Month: November 2016

Spanish Polvorones & German Lebkuchen

 

Polvorones

Christmas Walnut Cookies from Spain.

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1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup ground walnuts

1 cup chopped walnuts

Icing sugar to coat after baking + extra to serve

Preheat oven to 160C fan

Use an electric mixer, hand held or stand type, it does get hard. Beat the butter in a large bowl until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well blended. Beat in the flour in two goes, and then the ground and chopped walnuts. Divide the mixture into two, forming into two balls. Wrap seperately in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 – 40 minutes. On a floured surface roll a ball into a long sausage and divide into 25 pieces. With floured hands roll each piece into a ball and place on a buttered baking tray about 1/2 inch apart. Bake in the oven for about 18 – 20 mins until the base is golden brown and the top is just pale golden in colour. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Repeat with the second ball of mixture. While the second batch are cooking, roll the cooling Pol-vores gently in icing sugar and return to rack. Sprin-kle more icing suger over to serve.

YUMMY!!

 

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Lebkuchen

Christmas Spicy Cookies from Germany

250g plain flour

85 g ground almondslebkuchensm

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp ground all spice

1 1/4 tsps cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

175ml clear honey

85g butter

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange finely zested

100g icing sugar

1 egg white beaten.

 

Preheat oven 160C Fan

Sieve all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Melt the honey and butter in a basin over sim-mering water until butter melts then pour into flour mixture. Add the lemon juice, lemon and orange zests. Mix well with a hand held mixer until the dough is thoroughly combined.Cover with cling film and cool in the fridge overnight to let flavours com-bine. Divide dough into two and on a floured surface roll each one into a sausage. Divide each half into 12 -13 pieces. With floured hands roll each piece into a ball and flatten into a disc about 10mm thick. Divide the discs between buttered baking trays and bake for about 15-18 mins or until touched lightly no inprint remains. Cool on wire racks. While still warm, glaze the lebkuchen with icing glaze, made below.

Mix icing sugar and egg together to form a smooth, runny icing. Brush each cookie with the icing, leave to dry completely.

 

A DOUBLE YUMMY !!!

 

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The Harlequin Ladybird,

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dec-harlequin-nnNovember in the parish saw an invasion although you might not have noticed it. The Harlequin Ladybird, which only arrived in Britain in 2004, is now well-established over most of Britain, even having been spotted as far north as the Shetlands. Less common in Scotland and North and Mid Wales it is very common in South Wales and during November would have found its way into many buildings if a window was left open. Whilst they are generally harmless to humans they are a major threat to our native species. With huge appetites, once they have run out of aphids to eat they move on to the eggs and larvae of other ladybirds as well as moths and butterflies. In the 1980s it was introduced to North America to help to control aphids on crops but quickly became the dominant species. Its introduction here was probably accidental. It took the Grey Squirrel 100 years to colonise Britain, the Harlequin just 10. Whilst they are bigger than our native ladybirds they come in a huge range of colours and patterns, the one featured in the photo being a common form spotted in both the Village Hall and Community Centre last month. You can help by reporting sightings to the Ladybird Survey – http://www.harlequin-survey.org/ – where you will find a lot more information on what they look like and where they have been seen.

 

 

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November’s Expeditions

 

Abercarn to Mynydd Llwyd 

Our drive to the beginning of this walk was very promising as we climbed quite a way, passing narrow terraces in Abercarn, to arrive at a parking area in the forest near Llanfach. It was a misty day, no rain but we were surrounded by light clouds.

We started out on good forest tracks, as usual heading uphill. After a while we came to an area where some extensive tree felling had been done. The track was totally covered by wood – branches, sawdust and twigs – making the going quite hard but at least there was no mud. In view of the tree felling it was decided to alter our plans and stay on the main track rather than branch off onto a footpath. A good decision as the footpath was very steep!

dec-f-img_5956smAll morning we walked uphill along Nant Gwyddon, through some glorious autumnal colours yellow from the larches, browns and oranges from beeches, oaks, and other species. One tree drew our attention as we debated which animal it most resembled – an elephant from one side and a stag from the other. The route continued up Craig y Trwyn and then northeast to the edge of the forest. Although cloudy it was a warm day for November and we became pretty warm ourselves.

