Gluten Free (GF) Trifle.

Mums best food

This time of the year brings back memories of all sorts and for many it is the food we ate as kids.

The food that springs to my mind was my Mum’s specialty – her ‘Port Wine Trifle.’ It always tasted so good.

The history of the Trifle in Australia dates back to at least around 1920 (according to Kraft Australia. ) I think the creation of the trifle was due to the housewife’s need for frugality when times were hard and the trifle was a dessert created out of leftovers, such as day-old sponge cake that was turned into a layered dessert that everyone enjoyed, (a bit like the reason for lamingtons I think, correct me if I am wrong.)

Here is my own version of it, GF style.

You will need:

1 small plain GF cake or leftover cake from a few days ago. (Either homemade or shop bought. If you want to be very decadent, T’Hooft in Lyttleton Terrace, Bendigo, makes a chocolate mud cake (GF) that is to die for! Or simply and more cheaply make a GF butter cake from GF flour, eggs, skim milk, sugar, butter.)

I packet of jelly crystals –Port wine or Strawberry flavour.

½ cup of Port wine (if serving only to adults) or Fruit juice if there are children present.
GF Custard powder.

Small tin of fruit salad or your favourite summer fruit.

Cream for whipping.

GF Chocolate for grating over the top. (For those who are new in the search for GF food, many of the chocolate that is available in supermarkets etc. are not GF, so you need to check the labels carefully).

Method:

This is best commenced in the morning if you plan to serve it at night, or the night before if it is for Christmas lunch.

Make up the jelly according to directions and place in the fridge two to three hours before you plan to put the trifle together. Check the jelly every hour and when it starts to set, break it up with a fork so that the jelly doesn’t set into one solid mass.

Once the jelly is ready, make up 2 cups of custard according to the pack directions. Allow the custard to cool for 15 minutes. Take the cake and roughly cut it up into 2cm cubes. Cover the bottom of a glass serving dish with the cake. Evenly sprinkle over the cake the port or fruit juice. Follow with the custard, then the tinned fruit or a layer of fresh fruit, end with the jelly. Cover with lid or plastic film and refrigerate until 10 minutes before serving time. Whip the cream and spread a layer over the jelly, sprinkle the chocolate over the cream and you are ready to serve the trifle.

Be warned, your guests will probably come back for seconds, and they will never guess it is Gluten Free!

Sanba Vintage hat made in England

Vintage hat search

Can anyone tell me when this hat would have been made please? Any other info about this style of hat would also be appreciated,
Thanks

Snake handler Gary Bright

Snake Handler ,Gary Bright. Mobile 0427 436 223.

Licensed Snake Controller and handler
Born in Bendigo 52 years ago and having lived here all his life, Snake Handler Gary Bright lived in fear of snakes until ten years ago.
“How I got into it [snake handling] was I went to a pet shop about ten years ago (whereas beforehand I was petrified of snakes,) to get something else,” chuckled the quietly spoken Gary, “I saw the pythons there, you know,  and I handled the python.”
From that first encounter Gary has learned to love snakes of all types, overcoming his fear which he acknowledged was a ‘big step’. His first snake was a big male coastal carpet python called Monty which he still owns.
Despite getting bitten by his first venomous snake, a red bellied black, and going to hospital, Gary has continued to add to his snake collection and now owns several more pythons, as well as venomous snakes that include red bellied blacks and Queensland collette snakes. “I just love the idea of handling venomous snakes.”

Licensed Snake Controller and handler
It was at a friend’s suggestion just over a year ago that got Gary into business as a professional snake handler. When Gary collects the snakes, he takes them out to the local bush where there is good vegetation and water and where each species congregate.
Before getting the $116.00 p.a. license from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Gary had to initially attend Ballarat Wildlife Park. “Owned by Stuart and Greg Parker, who own a reptile business down there… they had a course for venomous snake handling…I did the course and obtained the permit.”
Gary is also a member of the Melbourne Herpetological Society which meets in order to learn from other members.
Gary is not interested in doing any shows with his snakes, preferring to keep to the snake handling and removing side of the business.
“The best thing would be meeting new people…while the worst thing would be trying not to get bitten,” was Gary’s immediate response to my questions about the best and worst things about his job.
If he does get bitten his first thing is to bandage the bite area, right up the arm, then “go straight to casualty where they will assess you… they take a swab of venom of the bite, they put it into a detection machine…to tell them what sort of bite it was if you don’t know it yourself…they then get the proper anti venom and administer it.”
 “To be bitten by a venomous snake it’s not a very good experience,” says Gary matter of factly. “It’s quite painful…oh…when I mean quite painful, the venom starts going up to the lymph system…that’s…[why] you apply the bandage to stop the venom flowing to the heart and other organs of your body…no it’s not pleasant.” Fortunately Gary has only been bitten once.
Initially Gary was going to bring out a quiet red bellied black snake to my home for me to meet, but I asked for a python instead. While Gary said the red bellied black was quiet, he emphasised that “you never caress a venomous snake…you have to treat it with respect.”
If you love snakes, Gary’s advice is to learn a lot about snakes, starting with learning about pythons a lot more before the venomous type and to have a lot of years experience before getting into venomous snakes.
Finally Gary said this about snakes, “They are a lovely creature, they are just misunderstood by a lot of people…they are not as fearful as people think they are really.”

Gary’s advice to anyone who comes across a snake at home:
•    Phone the DSE or local council or local police station. You will be given Gary’s number and then phone him for him to come out to assess the situation. He will relocate the snake. “And never corner a venomous snake, give it a wide berth and try to keep an eye on it.

Gary Bright, snake handler. Mobile 0427 436 223.
He charges a reasonable fee for such a dangerous and important service.