The Tingle Factor Box

Roy Creates Quick and Easy Vanilla Slice

This week, with New Year being just around the corner, Roy decided it was the perfect time to enjoy a picnic dinner. Roy loves to go into the city to see the New Year's Eve fireworks and he knows that lots of his friends also love to watch them. Some of his friends like to take a picnic to enjoy, and so Roy wanted to share an easy, delicious picnic dessert with his online friends. Vanilla Slice is one of his favourite Australian desserts, and this quick version is ideal for a quick and tasty picnic food, so this week Roy Creates Quick And Easy Vanilla Slice.

It's So Cute - Childrens Picnic Set

Imagine, it is a beautiful day in the mid 1900s. Your Mummy and Daddy have promised to take you on a picnic this week, and you hope they remember – it is such a perfect day to be outdoors. You love picnicking, so much that Mummy found a little picnic set, just the right size for you to use with your dolls and your friends. Perhaps if Mummy and Daddy don’t take you picnicking today you could ask Mummy for some sandwiches to enjoy with your dolly.

Roaming Roy Looks After The Salvos

Today, Christmas Day, is traditionally a day for family, gift giving and fun. Roy loves Christmas, but he never forgets that gift giving isn’t just about the people you know. Sometimes the nicest gifts are the ones which help others. Many of his friends leave gifts under communal ‘giving trees’ to be sent to those who are less fortunate and others donate food or toys to charity to be distributed. Yet all too often, charity is something people think about only at Christmas time.

You might remember that last year, for New Year, Roy made a piggy bank. He named her Petunia and decided to fill her up throughout the year and then donate her to charity. All year, Roy and I have been filling her up with loose change, money left on the end of the bench and coins we found. She was a very heavy, healthy little pig by this Christmas! A few weeks ago Roy donated Petunia to his chosen charity and this week he wanted to tell you who that charity was and why he chose it.

When Roy was thinking about charities he could donate Petunia to, shortly after he finished making her, he kept thinking back to something my Great Grandma used to say; ‘always look after the Salvos, because they always look after us’. Her husband had been in the fledgling Australian Airforce during the First World War and the Salvation Army provided him much support and assistance. He told her 'you must never turn your back on the Salvos'. Roy decided that Gran and Great Grandpa would like it if Petunia went to the Salvos, but then began to wonder what else the Salvation Army did during Gran's lifetime which made them so well loved. Gran was born in 1903 and lived through two World Wars, the Great Depression and a variety of other hardships. Throughout these times, the Salvos were always there, and their dedication to helping people made them very important to many Australians.

The Salvation Army are a specific denomination of Christian Church. They believe that they can best express love for God through helping people. Although they are Christian, and are religious people, they don’t only help those who share their faith. In fact, they are one of the biggest and most active social welfare providers in the world! The Salvation Army has been active in Australia for well over 100 years. Edward Saunders and John Gore met accidentally in Adelaide in 1880 and decided to start the Salvation Army movement in Australia. They wrote to the General in England for help and held the first Salvation Army meeting in the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide, 1880. Within two years they had established congregations in Sydney and Melbourne. Throughout all of their history, they have emphasised the importance of helping people. Even at the first ever meeting an invitation was extended to anyone who hadn’t had a good meal to go home with Gore to share his tea! During the wars they provided physical and spiritual support to soldiers, and in the photo above, which Roy owns, you can see them distributing doughnuts to servicemen in France. Similarly, during the Depression they were there to help where possible, distributing aid and support without discrimination. As Gran said ‘always look after the Salvos, because they always look after us’.

Roy Creates Last Minute Christmas Cake

This week, with Christmas almost upon us, Roy decided he would like to show his online friends how to make a tasty ‘Christmas Fruit Cake’, for those who forgot to make one earlier. Roy usually makes his fruit cake for Christmas months in advance, because they mature nicely, but knows that some people might have forgotten and be worried about whether they can still make a tasty one this late. Roy has a recipe which he uses year round to make cakes, which can be made with all sorts of additions, and makes a fantastically moist and tasty fruit cake. So this week, Roy Creates Last Minute Christmas Cake.

This recipe is adapted from the Premi-Babes Association of Orange Cook Book.

So Many Names and Faces, but one person? Santa Pictures

Imagine, you are a child living in the 1950s. It is nearing Christmas and you are just waiting to see whether Santa thought you were good this year. You hope the jolly man in the red suit will make a stop at your house and bring you something nice.  One of your friends actually thinks Santa is a she, because only a mother would know so much about children. Of course, nobody really knows, because Santa only visits when everybody is sleeping.

Roaming Roy Finds The Way To Cope - Copeland Tops Part 2

Last week Roy took his online friends to one of the places where he likes to holiday, Copeland Tops. Combining two of Roys favourite things, history and nature, Copeland Tops is a place which Roy fell in love with. Last week Roy looked at the history of the area as a gold field, and this week he will investigate what makes the Copeland Tops area such an amazing place to enjoy nature.