As we emerged onto moor land visibility was quite low, so we decided to take advantage of a line of pylons to guide us and walked towards the nearest one before turning east. A track followed the line of pylons which made the going easy and at last we were on level ground.

When the pylon line changed direction, the shape of the pylon arms changed to carry the tension of the power line as it turned the corner. Just beyond here was a radio mast on Mynydd Llwyd which indicated that we should turn south and then southwest back towards the woodland. On this stretch we could see sunlight shining over the land in the distance and the clouds around us dispersed as they lifted but it remained overcast where we were.

Before re-entering the woods, we stopped for lunch on a grassy bank, overlooking a valley of autumnal colour. The ground around us was covered in tiny examples of several different types of fungi, which could only be seen because they were so close.

Now it was downhill through the forest and we could see our morning path across Craig Pant-glas. As we continued a slight breeze stirred the air and it appeared to start snowing – the fine larch needles drifting in the same way as snowflakes do when they first start falling. It created a lovely atmosphere and brought a smile to our faces.

Returning to the cars we had walked 8.8 miles and climbed 1300ft (so much for thinking we were doing most of the climbing by car at the start). We drove down to the visitor centre in Cwmcarn for a cup of tea, at 90p a cup or £1 a large cup – very good value. Map 166.

 

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Efail Isaf and the Garth

We parked in Efail Isaf on a bright morning and set out on good paths towards the Garth. A steady climb across open land allowed us to arrive at the trig point on the top of Garth hill surprisingly easily – much easier than the steep climb from Gwaelod y Garth which we had done in the past. Garth Hill burial mounds are four early – middle bronze age (around 2000BC) dec-f-img_5942smround barrows, the area is within the parish of Pentyrch. A brief stop for a summit photo and we were descending towards Soar.

The sun was shining and now and again, as a gust of wind blew, a scattering of leaves fell from surrounding trees looking like a golden rain shower. There were some fine fungi covering an old tree stump being used as a gate post and also lots growing at our feet.

We made our way northwest and north past Gwaelod-y-garth towards Coed y Gedrys, passing what appeared to be an entrance to a drift mine. Now the forecast cold wind started to blow and the temperature began to drop. We had lunch in an open area overlooking an Industrial Estate to the east in the Taff valley and open land to the north. We really appreciated the heat of the sun as the wind cut into us.

We headed generally east towards Tonteg Unexpectedly we came across a cardboard cut out figure high up in a tree – reminiscent of Boris Johnson’s zip wire ride.

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Returning to Efail Isaf we walked through a large number of rather nice new houses before getting back to the start. Another 8 miles and 1300ft walked. We went to Arthur Llewellyn Jenkins on the way home, where we had huge pots of tea – very refreshing. Map 151.

 

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November’s Events

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November has been a time for remembrance in the parish, beginning with the evening service for All Souls Day on Sunday October 30th when candles were lit on the altar in church to remember loved ones in our families who have passed to their eternal rest, in recent times and past years

 

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Then on Sunday 13th November we joined with the national remembrance services over the country, as we gathered in St. Mary’s for our traditional ecumenical service with prayers readings and hymns. This year the emphasis was on the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of the Somme. The service included the most powerful recollections from those men who were at the battles, and hearing them read out, brought home the horror and suffering our brave young men went through. These readings extended the service for longer than we would have wished and as a result the congregation, headed by the cross bearer and choir, were a little late in arriving at the village War Memorial. Thanks are extended to Dave Short of the Vale Brass Band for the music and also to the Wenvoe Community Council for providing the public address system for our use on the day. This enabled the calling of the Wenvoe Roll of Honour to be heard by the crowd of people who had gathered to pay their respects to those men of Wenvoe who answered the call to fight for what they thought was right for their families and country. The collection taken in church will be donated to the work of the Royal British Legion as part of their Poppy Appeal when they aim to raise 42 million pounds to look after survivors and their families of all the conflicts since WW1 and WW2.

 

On a lighter note the Chattery on Thursday 10th was well supported with stalls selling used CD’s and DVD’s, a cake stall and the usual Fairtrade selection of gifts and seasonal food items for the coming Christmas Season. This is a coffee morning with a difference where friends and parishioners can meet up in friendly and congenial surroundings. The moneys raised will be added to the church general fund to support church expenses.

