Olney. The Cowper and Newton Museum.

What's so special about this place you might ask? Well, it's a place of memory for the 18th century poet William Cowper and his friend John Newton. Both have written some beautiful verses which you may know i.e. There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood and Amazing Grace respectively. 

1. Amazing Grace
2. 
   
3. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
   That saved a wretch like me!
   I once was lost, but now am found;
   Was blind, but now I see.
4. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
   And grace my fears relieved;
   How precious did that grace appear
   The hour I first believed.
5. Through many dangers, toils and snares,
   I have already come;
   ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
   And grace will lead me home.
6. The Lord has promised good to me,
   His Word my hope secures;
   He will my Shield and Portion be,
   As long as life endures.
7. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
   And mortal life shall cease,
   I shall possess, within the veil,
   A life of joy and peace.
8. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
   The sun forbear to shine;
   But God, who called me here below,
   Will be forever mine.
9. When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
   Bright shining as the sun,
   We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
   Than when we’d first begun.
10. John Newton

It is William Cowper's house in Olney, Buckinghamshire that is now The Cowper and Newton Museum. It has a lovely walled Georgian flower and kitchen garden around the back.

Both Cowper and Newton collaborated to produce what's known as the Olney Hymns first published in February 1779. Copies of the hymn book are available for purchase in the museum shop.

I was so engrossed with the house. (Me outing myself: I have a fondness for English period romances. This house certainly gave me an insight on how the characters would have lived so long ago). It was transporting to say the least. 

It is not too difficult to imagine what life would have been like all those years ago. Though one can only wonder how they managed cooking in a cauldron over a wood fire in a large fireplace (so large you could almost walk right into it). The rooms were small but well-appointed if somewhat bare. The floor sloped and creaked alarmingly in some places so it is well-worth being careful to tread lightly while walking through the house. 

There are different parts in the museum which highlight the lives of Cowper and Newton as well as their close circle of friends. There is even a section on lace-making, one of the things Olney is famous for (other than the Pancake Race). 

There are no photos of the Museum itself as I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take any and forgot to ask. Here are some photos of the gardens.

I was lucky enough to be in Olney to visit the museum. Olney is another one of those picturesque little jewels hidden in the English countryside. If I didn't go to visit my friends in Traka, I would have missed it completely. You'll be surprised just how many English people don't know Olney even exists.

The one night I was there was spent in The Lindens. It's owned and run by a lovely lady named Virginia, who makes a proper English Breakfast (very important!). It's a gorgeous old house with an equally gorgeous garden around the back.     

In the evening we went for a drink at the pub next to The Lindens and then to dinner at The Swan Inn. The food was excellent. I had a tomato and mozzarella salad garnished with olives and basil, which was delicious. Then came the chargrilled lamb with a hazelnut crust which was equally good. The quality of food at The Swan rivals that of the high-end restaurants at home. Even the wine I had by the glass was a nice one.   

I had a lovely time in Olney. It's one of the best times I've ever had in England. Thank you Godfrey and Steve for making it special. I'd had a tiring start to the week and this mid-week delight was so perfect.

As I finish this post, I'd like to leave you with one of my favourite hymns. I enjoy playing this on the organ in church and its words never fail to cut through my heart... in a good way.

There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;

And there have I though vile as he, washed all my sins away;

Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;

And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power;

Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more;

Be saved to sin no more, be saved to sin no more;

Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.

E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply;

Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;

Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing Thy power to save;

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou has prepared, unworthy though I be;

For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!

'Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine;

To sound in God the Father's ears no other name but Thine.

William Cowper

Hertford. The heart of friendship.

The best thing about England is you find pockets of gorgeousness in what seems the most unlikely places. This is one of those places. You'd never know there was town called Hertford tucked away in Hertfordshire sat all pretty round the bend if you didn't take the bend or didn't have friends who invited you to share in its beauty. 

After I knocked on the little red door a little too early, we went on a walk about town. The Two helpfully filling me in on history and important sights while I happily clicked away on my camera. 

The Hart of Hertford

The oldest building in town

Various buildings in the town

The buildings are old and quite a delight to look at (if you're anything like me and love old buildings). They have so much character. I like to wonder sometimes just what they would have seen and heard throughout the years. What stories they could tell if they were able to talk!

