The Tingle Factor Box

Roaming Roy Gets Lost In A Museum - Gulgong Pioneer Museum

This week, Roy was checking out some of the photos we took together just after we first met. He was amazed to come across some he hadn't written about, and decided that this week, it would be the perfect time to share a few of them. These photos were taken at one of Roys favourite country museums - The Gulgong Pioneer Museum. 

If you would like to visit the Gulgong Pioneer museum, it is located at 73 Herbert Street in Gulgong, in the old Bakery and Produce Store. The museum is absolutely massive, and has everything from printing presses to photographs to Aboriginal artefacts. It is an extraordinary place. While you are in Gulgong, you can also visit some of the amazing shops and cafes which are to be found. Gulgong is a fantastic place to explore on a day out and about in the country 

As the picture above shows Roy got a little stuck at the lolly shop display. He was fascinated by the range of 'lollies' on display, and very disappointed when I explained they weren't really edible, and he couldn't buy any. The display shows what an old fashioned lolly shop once looked like - and it looked delicious. 

Today, many of us think of lollies and candy as something which comes from the supermarket and is a sweet treat, but the history of confectionary actually goes back far further, and begins in a very different way indeed! In fact, most historians believe the first ‘candy’ was actually eaten as a type of medicine used for people who have digestive problems. Even today, we have some candies which have a basis in this history of medicinal sweets – cough drops and peppermints for example. The first candies which were simply eaten as a treat were probably nuts, seeds and fruits which were coated in sugar – or candied. Sometimes even flowers were candied and consumed as sweets! As time went by, chemists and confectioners began to experiment with new types of candy and slowly but surely, the candy we recognize today came to be.

Roy Creates Aunty Lynette’s South Australian Pickled Salad With Tomatoes, Cucumber and Onion

This week, Roy decided he wanted to try out a recipe for a cross between a pickle and a salad which his Aunty Lynette had given him. Aunty Lynette grew up in South Australia, and said that this salad was not only popular there, but was ‘absolutely divine with Christmas ham’. Roy thought it sounded like something he should certainly try, and he was not disappointed with the results. He first tried it with corned beef, but he has since discovered it is, just as Aunty Lynette said, delicious with a good ham off the bone. So this week, Roy Creates Aunty Lynette’s South Australian Pickled Salad With Tomatoes, Cucumber and Onion.

You Will Need:

• A small white or brown onion
• 2 or 3 ripe, sweet tomatoes
• 1 Lebanese cucumber
• Salt
• Castor Sugar
• Pepper
• White or brown vinegar. Roy used white, but is assured either work just fine.

Method:

• In the bottom of your serving bowl, mix together the vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper. How much you use will depend on how much salad you are making. Roy used about ¼ of a cup of vinegar and a scant teaspoon of salt and sugar. Add pepper to your taste

• Next, finely slice the onion and place it into the vinegar mix. This will remove the bitterness which raw onions sometimes have

• While the onion is marinading, slice the tomatoes and cucumber. Roy recommends a reasonably fine slice, as then you can use leftover salad on a bread roll with some ham or corned beef!

• Add the cucumber and tomatoes to the onion and mix everything together.
• Allow the salad to marinade for at least 1 hour.
• Add more vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper to your taste
• Serve with meat and enjoy!

 

It's Cute! Mechanical Pencil

Imagine you are a gentleman living in the 1800s. You are an important man, and it is always necessary to have the means to take a note, or write a note to a colleague or friend. Yet carrying a pen is difficult, as the nib tends to poke holes in your pocket, and pencils leave stains. Luckily, your wife solved the problem on your last birthday, presenting you with a small, but very elegant mechanical pencil which fits neatly in your waistcoat pocket, and does not cause any staining. Best of all, there is a ring attached to the top to ensure the pencil is easily found, hanging from your watch chain. You are lucky to have such a thoughtful wife!

When I showed the children this small, silver pencil, they thought it was ‘cute, but useless’. They are used to large pencils, with long, sharp ‘leads’ to write with and this pencil seemed far too small to ever be of use as it was too small to even sit comfortably in the hands of young children. They were also confused about how to make the lead protrude, and therefore wrote the pencil off. When I showed them that not only did the pencil have a thick lead which poked out of the end when needed, but also extended to a more comfortable size, the children were very impressed by the thoughtfulness of the design, and several decreed that ‘on second thought, I want one!’

