Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-08-30, Page 17P Mrs. Maureen Hill Is a homemakerwith a difference. Young and lovely, Mrs. Hill is not only busy In her large garden from which -she fills the family freezer she has contracted this week to make all the English Trifle for the first Huron Country Playhouse Dinner Theatre. In this photo, Mrs. Hill Is putting the finishing touches to one of her sodn-to-be famous desserts. (staff photo) r . t a trifle ... A festive dessert, served in ngland mostly for birthdays nd at Christmas, will be the final touch to Huron Country 'layhouse's first Dinner eatre to be held this week in e lobby at the old renovated rn near Grand Bend English Trifle, a dessert artgteed to ruin anyone's "ow•calorie diet, is - a mar- ellous concoction of fruit and ponge and custard and whip- cream. On this occasion, this pecialty dessert will be 'repared from an old family ecipe brought to Canada by fine of this area's newest and 'realest homemakers, Mrs. aureen Hill. Mrs. Hill, wife ..of Huron tunty Planner Nick Hill, plans make nine of her exceptional .idea for the first evening (last ight). For tonight and sub - 'tient evenings; she will rely ,n the direction of Playhouse- .• James Murphy who will timate as closely as possible numbers to attend the din- rs and leave Mrs. Hill to bide that number by eight rvinge to determine how ny trifles she, will need. It was in her home in Lester, ntland, sthat Mrs. Hill first rned the art of the trifle. recalls that her mother de trifles --in two distinct AYO••one with sherry for 'nits and one with either fruit 'ice or jellies for children. It will be the trifle laced with which will be served at Playhouse this weekend. The first step toward a trifle the sponge. Thi' requires Algal., baking -.powder, and r•••••. and i4enty of time to tit. Hifi-says that _ a' good �. ' pis beaten for about one - If hour if the cook is using a k or at least 10 minutes if an mixer is being utilized the purpose. In England we don't have as 11°Y mixers_ as you do in nada, Mrs. Hill explained, making sponge takes a Tong Pa the Playhouse trifles, • Hill expects to bake all $Pong°s ahead and freeze iMrs'nthe H 11 advises freezer. ses that the can be baked in the large bowl to be used for �e because that way, the is just the right size. Or can be baked in a hiking pan and cut into for the trifle. had s trifle, you simply • place half the sponge on the bottom, of _a clear glass dish, add a layer of fruit (traditional trifle calls for fresh raspberries but Mrs. Hill uses any fresh fruit in season, this week peaches), another layer of sponge; and then a generous drizzle, of sherry.. At this point, Mrs. Hill feels that one's own personal taste should dictate both the amount of sherry and the type of sherry to be used. For the Playhouse trifles, it will be Mrs. Hill's choice and she likes a rather dry sherry in generous amours to give the trifle both moistness and distinctive flavor. "One cup of sherry at least," advises Mrs. Hill, "and two cups if you prefer. 'Sometimes, trifles are served with a bottle of sherry on the side." Next comes the layer of custard and here, says Mrs. Hill, there's only one kind of custard to be used. It is Bird's Custard Powder which is on the shelf in all English homes and it must be this custard that goes into a good trifle. "I've been told it is available in Goderich," said Mrs. Hill, "but I picked up mine in Toronto when I was there recently.'" The custard is prepared ac- cording to the directions on the tin and poured, hot, over the sponge, fruit and sherry: "The custard must be hot," says Mrs. Hill, " so it goes' down into the sponge and the fruit and fills up any holes that have been created." This much of the trifle is then chilled until serving time. Just before taking it to the table, a generous topping of fresh whipped cream is added,.._, may"ie ecorated With -more fresh fruit or nuts or anything that suits the fancy of the cook. The size of -the trifle is up to the cook, too. It, can be uilt to fit any bowl or any container ' and ' can be made larger or smaller to fit the number of persons to be served. children's trifle is made exactly the same except that fruit juice is used in place of the sherry. Or, again if -the cook .prefers, the sponge and fruit can be covered with a prepared jelly powder (jello) before adding the custard and cream. "You will notice rve added no sweetening," said Mrs. Hill as she served up the trifle. "I've not sweetened the fruit or the cream. There's very little sugar in the sponge and the V1 custard powder contains its own sweetener." "In fact, "I use very little sugar in anything I make," Mrs. Hill advised. "I almost never use white sugar, oc- casionally brown sugar but mostly honey. If a recipe calls for a cup of sugar I use only about half that much sweetener. I don't think too much sugar is good for one." Mrs. Hill's respect for natural foods is very much evident in her small kitchen in 'an old stone house atop a high hill on the Base Line just about three miles south of 'Auburn. Over her stove and cooking area, are rows of shelves neatly lined with jars' of herbs and spices, dried vegetables and other natural foods. Beside them is a long shelf containing numerous cookbooks about everything. _ "I sometimes buy things I've never hearcrotor seen before,"" smiled Mrs. Hill. "And then I look through my cookbooks to find out how to use them." Beside the stove are several containers of fresh produce from Mrs. Hill's garden waiting to be processed for the freezer. She says she used the languid days- of summer to work in the garden and be outdoors; during the winter months when one is confined to the house anyway, she will make her preserves from the frozen ingredients in her freezer. Also in the winter time, Mrs. Hill makes all her own breads and rolls. "I like to cook," she smiled. "I do it by choice." Making trifles for the Playhouse Dinner Theatre is a 1ar$e-�r�dertalting bttt--iMrL Httt_ is looking forward ,to it. She's worked out the cost for a trifle • to serve eight people and she suspects it can be made very reasonably ... possibly as little as 25 cents per serving! Following is Mrs. Hill's recipe for basic sponger 3 large fresh 'eggs, 4 ounces (1/2 cup) fruit sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 4 ounces (1 cup) al purpose flour. Beat eggs and sugar together for half an hour if using a fork, 10 minutes if `using an electric mixer (speed -whip), ._ Fold in sifted flour and baking powder using a metal spoon. • Put into a pan which has b.S brushed withmelted butter and dusted with equal duantitirs of . sugar • and flour. Bake im- mediately • in . a hot oven (426 degrees) for 20 minutes. 