Weekend Wanderings

John and I had a chance to sneak away for a long weekend and explore some of this beautiful country.  We drove south from Oxford to Bournemouth, and then east along the Jurassic coast to Lyme Regis. From there we headed north to the Cheddar Gorge, then on to Stonehenge, and Salisbury.  Some of the highlights:

Cheddar Gorge famous for it's cheese, caves, and 9000-year-old Cheddar Man. This is where cheddar cheese gets its name.

Stonehenge in late afternoon

Visitors are no longer allowed to walk among the stones. 

Salisbury Cathedral -- built from 1220 to 1258 -- with the tallest spire in England

Salisbury Cathedral is where one of three remaining intact copies of the  Magna Carta is kept.  

The Salisbury Cathedral clock is a large iron-framed clock without a dial located in the aisle of Salisbury Cathedral. Supposedly dating from about 1386, it is claimed to be the oldest working clock in the world.

Some of these banners are over 800 years old

Salisbury has five rivers that run through the city.

Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name in the English county of Dorset

Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates back to the 11th century.

Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. Lyme’s harbor wall known as "The Cobb", features in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, and in the film and novel, The French Lieutenant's Woman, by local writer John Fowles

This is one of the beaches where Mary Anning found her Jurassic age marine fossils. We hunted for fossils too but only found some in the shops.

Standing where Meryl Streep stood 

The Cobb -- also featured in Jane Austin's book Persuasion 

Lyme Regis Beach

I read a book about Lyme Regis last year that I thoroughly enjoyed:  Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. It is the story of Mary Anning, the now renowned fossil collector, and her friendship with a lesser known collector, Elizabeth Philpot. It highlights the impossible difficulties facing a woman trying to have her work and views recognized by the scientific establishment in the early 19th century. It also highlights the added challenge of reconciling the evidence of the fossils with the Biblical account of life on earth that was interpreted so literally in the early 1800's.

I love these "fossil" lamps!

Millionaires Shortbread

Walk down just about any main street in Oxford and you'll walk past a pastry or tea shop of some kind filled with all sorts of guilty pleasures.  My favorite treat is a delicious indulgence called Caramel Bars or Millionaires Shortbread.  It is a rich layered bar with shortbread on the bottom, a lush creamy caramel in the middle, and sweet milk chocolate on the top.  I’ve sampled several caramel bars and the best are found at Taylors Deli on High Street.  

Millionaires Shortbread or Caramel Squares

Shortbread:

·       2 sticks butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for preparing pans

·       2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing pans

·       2/3 cup sugar

·       1/2 teaspoon salt

Caramel Layer:

·       2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

·       2 tablespoons butter

Chocolate Topping:

·       3/4 pound good-quality milk chocolate

·        

Shortbread:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter 2 (8-inch) square nonstick pans and coat with flour, tapping off excess. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse once. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles peas. Press the shortbread mixture into prepared pans and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Caramel Layer:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of butter. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Continue stirring over the heat until mixture becomes thick and amber in color, about 15 minutes. Pour the caramel over the cooked shortbread and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Topping:

In a glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Once chocolate has melted, pour it over the cooled caramel layer. Cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes, and then place in the refrigerator to cool completely, allowing chocolate to slightly harden but not get hard. Cut into 2-inch squares and enjoy, or store in an airtight container, at room temperature.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For Whom the Old Tom Bell Tolls

There are several beloved icons in Oxford.   One is the bell tower at Christchurch College, called the Tom Tower.  It is named for its bell, Great Tom, which weighs over 6 tons and is the loudest bell in Oxford.  Great Tom was hung in the Tom Tower in 1660, when the quad of Christchurch College was being built.  Every night since 1663, Old Tom has tolled 101 times at 9:05pm, one toll for each of the 100 original scholars of the college, plus one added in 1663. It originally signified curfew and was the signal for all the Oxford colleges to lock their gates.

Today, it still rings 101 times each night at 9:05pm -- a tradition that is 450 years old. 

Then and Now

At the heart of Oxford City is Oxford Castle, parts of which are nearly a thousand years old. The Castle has served time as a royal residence, a fortress, a center of justice, and for several hundred years – a prison – hidden from the public view behind impenetrable 5-meter high stone walls. A few years ago what remained of the historic buildings were beautifully restored with contemporary architectural additions making it a fun and vibrant part of the community. 

On one of the old stone walls, there is a plaque that marks a part of the old prison.  It is a reminder of the stark contrast between then and now.

Then:   During the Middle Ages in England, men and women who couldn't pay their debts, were locked up in a single, large communal cell until their debt was paid, usually by their families.  Debt prisoners often died of diseases contracted from other debt prisoners. Conditions included starvation and abuse from other prisoners. If the father of a family was imprisoned for debt, the family business often suffered while the mother and children fell into poverty. Unable to pay the debt, the father often remained in debtors' prison for many years.   Frequently, debt prisoners were released to become indentured servants until they paid off their debt in labor.

Now!

Making Marmalade

Oxford University has a newcomers club that meets weekly.  I finally had the time to attend and to sign up for a few outings.  This week’s outing was a marmalade making class held in a lovely old home in north Oxford and taught by a wonderful woman who has been making marmalade for over 50 years!

It is curious that marmalade is a British concoction when oranges don’t even grow in Britain.  The world marmalade originally comes from the Portuguese term for preserved quince. It has evolved to become the general term for citrus preserves, generally from the Mediterranean countries. 

Hundreds of years ago the British discovered that marmalade was an excellent way of providing vitamins when fresh fruit was not available and they used it to help prevent scurvy and other illnesses on board merchant and navy vessels. The British found that oranges and sugar could be made to set and preserved by using just the chopped peel of oranges without the need for additional pectin. As such, the world has come to accept that marmalade is a British specialty and the best marmalades come from the United Kingdom.   

The tastiest marmalade I’ve tried was a quince, lime and ginger marmalade.  I’m still searching for that recipe.  Here is the recipe we used this week.  It was easy to make and so fresh and delicious to taste, provided you can find oranges from Seville, Spain.

Seville Marmalade:

2 lbs. Seville oranges – or any bitter/not sweet oranges (frozen and thawed)

2 lemons

4 lbs. white sugar

2 pints water

Directions:

1.    Cut oranges and lemons in half, squeeze out the juice, then remove the pith and pips (in American speak: pulp and seeds).   Place everything but the peels in a saucepan.

2.    Cut the orange and lemon peels in half again and cut them up in a food processor or hand cut into thin julienne pieces.

3.    Place the chopped up oranges/lemons peels with the squeezed juice into a glass container with a lid and add1 pint water.  Microwave on high for 12 minutes.

4.    In the meantime, bring to boil all the pith and pips in the saucepan with 1 pint water then strain this mixture into the large pan.  Add the microwaved and softened peels and the sugar.   Stir until sugar is dissolved and then bring to boil.  Boil until marmalade changed color to dark orange and passes the saucer test (about ½ hour) Ladle into clean, warm jars, seal, and leave to cool. 

5.    Saucer test: Put a few small plates into the freezer. After the marmalade has boiled for about 20 minute, start testing it by placing a small amount of the hot jelly on a chilled plate. If the jelly spreads out and thins immediately, it isn't ready. If it holds its shape a bit, that's a good sign. Push up against it with your fingertip. If the jelly sample wrinkles at all, it is time to take the jelly off the heat and pour it out into jars.