And Then

The Wednesday Chatters began meeting in August 2013, in the Cheeky Llama cafe in the Queens Park Gardens in Invercargill, on Wednesday afternoons throughout the year except for December and January. The record has been unbroken until April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown prevented group meetings as a method for eliminating spread of the virus, which has particular potency for those aged over 70 years.

However, through the medium of ZOOM software and the internet, we have maintained the unbroken record of the Wednesday meetings by virtual means - see the screenshot at left of the meeting on 22 April; Donald and Roger in the top two frames, with Tony and Russ in the lower two. (Geoff and Bruce were not present on that particular day.)

Great Sea Story

Dusty sent us this tale which had been passed on to him by a seafaring friend. It's the story of the SS Warrimoo.

SS Warrimoo

A FASCINATING SHORT SEA STORY

The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought the master, Captain John Phillips, the result. The Warrimoo's position was LAT 0º 31' N and LON 179 30' W. The date was 31 December 1899.

"Know what this means?" First Mate Payton broke in, "We're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line".

Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime. He called his navigators to the bridge to check and double check the ships position. He changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark. Then he adjusted the engine speed. The calm weather & clear night worked in his favour. At mid-night the SS Warrimoo lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line! The consequences of this bizarre position were many:

The forward part (bow) of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere and in the middle of summer. The rear (stern) was in the Northern Hemisphere in the middle of winter. The date in the aft part of the ship was 31 December 1899. In the bow (forward) part it was 1 January 1900. This ship was therefore not only in:

Two different days,

Two different months,

Two different years,

Two different seasons

But in two different centuries - all at the same time.

Going on visits is not a feature of our activities, we are a café chat group after all, but we did walk through our delightful Queen's Park one day to the Southland Boys' High School Museum for a pleasant wander around their archives. Here we are posing for the camera that afternoon.

Southland Boys' High School Museum is an entertaining and informative record of the school's history since its founding in 1881. It is arranged in bays depicting different aspects of that history including; a pre-1914 classroom with a mural of the original school building, two World War memorials complete with biographies of 234 Fallen Old Boys, classroom memorabilia, Rhodes Scholars and other distinguished ex-pupils, sports exhibits, a range of old school lockers (open them in turn to find historic photos relevant to the school) and a 1905 Cadet shield made of copper from the hull of Nelson's flagship H.M.S. Victory. They are just some of the surprises in store for the visitor. The S.B.H.S. museum can be viewed by appointment.

Just to show that blokes can do anything we decided to include a few of our favourite recipes. We may even add a few more at a later date.

This first one is from Roger:

Classic French dessert Recipe : Tarte tatin (this looks really yummy!)

Can be cooked a day or two ahead and keep in its pan or dish in the fridge, then reheat in the oven for 20 mins.

1. Take an oven-proof pan (25cm) (one where handle is heat-proof) and heat 1-2 tablespoons of butter with the same quantity

of brown sugar, and heat 5-7 minutes until slightly caramelised.

2. Prepare fruit - choice of apples; apricots; pears; peaches; tamarillos - by peeling skins and cutting into quarters or slices.

3. Place fruit face down in pan caramelised base; arrange decoratively. Lightly pre-cook. Leave sitting until ready, near

serving time

4. Place sheet of puff pastry on top. Fold in edges. Prick pastry with a fork. Cook in a hot oven until pastry has puffed and is

lightly browned.

5. Remove from oven. Place a plate/dish over the pan and flip the whole over so that the pastry is bottom-most on the dish;

the fruit upper-most.

6. Slice; serve hot with cream/whipped cream/ice cream to taste.

(Pictured: tamarillos.)

This one is from Russ:

Raspberry Teacake

Given to me by management at the Auction House. Take these ingredients:

1. 140g soft butter

2. 140g castor sugar

3. 140g self-raising flour

4. 140g ground almonds

and mix together until well combined. Line a tin with baking paper (I used a 23cm non-stick pan so no paper).

Spread ¼ of the mixture on the base. Top generously with frozen raspberries. Spread the remaining mixture on top ensuring it covers the raspberries. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top and 2 Tbsp of castor sugar.

Bake at 170-180 degrees C for 50-60 mins.

And this one, something else, from Bruce

- good one Bruce!

And from Tony - and I've tasted some of these - they are delicious!

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

130g butter 57g sugar

1 Tbs condensed milk 1 Tbs golden syrup

1 tsp baking powder 170g flour

80g Whitakers Dark Ghana chocolate

Put sugar and butter into a bowl, soften in a microwave (about 25 secs) and beat until well creamed.

Add condensed milk and golden syrup and beat into the mixture.

Add flour and baking powder and mix well until combined.

Add chocolate cut into small pieces (like chocolate chips) and mix into the mixture.

Make into balls (about the size of table-tennis balls) and flatten with a fork on a baking try.

Bake 20 minutes at 180 deg. C.

Let cool and store in an airtight container. The recipe makes 15 biscuits.

Finally, in this edition, a recipe from Geoff. He calls it his "ARCHAEOLOGICAL CAKE" as it is taken to digs and is eagerly awaited by fellow diggers (purely for medicinal purposes of course!) The longer one can resist the delights the better and the Jus is marvellous!!! You will notice that I have sent the English version, I had to translate it to French for one of our digger friends who tasted it at Vindolanda.

FRUIT CAKE RECIPE

Grated rind of 1 lemon. 700g mixed fruits (currants, sultanas, glace cherries and mixed peel.

300g plain flour ½ tsp salt

1 tsp mixed spice. 2 tsp baking powder.

250g butter. 250g sugar.

5 eggs 375ml brandy

marzipan and icing if needed.

You'll also need: a 23cm x 7cm loose base baking tin and an airtight cake tin.

Coarsely chop the cherries and add to the fruit in a large bowl. Add the flour, salt, spice, lemon rind and baking powder, making sure that all the fruit is coated. Cream the butter, then add the sugar gradually and beat well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in thoroughly. Add the fruit and flour mixture and stir well to ensure good mixing.

Butter the baking tin and line with baking parchment, spoon the mixture into the tin pushing into the corners well.

Pre-heat the oven to 150deg c and bake the cake for 100 minutes, then reduce the oven to 140deg c and bake for a further 50 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool completely, remove the baking tin and cut the cake in half horizontally.

Prepare the first layer of marzipan, pierce the bottom half of the cake with a fork and pour on some of the brandy allowing it to soak in. Apply the marzipan. Put the top half of the cake in position, pierce it with the fork and pour some more brandy onto the top half. apply the marzipan followed by the icing.

If using a conventional cake tin, cut a 10cm wide strip of baking parchment long enough to use to lower and raise the cake in the tin, place the cake onto it and lower into the tin. Pour the remaining brandy into the tin avoiding the icing. Close the tin tightly and leave it alone for six months.

After this time you should find that the marzipan has dissolved into the fruit cake. ENJOY!