The Tingle Factor Box

You Can't Say That! - Ten Little Nigger Boys Book

Note: I mean no offence by the term Black. I am simply seeking to place the book in its historical context. It is my understanding that this is the currently accepted terminology.

Imagine, you are a young child and it is the 1950s. It's Christmas and you have nearly finished opening your gifts. You have been given lots of lovely new things, but you particularly like your new book -Ten Little Nigger Boys. It is only a small book, but it has such cute little pictures with funny looking little children. Of course you already know the rhyme, everybody knows it, but the book is just so cute!

It Looks Like Something We'd See Today - Fossilised Sea Urchin

Imagine, you have gone to England to visit family and are enjoying a stroll along the beach. This particular beach, in Norfolk England, is fascinating, scattered with bits of carnelian rocks and fossilised belemnites. You have never seen anything on the beach as interesting as what you found today though! A sea urchin, lying just near the edge of the water. You thought to throw it back, after all it wouldn't survive out of the water, but when you picked it up you discovered it was made of rock, a fossilised sea urchin!

Roaming Roy Goes Bush - Native Flowers

Recently, Roy has been particularly enjoying the Spring time. He isn't too fond of winter, but he loves it when the weather starts to warm up during the day but the nights are still cold enough to snuggle down under a quilt. He also loves the flowers which come with the Spring, particularly the native flowers. He has a few friends who told him all about taking a holiday to Western Australia to see the wild flowers, which really surprised him. After all, Roy is used to seeing masses of wild flowers simply by going for a wander through the local bush.

Roy Creates A Pillowcase Doll

This week, with all the lovely spring flowers out in the garden, Roy decided he would, again, like to do a craft to celebrate the season. Some weeks ago, in one of the Tingle Factor Item posts I had mentioned companion dolls which were sometimes made out of pillowcases. He loved making the simple Handkerchief Dolls earlier this year (click here to read about this) and thought a pillowcase doll would be a lovely craft to make, especially for a little girl or a baby. He also thought it would be a perfect way to introduce people to some simple embroidery stitches. So to celebrate the season Roy Creates a pillowcase doll with a flowery, embroidered skirt.

They're Mary Poppins Shoes! Edwardian Ladies Shoes

Imagine, you are an Edwardian lady. It is vitally important that you look correct - after all you're going for a job interview today! Looking prim, proper and correct is the only way you can possibly hope to get a job in a well to do house, especially a job as a childrens role model, like a nanny or governess! You really hope you get this job, you've worn out your old shoes, so you had to have a new pair and shoes are expensive. Ironic that without the shoes you won't get the job, but without the job you can't afford the shoes!

Roaming Roy Searches For A Disappearing Gun - Shepherds Hill Fort

This week, with Spring well under way and the holidays rapidly approaching, Roy decided it would be a perfect week to go for a wander along the beach. Being Roy though, the beach he wanted to wander along was not close to home. We hadn't been to Newcastle recently, and he had an insatiable urge to wander along Newcastle Beach. After strolling along the beach, past the Bogey Hole and into King Edward Park in Newcastle, Roy became quite excited. Up on the top of the hill he could see an interesting looking building which we decided to investigate. The building turned out to be part of the newly heritage listed Shepherds Hill Fort.

Roy Creates A Daisy Chain

This week, with Spring in the air and all the flowers coming out, Roy decided it would be the perfect time to do what he calls 'nature craft'. Roy loves Spring. He loves walking in the bush to see the flowers, strolling along the beach and looking at shells, and driving through the country to see the new baby animals. He particularly enjoys the bright, cheerful patches of yellow daisies which you find in the grass in many parks and gardens. He loves their cheerful colour, but even more, he loves turning them into daisy chains. When I told him many of the children didn't know how to make a daisy chain he was horrified and decided this situation must be remedied! So this week, Roy Creates a Daisy Chain.

