Marvellous what interesting titbits of information one picks up fro the newspaper. In an article in the Melbourne Herald Sun on May 2nd, was an article about a series of stamps put out by the Australian Post office of uniquely Australian foods. And that these stamps will be issued with a first day Cover at the also marvellously appropriately named town of Eaton in West Australia. Among the foods being featured on these Stamps, is one of my favourite treats, the humble lamington.
I call it humble, because when we were young and Mum had a stale sponge cake that hadn’t been eaten, (Didn’t happen all that often with 5 kids), she would cut it up in to small rectangles and dip it in some liquid chocolate mix and then dip or otherwise cover it, in desiccated coconut.
Little was I to know then, and only just found out now, that was in fact how the original lamingtons also came to be. It seems that Charles Cochrane-Baillie was the 2nd baron of Lamington and served as Governor of Queensland between 1896 & 1901.
And the story goes that one day Lady Lamington was taken unawares when some unexpected guests dropped into Government House for afternoon tea. And the only thing on hand was some stale sponge cake. Which lady Lamington dressed up with chocolate and a sprinkling of shredded coconut. And supposedly that is how the humble Australian Lamington was born.
It is now loved by countless Australians including yours truly. However not all love or loved them it seems. And Lord Lamington himself, was among them! He is reported to have referred to the cakes as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits.”
As already said, I definitely don’t agree with him there, but what fascinated me, was how a simple necessity, took some otherwise unsuitable product and with some repackaging, made it into an Australian household delicacy.
So what otherwise good things are we currently wasting, that with a little ingenuity and creativity, can be turned into something desirable and sought after? Over to you for now.
Showing posts with label Mum's sayings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mum's sayings. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Great wall of China’s Weakest Link.
Was reading in C.P. Hia’s item in “Our Daily Bread for Jan.31st 09 that: “ The 4,000 mile-long Great Wall of China was built to keep out invaders from the north. The first wall was constructed by Shi Huangdi, the first Empower of China, who lived between 259 and 210 BC. But in AD 1644 the Manchus broke through the Great wall and overran China. They did this by bribing a general of the Ming dynasty to open the gates.”
The above reminds me of one of the many sayings taught to us as Children by our mother. This one was that, “The strongest Chain is only as strong as its weakest Link.”
And we see that in the above story about the fall of the Great Wall of China don’t we. When the invaders realised they could not break through the wall itself, they went for the weakest link, one of the defenders, who for whatever reason (money, advancement, revenge, whatever!) gave way and let them through.
The same sort of thing happens in our own lives in all areas too, doesn’t it? We can build up a mighty and strong edifice, but then for some reason, we scrimp and save on some parts, not giving them the same time, care and concern as the rest, saying, “She’ll be right mate! The rest will carry it through!” Which it may for a while, but eventually it will fail and the lot will be lost. Yes, just Like one weak link in the Great Wall of China, destroyed the effectiveness of the whole 4,0000 mile long structure, so too can our own weakest link, bring down all our own structures, plans and even Dreams.
So today, look around you at your own present structures, your plans for future structures and even your dreams for future structures, and identify your own weakest links. And once identified don’t just say, “She’ll be right mate!” But having identified them, don't just stop there, but go on and remove or strengthen them, so that there are no weak links in your life! Otherwise you just may be the weak Link in everyone else’s life. Is that really so, even now? If so, it is something you probably can change. But it is up to you and nobody else. Your time now!
The above reminds me of one of the many sayings taught to us as Children by our mother. This one was that, “The strongest Chain is only as strong as its weakest Link.”
And we see that in the above story about the fall of the Great Wall of China don’t we. When the invaders realised they could not break through the wall itself, they went for the weakest link, one of the defenders, who for whatever reason (money, advancement, revenge, whatever!) gave way and let them through.
The same sort of thing happens in our own lives in all areas too, doesn’t it? We can build up a mighty and strong edifice, but then for some reason, we scrimp and save on some parts, not giving them the same time, care and concern as the rest, saying, “She’ll be right mate! The rest will carry it through!” Which it may for a while, but eventually it will fail and the lot will be lost. Yes, just Like one weak link in the Great Wall of China, destroyed the effectiveness of the whole 4,0000 mile long structure, so too can our own weakest link, bring down all our own structures, plans and even Dreams.
So today, look around you at your own present structures, your plans for future structures and even your dreams for future structures, and identify your own weakest links. And once identified don’t just say, “She’ll be right mate!” But having identified them, don't just stop there, but go on and remove or strengthen them, so that there are no weak links in your life! Otherwise you just may be the weak Link in everyone else’s life. Is that really so, even now? If so, it is something you probably can change. But it is up to you and nobody else. Your time now!
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