The Wallace House seen here was the home of Alfred Russell Wallace who proposed a theory of natural selection at the same time as Charles Darwin.

Flowers in the marketplace

Why is it that flowers always look so bright and stunning in the UK? Is it because they've awakened from a long sleep and live only a few months before waning to wait for another year that they must make the most of the short life they have? What do you reckon?

  

The Canal

It went on forever, this canal. I'm told that it starts in London, goes a long way north and you can walk/bike along it the entire way. I bumped into this canal again in Milton Keynes a week later!

Coots... which I thought were ducks initially

Ducks! Ducks! That's what I shouted. Only they weren't ducks apparently. They are coots. I had no idea such a creature existed in this world. We learn something new every day.

Look what I found growing all over the place in England!

I LOVE blackberries! What a pleasant surprise to find that they grow all over the place in summer. One of the Two very kindly picked these 2 perfect berries for me to eat. Pity they were sour. This was the start of my berry craze. More about that in another post.

The Castle that's not quite a Castle. Ahem...

So. One of the Two doesn't think this is a REAL castle at all. Considering it has been rebuilt and only if you look very carefully can you see the difference in bricks between the old and new parts of the building, I suppose it isn't quite a castle after all? It's certainly not in league with the Windsors' of the world, but perhaps we can be forgiving and call it a 'mini' castle.

We walked back to the red door after that, picked up No. 4 and sat down to a scrumptious dindins. We talked until the cows came home. Then very slowly, No. 4 and I made our way back to our hotels. No. 4 and I will never forget what a long drive we had that night thanks to Tomtom. 

Oh well... all's well that ends well.

Scrumptious dindins

The lovely strawberry cake which I insisted on having baked for me. :-)

Moist Chocolate Cake

I found and subsequently fell in love with THIS cake on the Internet recently. I'm not going to copy and paste the photo of this cake here, as I'm not sure who posted the original photo!

Anyway, I been eager to try it out and went looking for a fabulous chocolate cake as a cake base. This recipe is what I found on Love2Cook Malaysia. It made a fantastically moist and luscious chocolate cake, especially when iced with the Hot Fudge Icing. Lovely, lovely lovely! Kudos to the original baker for a gorgeous cake.

All I need now is time to make THIS cake! 

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

Adapted from Love2CookMalaysia

180g Butter, softened

180g Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

100g Plain Flour

50g Cocoa Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

Pinch of Salt

200ml Evaporated Milk

Preheat oven at 130 Celsius. Grease, flour and line a 20cm round baking tin. In a bowl, whisk Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt. Set aside. In another bowl, cream Butter and Sugar until pale and creamy with an electric mixer. Beat in Eggs one at a time. Beat in Vanilla Essence. Fold in Flour alternately with Evaporated Milk, beginning and ending with Flour. Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 150 Celsius or until a skewer poked through the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before turning out to complete cooling on a wire rack.

HOT FUDGE ICING

1/2 cup Condensed Milk

3/4 cup Evaporated Milk

4 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

1/8 tablespoon Vanilla Essence

50g (about 1 tablespoon) Butter, softened

Pour Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk into a saucepan. Add in Cocoa Powder and Vanilla Essence. Whisk on a double-boiler until the mixture thickens (to the consistency of Condensed Milk). Stir in Butter. Remove from the stove and pour on the cake immediately. Use a small pallet knife to spread the icing over the top and on the sides of the cake. With the back of a fork make a pattern on top of the cake. 

Notes

1. Ensure that the cake is completely cool before you pour on the icing. No short-cuts or the icing will seep through and soak the cake not coat it. 
2. I take short-cuts with the Hot Fudge Icing. I sometimes cook it directly on the stove as it's much faster than double-boiling. However, if you want to cook it on the stove, you MUST do it on low fire and whisk like mad so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan. If you don't do that, it will burn very quickly. 
3. When icing, I place the cake on a wire rack and then place the wire rack on a flat baking tray. I then pour the icing on top. With a small pallet knife I gently spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake. This way, any extra icing will drip down onto the baking tray without making a mess. Let the icing set for 30 minutes. Then move it carefully onto a serving plate.
4. An alternative to No. 3 is to set the cake on its serving plate and insert pieces of baking paper under and around the cake making sure it covers the bottom of the cake completely and extends over the rim of the serving plate. Pour over the icing, let is set 30 minutes and then gently pull out the baking paper so it doesn't soil the plate. 

