Thursday 15 August 2024

A visit to Hafod, and the recipe for Manderin Orange Cake and a Witch

See end of post for a witchy explanation . . .





 First, the recipe:


MY OWN MANDERIN ORANGE CAKE

4 oz (113 g) butter or margarine

6 oz  (170 g) castor sugar

2 beaten eggs

Grated rind of one large (or 2 small) Manderin oranges, well washed

1small tin canned Manderin Oranges (drained, reserve the juice)

7 oz (200 g) Self Raising Flour, sifted

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice or milk (I use the juice from the tin)


Cream butter, sugar and rind until fluffy.  Gradually beat in eggs.  Mix in flour and orange juice alternately to soft dropping consistency.  Add Manderin oranges and beat well to incorporate and break up.  Grease and line an 8" (20 cm) cake tin.  Bake at 350 deg F/180 deg C/Gas mark 4 for 45-50mins until firm and golden and shrinking away from sides of tin.  This is a lovely soft and moist cake and one I make regularly.

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Yesterday I went to see Tam and Rosie for the day, taking the above cake.  When Rosie was fed and fettled, we drove the 15 mins or so to the Hafod estate, properly Hafod Uchtryd which is in the upper Ystwyth valley and within the ancient boundaries of Strata Florida.  

We chose to do the Ladies Walk, which was about 2 1/2 miles (though it felt twice as far on a hot day, with the ups and downs at the end).  This largely followed the river, and was a beautiful walk.  We had it mostly to ourselves though caught up with other folk when we stopped for a much-needed cold drink at the old stables, which are beside the ruins of the house, demolished in 1956.  It had been SO beautiful in its glory and it was sad to see it reduced to a pile of overgrown rubble, punctuated by trees. A later owner added an Italianate tower which I think did it no favours.  The man who built it was Thomas Johnes, who seemingly spent every last penny on it and was bankrupted as a result.  That said, he did his best for his tenants, and encouraged farming improvements and rewarded his tenants for good crops etc, as well as himself winning awards for tree planting on his estate.  (Please follow the links to learn more about him and the house and many thanks to Wikipedia and the Dictionary of Welsh Biography).  

Rosie was as good as gold 2/3 of the way round, then cried non stop the rest of the way.  She was hot and didn't want to be carried against her mum, she wanted OUT!  Who can blame her?!

I took no end of photos, but they are on my mobile phone, and damned if I have the technology to transfer them.  It doesn't recognize my password, and thinks I must have fingers like a Gorilla if they are to touch 4 dots to do fingerprint ID.  Yeesh.  I shall try again later, when my brain is working a little more efficiently.

It was a beautiful drive to and from Aberystwyth, but held sad memories of 6 days earlier when we had driven along there to Keith's funeral.  I was listening to Diana Gabaldon's Tell the Bees etc on my phone, but on the way back home it got to the part where Roger is involved in a battle scene, easing the passing of dieing men - far too many of them for my liking - and I couldn't stop the tears then.  

Then when I got home, there was a parcel waiting for me from my dear friend N. When I opened it, I found a lovely metal witch - meant to hang outside, but it's in my kitchen, even though  it's stolen the place where I had the big cart costrel.  I will have to put that where a repro Medieval helmet is (there are three surplus to requirements to go to the Fair). 

If you are thinking ????? a witch?  N said that what she remembers most about our old house was the witch hanging in the kitchen and the suit of armour at the end of the hall.  She couldn't run to a suit of armour, but she hoped that the witch would make me smile.  It did, but then tears soon followed of course, as I was already an emotional wreck.  Only Keith liked the wooden witch in the kitchen.  I think it had been a Charlies Halloween type of figure, sitting on a broomstick of course!  The rest of us thought it was daft, but Keith being Keith, loved it!  Eventually I prevailed upon him to sell it, after a lady viewing the house had hit her head on it, recoiled and then got stuck on the fly paper.  I mean, HOW do you tell a viewer not to move, I have to remove the flypaper from your hair?!  Happy memories at that, but how I wish - in the cold light of day - I hadn't put my foot down and we still had that daft witch.

Anyway, the couriers are coming for the coffer and the chair tomorrow, so I have a date with tidying up the Library, which meant first I have to finally get around to vacuuming the front bedroom where Keith spent his last months. That was hard.  As I folded up the green blanket he'd had on his bed, tears overwhelmed me again.  I can't bring myself to wash it.  It isn't dirty, but still reminds me so much of Keith it will just go in the cupboard as is.  So, I get my sewing room back again, but how I wish it had been another way.

The tidying up still continues, so that will help me through the day.  At some point I need to ask Ed to give me a hand moving the chair I had loaned Tam for breast feeding in the early days.  It's in the back of the car and is too heavy for me to manage on my own.  The contents of the coffer (all Charity shop buys of Tam's) need to be stowed away upstairs too.  Ah well, I'll get there, though it's not going to look tidy. . .


