My chocolate orange cake recipe and other fun things…..

I love Easter here in LW.  There are a set of rituals and traditions that have been built on year on year that make the extended weekend something of a marathon celebration.  An excuse for a three night / 4 day party with friends; late nights, live music, over indulgent food (chocolate) consumption and so much dancing and laughter my belly hurts.  Tuesday has become a day of recovery.

The Music Beer Walk weekend centred around the Neuadd Arms Hotel took centre stage for much of the weekend.  Friday/Saturday/Sunday evening and even some of those afternoons too.  There was a wealth of communal singing and playing with informal jamming and plenty of musicians and punters just having a good old knees up … there were some ‘proper’ performances too.  Great Irish/Welsh folk music by Pretty in Pink; acoustic folk, pop, rock, blues covers by String Motion; and good old electric rock and blues with Dangerous Dave and Friends.

Between sessions in the pub were indulgent roast dinners with our boys , their partners and friends;  board games; Easter egg hunts (yes 20 and 30 year old ‘children’ do still want you to hide chocolate around the garden for them to find) .  The only difference is there’s more swearing; harder hiding places and some serious negotiations and power plays when the final bounty is collected and compared!

Easter Sunday always comprises of our friends annual egg rolling and feasting afternoon.  We (friends of all ages from toddlers to retired) gather and colour in our designs on hard boiled eggs over cups of tea.  We stroll to a local hill, scramble to the top and hurl the eggs down.  If yours doesn’t break then its back up the hill for you.  Last one to break or furthest unbroken egg after four or so assaults on the summit wins a prize.  Its then back to their house of a  heavily chocolate based buffet to which we all contribute (this year I made a chocolate orange cointreau cake  – recipe attached); we all help hide eggs around the garden for the little kids and then we pass the rest of the afternoon playing silly games – egg roulette, egg catch, hula hooping the maltesa slide and various other made up games that generally involve chocolate.

Anyway, here’s me with a rather handsome Easter Bunny….

…and here’s the recipe for my chocolate orange cointreau cake (other orange liqueurs are available)….

Chocolate Orange Cointreau Cake – easy peasy to make

9oz self raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

6oz caster sugar

4 eggs

rind and juice of 2 oranges

1oz cocoa

5oz sunflower oil

2 tablespoons golden syrup

4oz plain chocolate (grated)

6 tablespoons cointreau

place all the ingredients in a large bowl and blend well for a few minutes.

line a loose bottomed tin , pour in the mixture

bake on a gas 3/320F/160C for 45 mins or until risen and away from the edges

cool.

eat!

you can thank me later……

How did you spend your Easter ?

Reflections from Me

 

Its cold and wet…so toga up and join in the Mountain Bike Chariot Racing….

 

After all the excitement of Christmas and New Year, January can feel a bit dull and sluggish.  The weather doesn’t help.  But here in Llanwrtyd Wells we have the cure.  This weekend (the second one in January) every year we hold the World Mountain Bike Chariot Racing and the Roman Saturnalia Feast and Party

There’s nothing quite like dressing in a skirt when the temperatures dip below freezing!

The premise is 2 mountain bikes, joined by  fixed t-bar with an oil drum chariot at the back; teams of 3 race round the circuit in heats of 4 chariots a time.  Each heat winner moves to the next round until we have our finalists.  The final, as if the racers are not wet and muddy enough, comprises two laps.

 

In the evening at Green Events H/Q, also head office of the Brecknockshire Branch of the Monster Raving Loony Party, there is a toga party complete with Roman Feast.

 

Sadly you’ve missed your chance this year but there’s always 2019… enough time to get fitted for your Centurion outfit and find yourself a team.  Join us and wash away the winter blues with a fun packed weekend of crazy in the UK’s smallest town.

The World Mountain Bike Chariot Racing is the first event of the year run by Green Events Ltd, throughout the year they run a calendar of events, both quirky and mainstream, including World Bog Snorkelling, Real Ale Wobble, Man v Horse Marathon and Real Ale Ramble.  Bi-annually in the same small town of Llanwryd Wells, Powys you can find the 2 week festival of the World Alternative Games

Taking a breather…

You can’t beat a few moments of mindfulness at the end of a busy day

Life as a semi retired  (!) rural B&B owner, DIYer, gardener, decorator, car mechanic, and family diplomat can be pretty exhausting; but it’s all worthwhile when you can live somewhere like this and at the end of a long day, flop into a sunlounger with a pint of beer, a clear blue sky and the sounds of lambs and birds….

This hubby deserves his precious moments….

There’s nothing quite like this at the end of a long day