Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not. ~ William James

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in. ~ Robert Orben

Yep, still on holidays. Enjoy a fruity cocktail on me.

“A vacation should be just long enough that you're boss misses you, and not long enough for him to discover how well he can get along without you.”

Elise is on vacation -  Normal transmission will resume in September

Image from http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/02/good-morning-campers.html

"She shall be christened Betsy Trotwood Copperfield. She must be well brought up, I shall see to that. Far better than my impractical nephew would have done." - Aunt Betsey Trotwood - David Copperfield

I don't know who Aunt Betsey is, but she makes a mean cake. This is also in the vein of the fruity, gingerbread-y kind of cake (like the coffee cake) but a bit lighter and more golden.

A simple sugar icing adds freshness to the rich cake, and is very delicious. Mmmm mmmmm.
And just make sure you use the same size cup (a breakfast cup is about a 1/2 cup (125ml)) otherwise you could run into trouble.


AUNT BETSEY'S CAKE.

INGREDIENTS. - 5 teacupfuls of flour
2 teacupfuls of sugar
1/2 a cup of butter
1 cup of golden syrup
1 cup of water
2 eggs
1/2 a lb. of chopped raisins
1 teaspoonful (each) of bicarbonate of soda, cloves, cinnamon, and mace.

METHOD. - Beath the butter and sugar together; add the eggs, dissolve the soda in the water, then add the molasses, flour spices and fruit, and well work the mixture in  the bowl.
Turn it into a greased flat square tin baking-dish and bake in a moderate oven, or if preferred it can be cooked in small crinkled patty-pans.

TIME. - From 1 to 1 1/2 hours. SUFFICIENT for a 2-lb. cake.

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. - George Eliot

Wikipedia defines coffee cakes as "A class of cakes intended to be served with coffee or for similar breaks and snacks. Under this definition, a coffee cake doesn't need to contain coffee. (although this one does) They are typically single layer cakes that may be square or rectangular like a Stollen. Coffee cakes are typically flavored with cinnamon, nuts, and fruits. Some similarity to teacakes may be found, though teacakes are often smaller individual items served with tea."

So this coffee cake definitely qualifies. It also has the added bonus of having coffee as an ingredient as well. It is also a massive cake - MASSIVE. You may want to consider baking it in 2 smaller tins and freezing one, unless you are taking it to the footy club afternoon tea or something.

COFFEE CAKE

INGREDIENTS. - 1/2 a lb. of butter
1/2 a lb. of brown sugar
1/4 of a lb. of golden syrup
1/2 a lb. of currants
1/2 a lb. of sultanas
1 1/2 lb. of flour
1/2 an oz. of baking-powder
2 eggs
1/2 an oz. of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, mixed
coffee
a little milk

METHOD. - Sieve the baking-powder and spices with the flour into a pan; add the sugar and butter, rub well together, make a well in the centre, pour in the syrup, add about 1/4 of a pint of strong cold coffee, break in the eggs, and beat well together; then mix in the other ingredients with a strong wooden spoon using a little milk if not moist enough, mix in the fruit last, and then bake in a long square cake-pan nicely prepared.

TIME. - From 1 to 2 hours
I have added a buttercream icing but a simple glaze would probably be better, as there is so much going on in this cake. It's very fruity and a bit gingerbready, but well worth it.

Yes, men like sports. Men watch the action movie. They eat of the beef and enjoy to look at the bosoms. A thousand years of avenging our wrongs, and that's all you've learned?

Corned beef is a strange beast. I suspect it, and other corned and pickled things, were much more widespread before refrigeration was commonplace. There seems to be a significant lack of Salted pork, Corned lamb and other corned things at the butchers and supermarkets, and yet corned beef is one of the most inexpensive meats available there. (I had a look at the supermarket, and the only cheaper meats were heart, liver and 3 star mince)

This is a surprisingly easy kind of meal to cook. It would also be super easy in a slow cooker as well.



CORNED BEEF.

INGREDIENTS. - Pickeld round of beef.

METHOD. - The beef may be bought ready pickled, or pickled, and, if like, afterwards spiced according to directions given for SPICED BEEF. Put it into a stewpan with sufficient warm water to cover it, boil up, and afterwards simmer very gently until done.
If required for immediate use, allow it to remain in the water until cold, as this will improve the flavour and render the meat more juicy, but it will not keep fresh quite so long.

TIME. - To cook, 8 or 10 lb., about 3 1/2 hours.

My husband really likes this one... Really really. It's almost as good as my lamb roast (and that's saying something)

You can add a little brown sugar and some malt vinegar to the water, or apple cider, or apple cider vinegar, cloves, garlic, onion, bay leaves, peppercorns - anything you like really. Also the vegetables - carrots and parsnips and brussel sprouts can be cooked in the same pan. Just add them about 1 hour before serving.

There were no cucumbers to be had at the Covent Garden vegetable market that morning, not even for ready money!

Cucumber Sandwiches - they seems to be quintessentially British. The main staple (ha ha) of afternoon teas and delicate luncheons. I say ha ha because they are nutritionally pretty useless, and therefore only the upper classes could afford to eat something that is essentially water.

But who know there is actually a recipe for them?


Here it is:

CUCUMBER SANDWICHES.

INGREDIENTS. - 1 large cucumber
creamed butter
white or brown bread
salad-oil
lemon-juice or vinegar
salt and pepper

METHOD. - Peel the cucumber, slice it thinly, season liberally with salt, drain on a hair sieve for about 1 hour, and dry thoroughly.
Now put it into a basin and sprinkle with pepper, salad-oil, lemon-juice or vinegar, liberally or otherwise according to taste.
Have ready some thin slices of bread and butter, stamp out some rounds of suitable size, place slices of cucumber between 2 rounds of bread and press parts well together.
Dish lightly overlapping each other in a circle on a folded napkin, and serve garnished with parsley.