Prison Lunch, Training, Bowling.

Well, here’s a new one, trust the Brits. There is a restaurant called The Clink. So what, you may say, the what is that it is inside an actual prison in Surrey, England, the chefs, staff and waiters are all prisoners. It says a Category B prison, not sure what that is, but presumably a pretty minimum security place. So I Googled, I quote

• Category B prisoners are those who do not require maximum security, but for whom escape needs to be made very difficult

For more information, especially if you live in the UK, go to http://www.theclinkcharity.com/ Do read the menus, they look delicious and feature things we can’t get in Canada which makes me want to try it out. I do hope the staff keep a good eye on what actually goes into the food.

My training went well yesterday, there are a couple of changes to things we did last time, but nothing major. They are now quite concerned about accessibility in polling stations principally because one wheelchair bound guy in Québec complained to them because he had a lot of difficulty, next time he used the same polling station which had the same access problems for him so he decided to sue them. Why on earth didn’t they take notice the first time? Very shortsighted. A few extremely dumb questions were asked during the training session and they not only vote, they run the stations.

Today we are having our last Travel League get together for the winter Bowling League. We are going to try a different restaurant which was recommended to me, its called Benny’s. I know nothing about it or what the food is like. Tomorrow we will find out. The Thai restaurant we had been going to was not popular with the whole group so although several of us really enjoyed it, we have to sacrifice to the will of the majority. If I don’t think too much of Benny’s, I will be back at the Thai restaurant next year.

Just for fun, I decided to include this recipe from BBC Food, I actually can’t imagine anyone making them unless they have lots of time and love to bake. Still, if you want to make something special to celebrate the Royal Wedding – here you are.

Union Jack Fondant Fancies Ingredients For the cake 175g/6oz unsalted butter, softened 175g/6oz caster sugar (same as our regular sugar in Canada) 3 free-range eggs, lightly beaten 175g/6oz self-raising flour (all purpose) 1-2 tbsp milk

For the syrup 50g/1¾oz caster sugar 50ml/2fl oz water ¼ tsp lemon essence

For the filling 150g/5½oz icing sugar 75g/2¾oz butter, softened 3-5 tbsp strawberry jam

For the topping 2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed gently, then passed through a sieve 250g/9oz marzipan 450g/1 lb fondant icing sugar red and blue food colouring

Preparation method 1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square cake tin. 2. Beat together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until well combined. (If the mixture looks like it is curdling add a spoonful of the flour.) Fold in the flour and add a little milk if the mixture looks stiff. 3. Spoon the cake batter into the cake tin and level using the back of a spoon. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden-brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 4. Remove the cake from the oven, set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then turn out and allow to cool completely, upside down, on a wire rack. 5. Meanwhile, for the sugar syrup, heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the lemon essence. 6. For the filling, beat the butter in a bowl until soft and smooth, slowly beat in the icing sugar. Continue to beat until fluffy. 7. Very carefully, using the longest knife you have, remove the dark crust from the top of the cake and turn the cake upside down. Then cut the cake in half horizontally. 8. Drizzle or brush the bottom cake layer with the sugar syrup and then spread with the buttercream. Top with the jam and carefully sandwich with the top half of the cake. 9. Wrap the cake in cling film and chill for 2-3 hours, this will make it easier to cut the cake later. 10. Lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan to the same size as the cake. Once the cake is chilled, brush the top of the cake with the sieved apricot jam. Carefully lift the marzipan onto the cake, smooth it flat along the top of the cake and cut off any excess marzipan. Cut the cake into equal 25 x 4cm/1½in squares. 11. Sieve the fondant icing sugar into a small bowl and stir in enough hot water to make a smooth icing thick enough to coat the cakes. Reserving three tablespoons of the icing into two bowls, cover with cling film and set aside. 12. Coat the cake squares with the icing, easing the icing down the sides of the cakes until you have an even coating all over the cakes. Sit the cakes on a cooling rack until the icing is set. 13. Add a few drops of blue food colouring to one of the bowls of icing, mix to a smooth paste and spoon into a piping bag with a very fine nozzle. Repeat with the other bowl of icing using the red food colouring. 14. Use these two colours to pipe the union jack onto the fondant fancies. Be as simple or as intricate as you dare! Carefully remove the cakes from the rack and sit in paper cases.

Have a great day