Devil's Chocolate Cake

The secret ingredient to this dense, moist cake?

Beetroot.

You read right, beetroot, don't ask me why it works but it does. This recipe came from the Asda magazine and will be a favourite for the spooky party we have on Halloween every year.

175g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate
250g cooked (not pickled) beetroot
3 large eggs
100g cocoa powder
225 SR flour
200g caster sugar

Durham Light Infantry

My maternal grandfather served with the Durham Light Infantry during the Second World War but, like many who survived the unimaginable horror of trench warfare, he didn't like to talk about his experiences. As his granddaughter, born seven years after his death, he is a man I would have liked to have known and it was important to me, my brother and my mother that we have more to remember him by than his tattered medals and a generic postcard from France.

We got in contact with a man compiling information, photographs and stories of the DLI and, using his knowledge and contacts he was able to fill in a few details for us. We now know which battallion my grandfather served with, his rank (a Lance Corporal) and have had some old photographs restored of him astride a motorbike on the front lines. We have also requested his service records from the MoD.

This quest for information led us to a full family tree search, something that various members of the family have attempted over the years to varying degrees of success. After ploughing through birth, death and marriage records, the census from 1851 onwards and even tromping round graveyards, we have traced one branch of our family back seven generations.

Some useful links for anyone interested in doing the same:

www.newmp.org.uk
- the website of John Dixon, the man compiling information on the DLI. He is contactable directly through the email address on the site and would welcome any photos or stories about the DLI during WW2

http://county.durham.gov.uk/sites/dli/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx
-the DLI museum and art gallery, Aykley Heads, Durham

www.findmypast.co.uk
- one of the better family tree creators I have used, this site allows you to view the census, birth and death records at a reasonable cost (£6.95 for 60 credits, giving you 90 days access and costing an average of 5 credits per record that you can print out)

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/ContactUs/ServiceRecordsEnquiries.htm
- from here you can print out the form to request the service records for deceased service personnel, you do need to be next of kin and there is a charge of £30 and a possible waiting time of 6 months.

Droids

Austerity Measure

We are currently in the midst of a financial crisis.

Not just the banks, squandering away our savings on risky ventures, or the government borrowing from other governments in order to lend to other governments, but we, generally and specifically, are up shit creek.

For years we have been spending more than we earn, subsidising our lifestyles with loans, credit cards and overdrafts in a twisted game of economic Buckeroo. Did we think this would go on forever? Did we think we would never have to pay that money back? Money that was never ours in the first place.

So the bill has finally landed on the doormat, the catalogue man is at the door demanding his money and we stand, empty handed claiming we can't afford to pay.

Bullshit!

Our lifestyles have been bloated out of proportion, blurring the line between want and need. It has become too easy to have things we shouldn't be able to afford on our meagre salaries and feel that we have earned them. We gripe about an increase in council tax, something that pays for the collection and desposal of our rubbish, the maintenance of street lights and roads, yet we pay £40 a month for Sky, so we can watch reruns of crap we didn't watch first time around.

We NEED to pay the mortgage, light and heat our homes, feed and clothe our kids, however we CHOOSE to shop at Next and Sainsbury's rather than Aldi and Asda. We WANT Sky + with movies, a 52" plasma and a fortnight in Spain every June.

There is a word that describes us: spoilt.

The truth is we could live cheaply if we wanted to but we are addicted to everyday privelages that our grandparents would have considered gratuitous luxuries. Yes, we live in the modern age and have access to these benefits, our wages are tenfold those of our forefathers who struggled to feed a family of nine with nothing but a ration book and two threadbare hens. We are strides ahead of our grandparents and still feel we have the right to complain, strike and riot (many dropping a day's pay to do so) because no matter what percentage of the collective debt is our doing, we will stamp our feet, pout our lips and refuse to pay a penny of it back.

I have gone from feeding and clothing two on a double wage, to three on a wage and a half, to four on what barely amounts to a single wage. I shop at Aldi, clothe the kids in George and occassionally reach for a needle and thread rather than replace. I plan, I budget and more importantly, I think.

My advice to the masses? Quit bitching, grab and oar and start paddling.