Raisin Spice Cookies

I did these for after church coffee this morning, as I commented at the foot of this post my recipe book has for method - ' rub in marg' and that's it! I've attempted to add a few more hints..

Ingredients

1. 8 oz self raising flour
2. 1 tsp cinnamon
3. 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4. 8 oz fine semoline
5. 8 oz marg
6. 8 oz caster sugar
7. 2 eggs
8. milk (!)
9. 3 oz raisins

Method

Mix dry ingredients, add (beaten) eggs and rub in marg, add milk if it's too dry - I hardly needed any when I made it yesterday.
Place in small balls (c. 1 raisin per ball) widely spaced on a baking tray and cook in 170deg C oven for c 15 minutes, let cool slightly before on a cooling rack otherwise the biscuits will sag! (Makes around 60)

Ginger shortbread

I cooked ginger shortbread yesterday for the during(!) morning service this morning and used a recipe from an old Scargill cookbook:

Ingredients

150g self raising flour
• 110g margarine
• 55g sugar
• 1/2 tsp ginger

For icing:
• 55g margarine
• 4 tblsp icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 dessertspoon syrup

Method

Melt margarine and sugar.

Work in flour and ginger.

Bake in swiss roll tin in mod. oven 20-30 min (yesterday I found it was around 20).

Melt ingredients of icing and pour on shortbread while it is hot.

Cut when cold.

The cookies that were also cooked - I'd provide a recipe but my notes have the following as the instructions:
Rub in marg
and the ingredients say 'milk' with no quantity - so we're lucky they turned out well!

Helen Haslam

Rachel and Helen's sister, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Today's I've been to Helen Haslam's funeral. I knew Helen back in the 70s-80s when her husband Frank was vicar of St Michael's Macclesfield and also in his role on the Scargill council.
It was good to meet the children whom I'd not seen since then and recall the past and where events had led us since. United in memory of a lovely person, collected and yet sparky. Two other photos are here.

Looking up wharfedale

Looking up wharfedale, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

We spent last week at Scargill house on a summer gardens week, trips to various gardens in the vicinity - Beth managed all those, I went on the Parcevall Hall and Japanese garden trip, and otherwise just rested with a couple of evening trips down to Kettlewell. The album of photos I took is on line.

Scargill

the best of the group, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

We've been back to Scargill for an ex-community reunion. It was good to see folk I'd not seen for 30 years even if we didn't manage a trip to the pub! The full flickr album is here.

Toffee Fruit Cake

By special request, here is the recipe for Toffee Fruit cake (also from the Scargill recipe book) - I cooked a fewof these last weekend!

• 4oz soft brown sugar
• 3oz margarine
• 1 egg
• 2oz glace cherries
• 3oz sultanas
• 4oz self raising flour
• 1 drop vanilla essence

Melt the margarine and sugar in a pan and allow to cool. Mix the beaten egg, essence, sultanas, cherries and when the hot sugar is cool enough (not to cook the egg!) add to the egg mixture. Then add the flour. Put in square tin and cook for 25 mins at 180C. Make sure it is cooked through before removing from the oven.
Don't put in a too small tin, it mustn't be deeper than around 1 inch or it won't set. Allow to cool and then cut into fingers - it doesn't slice well when warm.

Bran Loaf

I was on the rota to provide the after church breakfast this morning, as part of it I cooked a bran loaf - from an old Scargill recipe and as I had a few requests for the recipe, here it is.

• 3 cups All Bran (or equivalent)
• 3 cups soft brown sugar
• 4 cups mixed dried fruit
• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups self raising flour

(apologies for the non weight quantities!) I used this quantity for this morning but it's industrial quantites, you may want to cut it down a bit - it depends how hungry you are!
Mix all ingredients except the flour in a bowl and leave in the fridge - the recipe says overnight, I usually leave it for 3 hours or so. Then add the flour and mix, you may need a little more liquid for a mixture that isn't too stiff. Put into greased lined tin and cook for 1hr at 180C and then 45mins at 150C - test that it's cooked in the middle before removal. I left mine in the oven for an additional half hour with the heat turned off before it was cooked through.
Slice and eat! I think, at Scargill we spread it with butter but I now think that's a bit too much and usually just have it plain.
One of our cats - now deceased used to love this recipe! Here's a link to another recipe I did a few months back for after service breakfast!
I wrote the above recipe from memory but have just checked the book and it is correct!

Conistone Pie

Conistone Pie
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

Many years since I've been up on Conistone Pie - this weekend we were at Scargill on a weekend for those, like us, who have been assisting with the re-opening of Scargill over the past year - a wonderful time was had of meeting, meals and an excuse to re-visit the place. The Saturday afternoon walk was up to Conistone Pie and quick dash back - for us - to catch Phil Stone talking about the current position, development plans and the future.

