is the promise it holds for the upcoming one. Here we still have some chance of overcast days and possible rain while I can see the forecast of a good orange season in my backyard orange tree. Last season, we had fresh oranges from our little tree from November until May of this year. In fact, the day after I got home from the trip, my husband was showing off his garden advancements and I found one, last orange left on my tree - a welcome home gift! We still have lots of lemons on our other tree along with the new, green ones getting ready for the Fall picking.

Zucchini Wars!

 
My husband loves to garden and enjoys the fact that practically nothing kills a squash plant . . . HOWEVER, he prefers to harvest zucchini BEFORE it reaches monster proportions as did the one in the picture. Zucchini are sneaky vegetables. You can check the garden on a daily basis in hopes of plunking relatively small, tender produce. The zucchini plant loves to show off and the plant that had nothing on it the day before will welcome you to the garden area the very next day with a zucchini miles long. Where do they hide from one day to the next? I'm just glad we keep the garden fenced in or . . . ? We worry about global warming while it seems to me (and I'm sure jet lag is NOT entering into my mental figuring) that we should be more worried about a zucchini take over of the world!

Le Grand Bunker

 

This was an amazing building/bunker taken towards the end of the war from the Germans. The picture here is a landing craft they have preserved in the courtyard of the museum. This site is interesting as it explains more fully the operation that captured this bunker as well as the Germans inside . . . without a casuality.

http://www.ww2museums.com/article/76/Le-Grand-Bunker-Mus%E9e-du-Mur-de-lAtlantique.htm

Reminders of war . . .

One of the military transports left along the coasts in Normandy which are stark reminders of the war. You have to wait until the tide goes out to get this close. Fortunately, we were there just as the sea moved away from the transport and we were able to get a close up view of it. You can see the stream of water still going past our feet on it's way out for the time being.

The Mastery Behind D-Day

 

The code name given to the Allied invasion of France in June 1944 was Operation Overlord. The main commander of the operation was General Dwight Eisenhower. Ari Marshall Leigh-Mallory, Air Marshall Tedder, Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, and Admiral Bertram Ramsey were the other senior commanders involved in Operation Overlord. This landing involved logistical landing procedures that had never been dealt with before. The goal for the Allies was to have landed a vast amount of men and equipment by the end of D-Day.

Although the Pays de Calais was the best choice for the landing as it was closest part of France to Britain, it was also well defended by the Germans. The risks for landing on Normandy were much higher but the shore line would work for the massive landing of equipment and soldiers. The logistics behind the execution of Operation Overlord were a first in history. The plan was a closely held secret. The goal was to fool the enemy into thinking Pays de Calais was the main target not Normandy.

For the invasion, 6,000 ships were required for the D-Day invasion. In the first three days, Operation Overlord was slated to move over 100,000 men and 13,000 military vehicles. One of the components of the plan included the movement of an artificial harbor to that landings could be handled with more ease after the beaches had been taken. In all, Overlord moved a total of three million men in 47 divisions, moved by 6,000 ships with coverage by 5,000 fighter planes. Major casualties only occurred at Juno and Omaha Beach. This was proof of wow well planned the whole operation turned out to be.

Following an extensive bombardment of the assault areas, the Allies launched a simultaneous landing of U.S., British, Canadian and French forces on five separate beaches code named:

Sword Beach (British)
Juno Beach (Canadian)
Gold Beach (British)
Omaha Beach (American)
Utah Beach (American)

An interesting side note is that the “D” does not stand for "Deliverance", "Doom", "Debarkation" or similar words. In fact, it does not stand for anything. The “D” is derived from the word "Day". “D-Day” means the day on which a military operation begins. The term "D-Day" has been used for many different operations, but it is now generally only used to refer to the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944.

Always a grain of truth in humor . . .

"There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher."
-- Victor Hugo

"People will buy anything that is one to a customer."
-- Sinclair Lewis

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."
-- Galileo Galilei

"Is there life before death?"
-- Graffito

This will SO work!

There are three ways to get something done; do it yourself, hire someone, or forbid your kids to do it.

Mona Crane