Another recipe from our bake and share evening

Here is the recipe for Cheese and tomato finger puffs:

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

1 tbspn tomato passata

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 180°C

Spread the tomato across one sheet of pastry, to the edge, then sprinkle most of the cheese over. 

Gently lie the other sheet of pastry on top.

Using a sharp knife, gently cut the pastry in half then each half into 12 strips.

Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

Serve hot or cold.

Our Secret Santas for the Food Bank

Here is a message from June B, our contact with the  food bank

oh ladies you certainly pushed the boat out with your goodies!!!!!!!   I put them in big open boxes and they looked so lovely glistening red and gold.  I took them over to Warminster this morning and the food bank ladies were thrilled and send you all a big thankyou. 

Plot to Pot - no dig gardening was very interesting!

How interesting to hear such a different approach to gardening! No digging, fewer weeds and a much better approach to avoiding plant eating bugs! 

Then we had loads of delicious home baked items to try! Lovely! I shall certainly be trying some of the new recipes! 

Our Bake and Share Recipes.....

LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE (from Jan P)

Cake

4oz (100g) soft margarine

6oz (175g) self raising flour

1 level teaspoon baking powder

6oz (175g) caster sugar

2 eggs

4 tablespoons milk

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Icing

Juice of 1 lemon

About 4oz (100g) icing sugar

Heat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas Mk 4.  Grease and line loaf tin.

Measure the all the ingredients for the cake into a processor bowl and mix for a few seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then reprocess for a few seconds.  Put the mixture into the tin.

Bake in the oven for about 45 mins, until the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger.

While cake is baking put lemon juice and icing sugar in a bowl and stir until blended.  When cake comes out of the oven, spread the lemon juice icing over the top whilst still hot.  Leave in the tin to cool.  Turn out.

Oil Chocolate Cake (from Sparks)

This cake, which is mixed in 3 minutes, is really superb. The cake becomes increasingly moist as it is kept, ‘though there is not much chance that you will taste it at its stickiest! Sandwich the cakes together with chocolate buttercream icing.

Preheat oven to: 325F, 170C or gas mark 3.

Grease and flour two 7 inch sandwich tins

Butter and flour to grease cake tins

6 oz plain flour

2 tbs cocoa powder (I sometimes use custard powder and vanilla extract instead, or coffee)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

5 oz sugar

2 tbs treacle (NB – I find that 1 tbs is enough, and often use golden syrup instead)

2 eggs

5 fl oz vegetable oil

5 fl oz milk

Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir for 2 minutes until evenly blended.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared tins, place into the oven for 40 – 45 minutes. Or until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed with a fingertip and have shrunk away from the sides of the tin.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a couple of minutes and turn out on to a wire rack. When completely cool, sandwich together with buttercream icing.

Will this legislation affect our WI campaigns?

Here is a communication from Nicky Venning, the chair of our SCFWI Public Affairs and International committee:

I wrote to you several weeks ago to tell you about the WI’s concerns about the proposed ‘ Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-2014’ currently going through the House of Lords. This is the bill that has been colloquially termed the Lobbying Bill or the Gagging Act.

Many charities, including the NFWI, have contacted MP’s and Lords with their very serious concerns about the effects the bill, if passed, would have on the work they do.

I am pleased to let you know that as a result of the strength of feeling from Charities, the House of Lords has delayed the progress of the bill for six weeks until December 16th  to ‘allow for further consideration’.

It would be helpful to the WI if you could make your views on this proposed Bill known to either your MP or to a member of the House of Lords as it is important that as many MP’s as possible are aware that charities do not want the legislation to be passed, until it has been redrafted to ensure those charities involved in genuine lobbying; the WI, British Legion, Oxfam etc, will be unaffected.

There was a good article on this in The Independent, last Friday. Here is the link.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-put-lobbying-bill-on-hold-over-fears-of-embarrassing-defeat-in-house-of-lords-8923325.html
The following is a longer paper on the proposed legislation, which may be interesting if you have come late to this controversy.

http://civilsocietycommission.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/civil-society-commission-report-WEB.pdfI apologise if this e-mail address is incorrect, or if this e-mail has come to you in error, please disregard the content if you feel this is the case. 

Nicky Venning
Chair, Public Affairs and International
SCFWInicfa@dircon.co.uk
01749 677394

Somerset Annual Meeting in Yeovil

Five of us spent the day at the SCFWI Annual Meeting in Yeovil today. The hall was jam packed full of Somerset WI members and there were eye catching displays from each of the county committees, showing what a wide range of activities are available to us. An overwhelming number of shoe boxes had been filled for the Bridgwater and Glastonbury YMCA, there was a delightful variety of decorated  T shirts to admire as well as the usual trading post stall and tempting produce from the WI markets. You may want to save the last weekend of October 2014 so that you can participate in the Somerset Federation visit to Denman College. They have a very varied and enticing range of courses on offer for us.
In the morning we listened to talks from some very inspiring Somerset WI members describing what they have achieved this year through the WI. We also heard from Janice Langley, the NFWI chair about the plans for an inclusive 2015 centenary AGM and celebration, which sounds like a lot of fun.
We shall also be able to participate in Somerset's celebrations to mark the centenary: 'Alice in WI Land' which promises to give a lot of laughs!

The top two T shirts! 

November lunch date....

....... was a great success! The Mendip Inn provided lovely food for us, spacious surroundings and we, of course, supplied the excellent company and scintillating conversation. Lots of fun, too!

The first Friday in December will be the day of the group Carol Service in Beckington, so can I suggest that we have our lunch at the Woolpack in Beckington? If we met there at 12, we would be in plenty of time to walk up to the Baptist church for the 2 o'clock service. I would like to book this in advance, so please let me know by our next meeting if you would like to join the lunch party!