Welsh Recipes - Part One

Bara Brith - Welsh Tea Cake

This winter I'm trying out some traditional Welsh recipes. It's part of my effort to get in touch with my ancestral roots. I view pictures and read travel articles on a country, search for recipes and then try out a few. Last year, I cooked up some lamb even though I hadn't cooked meat in years. It was part of my process of learning about my Scottish ancestor's food traditions. I also modified recipes a bit for diet restriction reasons. I'm doing the same this year as I explore Welsh recipes.

Welsh recipes are very simple. They use only a few basic ingredients. So, now I know where my love of simplicity comes from! Many of the recipes call for cheese. Since I have a lactose intolerant family member, I will have to hold off on those recipes until I can figure out either how to modify, or cook two meals at once - A Welsh cheese recipe for me, and a lactose free version for hubby. That will be later in Part Two.  

Recipe serves eight

For now, I focused on recipes that needed little modification. The photos above are of Bara Brith, a Welsh Tea Cake. As a tea lover, I was excited to see the recipe called for soaking raisins in Earl Grey Tea for six hours. I was certain the Bara Brith would have that Earl Grey flavor. It didn't. In the future, I may add some fennel seeds to bring out the tea flavor. The recipe called for either a six inch cake pan, or an eight inch pan. Since I only had an eight inch pan, that is what I used. I wished I had borrowed or bought a six inch pan, because that would have made the cake taller and possibly moister. My first taste of Bara Brith seemed a bit bland and dry, however I stumbled upon a trick. I wrapped half and put it in the freezer for a few weeks. Once thawed, it was wonderfully flavorful and moist!

Bara Brith:

10 oz. strong Earl Grey Tea

10 oz. Raisins

Lemon Zest

9 oz. Organic Oat Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 large Egg, beaten

1/2 tsp. Ceylon Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Cardomom

5 oz. Organic Palm Sugar

1 tsp. Fennel Seeds (optional)

Soak raisins in tea for six hours. Then add remaining ingredients (do not drain tea, you need it for moisture). Grease 6 or 8 inch cake pan. Add batter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake 90 minutes. Cool. Serve, or Freeze for more flavor later. Serves 8.

Next up was Welsh Onion Cake! It's actually more potato than onion, but whatever we call it, it qualifies as good old fashioned comfort food! The original recipe called for butter, which I changed to olive oil. The potatoes and onion are sliced very thin, and then layered.

Drizzle each layer with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper

Welsh Onion Cake:

4 Potatoes (I used Red Bliss), sliced thin

1 large onion, sliced thin

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Grease casserole dish. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Overlap slices from the first potato in bottom of dish. Spread 1/3 of onion slices. Drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Repeat, ending with the 4th potato slices on top. Cook 45 - 60 min. 

Welsh Onion Cake

Welsh Onion Cake served with Organic Tempeh and Snap Peas

Last I tried the simplest Welsh recipe of all - Black Current Plate Pie. Basically it is pie crust, currents, and sugar - super simple! It's called Plate Pie, because you make and bake it on a ten inch oven-safe plate. Since I wasn't sure how oven-safe my dishes are, I prepared and baked it in a pie tin, ignoring the contours of the tin and pretending it was a plate. The result is a hardy rustic tart.

Black Current Plate Pie

Not having access to fresh black currents, I substituted with Tiptree Black Current Preserves. This way I didn't have to add any sugar. The preserves are a bit tart, but I like tart better than too sweet. While I was at it, I simplified further by using a boxed pre-made grocery brand pie crust from my local grocer. All I did was open the package, and unroll it onto the pie tin, spread the preserves, and top with a second crust! I think my simple-recipe loving Welsh ancestors would be proud!

Recipe serves six

Black Current Plate Pie:

2 ready made pie crusts

Black Current Preserves

Milk and sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out crust. Spread preserves in middle. Brush water on edges of crust. Top with 2nd crust, roll edges under and pinch to seal. Brush top with a little almond milk, and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Slice vents in crust for steam to escape. Bake 25-30 minutes. Serve plain, or with ice cream, or whipped cream. Serves 6-8.

Simple Simple Plate Pie

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

 See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

 ©2018 Laura S. Pringle. All Rights Reserved.

Sunrise

Some days, when the world seems out of control, my mind searches for comfort in things familiar and constant. This week's news events made that task feel impossible, but after a few days I remembered - sunrise, I can always count on the sun to rise. I find this calming, a way to take a few moments to de-stress. The trauma has not gone away, solutions still need to be found, but we need to find ways to step away for a few moments and find some peace. This helps me, I hope it brings you some peace as well.

And even when winter delivers a thick blanket of snow

I can always look out my window's view to the east and see that warm familiar glow. A new day dawns, the sun continues to rise and life will move forward.

Thank you sunrise for always being there

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

 ©2018 Laura S. Pringle. All Rights Reserved.

Traditional White Costume of Korea

My husband, Gary, and I spent much of this rainy, dreary weekend catching up on our DVR queue. By last night we had finally caught up to the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. It was a beautiful ceremony of peace, tradition, and a look toward the future. I was particularly taken with the traditional white costumes of Korea and wanted to learn more. So, this morning, I've done a little research. Here is what I found.

