Biscuits and slices

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Biscuits and Slices (Another oldie)

I have made many, many trips to London and one trip stays in my mind when I think of sweets. (By the way, I have given up sweets, but more on that later.) There was an antiques show in London inside a tented area. I found one nice furniture piece and then stopped for a slice and tea. The slice was a low chocolate cake like brownie in which something like a wafer, Kit Kat maybe, candy bar had been baked. Each slice contained the bar and it was all topped off with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. To take a bite one encountered a soft brownie and then a slim crisp snap topped off with a cloud of sugar. Very nice and I have yet to see a recipe. For months I haunted bookshops in London looking for the recipe and that is where I encountered the Women's Weekly from Australia. If it isn't in there, it isn't anywhere. I am getting another of the books (magazines) called Biscuits and Slices, so I hope I find the recipe which I won't be able to taste since I have given up sweets. I am not a fan of desserts though I like to make them. I taste them when they come from the oven and lose interest once a day has passed. I read about a new diet where this 300 pound woman gave up ice cream for three months and lost 30 pounds. (Now she must have eaten a gallon an evening, but it worked.)For three months ice cream is the only thing she gave up. Then she gave up another thing and so on until she lost all her weight. I am a week into it and don't miss the sweets at all. Monday I am giving up bread, another thing that I won't miss that much. I am not waiting three months to see if there is a difference before I give up something else. Another article said one could lose 18 pounds in a year by just giving up cola--even diet cola. I don't care for that either--but Diet Snapple is my drink of choice. I will give it up down the road for water, but one week at a time. I don't want to make a big fuss about this because nothing bores me more than hearing about someone's diet after I have worked all day on a special meal. It's just a little experiment for me, but I will let you know what happens.

The two pictures will show you what the 'cake' looks like. Instead of nuts as in one of the pictures, a thin sliver of crisp wafer was offered to set the entire thing off as special. If you know the recipe or how to accomplish this, please email me or comment on this post. dorislechler@aol.com


Writing about England made me think of my very favorite times that I spent there. Hands down it was the Newark Antiques Market that was held several times a year. I have not been in five or so years and wondered, today, if it still existed. Seeing as how one can barely get ones stripped down body on an airplane, it does not seem logical that I could get on with twenty trunks and cartons filled with antiques...not any more. It was always a problem getting the stuff to the airport, on the plane, checking into customs, sometimes twice, getting it off at home, security and customs again...it wore me out and I did it one third of each and every year. The customs officials started calling me by name, after they discovered I always had paper work for every item I bought.

Maybe it was the baked potatoes that drew me to England. At the Newark flea market they were remarkable. Slathered in real butter, cheese, slaw, or any condiment you wanted the potato itself could stand alone. It was always large, white, fluffy,and begging for a dollop of butter and or sour cream. Once we arrived the potato started the long arduous day off properly. Most of us did not stop to eat the entire day, but bought other treats to take with us on the ride home. Their sliced pork sandwiches were outstanding as well. Yum!

We would board a chartered bus that arrived at our hotel, yes, there were that many of us, usually forty or more, at 4:00am. This was not a tour. Everyone arrived solo and equipped to shop. The driver was familiar with the routine and joined in the fun of it, or so we thought. Two hours later, still in the dark during the winter months, we arrived to wait in line for the gates to open. The race was on and it was literally every man and woman for herself or himself. Friendships were left at the gates or on the bus. We were snarling at each other if we encountered one another while shopping because everyone wanted nearly the same things. These were American dealers who watched what every one else was buying and tried to buy it first and as cheaply as possible. We were competing with our dealer contacts in England and France as well. They tried to buy it first to sell it to us at great mark ups and we tried to buy it first to cut out the middle man. It was dog eat dog. Many a pill was popped to get some of us through the day which did not end until late into the night. The walking! OMG, our dogs were barking but we carried on. I had bags on wheels and pulled them over the bumpy terrain, so it was my arms, my legs, my head. We were all a mess in so many ways. We, usually pulled out at 6:00pm. If the buying was especially good, some of us went back the next day--if we had any money left. It was strictly cash and carry so there was the conversion of money and the amount to consider before even starting that trek.

On the way home the bus was so packed that people had to hold their packages on their laps because both sides of the under bus was full, the over heads were jammed and we could not stow anything in the aisles. It was soooooo worth all of the trouble, the cold of the winter, the heat of the summer, the fluctuating money conversions, the waiting for the English banks to give us our own money, the packing of it all to get it home and the joy of opening the boxes in the comfort of home to find everything arrived without breakage (which happened rarely.) It was the phone calls that made me the happiest. The finding for collections, mine and my customers, that gave me pleasure, and the profits to feed my habit so I could go back and start all over again. Our Cooke Rd. home can thank those many trips for its extras.

I have no idea how big the market is now, but then it had 4,000 dealers with a waiting list. It covered the entire fairgrounds. I have listed the information that I got on the Internet in case you are a lover of antiques and exquisite torture. LOL

Europe's largest Antique Fair


Europe's largest antiques event takes place in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Stall holders and buyers from around the globe come to the Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground every other month to take part in this internationally renowned trading event.

With up to 4000 stalls, the fair holds quite possibly everything you could imagine from furniture, rugs, paintings and textiles, to sports memorabilia, toys, grandfather clocks and antique maps

The Newark fair has to be experienced to be believed. It's a treasure trove of possibilities for your interiors. Here you'll find everything you could possibly need to decorate and stylize your home.

Cost: Thursday - 9am - 6pm: £10 (Allows entry on Friday also)
Friday - 8am - 4pm £5

Accompanied under 16s are admitted free of charge