Pencils have a remarkably long history, with humans using some sort of ‘writing’ implement as far back as ancient times to leave marks on the walls of caves. The pencil as we know it though traces its roots back to the Roman empire and the Roman stylus. The stylus was a thin, metal rod used to leave a light mark on papyrus or other material. Some styluses were actually made of lead, and this is what we still call the core of a pencil, though it is not what is actually inside! Pencils actually have a core of graphite, which came into popular use in about 1564, when a large deposit of graphite was found in Borrowdale in England. Graphite left a darker mark than lead, but it was fragile and broke easily. It needed some sort of case to keep it safe and prevent it being broken.

At first, pencils using graphite were made by wrapping the graphite stick in string, but soon hollowed out wooden sticks were used to hold the graphite core – thus the wooden cased pencil which we still use today was born. Wood was not the only substance which could be used to keep the graphite safe in a pencil though. By the late 19^th century mechanical pencils had become popular. At this time, pencils were used everyday by people, and messages were often received by a person in the same town within hours of the message being sent. Having a pencil and paper on your person was, of course, useful. Mechanical pencils were perfect for this, as they used metal bodies to keep the core of graphite safe. They couldn’t be sharpened in the usual way though, and so systems were devised where the core would be raised and lowered with a twist of the shaft or a press of a spring. Many of these pencils were very small and had a loop on the end, like the one I showed the children. These pencils were very popular, fitting on a watch chain, or for a lady on a chatelaine, and being easily found and used.

Roaming Roy Finds A Window To The Past - David Jones Christmas Windows

Recently, one of Roy's friends was saying how sad it was that there were no beautiful Christmas windows in Sydney to visit. They were wanting to take the children to see window displays, and thought that there were none to be found, but Roy was thrilled to be able to say this friend was wrong! These photos are of the David Jones Christmas Windows from a few years ago, but each year a new and spectacular display is put on, and Roy recommends that anyone with children check it out!

Roy Creates Delicious Light As A Feather Apricot Muffins

This week, Roy was asked if he could manage to create a delicious, apricot muffin to share with a friend who loves dried apricots. Roy didn't have a recipe for apricot muffins, so decided to improvise, using his favourite apple muffin recipe. The results were absolutely delicious! So this week, Roy Creates Delicious Light As A Feather Apricot Muffins

You Will Need:

• 180 grams of butter or margarine, softened
• 100 grams of castor sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• ½ a cup of sour cream
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• ½ a cup of dried apricots, chopped and soaked in orange juice to soften them up. 
• 280 grams of self-raising flour
• ½ a teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 tablespoons (extra) castor sugar
• ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons of chopped pecans

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and line a 12 cup muffin tray with muffin cases (not Texas muffin tins!)
• Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside
• Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together

• Add the eggs and beat them into the mix.

• Add the sour cream and apricots to the mix and beat
• Fold in the flour
• Finally, stir the milk into the mix
• Mix together the cinnamon, extra castor sugar and chopped pecans in a small bowl

• Drop a tablespoon of muffin mix into the bottom of each muffin tray and sprinkle over a small amount of the sugar and nut mix.
• Divide the remainder of the muffin mix between the muffin trays

 

• Sprinkle the remainder of the sugar mix over the muffins
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through
• Enjoy warm, or at room temperature the next day.
• Note: If you choose to freeze them, defrost them on a cooling rack and give them a few seconds in the microwave to freshen them up a little.

That's Insane - Christmas Tree Candle Holders Reblog

This week, with so many children getting ready for Christmas, and decorating their Christmas trees, it seemed the perfect time to reshape this post from several years ago! These candle holders, which were used to decorate Christmas trees many years ago may seem like an accident waiting to happen today, but they were a vital part of Christmas for many families throughout history. 

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.

Rover Finds A Garden Of History

This week, Rover decided that with the weather warming up and Christmas approaching, he wanted to visit somewhere which would be perfect for a picnic. Rover loves picnicking, and there are so many stunning places to enjoy an outdoor meal around NSW. One which Rover discovered recently is the Lambing Flat Chinese Tribute Gardens in Young.