4 • Planning is imports All RIGHTS RESERVED "This department is not really an office, its a workshop," County Planner Nick Hill stresses. "We don't deal only in the written word, we produce drawings, plans, models, sketches and so on." Mr. Hill is referring to what the Huron County Court House directory calls the "County Planning and Development Of- fices" located on the basement floor- of the building: He's correct though, they . aren't really offices despite what the directory might say. Planning and development is one of the more recent facilities to begin operation out of the Court House. At the request of County 'Council- the- Minister_ of Municipal Affairs designated the entire county of Huron a single planning area in Septem- ber of 1968. The idea was to overcome the problems of small ineffec- tive planning areas -and provide the opportunity to 'plan com- prehensively to solve large scale problems. This . was a first, an entire county as a single planning area. To guide this new planning process a Planning Board was 'formed and held its • first Meeting in December of 1968. This board was made up of five elected members of Huron County Council and five other 'appoiheb'd mer bars who .,*howed interest in planning as well as the County Warden as an ex -officio member. The first step taken by the new board was to prepare an Official Plan. With the aid of Planning Consultants, the Board studied and analyzed the County, then prepared a draft' plan which • -.was reviewed at three .public meetings, amended and even- tually approved by the County Council and submitted to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. This plan came back from review of the provincial level with a number of changes made. County Council again went into extensive review, ap- proved it and returned it to the Minister for final approval. To back up the planning work they had undertaken the County of Huron went one step further and established the Planning and Development Of- fice now located in the Court House. There are two professional planners on staff, Gary David- son, the Director, and Nick Hill, the Planner. In addition the department is aided by secretary Shirley Stoll and during the summer months students John Cox and Brian Murdoch are undertaking a Recreation Study and a study of Secondary Plans respec- tively. - The Planning Department stresses the role of public par- ticipation in all.aspects of plan- ning. It is the' opinion- of the planners that a plan can only ,work if the council and residents of a given area believe in it. Mr. Hill explains that the department is well pleased with the response of the public toward the initiation of plan- ning and the 'bylaws necessary to enforce plans drawn up. "Right at -the moment we are getting 100 to 125 people out to meetings about planning in Grey Township," he points out. Plans don't just appear however, they are a result of a lot of_ detailed studies and work, and although citizens set goals and provide opinions they are not available for time con- suming work on a regular basis - hence the planning depart- ment with full time- staff.' , Planners provide advice, check opinions, prepare alter- native plans and develop proposals. There are numerous alternatives and implications that must be considered so the Plan is the result of the best in- formation available, not • giiessowrk. Like most "County depart- ments the Planning office works in conjunction with other agencies in completing its work. `Among the numerous groups invdi 'ed are the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Natural Resources, the Con- servation Authorities and the Huron County Health Unit. In addition to preparing plans and advising County, Township and Municipal Coun- cils much of the Planning • by Ron Shaw Departmentje time is taken up with providing advice on severances, subdivision and design. The first steps were establishing the planning area, forming a planning board and setting up a planning depart- ment but this only provided a guideline for development. and a decision making process. Now the process 9f refinement for both the County and its Municipalities is underway. Major Policies in the Official Plan affect the use of land. County . planners believe the most important land use in Huron is agriculture and policies of the plan reflect this importance. Any non farm uses of land in the rural area is *carefully reviewed, and in some cases, prohibited. • Existing urban structures are however encouraged to develop. Although the Official Plan promotes urban develop- ment in urban areas, the smaller villages and hamlets are not abandoned. Villages are ;promoted as "worthwhile alternatives to city living." In addition to these basic policies on rural and urban land use, policies on the other major land uses are developed in the Official plan. The recreational and tourist potential of the Huron shoreline and valleys of the Ausable, Bayfield and Maitland Rivers - is assessed: The goal here, the planner ex- plains, is to provide ample recreational land for both public and private use. Environmental protection is reviewed and policies developed to protect sensitive areas susceptible to erosion. Mr. Hill notes that he is con- cerned*with the amount of new urban development. "Most of this development is of a recreational nature," he points out, "Tent trailer parks, retirement communes, seasonal residential estates." To .ake matters • of even more concern. Mr. Hill feels that the present planning department does not have an "adequate administrative (continued on page 8A) i d °aunty Goy Davidson. OM, and Mott MIM "t. think of their Cali Nouse faoNMl s not aro mush as en bat rather as a work -shop -- a' work -chop because the staff *Oro fiat diet stilet* . ki tis written word but, Mors WWI �� v011th Moe� �k��ehi ill jam, .�. County that hit Nuns under l�of a . ,ail NOM•r1• studyPlanning M !k. Num Orli►