The financial result from the Barn Dance has enabled us to donate £460 to the Romeo Hadley Trust fund and a further £400 has been given the Gwenfo Church in Wales school for additional equipment for the new extensions to the school.

At a recent meeting of the Parochial Church Council, the condition of the Albert and Hilda Morgan grave by the entrance to the churchyard by the Yew tree was considered. There is a trust fund to maintain this grave and we receive a small income each year. In previous years volunteers have attempted to clean the white marble stone, but with the rain and the droppings off the tree, the stone has badly deteriorated in recent years.

Mossfords, the monumental stone masons have inspected the grave and their estimate to repair and reinstate, and clean the stones to the best of their ability and has been accepted in the sum of almost £2,400.

 

This year Christmas cards designed by the children in our Pebbles Group, with a choice of 3 different colourful drawings of the Nativity giving the details of all the Christmas Services planned are to be distributed to every house in the parish and in St Lythan’s. The community Carol Service will be on December 14th at 7 pm. In St Mary’s followed by mulled wine and mince pies in the Community Centre, provided by the Wenvoe community council. All are welcome, the collection at the service will be donated to Ty Hafan Hospice for sick children at Sully.

 

The Welcome Packs have been updated and continue to be given to the new homeowners on the Grange development and the St. Lythan’s Park at the old HTV site. A warm welcome is extended to these new families as they settle in to their fresh surroundings you are among friends.

 

Once again the Toy Service combined with the all Age Worship at St Mary’s on the 27th of November was well supported and many toys were brought to be given to the Food Bank in Barry for children whose Christmas would be much the poorer without this special gift. The Big Wrap brought many decorated shoe boxes full of goodies from both our parish and Sully for distribution within the Vale

 

Dates for your diary in December:- Messy Church will be at the Community Centre on Saturday 3rd between 3.30 – 5.30pm it is FREE for all the family, come and enjoy arts and crafts, celebration and eating together and is high on fun and energymagi-03

 

Details of all the Christmas Services will be in the Christmas Cards and on posters in the village “For unto us a child is born and his name will be Jesus”

 

 

A very happy and blessed Christmas to all readers

Parry Edwards

 

 

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Green Flag Awards

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With Christmas and New Year imminent, this is an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved this year. We managed 3 Green Flag awards, the only village in Wales to get three and one of these was the first Green Flag to be achieved on a working farm. We now have 7 sites – one for every day of the week consisting of one meadow, 4 orchards, one woodland and one farm. We managed to obtain funding from BiffaAward, Waitrose, Nationwide and Tescos although we are still awaiting payment from one company who agreed the funding in June.

We have again been short-listed for a Biodiversity award, one of only 3 in Wales. On the negative side the Vale of Glamorgan Council still has no money to cut the Upper Orchid Field so we continue to rely on help from local farmers or landowners to prevent the meadow reverting to scrub. The loss of trees in and around the village is disappointing and we have failed to get mistletoe to grow (but will keep trying!). On the plus side we are starting to see a modest fruit crop with some unusual ones such as Quince fruiting for the first time. Our wildflower planting has been well-received and is why we have been short-listed for a biodiversity award.

 

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pete_plantingWe continue to give talks, lead walks and involve local schools. 2017 is going to be just as busy so if you have any spare time and would like to get involved, please get in touch. Absolutely no experience necessary.

 

 

 

 

A big thank you and

Happy Christmas to all our supporters.

 

 

 

 

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October Letters

 

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On the 10th October I hosted a social and musical evening at my home for members of the Wenvoe ladies Choir. I wish to thank the ‘ladies’ for the deliciouis refreshments they all brought. Then the highlight of the evening was the lovely music that Dereck played on his harmonica. He is a talented musician. If anyone needs any entertainment for a Christmas function he may be contacted on 029 208 2171.

Pam Fairfax, Clos llanfair

 

 

 

 

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Dear Readers I am hoping to start a book folding class in our Wenvoe library, I know a couple of people have shown interest in having a class. Having spoken to Alex yesterday he has agreed it is a good idea if that is what I would like to do. I am sure some of the library users has seen the couple of books that are on display and I promise it is much easier than it looks. So if anyone is interested could you please ring me on 029 2059 9765 or 07513 703213 or e mail cbjenks10@talktalk.net or see me in the library. I look forward to hearing from you.