Bat!

I spotted this last night clinging to the outside of Scargill next to the drying room - it makes up a bit for the glowworms we didn't find (and the midges who found us) a couple of nights ago!

Across to the wardenage

Across to the wardenage
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

(or should that be di-rectory?) We're caretaking for a few days at Scargill again. Sitting in the sun-lounge and watching the sun set behind Knipe Scar. We have done some work! but the evening vistas are so special.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Bit of a departure for this blog but having cooked these late last night on noticing that I was down to provide breakfast at Church and had, until then, forgotten - the shops were then closed and I needed something home made and quickly! I got at least one request for the recipe, so here it is (it is supposed to make 5-6 dozen - though I got around 90!):
1 cup raisins
1 cup water
Simmer these over a low heat while continuing with the rest of the recipe. Eventually drain liquid making up, if necessary to 1/2 cup.
3/4 lb (330g) soft margarine
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence - cream these together, stir in raisin liquid.
2.5 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
0.5 tsp cloves (ground) - sift together, stir in and add 2 cups oats, 0.5 cup chopped nuts (I omitted these) and drained raisins.

Drop rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on ungreased baking trays. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
Notes
This is my aged copy of a Scargill recipe - obviously you're meant to merge the two sets of ingredients before cooking! I used a (fan oven) temperature of 160 degrees C.
When I cooked them at Scargill, so 30 years ago, I seem to remember that they came out as rather doughy, but last night's were lovely and crisp!

Scargill forward planning

My intentions of twittering during Sunday's meeting were frustrated by being unable to see the wireless network and the Vodafone signal not being strong enough in that part of the building. As the Scargill movement doesn't yet have a report on the day let me put here some of the points from that meeting. These are, I hope, fairly literal transcriptions of various slides that were shown, any undue erroneous emphasis is, of course, entirely my fault!
First there's a list of the priorities and aspirations in the coming reassessment of the site:

• an improved reception
• better integration with the landscape
• making car parking, less central to the site
• more provision for camping (could hardly be less!)
  
• better dining facilities - where meetings happen
• DDA access - disabled access to all parts of the building
• more and better indoor gathering points
• improved IT especially to support teaching
• flexible training spaces
• improved bed accommodation
• the integration of community and their needs with that improved accommod - the community being closer to the guest areas (but still providing privacy).

Quite a list! And here were some keywords

• managing woodland
• demolition of community accom.! car parks can then be put in that area
• new building around pent and pent-ex
• walled garden greenhouse, work on existing bedrooms
• pasture zones
• chapel retaining other sympathetic uses
• merge of spartan and comfy spaces
• .. and outside spaces for spirituality

ok those were probably ideas! These are keywords

• timeless
• comtemporary
• of its place
• comfortable
• practical
• flexible
• simple
• uplifting

I think an encouraging and exciting day was had (and we won't mention the Spirit in the guise of bats circling over the meeting in the Chapel!)
Opportunities!

A door in pent

A door in pent
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

I'm hoping to twitter from the meeting at Scargill tomorrow - assuming I get a good enough phone signal - here then it will be back to the day job!
If you don't have a service prepared for Speak as a pirate day and don't mind using it tomorrow, here's a sample Eucharist.

bat man suceeds!

long eared bats - ii
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

We've had a licenced bat man staying at Scargill over the last few evenings - he thinks there are around 200 of the creatures on site and this evening (at around 4pm) he spotted these three sleeping on a beam next to Pent, so I went down with him and snapped this of these long eared bats

Scargill update

We've spent the last week care-taking at Scargill mainly keeping a presence for insurance purposes, but also forming a small community for worship and work (oh yes, and trips to the local pubs!). There's a meeting this Sunday for a progress update - that link has an outline programme, though as it says, notification of an intention to attend would be appreciated

The shape of things to come?

Stanbrook Abbey near Wass was talked about here this week. Looks (and sounded) a very interesting development.

Mother and kitten

Mother and kitten
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

Cats sleeping close to the Scargill car park in the early morning. The mother didn't notice me but the kitten was more alert and hid!

Scargill chapel in autumn

Chapel
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

Took this picture of the Scargill chapel through the greenery of the gardens by the Marsh Lounge.

Arbour

Arbour
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

in the Scargill walled garden, overgrown but wonderfully leafy

Scargill at 50

Nigel, George and Kate and
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

We've just returned from a trip to Kettlewell to celebrate 50 years since Scargill House opened and to mark the beginning of a process to lead to its reopening. It was a day of reunions, in this picture are,at least, (from my time) George, Kate and Nigel. A communion service, ander round the house, a trip to the walled garden and the estate walk. Got back for the question and answer session to find that there wasn't going to be room and so, after a longish day, decided to exit at that point. More pictures from the day are here