The Snow Queen

The South Korean traditional costume is called Hanbok. In North Korea, it is called Joseon-oth. Both are worn for semi-formal and formal occasions such as traditional festivals and celebrations. In South Korea they even celebrate Hanbok Day to encourage people to wear the traditional costume. According to wikipedia, Hanbok was, "Worn daily up until just 100 years ago."

The Queen's Court

Historically, commoners wore white and were called the white-clad people. Royalty and the upper class were permitted to wear more colorful attire. Today, white is worn for weddings, celebrations, and funerals. It would be unthinkable for a Korean bride to wear any color but white. White is considered a color of purity and innocence. It is worn at funerals to celebrate the journey to the afterlife. White is also considered the color of patriotism and peace. 

Wedding Dress

Traditional bell-shaped hanbok

The hanbok looks especially graceful in motion. The jacket fits closer to the body than the full skirt, giving the appearance the wearer is floating on air. 

Miss Korea floating on air

For the 2018 Winter Olympics, the entire team was outfitted in white. In part this was to celebrate the snowflake theme, but mostly to emphasize peace and patriotism, uniting North and South Korea for now.

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

 See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

 ©2018 Laura S. Pringle. All Rights Reserved.

Animal Spirit Guides

Fire Race is a Native American Folktale about the acquisition of fire

Among the benefits of reading are learning about things you never understood before, and gaining a fresh perspective on things you thought you understood. I've always known that, but I hadn't expected this to happen while reading children's books. I've been researching many folktales in preparation for my next book on kindergarten comprehension skills. This week my focus was on Native American folktales, one of the Common Core domain topics. I had just read Fire Race: A Karuk Coyote Tale by Jonathon London, on Friday night. Saturday morning I woke up from a dream with an image of an elephant riding a bicycle in my mind. Immediately, I felt tremendous gratitude for the vast network of intelligent minds who have touched my life. When I couldn't figure out the connection between the image of that funny, wobbly elephant and this sudden sense of overwhelming gratitude, I went back to Fire Race. On further research, it turns out the animal people in the story represent the Native American belief in Animal Spirit Guides.

Animal Spirit Guides show up in our lives in many different ways: a dream, in reality, a feeling of connection, a tv show... At any given time, we have up to nine of these guides, who watch over us and bring us "medicine." The combination of animals may change over time. One animal is our totem animal. The totem animal stays with you through out your life.

I made list of nine animals who have been in my life in recent days. Then I studied the descriptions of the "medicine" they bring. After spending a day thinking about it, I was able to apply this philosophy to my life. I don't think I'll ever view nature in the same old passive way again. From now on, I'll be curious to understand what the animals are bringing to my life and how they are guiding me. Below are my nine recent animal spirit guides.

My cat, Autumn, bringing the medicine of independence. Writing has led me to the most independent work of my life. Autumn has been my constant companion - my totem guide.

I heard coyotes howling a few nights ago, bringing me the medicine of wisdom in the form of the Native American folktales I have been reading.

On my way home from the library, I saw three crows on a tree branch overhanging the road. I couldn't help but look up. They were bringing me the medicine of a higher perspective.

I am thoroughly enjoying the PBS series The Story of China, with Michael Wood. My husband and I first watched it last summer. There is so much history and culture we were happy to see it air again. At the beginning of each episode, there is a dragon. This dragon is bringing me the medicine of infinity. Life never really ends, it is renewed over and over again.

My funny, wobbly elephant - what a character! What could he possibly have to do with my sense of gratitude for intelligent people? Well, there have been many times in my life when I have felt absolutely surrounded by ignorant and dare I say downright stupid people! What a sense of frustration and hopelessness for the future of our world that brings. But my thinking was unbalanced (the wobbly bike). The reality is I have always been surrounded by networks of very intelligent people. Often they are on the fringes of my life, or in the past, but they are there. They are a part of me. The medicine my elephant guide brought me was a sense of history. Only on looking back could I see the error in my thinking - the absurdity in focusing on the negative when the truth is far more positive. I know more brilliant people will be in my future. 

This red fox moved in under our shed. We are learning its schedule, and see it come out at dusk, stretch, yawn, and then dash off to hunt in the woods. It comes back at sunrise. The fox brings the medicine of diplomacy. Something we are all in need of these days.

Behind our home, on the other side of the hill, is a horse farm. At dinner time, we can just make out a rider on horseback, with a miniature horse trailing behind. We started seeing it more this week, a week in which I had some trouble sleeping at night, which made the daytime hours a bit troublesome, but I got through it. My horse guide brought me the medicine of stamina.

Last week, I saw a squirrel (maybe this one) narrowly escape the grip of our fox friend. My squirrel guide brings me the medicine of preparedness and resourcefulness.

We've been seeing large flocks of turkeys this winter. My turkey guides bring the medicine of generosity, and the sharing of blessings - which is why I'm sharing this story with you, my readers.

Want to learn about your animal spirit guides? Think back over the past few days or weeks, and jot down up to nine animals you have seen or thought of. Next, visit https://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-totems/

to learn more.

It's important to do it in this order, because your spirit guides choose you, rather than you choosing them based on the descriptions you read. I'd love to hear about your discoveries, so please share! 

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

 See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

 ©2018 Laura S. Pringle. All Rights Reserved.