Hello Ladies,
Since my last update I’ve had a birthday and I am now classed as a fully-fledged old age pensioner! I sent for my bus pass a month ago and it arrived very swiftly and last Thursday, I received my very first state pension instalment (albeit 6 years too late!) It’s quite a rite of passage as sadly, it confirms that I definitely have more years behind me than in front of me. However, age is just a number and I certainly don’t feel 66 (except perhaps when the body doesn’t bounce or heal as quickly as it used to). I aim to grow old as disgracefully as I can and hope to take some of you along with me. Anyone fancy a free mystery bus tour??
THANK YOU
• To the Committee for a productive meeting last Thursday and to Penny for hosting us.
• To Lindsay for organising the printing of our new Calendar.
• To Jackie for organising the quiz teams last month and continuing to collect money from all sources.
• To Gina for organising ‘Rock Follies’ tickets. (N.B. Last call for these tickets as Gina will be booking on Tuesday.
• To Anita for continuing to source items for the sale table and raffle.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
April sees the following members celebrating their birthdays, so a very Happy Birthday to Melanie (1st April), Anita (27th April) and Derry (27th April)
SALE TABLE
I’m delighted to report that the Sale Table initiative has been really successful and we will continue to run the table each meeting. In future, would you please remove the sale ticket and give to Penny so that she can keep track of what’s been sold? Last month, the sale table raised an amazing £79.50 for our funds! This month, some items being sold are to raise funds for the ARWI Moonlight Walk team, in aid of St Wilfrid’s Hospice.
GENERAL INFORMATION AND APRIL MEETING
1) A reminder that subs for next year now overdue. Therefore, if you haven’t already paid your £44.00please pay Jackie by BACs if possible or by cheque at the next meeting “Aldwick Revival WI, Sort Code: 60-03-08, Acc. No. 74259172.” If you are not intending to re-join, would you please let your Hub Leader know asap.so that our records can be amended and Hubs re-jigged.
2) The April meeting will be the last chance for you tobring your free prize draw ticket from the 2023 Membership Booklet, for more chances to win £500 for our WI, please have to Edna.
3) Tickets for the NFWI raffle will be on sale at the next meeting. Tickets are £1 each and there are some significant prizes on offer this year.
4) Refreshments will be organized by Sharon’s Hub this month and all voluntary refreshment donations will be added to those being raised by the ARWI Moonlight Walk team, in aid of St Wilfrid’s Hospice.
5) The Moonlight Walk team will be doing a quick fundraising ‘Heads or Tails’ game at the end of the meeting, £1 per entry, the last lady standing will win a bottle of bubbly!
6) Sign-up sheets will be in the main hall from now on. You will have the opportunity to sign up for Afternoon Tea on 13th May, Coronation Picnic in Hotham Park on 6th May, upcoming Moonlight Walk fundraising events, Walking Group event on 24th April.
7) You will be able to collect a new calendar of events at the next meeting.
8) If you have any change to personal details (e.g.,new address), please collect a form from Lyndsay on entry to the meeting.
BAKING FOR EASTER
THE HISTORY OF HOT CROSS BUNS
~ TRADITIONAL HOT CROSS BUNS RECIPE ~
Victorian Hot Cross Buns Seller
Hot Cross buns have quite a history behind them; the idea of marking crosses on baked goods such as bread, cakes and buns goes right back to pre-Medieval times and was a visible sign that the bread was “blessed” and had the power to ward off evil spirits, as well as help with the longevity of the bread by stopping it going mouldy or becoming stale so quickly. A cross marked on the dough was also believed to help the bread to rise. The first buns with crosses that were attributed to the festival of Easter came along a little later however, as Kate Colquhoun states in her excellent book “Taste: The Story Of Britain Through Its Cooking“……….“In honour of Eastre, goddess of spring and the dawn, [Anglo-Saxon] bread dough could be studded with dried fruits and baked into small loaves that, as Christianity spread, began to be marked with a cross by monks: the earliest form of hot-cross bun”. It can be said that these were the earliest examples of what we know to be Hot Cross Buns today, and from the late 1600’s onwards the custom grew that special spices buns known as “Good Friday Buns” were to be marked with a cross and were to be eaten for breakfast on Good Friday.
