LUSCIOUS FRESH
FRUIT SALAD. Place 300ml (1/2 pint) water in a pan or wok with the sugar and wine. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, orange liqueur or juice and mint sprig. Allow to cool and stand for 30 minutes. Peel and slice the oranges. Hull and halve the strawberries. Peel the mango, cut out the stone and chop the flesh. Wash the grapes and pat dry. Pour the syrup into a bowl and add the fruit. Cover and chill or serve immediately with a mint sprig garnish. For a luxurious finish, serve the salad with whipped cream or Greek-style yoghurt flavoured with a dash of orange liqueur or a little grated orange rind. GARDEN CHICKEN SUPREME. 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts Rub the chicken breasts with the herbs. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onions. Wash all the vegetables. Chop the courgettes. Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds and the white pith and cut into wide strips. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan. Add the chicken and fry for 8 minutes. Turn over and fry for another 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Add the remaining oil, onions, garlic, courgettes and peppers to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Add the tomatoes (with the juice ) and season. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and put the chicken on top. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Serving tip. Rice or cous cous make a delicious accompaniment to this dish. Try wild rice for something exotic. RIG-A-JIG-JIG Many thanks to those who responded to my previous letter about traditional
music in the Wells area. It certainly was a lively place, with song, music and step
dancing, regular events in the pubs such as The Shipwrights. Often the music for the
dancing was provided by accordion players Harry Flood and Geoffrey Tooke. Whelk fisherman,
John Youngman played the dulcimer too. Further along the coast, at Cley, the step dancing
was done to records in pubs such as The Swallows. A local character, George Dix, would
entertain with his dancing dolls, made by himself. I would be very interested to
hear from anyone who remembers these people, their music and the places it happened in, as
well as others like them.
NO ROOM AT THE INN AT CHRISTMAS Pubs, restaurants, takeaways and theatres risk being closed over Christmas and New Year because they are not getting their licences changed in line with new national rules, North Norfolk District Council has warned. The deadline for businesses to switch to licences issued by local councils is 6th August, but to date only a dozen of North Norfolk's 900 licensed premises have applied. NNDC must treat any applications it receives after 6th August as entirely new, but it cannot then start processing them until a date (yet to be confirmed by the Government) in November, when licensing powers are fully and finally transferred from magistrates to the Council. READERS LETTER If we are going to change the present culture of disrespect then I believe that we have to look to a wider variety of people. Our culture is not a new state of affairs, it has evolved over many years with the 'non-acceptable behaviour' becoming 'acceptable behaviour'. We need to go back to basics, please and thank you, do not eat with your mouth full, say excuse me and mean it if you pass wind (at either end!), all common courtesies once ingrained in our children and now so sadly lacking. Respect for people trying to keep us safe like the Police, Fire and Ambulance people. Respect for people trying to make our future life better, like teachers. The sex and violence on our TV screens now starts well before the watershed of 9pm. What lessons do the children learn from the soaps alone? Bed hopping, shootings, beatings, drinking, all are 'acceptable' viewing. The blame for our culture lies with many people, not least the media who have played a very large part in making bad behaviour acceptable. VMW
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