Carol Jenkins. Grange Ave.

 

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I was fascinated to read the Wenvoe wildlife group news and the plans to clear the undergrowth covering the old watercress beds. On the same day I read the article, I found myself reading the obituary of Captain Jenner of Wenvoe Castle in the South Wales Daily News (12th May 1883). In a long article the following was written. Captain Jenner,

“had a piece of water in his grounds known as the Goldsland Pools and this was well stocked with water cresses. Numbers of girls and women walked regularly from Cardiff to these pools where they gathered their water cresses for sale in the town. He has often seen them sitting on the bank resting after the fatigue of a six mile walk. He would then take them some bread and cheese and distribute it among them. As they were trespassers the police wanted to stop them, but he would never allow it, and gave strict instructions that they were not to be interfered with”.

I feel we are so fortunate to have such an active wildlife group in the parish and I for one appreciate all the work they undertake.

Nige

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Congratulations to Hazel Crockford and her team of helpers who hosted a McMillan coffee morning at the Community Centre recently. We were treated to a wonderful selection of assorted cakes and we were really spoilt for choice. Well done everyone for your hard work and effort.

From the residents of Wenvoe who went along to support.

 

 

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Save Your Stamps

 

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With Christmas approaching, now is the time to remind our readers that I still collect your used stamps regularly from our What’s On boxes. During the year donations slow down but as you would expect the Christmas post always provides the bulk of the stamps that people have taken the trouble to save to be sold for charity.

This year the “Bloodwise” charity has been the recipient of all the stamps you have collected but next year we are reverting to Dogs Trust which we have supported for several years.

I have read in their recent news magazine that their London volunteer of some 30 plus years is still sorting stamps, stamp albums, postcards, foreign currency etc. and £18,200 has been raised this year alone – quite a remarkable achievement.

So I would continue to urge you to save your stamps etc.and accept my thanks on behalf of Dogs Trust and Bloodline too.

 

Marilyn

 

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Cosmeston and Pen y Fan

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It was 20 years in October since the first outing of Wenvoe walking group. To mark the anniversary 14 people joined Bert and Gwyn at Cosmeston on a sunny afternoon. We explored its outer circuit and then headed for Penarth, returning via the cliff tops and housing back to Cosmeston. John and Jacky (also founding members of the group) were with us and Jacky had made a delicious celebration cake which we all shared. They also produced their photo album showing the group over the years – some people looked so young! At the end we visited the much improved café on the site and relaxed. Distance covered 2½/5 miles.

Pen y Fan

To get to the start of this walk we drove up the A470 past the Storey Arms and Brecon and through some pretty woodland to a National Trust car park to the north of Pen y Fan.

We donned our boots and immediately after starting we were heading uphill. Soon the climb was steep and a keen wind was blowing, the temperature dropping as we rose. We passed a footstepsimg3smcol at Allt Du where the wind was particularly strong and walked along the ridge of Cefn Cwm Llwch. Now we entered into the clouds which helped us forget that the ground was falling steeply away on both sides but also made it difficult to see each other at times. Even up here there were sheep and a couple of people behind us who had let their dog off the lead and had some difficulty in getting it back when it became interested in the sheep. We continued upwards at a pace we could maintain and were pleasantly surprised to find we had arrived at the summit (886 metres) as it suddenly appeared in the clouds. It was like Picadilly circus, there were so many people – lots of nationalities and school children amongst them having arrived by different routes. We stopped to take our summit photo and were awed to see a spectacular view as the cloud lifted slightly and we could see the surrounding ridges appear and disappear again as the clouds moved in waves. It was difficult to draw away and continue our walk.

Now we had a choice of whether to return via Corn Ddu or Cribyn, we opted for the latter as a few of us hadn’t been there. This meant quite a steep descent along Craig Cwm Sere in a south easterly direction along a paved path which continued up the steep climb to Cribyn (795metres). The cloud had cleared completely from Pen y Fan and we looked back at the route we had walked – amazing views and a real sense of achievement. It was 13.30hrs so we descended slightly to take some shelter from the perpetual wind and eat our lunch. On each of the summits we were surprised to see a few people wearing shorts and even footstepsimg2smone person in T-shirt and shorts as he was running.

