Guy Fawkes Night

With so much excitement about Halloween out there poor old Guy Fawkes night is being lost. So, as this holiday is one I celebrate more than Halloween I thought I would do a Guy Fawkes tribute post. As it is such a big event in my life I often forget that people outwith Britain are probably completely unaware of Guy Fawkes Night, as its roots are in British History.

Who was this Guy Fawkes?

Guy (Guido) Fawkes Night (or Fireworks Night or Bonfire Night) is on the 5th of November. To remember the failed assassination attempt, by a group of English Catholics, on King James I and his family by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5th November 1605. Although several men were involved in the plot Guy Fawkes is remembered as he was the explosives expert in charge on the detonation itself. They, after obtaining the lease to one of the stores under the Houses of Parliament, filled the room with 36 barrels of gunpowder, under a store of winter fuel.

The plot was uncovered because several members of the conspiracy were concerned about the fact that several of their Catholic friends would be present and subsequently killed. So they sent letters advising that they should not attend. Although the conspirators were aware that 'the secret was probably out' they continued with the plan. Guy Fawkes was discovered, 'lighter' in hand and arrested. On his arrest he far from denied his involvement he declared that it was his intention to kill the King and his family.

Fawkes was interrogated under torture (which was only permissible at the time with direct orders from the King) and revealed the names of all the conspirators. The other were eventually arrested and after trial all were sentenced to be Hung, Drawn and Quartered

Why did they want to kill the King?

Essentially, they believed that the tolerance for Catholicism in England would continue to drop under the leadership of James I so wished to remove him from the throne and, due to the laws of succession, Princess Elizabeth, would become Queen - a Catholic Queen.

How do we celebrate?

Traditional celebration involves the creation of a 'Guy' a man, usually made from straw or newspaper stuffed clothing, being placed on top of a bonfire and burned (only when I write this down do I realise how morbid that is!). Children usually make the guy and often went around the towns with their 'Guy' collecting money -

"Penny for the Guy?"

The money would then be put towards buying fireworks.

As a side note this is how the term 'Guy' came to mean 'Man'

Many places still put the Guy on top of the fire but most of the true meaning is lost to history. The fireworks are still popular, why the term Fireworks Night, came to replace Guy Fawkes Night. In the week running up to and including (and usually past!) fireworks are let off by individuals or a larger town events. There is usually a barbeque and toffee apples and it is a very social and exciting time.

So it is off to a Fireworks party I go in two weekends time, the 8th. Plenty fireworks, and tasty food, I'll get some recipes up for things you can make for it! I recommend making some Toffee Apples, kids'll love 'em!! As a little taster why not try the Rocky Road recipe, its really easy, kids can help out and it always reminds me of Bonfire Night!!

Here ends my salute to Guy Fawkes Night!

Rocky Road

Ingredients 100g butter 150g dark chocolate 150g milk chocolate 3 tbsp golden syrup 150g digestives , roughly crushed 200g , marshmallows quartered (use scissors)

Method

1. Gently melt the butter, chocolate and syrup in a pan over a low heat, stirring frequently until smooth, then cool for about 10 mins.
2. Stir the biscuits and sweets into the pan until well mixed, then pour into a 17cm square tin lined with foil and spread the mixture to roughly level it. Chill until hard, then cut into fingers.

Want to give it a go? Download the .pdf version, easier than writing it out!!

After a discussion on the Blog Catalog forum about digestive biscuits I just had to make some Rocky Road, I love this and for some reason I associate it with Bonfire Night, don't know why. However, it is not one of the things that I am taking to the Bonfire Party at my Mum's, there is a whole host of recipes coming your way for that!!!

Hey! I'd love to know if people are using my recipes!! If you are leave a wee comment on the recipes post! Also, why not head back and let me know how you got on!!?

Steak Parcels

Ingredients (Makes 3 Parcels) 3 Minute Steaks 1 Red Pepper 4 or 5 mushrooms 3 tblsp soft cream cheese 3 rashers bacon (either smoked or unsmoked) salt and pepper

Method

Place the a steak onto a piece of grease-proof paper. Slice the pepper and mushrooms into bite sized chunks. Put a tablespoon of cream cheese onto the steak ans sprinkle over a third of the peppers and a third of the mushrooms. Cut a bacon rasher into strips and place them onto the steak. Season with salt and pepper.

Fold the greaseproof paper around to make a parcel and place on a baking tray. Repeat with the other two parcels. Place in a very hot oven, 200oC for around 20 minutes. If you want to brown the meat slightly then open the parcels a bit for the last 5 minutes.

To serve you can either remove the steaks from the paper, as shown in the picture, or for a bit of interest why not serve the steak in the paper.

Want to give it a go? Download the .pdf version, easier than writing it out!!

This happened as a result of me planning one meal and then finding out I didn't have the ingredients I needed! That's the first step for cooking, be prepared...

Hey! I'd love to know if people are using my recipes!! If you are leave a wee comment on the recipes post! Also, why not head back and let me know how you got on!!?

10 Days to Faster Reading

I have just finished the 10 Days to Faster Reading book by Abby Marks Beale. It was excellent. It talks you through various techniques for speeding up not only your reading but your comprehension as well. At first I was dubious as to whether this would work, sometimes it felt as if I was just skimming across the words without really taking anything in! But I was! After each exercise there was a comprehension test which asked questions about what you had just read and I was astonished that I was actually remembering and taking in the information!!

I would definately recommend this book to anyone wanting to speed up their reading, or even to people who are just interested in the techniques! You will not be disappointed! I doubled my reading speed over the 10 days, and if i'm honest I didn't put in as much practice as was recommended! I went up to 480 words per minute with an 80% comprehension rate! I intend to continue practicing the techniques in the book to try and increase this further.

The book also recommends further titles to extend your abilities!

Seriously, give it a go!!

Crunchy Oat Biscuits

Ingredients 115g butter 2 tbsp golden syrup 115g self-raising flour 115g light brown, soft sugar 115g rolled oats 115g sultanas 2tsp water 1tsp mixed spice

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150oC.
2. Gently melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan.
3. Mix the flour, sugar, spice, sultanas and oats together in a bowl.
   
4. Stir in the melted butter together with the water and combine well.
5. Leave mixture to cool for 5 minutes then mould into balls and place well apart on a baking tray.
6. Bake for around 25 minutes then remove from oven, allow to cool slightly before turning onto a cooling rack.

Want to give it a go? Download the .pdf version, easier than writing it out!!

These are wonderfully easy and taste great, the best way to fill up the biscuit barrel!! This recipe should make around 30 biscuits but of course you can make them as big or as small as you want!!! This is a great recipe for beginners in the kitchen with quick tasty results!!

Hey! I'd love to know if people are using my recipes!! If you are leave a wee comment on the recipes post! Also, why not head back and let me know how you got on!!?