Is It The Bottom Of A Wooden Leg? - Cobblers Shoe Last

Imagine. It's summer and it's really hot. The lawn is full of bindies, there are biting insects out and about and bees buzzing around in the clover. Luckily, you have thongs and sandals which allow you to walk through the grass without being hurt! Next, imagine it's winter and you live in an area where it snows. It's cold, it's wet and it's slippery but you have boots to keep your feet warm and dry. Or imagine you live in the bush or the jungle. There are lots of little stones and rocks and they are difficult to walk on. Thank goodness for the sneakers which protect your feet. Now, imagine all of these scenarios without shoes!

Roaming Roy Forages in a Forest - Minnamurra Rainforest

This week, with the holidays rapidly approaching, Roy decided he wanted to visit somewhere not too far from Sydney, in a popular holiday destination. Many of the children are discussing what they are doing for their coming holidays, and Roy really wanted to contribute some ideas of places to visit. He has many favorite holiday spots, but one which he recently visited, on the NSW South Coast, really caught his attention - Minnamurra Rainforest. It isn't far from Jamberoo Action Park, which many of the children are very fond of, but yet most of the children have not been to visit the rainforest.

Roy Creates War Time Chocolate Drop Biscuits

Earlier this week, the Tingle Factor item was a dripping pot. You can see the post here. Roy was fascinated, and slightly horrified, by the idea of dripping, just like the children at work had been. As for the idea of using dripping in cakes and biscuits, he thought this was ludicrous. When I showed him a cookbook of 'Wartime Recipes' (put out by The Emily MaPherson College of Domestic Economy and the Dried Fruits Publicity Committee during WW2), almost all of which use dripping, he was really taken with what the recipes would be like, and whether you could make them work today without using dripping. Together we looked through the recipes and found one which we would like to try. So this week, Roy Creates War Time Chocolate Drops.

Note: because of the age of the recipe, the quantities were originally in ounces. Roy thought that, to make the recipe easier for you to make, we should convert it to grams. We are working on 30 grams to 1 ounce.

You Will Need:

• 60 grams butter. The original recipe calls for lard or dripping, but butter worked just fine.
• 60 grams brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 90 grams self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon coffee essence (if you want a stronger coffee flavour, use a teaspoon of instant coffee and dissolve it in the hot butter)
• Pinch of salt
• 90 grams chopped dried fruit (Roy likes raisins, so we used them, but you could use sultanas, currants or mixed peel or a mixture of them all - the original calls for sultanas, currants and raisins)
• Whole almonds. You can cut them in half if you want (Roy decided to). You want one for the top of each biscuit. Roy made 24 biscuits (you might make more or less, depending on how generous you are) so you need about 24 almond pieces.
• Note: you could use cherries or even chocolate bits instead of the almond if you wanted a different look and taste.

Method:

Note: we are using the 2010 method - they didn't have microwaves or baking paper, but we think a few modern short-cuts are acceptable!

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line two biscuit trays with baking paper.
• Melt the butter in the microwave, in 30 second bursts. Check it in between and swirl it around in the bowl to help it melt.
• Add the sugar and beat it with a wooden spoon until the butter and sugar are well mixed. They will start to look like a really rich caramel sauce.

• Let the mixture of butter and sugar (and coffee if you use instant coffee powder) cool down.
• Still using the wooden spoon, stir in the coffee essence and milk and throughly mix it together.

• Add the flour, cocoa, salt and fruit, and mix it all together until well combined.

• Next, you will be rolling the mix into balls. To make this easier, you can leave the mix to stand for about 10 minutres. The flour will absorb some of the moisture making it easier to roll. Roy rolled some of his earlier than this and the mix was very sticky and difficult to roll neatly. The biscuits looked 'neater' when we waited for the mix to settle.

• Place the balls onto your trays (Roy put 9 to a tray) and gently press an almond into the top of each.

• Bake for about 10 minutes or until they look set. They will still be a bit soft when they come out of the oven, but they should firm up quickly.
• Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!