Elderflower fritters
There are only six houses in our lane so when all of the neighbours are invited, it only amounts to fourteen people. We may be creating a small tradition here of a barbecue followed by the frying of elderflower fritters to eat with ice cream and then a tour round the garden to compare notes on the progress of the runner beans, strawberries, compost etc. After the main eating was done three men were allocated the task of heating the oil on the barbecue (don't try this at home; we've never had a problem but it is for trained pyrotechnicians only).
The little girls mixed up the tempura style batter and then the girls and a few adults went to pick fresh sprigs of elderflower. The engineers in the crew worked out just how long to drain the dipped flower heads for and then plunged into the oil to fluff up like cauliflowers; they were eaten as fast as the oil drained off them.
Only after the conspicuous consumption did we discover how well a variety of spider can camouflage itself to look like elderflower, goodness knows how many we ate.
Dennington Expo 2009
The Expo day arrived and despite a brief shower in the early afternoon things brightened up and all went well. We will have banked £1,500 towards sports club funds and hope to start raising serious money and grants for the much needed tennis court replacement soon.
The Children's art wall was lovely, with the children having taken the theme of TIME and provided their own interpretation based on slides they had been shown in class; so we had everything from watch designs to timelines and seasonal changes.
It never ceases to amaze me the talent we have in a village of some 200 houses for creating art works. At the end of this posting are links to some of our artists, we also have very talented artists who rarely sell their work, yet it is stunning and thought provoking and others whose work sells regularly at local art shows and events. This year there were also taster sessions for rag rug making and modelling with paper.
Outside we had all the fun of a regular village fete, with the TIME theme woven through so we had ancient and modern tractors, displays by the local flower arrangers, the Tickled Pink drama group, face painting, and all the usual fete type stalls, some run by clubs and others by local businesses
Yes I did spend the day dressed up as a white rabbit, in keeping with the TIME theme and I wasn't the only one in fancy dress. All in all it was a fantastic day, amazing teamwork from everyone invovled; as is so often the case in a small village the same few people are involved in many events locally rasing funds and giving up hours of free time to keep things ticking along.
Some of our artists
http://www.loretteroberts.com/
Some of our other Stall holders
http://www.trulockandharris.com/
Ah extra protein and an added crunch with your fritter sir? :)
ReplyDeleteSeems that they are a hundred ways to use Elderflowers, still haven't picked any. Am I too late?
So sorry that I missed the Expo - looks like you had a great day though! Heather
ReplyDelete