In Good Taste: Modern conveniences
Chocolate peanut bliss balls
Today’s dish-drawer saves us from having to bend. Oh wow, just imagine, one day we’ll be able to do everything from the bed. We’ll never have to get up when the alarm rings; we’ll just press a few buttons and a full English breakfast will appear. As soon as that’s gone, a computer will arrive and we’ll be at work. And a good thing too, as we’ll be so big by this time that it will take a forklift to remove us from the bedroom should we ever need to venture out. Travel? Pah! A thing of the past. We will “virtual” it instead. We’ll have Reality Holidays planned for us to take at home.
The big difference I notice between us and appliances now, as opposed to us and the lack of appliances in the olden days, is that back then we were fitter, stronger and, dare I say it, happier. Does the latest greatest really make our life “better”?
I guess that iced water dispenser in the fridge door is a hit with the kids and their friends, but I remember a neighbour who kept a glass bottle of water in his fridge, and that was always cold too. All these time-saving appliances fill up the cupboards, each little part takes eons to wash, and they make us feel as though we are nobody if we don’t have one. And they break down within a year, whether we use them or not. Well, take me home country road!
Remember the episode of Ma and Pa Kettle when they won a state-of-the-art house? The new kitchen contained a never-seen-before microwave oven, and it was with this oven they decided to celebrate the first night in their new house by cooking a suckling pig. Four-and-a-half hours after turning it on they looked inside to find a piece of charcoal the size of a walnut. Buon appitito!
My Mum says that the best thing about having had four kids and no dishwasher was that each of us was assigned to drying the dishes one night a week and this was the only chance she got to talk to us one-on-one. A chance to air our grievances (plenty of those with three siblings), discuss any concerns, wants and needs, and enjoy the opportunity to have our mother’s ear without too many distractions.
Appliances have been invented to save us time. What we do with that extra time is worth considering. Is it spent sitting in front of the telly, or going for a walk with the kids? It’s up to you.
This recipe doesn’t require any modern convenience unless you consider the old Shacklock stove to be one. This was one of the most popular slices we served at the Wholemeal in the early days, and although rich, it is loved by everyone who eats it.
Wholemeal Trading Fudge Cake
225g butter
225g raw sugar
1 cup of large sticky raisins
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
2 eggs, beaten together lightly with a fork
1 cup of fresh walnuts
450g of super wine biscuits
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
Melt together in a pot the butter, sugar, raisins and the cocoa. Once the butter and sugar have melted, remove from the heat and quickly stir in the eggs and vanilla. The heat of the butter and sugar should be enough to cook the egg.
Place the biscuits into a large bowl and break into chunks with a rolling pin. Add the other dry ingredients and then mix through the wet ingredients. Stir to incorporate everything and press into a lined slice tin. Refrigerate overnight.
If you want to go all-out (and why not?), ice the slice with chocolate icing and sprinkle on more chopped walnuts. Cut into fingers and keep in the fridge. Really good with a cup of coffee, or as a coming-up-to-Christmas give away treat.
Another no-cook idea for a treat to give away this Christmas is these bliss balls. Quite healthy yet still rich and chocolatey, they tick all the boxes. If you buy a small piece of local pottery and fill the dish with these little numbers, wrap it all in cellophane and tie it up with some raffia you will certainly make someone’s day.
Chocolate peanut bliss balls
½ cup of cocoa powder (or carob)
½ cup of wheat germ
1½ cups of milk powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 cup of honey
1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
(the commercial brands work best)
1 cup of sunflower seeds, toasted
Coconut to roll the balls in
Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl, and then gather the kids around to help roll some balls. Finally roll them in coconut and place in a container, which you can keep in the fridge.
Fiona Feasey
