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GARDENING and COOKING by The Jam Tarts

from Coolamon Community Chronicle - April 2023

from Coolamon Community Chronicle - April 2023, page 5

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A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun usually made with fruit, marked with a cross on the top, and has been traditionally eaten on Good Friday.

One origin theory is that the contemporary hot cross bun originates from St Albans, in England, where, in 1361, Brother Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th century monk at St Albans Abbey, developed a recipe called an ‘Alban Bun’ and distributed the bun to the local poor on Good Friday.

Another belief is that during the Pagan festival of Eastre, the Saxon’s prepared and ate buns marked with a cross which was thought to have represented the four quarters of the moon. Fun Fact – The world’s oldest hot cross bun is believed to be more than 200 years old. It is owned by a couple from Essex in England, claiming the bun was made in 1807 – and it isn’t even mouldy!

Why not have a go at baking your own hot cross buns this Easter?

Traditional Hot Cross Bun Recipe

4 ½ c plain flour

14 gm dried yeast ¼ c caster sugar

1 ½ tsp mixed spice pinch salt

40 gm butter

300 ml milk

Glaze 1/3 cup water 4 tbsp apricot jam

1 ½ c dried fruit

2 eggs, lightly beaten 4 tbsp water

Combine 4 cups flour (retain ½ cup flour), yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt and dried fruit in a large bowl. Melt butter in saucepan and add milk. Heat until lukewarm. Add milk mixture and eggs to dry mixture. Lightly mix dough until it almost comes together to a soft dough. Knead dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot for 1 – 1 ½ hours or until dough doubles in size.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Punch dough and knead for 30 seconds until smooth. Divide into 12 even balls. Place balls onto tray ~1 cm apart. Cover with oiled cling film and set aside in warm place for 30 minutes or until buns double in size. Preheat oven to 170 °C. To make a paste for crosses, mix ½ cup plain flour and 4 tbsp water together in bowl until smooth. Add more water if paste is too thick. Place in snap-lock bag and snip off one corner to create a piping bag. Pipe flour paste over the tops of the buns to form crosses. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until cooked through.

For glaze, place water and jam into a saucepan over low heat and stir until jam dissolves. Bring to the boil for 3-4 minutes, then brush glaze over warm hot cross buns. Slather with lashings of butter and enjoy.

Use your tomorrows to improve on your yesterdays

Things To Do In The Garden

The first autumn leaves will be tumbling so get smart, start a compost heap. These leaves, once broken down, are the stuff great gardens are made of. Large gardens will benefit from a home-made structure (maybe of corrugated iron), while plastic, commercially-made compost bins are ideal for smaller gardens. It is time to prepare your soil, if you don’t have compost or manure, apply a slow-release fertilizer.

April is right for planting in flower beds – consider planting aquilegia, calendula, cineraria, cornflower, delphinium, dianthus, hollyhock, impatiens, poppy, larkspur, lobelia, pansy, snapdragon, stock, sweet pea and lupins.

Vegetables – lettuce, onion, peas, radish, shallots and spinach.

Pruning can be very beneficial – even essential for flowering shrubs but it can be intimidating to attack your favourite flowering bush. Proper pruning can encourage larger blooms or more frequent flowering. If your shrub flowers in summer/autumn then prune in late winter or early spring. If your shrub flowers in spring then prune after the blooms wither and die. If the shrubs need very heavy regenerative pruning, then prune in late winter or early spring. If your shrub is damaged, diseased or has dead branches, prune anytime. It will be worth it to revitalise your plant.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Storytime date – 28th April – Theme: “Happy to be me”.

Please note: Storytime will not be held over the school holidays.

Easter Cups

Come along to the Library to decorate an Easter cup – just in time for Easter. This will be held on Tuesday, 4th April from 4.00-5.00 pm. Cost of $5 per person – phone the Library to book – 6927 2492.

“Vegetable Plot”

The Library will be hosting a live musical performance from the “Vegetable Plot”. This talented band of three uses the power of music and storytelling to help kids fall in love with veggies! Come along to listen to their catchy tunes, sweet harmonies, dances and jokes. It will be held during the April School Holidays, Wednesday 12th April @ 10.00 am, cost is $5 per person. Phone the Library for further details – 6927 2492.

Baby Bounce

Baby Bounce will be held on Wednesday, 26th April @ 10.30 am. Baby Bounce is a 30 minute early literacy program designed to help very young children to explore language. This is done by everyone joining in and learning an array of simple stories, rhymes and songs. Everyone is most welcome to join in.

Local History Group

Our local family History group will meet again at the Library, Saturday 29th April @ 10.30 am –everyone is most welcome.

Tech Savvy for Seniors

The Library is offering free computer courses for our seniors in our community. The Tech Savvy Seniors program helps you build the skills and confidence to use computers, tablets and smartphones. It includes face-to-face training - Phone the Library for further details – 6927 2492.

Easter Closure The Library will be closed for Good Friday 7th April, Easter Saturday 8th April and Easter Monday 10th April. Also the Library will be closed for Anzac Day, Tuesday 25th April.

THE COOLAMON and DISTRICT HISTORY GROUP

The Coolamon and District History Group is seeking financial donations to assist in making a start to fund the digitisation of the Coolamon-Ganmain Farmers Review Newspaper to be digitised by the National Library of Australia and placed on their Web Site “Trove.” The Coolamon- Ganmain Farmers Review Newspaper commenced in 1906 and was published up to the mid 1950’s. The paper contains a lot of the history of the Coolamon Shire, the people and events, and would be invaluable to researchers. The cost quoted by The National Library of Australia to have this newspaper digitised from 1906 to 1951 is in the order of $23,000. This is to have 11,808 pages digitised which is only an estimate and the true number can only be obtained after the digitisation process is complete. Copyright issues make the digitisation of the paper after 1954 an issue.

The Coolamon and District History Group is looking at all available funding options. Any donation, no matter how large or small, will allow the Coolamon and District History Group to raise funds to have the paper digitised, whether it be in all at once or maybe just a few years or decades at a time.

Donations can be made by on-line transfer to the Coolamon and District History Group account at Beyond Bank in Coolamon (BSB 325185, Account No. 03907153). Alternatively, you can also visit Beyond Bank at Coolamon or Ganmain and they will put your donation into the Coolamon and District Groups account. Please consider as to have the local newspaper digitised would be of such a benefit to those researching their families or local history research.

The Group have already fully funded the digitisation of The Coolamon Echo Newspaper which can be viewed on "Trove."

Marc Canino, President, The Coolamon and District History Group.

News to hand for the Coolamon and District History Group is the donation of a substantial amount of early memorabilia from the collection of Sylvia Edge and Ardel Prout nee Edge.

The Rotary Club of Coolamon meets on Mondays at the Sports and Rec Club at 6.30 for 7 pm start. We regularly host interesting guest speakers covering diverse topics, and arrange trips away throughout the year to encourage fellowship and experience interesting places. Youth programs are one of our major objectives, with many of our activities targeted in this direction. Our club is a friendly, dynamic organisation with a great sense of community involvement looking to enhance Coolamon and surrounds.