Retro stuff and comics from the past.

This is the quaint little church which is now a coffee shop!

This car ain't going very far!

And we can't blame the local hooligans for nicking these wheels!

Girls day for February - on the road again.

We have decided while the weather is so good we should go somewhere on our days out, so last month we went to Cygnet for a bit of a look round the little shops and a picnic on the Esplanade but when the sea breeze came in early we had our picnic in the comfort of Linda's home.

This month it was New Norfolk, where we should have gone in January but the threat of bush fires in the Derwent valley made us change direction. They are gradually changing the old, almost derelict psychiatric hospital (with so many awful memories for lots of locals) into a novel tourist attraction, with little boutiquey shops selling lots of retro things (all the fashion these days) and pseudo antiques. We had coffee in the old wooden church which would ave served the inmates in the past.

Then we made our way down to the river and enjoyed our gourmet picnic there.

On the way home we saw lots of smoke, and sure enough there is a bushfire up at Collinsvale, the other side of the mountain so once again we are in clouds of smoke and cannot see the mountain. What a summer it has been for fires.

The photo is of Margaret's drive, with the blue agapanthus and beautiful trees, it is a sight to behold.

Apple and almond pudding cake

Credit must go to the River Cottage tv programme.

Second time I have made it, so it is now written into meine Lieblingsrezepte book and I thoroughly recommend it.

I told June I would give her the recipe so here goes, although you could look it up on the net yourself!

150 grams unsalted butter
125 gr caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon. Almond essence
75 gr sr flour
75 gr almond meal
4 firm apples
25 gr butter
1 tabsp. Gran sugar
Quarter teaspoon. Cinnamon

Method

Grease 20 cm tin and line the bottom
Peel and quarter apples and cut each quarter into three wedges
Melt 25 gr butter and when it sizzles add the gran sugar and cinnamon. Add applea and cook until soft and caramelised. Leave to cool.


Meanwhile beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, add alone egg, beat again, then the other. Add almond meal aaa and 1 tabsp. Flour, mix well, then fold in the rest of the flour, sifted, and fold in gently.

Put into tin and arrange apples on top.

bake 45 to 50 mins 170 degrees

Test with skewer, remove from oven and leave in tin till cool.

And with a bit of luck it should look like this:-



Enjoy!

Ken's thinking of joining!

Don't forget to tap the photo, to see it all!