Ramadan Bazaar 2013

It's Ramadan and disgustingly hot! Yet, for the first time in many years, I braved the heat (and dragged my aunt out) to have a look at the Ramadan Bazaar in Kelana Jaya. The place wasn't too crowded at 4pm when we set out but got worse as time went by.

What did I see? I saw varieties of jellies and icy cold drinks in almost all colours of the rainbow; murtabak of all sizes and prices; a roast lamb; lots of roast chickens; chicken rice; fried chicken; grilled sambal-stuffed ikan kembung; biryani by the tong-full; roti jala with chicken curry; all sorts of kueh to tickle your fancy; hot and cold soya bean drinks; tau foo fa swimming in tubs of white and brown sugar; different varieties of laksa; pulat panggang and lots more.

Gone are the days when my 'eyes' are bigger than my stomach, so I was quite restrained about buying food to take home. I only came away from the endless delights of the Bazaar with some satar, jellies, soya bean, murtabak and fried cempedak.

A gorgeous array of food and drink isn't it? Only thing is, I'm not sure I'd want to eat like this every day for an entire month.

Why? Well, if you're lucky the stall you choose to buy the food and drink from will give you your money's worth. Upon coming home, you will be treated to the most delicious food you can ever imagine. Plus, the dishes will not be found again until Ramadan comes around again! If you're not lucky though, you could end up with a very mediocre meal which doesn't satisfy.

Still, trawling through the Bazaar is quite a nice thing to do once a year!





Kesari

I never liked kesari and only fell in love with it after eating some in a shop on Dato' Keramat, Penang run by some old Indian grandfathers. After I moved back south, I found that no shop or Aunt I knew made kesari like that. Many years passed without me eating even a bit of kesari. 

A few weeks ago, I was hit by a sudden craving to eat kesari. So I experimented until I finally made what I think tastes closest to the kesari in dear old Penang. 

KESARI

1 teacup Coarse Sugee

3/4 - 1 teacup Caster Sugar

3/4 teacup Ghee

5 Cardamon Pods

About 2 teacups Water

1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon Orange colouring

1 teaspoon Rose Essence

Pinch of Salt

Cashew Nuts & Raisins (optional)

Fry the Cashew Nuts in a little Ghee if you're using them. Set aside on paper towels to drain any access oil. Pour any remaining Ghee into a container. Wash the wok with soap and water. Dry the wok.

In the clean wok, warm the Sugee and Cardamon over medium fire for about 1 - 2 minutes constantly stirring with a wooden spoon so it is warmed through evenly. Stir in the Ghee (from the teacup and container) and Salt. Roast the Sugee in the ghee (stirring constantly) for about 3 - 4 minutes watching carefully that it does not burn.

Lower the fire and very slowly pour in the Water while stirring the mixture. (Mixture will bubble and spit ferociously) Pour just enough water to make the Sugee grains moist but not mushy. KEEP STIRRING. Quickly stir in the Rose Essence and Orange colouring. Stir in Sugar (mixture will loosen up a bit) and mix well. Keep stirring until the mixture dries up a little and comes away from the sides of the wok cleanly into a ball.

Remove from the stove and mix the Cashew Nuts/Raisins through now if you're using them. Put the kesari in either a container you have ready or flatten it into a Pyrex cover or pie dish cut into wedges. 

Notes

1. I used a teacup. Any teacup will do. All you need to follow are the proportions of the ingredients given.
2. I used QBB Ghee as I prefer its flavour.
3. You may need slightly less than 2 teacups of Water if you are using fine Sugee as opposed to coarse. Coarse Sugee can be found in supermarkets under the Alagappa's brand, while fine Sugee can be found in most baking supplies shops. 
4. You must keep stirring the kesari through its cooking process as it has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the wok and burn.