Roy Creates Christmas Candle Treats

This week, Roy decided that he wanted to make something Christmasy, tasty and easy. The question was what? He had been fascinated by the little candle holders which I wrote up earlier this week, and wished he could make a candle which he could eat. Of course, he thought this was impossible, until he spoke to his Grandma. Roy's Grandma seems to have hundreds of Christmas recipes tucked away waiting to be used, and one which she remembered making with my siblings and I was a candle made using a pollywaffle and a few other ingredients. Although pollywaffles aren't available anymore, Roy and I have successfully adapted the recipe. So this week Roy Creates Christmas Candle Treats.

That's Insane! Christmas Tree Candle Holders

Imagine, it is the late 1800s and Christmas is fast approaching. You have just chosen a Christmas Tree and it is now sitting in the centre of the room. Time to decorate! You carefully hang sparkling glass ornaments from the branches and then you take the candle holders from their box. Each is carefully clipped onto a branch, making sure that there are no branches close enough to catch alight and that the candle is straight and won't drip wax on the rug. Finally, it is time to light the candles. You take a taper and touch it to the candle wicks and stand back to watch the tree sparkle and glow in the flickering candle light.

Roaming Roy Finds The Way To Cope - Copeland Tops

This week, with the Christmas holidays fast approaching, and many of Roys friends thinking about places to visit during their time off from school, Roy decided to show you another of his favourite holiday retreats. The Summer holidays in Australia are often very hot and uncomfortable, but they are also a time when many families decide to go away because they have lots of time. Roy thinks some of the best places to go are cool places, where you can enjoy the great outdoors without melting! This is one of the reasons he loved Copeland Tops, near Barrington Tops World Heritage area.

Roy Creates Baked Scotch Eggs

This week, Roy has decided to tackle an old fashioned favourite which, made traditionally, is probably a heart attack waiting to happen. Scotch eggs are a traditional picnic food and have been made for many years throughout the British Empire. Basically, they are a hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in hot oil - not the health food of the nation! Roy loves the idea of scotch eggs, and was sure they could be done in a healthier fashion by baking. After a little trial and error and lots of combining of recipes, Roy has hit upon success. His were so good, he forgot to photograph the finished product before everybody ate them! So this week, Roy Creates Baked Scotch Eggs.

You Will Need:

• 4 eggs - Don't use very fresh eggs if you can avoid it, they are easier to peel if they are a bit older.
• 400 grams of good mince. Roy used 1/2 sausage mince and half pork and veal mince but you can use your favourite combination.
• 1 extra egg
• 1/2 a cup of fresh breadcrumbs
• A handful of chopped, fresh herbs or teaspoon of dried mixed herbs. 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons of worchester sauce
• 1/2 a white onion and 1 clove of garlic, grated. Most scotch eggs don't use onion or garlic, but Roy thinks they are a bit bland without it.
• Dry breadcrumbs and 1 more 'extra extra' egg
• Cayenne pepper to add

Note: Roy made 9 Scotch Eggs, so he has a lot of mix and ingredients in the photos. He just doubled this mix to make lots of eggs though.

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and lightly oil a baking dish.
• First, you need to hardboil your eggs. Bring your eggs to room temperature and then put them into a saucepan, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt and bring them to the boil. To avoid getting grey rings around the yolks boil them for 5 to 6 minutes from the time the water starts to boil, remove them from the heat and run them under cold water to stop them cooking. Don't worry though if they cook a little too long - the grey rings around the yolk won't change the flavour, they just might not look quite as pretty!

• Put the mince, onion, garlic, herbs, extra egg, salt, pepper, worchester sauce and fresh breadcrumbs into a bowl and use your hands to thoroughly combine. You want to work the mix until you can squeeze a handful of it and it stays together.
• Carefully remove the shells from the hardboiled eggs. You will need to be careful because they might still be a bit soft. If they are, don't worry - you will be cooking them again!

• Divide the mince into 4 balls about the same size.

• Take an egg and one ball of mince and carefully wrap the mince around the egg until you have a 'ball'. Roy found it was easiest to form a flat disc of mince, sit the egg in the middle and then wrap the egg like a present. Then, just gently work the mince to make sure the egg is firmly sealed in the meat. Repeat this with the other eggs and mince.

• Roy didn't use the extra egg to make an egg dip, as his crumbs stuck on the outside of his mince without. If your crumbs don't, or you want a thicker crumbed layer, lightly beat the extra extra egg in a bowl, quickly dip the scotch egg into it, and then roll in the dry breadcrumbs until they coat the egg.
• Bake your scotch eggs for 30 minutes or until the mince mixture is cooked.
• Eat the eggs hot or put them in the fridge to cool down and take them on a picnic!
• Don't worry if your scotch eggs look more like scotch puddings from sitting in the oven - they still taste great!