21 comments:

  1. That cake sounds delicious, I will have to give it a go for myself, it's a long time since I made a cake.

    Try using the cable that you use to to charge your phone to transfer the photos to your computer. It should be pretty straight forward that way.

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    1. It's a very reliable cake and freezes well.

      Hah - just what I did, but no - I have to provide fingerprint identity and/or a password or pin and it didn't want to recognize my password. Must have done something wrong as never plugged it into the computer before so it's not a "wrong" password. Tam is coming to rescue me on Sunday or Monday.

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  2. Think of it this way. How long, and after whom, was the Ladies' Walk named? Victorian, maybe? So yesterday it might have been hot, but at least you weren't decked out in heavy gowns and bustles!
    Don't even think about washing Keith's blanket. Time will come when it might be the right thing to do, but not for a while yet.
    I have just had mild histrionics visualising the viewer stuck in the fly paper!

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    1. Oh we did think this as we walked. Big heavy dresses along the at times narrow pathway would have been a real hindrance. Hot enough just in jeans and a t-shirt.

      The blanket has just been put away. I will deal with his clothes later. The holey knitted jumper he wore in a photo of him and Tam (just 4 days old) is still in the drawer and won't go anywhere. Nor will the blue hoody in that lovely photo of him, which once again, is still here. I will find another top of his which also holds memories so there will be a piece each for T,G and D. That said, G spoke up for an aged worn-out t-shirt Keith bought in the Florida Keys I think, and has had it framed. Keith wore it a lot.

      Glad the fly paper incident made you laugh.

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  3. Okay, the fly paper was hilarious!

    You are doing such a fine job of keeping yourself busy during these days. It's really all that can be done, isn't it? It is all so fresh in your mind and the only way to get through these hard days is to simply press on.

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    1. It still makes me snigger too!

      It's the only way I can cope. Working hard and walking. The tears still come in quiet times, unbidden and unexpectedly, so I'm not avoiding grief, just trying to keep it to a level I can deal with.

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  4. I would hold on to the blanket just as it is. Tuck it away safely, to pull out when you need some special comfort. Thanks for posting the cake recipe. It looks simple enough that even I might be able to make it!

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    1. The blanket will stay unwashed - it is clean. I hope you enjoy the cake recipe, it's very simple to make.

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  5. So good that you had a day out w Tam and Rosie. Despite the heat.It's lovely here, very summery--30* C ish.

    You cake sounds delish! I will save the recipe in hopes that I can make , maybe for a holiday. No one I know east sweets/ cake--and I'd eat the whole thing! I don t think I've evr seen a fresh mandarin, just in a can. Wonder what they're called here.

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    1. 30 deg too hot for me!! Anything above about 25 and I really wilt. That said, it's humid heat which does for me, with my asthma.

      I hope you will make that cake. I like unfussy cakes - sort of "bung it" - and that fits the bill. I don't do fussy things like icing or crystalised petals or the like! Not even sprinkles!

      Manderins here can be that, or satsumas or clementines.

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  6. I kept myself busy when my husband died. Now fourteen years ago. And I have to tell you that his dressing gown, folded on his bed when he died, didn’t get washed and it’s still hanging in my bedroom. (Unwashed) Warmest wishes at this difficult time Susan Bell

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    1. Susan - that must seem like a long time - or yesterday - to you. Keith had a dressing gown which I bought him but hardly ever used it. I charity shopped that. Other things are much more personal though. I see keeping busy worked for you. Our Library (doesn't it sound grand!) has been a dumping ground for my stock and all sorts of stuff, and desperately needed sorting. I feel much better for tidying up in there. I appear to have inherited half a dozen MORE PAIRS of blardy curtains which Tamzin wants rid. What a PITA. She has no room at her house (truly - Jon's "stuff" has taken over).

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  7. What a lovely sounding cake. Now I will need to change a few things to Canadian ingredients and weights. Glad you got a visit in with Tam and Rosie.

    God bless.

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    1. I'm sure you can change amounts to make it work for you. Self Raising flour already has a raising agent in, which I'm sure you know. I came home with another baby gym type thing which can live here permanently to keep Rosie amused. What with Tam's roll up mattress in the living room, I still have No Room!

