Sullington Windmills WI

What a great selection of cakes we had at the May 2024 meeting!

Some people had followed the provided recipe, which resulted in many different looking and flavoured cakes, whilst others did something of their own. The result was a tasty array of choice for all of the members and our guest Chris to enjoy.

I followed the Grannies Quick Sponge recipe and found it so easy to make. Adding the food colouring created a really weird marbled effect, which didn't make the cake look very appetising, but was fun and didn't affect the flavour.

Everything tasted great!

** NEXT MONTH**

June sees the longest day arrive with the Summer solstice sybolising the abundance of food and nature.

Honey is seen as a sacred food at this time of year and with that in mind I plan on baking a Honey Cake. A round cake to mirror the shape and glowing hue of the sun will be a fitting celebration for the height of Summer.

I will use the WI's own Honey Cake recipe, but many others can be found in books or on the internet.

If you do bake a cake, please let me know how you get on.

Happy Summer & Happy Baking!

We had a very productive and lively meeting this month.

We managed to get the main business out of the way early on and completed our vote for the NFWI resolution Dental Health Matters. We voted in favour of the resolution and our delegate will now be able to go forward and vote on our behalf at the Annual Meeting on the 5th June in Arundel.

We then had a very interesting and informative talk from Chris, one of Storrington's Neighbourhood Wardens.

Chris has been a warden since May 2019 and talked about how his role and day-to-day work has evolved over the last 5 years. He explained that what is needed from a Neighbourhood Warden in Storrington is not necessarily the same as what is needed in Horsham, Pulborough or Ashington.

The role has adapted over time and sees Chris (and his fellow warden John) being involved in such a variety of activities. They not only provide a reassuring patrolling presence, as well as efficient eyes and ears aimed at reducing fear of crime, but also get involved with the youth in the village, help search for lost dogs, set up meeting groups for the elderly or solicially isolated, organise SEN support groups, youth groups and so much more.

After his talk, Chris joined us for tea and cake and circulated the room chatting and answering questions.

They really have added so much to the community and village life over the last 5 years and have plans for much more.

Please say "Hello" if you see Chris and/or John in Storrington and, although they can't report a crime for you, they will always be able to refer you to the relevant agency that can help.

The second meeting of the book club took place on Friday at Storrington Library. 

The book discussed was "A Sign of Her Own" by Sarah Marsh.

The book had a very mixed review from the group, most found it a bit hard going, although admitted that it was informative and interesting. 

One member's feedback was that they really enjoyed learning something, whereas others stated that it wasn't the type of easy-reading escapism that they would usually turn to.

All in all this appeared to be a good first choice of book for the blook club, as it did raise a lot of discussion and certainly made the reader have an opinion one way or the other. Not a book to sit on the fence about.

The next book to be read will be "The Pilot's Wife" by Anita Shreve. This will be dicussed on Friday 14th June.

So today is Anzac Day and as promised I have again been making biscuits. 

I have followed the recipe from the South Australian Country Women's Association and the results are pretty tasty.

If you like the overcooked, crispy edges of a flapjack then you will love these.

The recipe is really easy; basically dry ingredients placed in one bowl, melt the remaining ingredients, mix the two parts together, form into balls and then bake. What could be more simple?

I followed the recipe and weighed out balls of 32g each. However, I did not get the promised 35 biscuits. I made only 20, quite large cookie-sized biscuits. When I make them next time I will make them smaller, maybe 20g each.

These would be great to make with kids as they are so simple and the baking powder with the melted butter and golden syrup mixture creates a foaming in the pan like a science experiment, which kids will love.

Enjoy your biscuits in remembrance of all the fallen ANZACs.

** NEXT MONTH**

In May we have some visitors coming to our monthly meeting and will therefore be providing them with some homemade treats.

We will be making "Grannies Quick Sponge". I have added the recipe to the May meeting entry in the Events calendar. Please bake a cake, but only bring it along to the May meeting if you have already agreed this with Liz (as we don't want too many!).