Our April meeting

Here is what Chantel had to say about the meeting at her house back in April 2013. She has been very busy with work, so we all forgive her delay in providing this little treat!


I could give a million excuses for why I have taken so long to write this but I have learnt very quickly that 'excuses' just don't gel in our book club!

Well well well…..lets just say the best part about my evening of hosting and discussing 'The Vintage Teacup Club' by Vanessa Greene was the company, puddings beautifully presented in teacups and the quiet atmosphere (no disturbing from children or a husband who would just not have been able to keep from popping in to check 'we are all ok' on numerous occasions - luckily working away coincided on this occasion!!!)

I selected this book as one of my book choices as it appeared light hearted and something we would all  be able to relate to.  Our previous book was well rated and quite deep - brought up all sorts of emotions for all of us - so I thought we needed a bit of light reading.  Lets just say you didn't need much deep thought to analysis this book.  It was rather bland - 3 women wanting to share a tea set and the friendship they develop around the 3 events they will use the teacups for.  The pace was slow, the story line rather uncreative and altogether a little dull.  The most exciting bit was when every tea cup they had collected for months shattered as a shelf broke…..!  Our ladies prefer a far deeper story perhaps with a twist or two…neither of these present.

For me the highlight of the evening was when Bev and Karen realised the pudding would be served in tea cups!  We enjoyed some South African treats….Koeksusters (really sweet,  sticky doughnut/pastries), Peppermint crisp pudding (a true South African favourite) and a quick and easy lemon cheesecake.

Ingredients for the Peppermint Crisp fridge tart will need to be bought from the nearest South African stockist…..  In our case, the Loads of Lemons delicatessen in Bishops Cleeve!

Peppermint Crisp Pudding

Ingredients:

250ml Double Cream Whipped
2 packets of tennis biscuits (UK equivalent - Nice biscuits)
375g Caramelised Condensed milk (or ready made caramel)
20ml Caster sugar
3 peppermint crisp bars crushed (not sure of a similar UK equivalent perhaps mint Aero?)

Method:

Whip cream and then add caramel and caster sugar.  Beat well an the add 2/3 of the crushed peppermint crisp.
Place a layer of biscuits in a buttered 29x19x5 cm dish.
Spoon 1/3 of the caramel mix over the biscuits and spread evenly.
Continue in layer finishing with a layer of the filling on top.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Decorate by sprinkling the remainder of crushed peppermint crisp on top.
Cut into squares…..eat and enjoy!!!

Road trip to the Chiplit festival 21st April 2013

We had a day trip over the border to Oxfordshire today, to attend the fabulous Chipping Norton Literary Festival.
We had front row tickets for afternoon tea with Jojo Moyes, and we had a great time. 
Jojo talked about her best seller Me Before You, and read an excerpt. it was the part where Lou first meets Will. It made me want to read the book again.
We were also lucky enough to hear Jojo's exclusive first reading from her new book. We can't wait to get our hands on a copy, it sounds like another hit. We were collectively sworn to secrecy, so sadly we can't tell you a thing about it.
We will certainly be back in Chipping Norton next year, and are now waiting for the brochure for the Cheltenham Lit Festival, to see if we can see any of our other favourite authors.

Apologies for the delay in posting this blog - for some reason it sat in 'drafts' for the last 2 months. (Note to self - must do better!)

Our May meeting

Apologies for the delay in letting you know how our April and May meetings went. Time just flies when the sun is shining. Oh no, wait a minute....?!

Clare has kindly written the following to let you know what happened in May, when she hosted our monthly meet.

Another great meeting of the Yummy Scrummy Pudding Club. Thank you  Ladies. Just one member short as Lucy was on her hols. I have to thank my daughter Beth for coming to my rescue and assembling puds at the last minute after I was told earlier in the day that I had to work the late shift until 7pm. Trust me to choose puds that needed last minute assembly!

She came up trumps and we enjoyed mini banoffee pies, hazelnut meringue cake and passionfruit melting moments. Suprisingly no alcohol included in the puds but most of us did enjoy a glass of wine.

So to this months book;

The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

This book was arguably one of our more contentious reads as we were divided into some who really loved it and some who didnt enjoy it and thought it was actually quite a depressing read.

Personally I fell into the category of loving it. Harold comes across as a gentle soul who decides that he must walk to Berwick upon Tweed to deliver a letter to Queenie (an old work colleague) who is dying in a hospice. He believes that as long as he keeps walking she will stay alive.
I found the story funny, touching and very poigniant in places. I thought that the descriptions of the surrounding countryside were beautiful and it was lovely to read about familiar places as his journey took him through the Cotswolds.

Most of us agreed that it was nice to read a book where the characters were of an older generation. We also agreed that it was very well written.

Our next book is Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussman, to be hosted by Susie.