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  8. I like to use my calamondin fruits (a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin and about the size of a ping pong ball with a very soft edible skin when cooked) in cakes. Rhubarb and calamondin cake is especially good and like yours it is a made up recipe although I like to replace some of the locally water-milled wholemeal flour that I use with ground almonds for extra deliciousness. The waves of grief will always be there I think. Something triggers a memory - good or bad - and I readily dissolve into tears. Last night it was watching Dial M for Murder which made me nostalgic for my mum as she had a look about Grace Kelly about her. I remember her everyday as I have so many of her things around me and although we often clashed we usually made up quickly. Oh BB, I am wrecked with all this meadow mowing. A third day of another two hours of hard mowing and in between while the battery was on charge for an hour I disposed of the arisings, raked for about 15 mins and cut back lychnis and Cephalaria Gigantea growing in the meadow bed. That bed now looks fresh again with Buddleia black knight at its best and clumps of aster summer’s farewell about to pop and fresh green mounds of Geranium pratense. I came in for a long soak in an Epsom salts bath and after lunch of rye bread, Tunworth cheese from Hampshire and almost black organic Mereworth plums I started to feel human again so settled down with my knitting and the Proms while the rain came down. Afternoon tea was another slice of rye bread (made by the Sodt bakery just outside Petworth) and my red gooseberry jam. Then we prepped our supper. We shared a Barnsley chop from the Petworth butcher which I studded with my garlic and roasted with my potatoes, green and yellow courgettes, Mereworth shallots and rosemary. Roasted rhubarb for pud. It was just the ticket on a wet night that required the wearing of woolly socks and a jumper over a summer dress as well as a fortifying glass of red wine! I am so glad we are going to Crete in October - a yoga retreat by the sea with good friends for company and deliciously different food cooked by someone else is my idea of heaven. Today I am having the day off and visiting my oldest friend. I will take my knitting. She’s just had seven huge eucalyptus trees cut down and the stumps ground out so we’ll be giving her large garden a good dose of looking at. Be kind and gentle to yourself BB, you have all the time in the world. Sending love and happy for Tam that Rosie is settling - just think of all the adventures the three of you have in your future. Reading between the lines it is sounding like Tam needs you and not just for the safe-keeping of her goods and chattels. I wonder if the Landmark Trust has planned an open day this September at the gorgeous Welsh Manor House not too far from you that they recently restored? That would be fun to visit together. Sarah x

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    1. Oooh, your meals sound really lovely. I looked up the Tunworth cheese as I'd not heard of it. As for main meals here, I am still stuck with my usual old friends - haven't got the oomph to try anything new yet. The kids are good at geeing up my taste buds with some of the things they make though - they're all really good cooks. I, however, am the best Baker of Cakes by far! Mrs Kipling, me . . . (actually having once worked for an employment agency which supplied workers to Mr Kipling, hearing their horror stories of food being sneezed over, dropped on the floor and picked up again, I made sure never to eat any!)

      I've just checked and Llywn Celyn is open 21/22 September and for Christmas on 7/8 December. Hope to go to both. Thanks for reminding me. Will try and get Tam and Rosie along to one. I've just checked when Tretower has the next re-enactment and it's this weekend, so think I shall take myself along tomorrow and see if they still want me to join them :)

      Please don't overdo things with mowing the meadow. It sounds quite a strain and will take some recovering from. I too will try and be gentle with myself. I have just taped the x-stitch pattern together so no reason why I shouldn't start on it tonight, pre-wine!

      Thank you for such a lovely post - cheers me up no end to hear what you are up to.

      The name Sodt bakery made me smile. Not made Rye bread in an age but I have some Rye flour - have to see if it's still anything like in date and make myself a loaf.

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  9. The witch is lovely BB what a lovely gift x Maybe T can come over at some point and together you can list her things , it would be easier with two I’m sure.
    Did you see my comment about the site called Nextdoor? It may not be in Wales but it is so quick and easy and no fees, people agree, pay and collect ! Easy as can be.
    It’s used a lot round here. I’m glad Keith’s blanket is folded away x huge hugs, it’s such early days , you are doing well x x Danette

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    1. Tam's over on Sunday or Monday. She can help me list the curtains we were given and she couldn't use as too big for her house. The William Morris ones once went round a sun room (but aren't faded, thank heavens) and will be SO heavy to post. Don't know whether to split them up into pairs rather than one job lot. Yes, I looked up Nextdoor, but it didn't recognize my address I think. Something blocked me anyway but thank you. Tam and I use Facebook Marketplace, which sounds similar.

      Keith's blanket is carefully put away but I need to get the blasted heavy curtains off my bedroom coffer and then I can put it in there.

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  10. Hello, I would love to make the cake (sounds lovely) but I am not sure how small tin of Mandarins is in the UK. Do you happen to know the weight? Thanks, Wendy

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    1. The tin I use is 298g. Hope that helps. It's a smallish tin anyway.

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  11. Nice day out then, all my photos taken on my phone automatically upload to Google photos and my laptop, I don't do anything. The witch reminded me of my MIL who is no longer with us.
    The caake sound like it will be very moist.

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