Although the name for Hot Cross Buns was commonly known as Good Friday Buns for nearly a hundred years, during the 1730’s the buns were starting to be sold on the streets, and therein the name as well as the popular rhyme emerged, as the sellers would shout out ” One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot-cross buns “………..a penny for a larger bun or for two smaller ones. This tradition was still in practice as little as eighty years ago! Nowadays, you can buy Hot Cross Buns all year around.
It is to be noted that prior to our Hot Cross Buns being an edible symbol of Christianity, there were similar small cakes made for the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, and as part of the pagan celebration of spring. And, it is well documented that the Greeks and Romans also had festive spring cakes which bore some similarity to our own Hot Cross Buns. The original reasons for the marking of crosses on baked goods, as well as the superstitions that grounds the practice, is recorded in the popular rhyme below:
“Good Friday comes this month—the old woman runsWith one or two a-penny hot cross buns,Whose virtue is, if you believe what’s said,They’ll not grow mouldy like the common bread.”
One of the most well-known traditions surrounding Hot Cross Buns is still in practice today and takes place in a London Pub! At the Pub, The Widow’s Son at Bromley by Bow, a Hot Cross Bun Ceremony takes place each Good Friday. In the early 19th century, a widow who lived on the site was expecting her sailor son back home for Easter and placed a hot cross bun ready for him on Good Friday. The son never returned, but undaunted the widow left the bun waiting for him and added a new bun each year. Successive landlords have kept the tradition going after the pub was opened. You can still have a pint in the pub if you wish today, whilst admiring the collection of Hot Cross Buns in various stages of decay!
INGREDIENTS
• 450g strong white bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 50g butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon easy-blend dried yeast
• 210ml tepid milk
• 1 free-range egg
• 100g mixed dried fruit
• 25g cut mixed citrus peel
• 50g plain flour (for the crosses)
• 1 free-range egg (for the crosses)
• 30ml milk (for the glaze)
• 25g caster sugar (for the glaze)
NOTE
If you have a bread machine, you can start the dough in the machine up to the second proving stage. Add the dried fruit 5 minutes before the end of kneading or when your bread machine beeps.
DIRECTIONS
Step 1
Sieve the flour, salt, ground mixed spice and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, then add the sugar and yeast.
Step 2
Beat the egg and add to the flour with the tepid milk. Mix together to a form a soft, pliable dough.Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Carefully work the mixed dried fruit and mixed peel into the dough until well combined. Knead lightly for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
Step 3
Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the buttered/greased mixing bowl, then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for one hour to prove.
Step 4
Turn out the proved dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back the dough. Shape it into a ball again and return it to the bowl, then cover again with the tea towel and set aside for a further 30 minutes to rise.
Step 5
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten slightly into a bun shape using the palms of your hands. Cover the buns again with the tea towel and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
Step 6
Meanwhile, make the mixture for the crosses; mix the flour and egg to a stiff paste, but thin enough to pipe. Make the glaze too - heat the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and set aside.
Step 7
Place the hot cross buns onto buttered/greased baking trays, then place the tray/s inside a large oiled polythene bag. Tie the end of the bag tightly so that no air can get in and set aside in a warm place for a further 40 minutes to rise.
Step 8
Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 8.
Step 9
When the buns have risen, remove them from inside the polythene bag, and then spoon the flour and egg mixture into a piping bag and pipe a cross on each bun.
Step 10
Bake the buns in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until pale golden-brown, and when turned over and tapped on the underneath they sound hollow. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, brush them with the sugar and milk syrup, then set aside to cool on a wire rack.
Step 11
Serve warm, split and spread with butter, or serve toasted, split and spread with butter. The cooked buns can be frozen for up to 3 months; allow 6 hours for them to defrost and serve as above.
FUNNIES
FINALLY...
Please see Programme of Events on our website calendar and don’t hesitate to let me or your Hub leader know of any ideas you may have for future activities or speakers.
Have a good Easter everyone and I look forward to seeing the ‘Dining Divas’ on Friday
Aileen
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Payments for all ARWI events from now on will go through Jackie and the ARWI bank account “Aldwick Revival WI, Sort Code: 60-03-08, Acc. No. 74259172.” Please make a note of this for future reference
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