Recipe
Passionfruit Melting Moments

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups plainflour
1/3 cup custard powder

Passionfruit Filling
60g butter, softened
1 large passionfruit
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, vanilla and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour and custard powder over butter mixture. Beat on low speed until soft dough forms.
3. Roll heaped teaspoons of mixture into small balls. Place on trays. Using a fork lightly flatten each biscuit until 1cm thick. Bake for 15 mins or until firm. Cool on trays for 10 mins. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Make passion fruit filling: Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Stir in Passion fruit pulp and icing sugar..
5. Spread flat side of 1 biscuit with 1 teaspoon of filling. Top with another biscuit. Repeat with remaining biscuits and filling. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

Clare xxx

By popular demand...

We are now able to feature the recipe for Lucy's Chocolate Layer Trifle. It was a big hit at our March meeting, and we highly recommend you give it a try. Lucy tells us it is really easy to make. 
If you try it, please leave a message to let us know what you think.

Chocolate Layer Trifle 

Serves 4 - 6 ( 1 ½ times for 8-10 or 2 times for greedy lit lovers!)

You need a medium or large trifle type bowl.

You can add a tablespoon (ish) of alcohol in with the cream if desired ( I used Kahlua)

4 oz fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs without crusts

3 tbsp drinking chocolate powder
4oz demerara sugar
2 tbsp coffee POWDER ( or grind down granules)
½ pint single cream
½ pint double or whipping cream
Chocolate to sprinkle, either grated or a crumbled Flake.

1)   Mix all the dry ingredients together

2)   Whip the creams until thick but not solid

     3)   In the dish, start with a chocolate mix layer and then cover with a layer of the cream
     4)   Repeat twice, finishing with the cream
     5)   Cover and refrigerate overnight

6)   Just before serving, sprinkle with chocolate

ENJOY x

 

Our March meeting

Thank you to Lucy for the following summary of the fabulous meeting held at her house. Good discussion, great puddings and a lot of fun. We are getting pretty good at this book club thing! 

Lucy's review

I just love book club- everything about it. From receiving the next book selections, the wine, the book discussion, the puddings, the voting – I just love it all. It has really opened my mind to think and feel more about my beloved books, which is exactly what this month’s book demonstrated for me – because for the second time ever, a book made me cry.  I’m even more impressed that I cried at the beginning of the book (not just at the sad ending like “Me Before You”). 

Hosting book club makes it all the more special - I was really pleased that I liked my book choice (I’m sure we all secretly fear not enjoying our own book choice) but the fear is always present that your puddings will be a disaster. Despite worrying about them, I think they all turned out ok. We had a slight 70’s throwback to the theme this week (just call me Brendan from GBBO.)

For pudding we had:

-        Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake.

-        Summer fruit Jelly’s (with a little liqueur).

-        Chocolate Layer Trifle (with a little Kahlua). 

The absence of the 2 Sally’s was mainly noticeable by the lack of wine consumed during the evening. (Plus we missed Sally S’s infamous book quotes and insights.) 

Our book this month was “The Last Summer” by Judith Kinghorn. The beginning was set just before the 1^st world war started with the main character Clarissa enjoying an idyllic summer at her country house. During this time she fell in love with the servant’s son - who was then sent to war alongside her brothers and family friends. The book then follows the war and post war period, during which Clarissa tries, but fails, to live happily ever after with her true love. I won’t say much more in case anyone reading this has not read the book – no spoilers allowed! 

Although this book is primarily a love story spanning decades, it did bring home to us many aspects of life during and after the war and also how it affected the upper classes (and especially the women who were left behind) We discussed how it must have felt to be a young woman during and after the war, especially when the men who were lucky enough to return from war had suffered injuries and psychological issues. Many of these men wished they had died with their fellow countrymen and suicides were not uncommon. Most of us were shocked by the revelation that recreational drugs were a problem - just a different kind of drug to those we get now.  

The main criticism the book received from the group was that some felt a little frustrated by Clarissa’s character and the choices she made. However all agreed that these choices were just a reflection of how different life was back then and the expectations put upon on a young lady. A few also felt the ending was a little predictable – although the presence of some encrypted letters at the beginning of each chapter led to a rather surprising revelation at the end that none of us really saw coming.   

Overall we enjoyed this book, many of us felt gripped by it and couldn’t put it down (Susie finished it 7 days early!). We were left thinking about the characters afterwards, we loved the descriptions- especially of the spring time (we felt we were there!), and enjoyed the educational setting of the 1^st WW.  A final score of 8/10 was awarded.  

Our next book was voted in – The Vintage Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene. (Thanks Chantel for a great choice of books) I’m hoping this one does not reduce me to tears – (there’s only room for one blubber in our family.) 

PS - This book was compared to the Twilight love story about 9.38 ish! It’s always got to have a mention. No book club night is complete without it.

 

Lucy x

Fame at last.

Lummee, we got a mention.
Not 100% sure it is a good thing however.
Do you think Jojo will consider taking out an injuction? 

http://www.chiplitfest.com/blog/chip-lit-fest-2013-why-im-going-and-what-ill-see/

Nicki x

The Girl You Left Behind

Thank you to our friends at The Chipping Norton Literary Festival, and Emma Leigh-Porter. This is a great review of one of our favourite books from last year.

http://www.chiplitfest.com/blog/review-of-the-girl-you-left-behind-by-jojo-moyes-by-emma-lee-potter/

Let the stalking continue...