Time to descend, there is a steep uneven descent from the top of Cribyn on its north side and looking back it looked like a pyramid.

We had very little company now as we continued our steady path downwards along Bryn Teg for some time. Nant Sere was in the valley between us and the ridge we had climbed in the morning. At last our descent was more gradual and we were crossing pasture land at Cwm Cywyn and our first stile of the day onto a lane. From here we kept to lanes and roads to walk around the base of the ridge that had taken us up to Pen Y Fan.

We were very happy to reach the cars and head home via the Bull in Libanus where we enjoyed some very welcome refreshment.

This was an excellent route, we had walked 7miles and climbed 2700ft – twice what we would normally climb -giving us a feeling of achievement and satisfaction even though we were tired; not bad for a group of 7 people whose total age was over 450 years! (Map OL12)

 

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Plan for Autumn

autumn01Autumn is well and truly here with trees and shrubs showing full autumn colour. What a good year it’s been for garden bedding plants of all varieties, but especially geraniums, and the various kinds of begonias. I grow both bedding varieties and the big showy ones and the latter have been huge this year, so much so that the weight of the flowers have often caused the patio pats to keel over in a bit of wind.

If you have a greenhouse now is the time to pot up plants you want to overwinter. They will survive quite low temperatures providing the compost is kept fairly dry.

Clear out greenhouses of tomatoes etc and wash down glass and glazing bars with ordinary household disinfectant.

Pot up spring bulbs to provide early flowers for next year.

On the allotment, take down bean sticks to store away for next year. Rough dig over bare ground and bury weeds, but remove perennial weeds such as docks, thistles and bindweed.

Sow autumn varieties of broad beans at least 3-4ins deep and protect rows to keep pigeons away. Thin out branches on blackcurrant bushes, taking out the dead wood. Remove blackberry canes that have fruited and tie in the long new shoots which will bear next year’s crop. Gooseberry bushes need very little pruning. Just remove some of the old wood.

Finally autumn is here and the leaves are falling. Don’t waste them! Leaf mould made from decomposed leaves is a great potting compost, soil improver and mulch Collect and store them in bin bags and leave to rot down. Chop them down and water first to speed things up.

 

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“Persuasion” by Jane Austin

Our novel “Persuasion” was written in 1815 and published in 1817 six months after Jane Austen’s death. It was her last novel, and is still in print.persuasion

Through the eyes of the heroine, Anne Elliot, we learn of the intricacies of domestic and family lives involving her family, their friends and relations. The Elliot’s who enjoy the status of landed gentry live in Kellynch Hall, and are having financial problems because of Sir Walter’s vanity and spiralling debts. They socialise with the Musgroves whose son, Charles, is married to Mary Elliot, Sir Walter’s youngest daughter. Anne enjoys the company of the untitled and warm friendly Musgroves and their two daughters Henrietta and Louisa. Sir Walter is forced to rent his estate to Admiral Croft and Mrs Croft the sister of Captain Frederick Wentworth, to whom Anne was briefly engaged eight years earlier. She was advised and persuaded to break the engagement with Wentworth who was a naval officer at that time and of a lower status. Something she later regretted.

All human emotions (love, sadness, worries, joys) are experienced by Anne’s observations of the landed gentry, the landowner, and the naval families.

Bookclub review:-

Settled comfortably, we took ourselves back to the eighteen hundreds. This was not difficult with the help of Jane Austen.

With the beautiful language and long descriptive sentences we found that we were forced to read slower than usual and with care at first, but it did not take long to picture the locations of the events whether in Lyme Regis, where the group enjoyed the sea breezes, or Bath for the socialising and shopping.

Anne’s meticulous observations soon made us familiar with the interesting characters. Ann’s father and her older sister who were so preoccupied with class and the ‘right connections’ were outrageous and almost the opposite of the warmth, wit and comic situations of the Musgroves and Croft families.

Love was in the air for the young but Anne’s was not blooming at all.

Almost all in the group thoroughly enjoyed this novel giving it a score of 9 out of 10.

 

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