If you would like to visit the Lambing Flat Chinese Tribute Gardens, they are located just outside the main town area of Young in the South West Slopes area of NSW. The gardens are located on Pitstone Road in Young, and are built around the original Chinamans Dam, which was an important place in not just the history of Young, but in Australian gold rush history more generally.

Chinamans Dam, around which the Lambing Flat Chinese Tribute Gardens is built, was constructed in the 1860s by a pair of German brothers. In the 1870s, the brothers sold their gold mining claim to a Chinese group who continued to work the site, and the dam became known as Chinamans Dam. After the gold rush in Young ran its course (and the riots of course) the dam was first used to provide water to steam trains, and then as a popular swimming hole for Young residents. In 1955 the Burrangong Shire Council made plans to incorporate the dam as part of a public recreation reserve and money for the project was raised during the Young Festival of Centenary in 1958. In 1961 the road to the dam was sealed and then in 1970 a kiosk was built for swimmers. (Swimming is no longer allowed at the dam today)

Yet the recreation reserve was vastly different to what we see today, without the beautiful landscaping which is so much a part of the tribute gardens. In 1992, the Rotary Club of Young began a beautification scheme for the Chinaman’s Dam area and this was when the Chinese Tribute Gardens truly began. Yet the project was a real community effort, not just for Young, but in Australia on a wider scale. Taronga Park Zoo donated the Chinese style gates which had been used previously as part of their panda exhibition and these became a beautiful entry to the gardens. In December, an exhibition and sale of Chinese items which had been donated by the Chinese Embassy in Canberra raised money for the project, and in 1993 Young was given a grant towards the project as part of Australia Day celebrations. The National Cherry Festival, which is held in Young, also donated substantial funds to the project. By November, 1996, the project was nearly complete, and Rotary handed the gardens and the project itself to the Young Shire Council. The Council has since continued to maintain the gardens, which are today a beautiful, mature example of Chinese landscape and garden art.

Roy Creates A Truly Scrumptious Chocolate Fruity Slice

This week, Roy found some leftover cornflakes in the cupboard and wanted to find some way to use them up. I remembered a recipe he had wanted to make some time ago which used cornflakes, but which we hadn’t made because we didn’t have any on hand. This seemed the perfect time to give the slice a go. The results were delicious, and all the people who Roy shared a piece with thought it was absolutely scrumptious. So this week, Roy Creates A Truly Scrumptious Chocolate Fruity Slice.

You Will Need:

• 1 cup of self raising flour
• 1 cup of cornflakes
• 1 cup of coconut
• ½ a cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa
• 1 cup of mixed fruit
• 155 grams of margarine
• 1 teaspoons of golden syrup
• ½ a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Method:

• Start by preheating the oven to 180 degrees and lining a lamington tin with baking paper
• Mix together the flour, coconut, sugar, cornflakes and cocoa
• Melt together the margarine and golden syrup
• Add the vanilla to the margarine and syrup mix and then add all the wet ingredients to the dry mix
• Mix everything together thoroughly
• Press the mix into the lamington tin and bake for 20 minutes or until its golden brown.
• If you like, ice with chocolate icing. Roy did, but you certainly don’t have to!
• Cut into slices and enjoy!

These Are Way Better Than Ours - Victorian Scraps

Imagine, you are a little girl living in the late 1800s. You have many pleasures in life, being from an upper class family. You have dolls and stuffed toys, spinning tops, books, paper and paints. The things which you love most though are the beautiful little scraps your father sometimes brings you. So dainty and pretty, with their beautiful, or sometimes funny people, flowers and animals. You take great care of each one, carefully pasting them into your scrap book, or for the best ones, onto a folding screen in your room.

Roaming Roy Is Blown Away By Fort Scratchley - REBLOGGED

 

This week, Roaming Roy visited Fort Scratchley in Newcastle (NSW, Australia) and he was blown away by the site - and the wind! Fort Scratchley is a real life Fort, and was even attacked in World War 2. It was set up to defend Newcastle and even as early as the 1800's it was decided the hill Fort Scratchley is on would be a good site to mount guns. Of course, in 1804 the idea was to prevent convicts taking over a ship and escaping! In 1822 the first simple battery, or place where guns could be set up, was built on the site.