Waving Goodbye

As my Archaeology degree comes to a close in a matter of months, it is now time to focus on that- but I have truly loved blogging on Roald Dahl for this short amount of time. 

I hope I have reminded you all to remember not to forget about books, especially Roald Dahl's, and to evaluate the way tales and fables have influenced you- even when you haven't realised!!

The blog will remain up and the comments still live, but it will probably act as more of an archive- but who knows what the future holds. Maybe one day there will be a role for heritage blogging, but for now I've got to get a degree- and then save the world one blog at a time.

Thank you all for reading, clicking, scrolling, commenting and getting involved.  As a leaving gift I, or rather Dahl, leave you this....

“We have tears in our eyes
As we wave our goodbyes,
We so loved being with you, we three.
So do please now and then
Come and see us again,
The Giraffe and the Pelly and me.

All you do is to look
At a page in this book
Because that’s where we always will be.
No book ever ends
When it’s full of your friends
The Giraffe and the Pelly and me.”

-The Giraffe, the Pelly & Me, Roald Dahl 

La fin.

Your Series

YOUR SERIES

 This marks the first post, in what I hope to be a snowballing idea for Dahl heritage..

It's very simple, just send in, comment or tweet your earliest Roald Dahl memory so it can be added.

Then have a good time reading others tales of childhood terror and literature love- have fun guessing who's could possibly be who's.....

+) My earliest memory of RD- falling in love with charlie and the choc factory and wishing I would somehow find a golden ticket... also made lickable wallpaper thanks to Roald Dalh's revolting recipes book!

+) Although the storyline line is a little muddled, my earliest and most vivid memory was of the absolutely terrifying (when you're 6 years old, anyway) crocodile in "the enormous crocodile" - I could never get over the size of his menacing jaws and teeth - and its stuck with me ever since.

Oh and him being flung into the sunset at the end of the story!
  

+) Lying in bed listening to the BFG tapes when I was small, my heart would race all the way through thinking that giants would appear at my window too Making "Plate of Soil and Engine oil" from the Roald Dahl recipe book for Sunday lunch pudding, perhaps THE best chocolatey treat....

+) Every night my dad used to sit down with me and read a bed time story- he's really good at putting on daft voices for all the characters. One night he brought out a book with a collection of Dahl's stories; the Witches, Esio Trot, The Giraffe the Pelly and Me, and the Twits (the latter he began to read). To this day I still feel a bit uncomfortable when I need to itch my belly, as Dahl said - only ugly, nasty people get itchy bellies! Of course, for me, Dahl wouldn't be without Quentin Blake- together, they are magic, and I will most definitely be reading those books to my children one day. 

+) I used to listen to Dahl's autobiography in the car with my family on our annual summer drive to the south of France. When he's in Africa he's served rice with fried bananas in, on a big banana leaf (I think). We have a banana tree in France so at the start of the holiday I demanded from mother some banana rice on a leaf like Roald Dahl had. It was delicious, definitely recommend it.  

+) When I was little I was inseparable from my copy of the twits. I once went to the toilet and fell asleep reading it.  

+) The first time I remember was when we listen to his tapes. I don't know who did the audio voice over, but it was very calming and I would always fall asleep.  I think I had to listen them 5 or 6 times before I had heard the whole story between naps.

+) I rememeber when I was suddenly signed up to the Roald Dahl Kids club. I had a badge and new book mark. I was also given my first Dahl audiotape "The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me". I actually thought i was really sad when I first listened.

+) I once ate a worm because that's what happened in the twits. I'm still not ashamed of myself- rather proud if I say so


 

Willy Wonka's Micro Cake

“There is something about very cold weather that gives one an enormous appetite. Most of us find ourselves beginning to crave rich steaming stews and hot apple pies and all kinds of delicious warming dishes; and because we are all a great deal luckier than we realize, we usually get what we want—or near enough.”
― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

So the winter is upon us, it seems the only thing for it is to make like the effervescient, ever singing and dancing Mr Willy Wonka and whip up something yummy and exciting from not a lot.

How does chocolate cake sound?

It is rumoured that when Mr Wonka is relaxing, long after the Oompa Lumpa's are in bed- he knows how to make phizzwizzing cake in less then 3 mintues.

Much like a Golden Tickets to his factory, the recipe for this, Willy Wonka's Micro Cake, can be found here:

For this you will need: 

• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• 3 tablespoons of oil
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1 large mug & a microwave

Add dry ingredients to the mug, and mix well. 

Crack an egg and add it to your mug. Be sure to mix it well to avoid any pockets of flour in the corners. 

Pour in the milk, oil and chocolate chips, and mix well. Add the vanilla extract. 

Pop your mug into the microwave & heat for 3 minutes. Wait until the cake stops rising, and sets in the mug.  If it is still very goey, add for 1 min extra.
If necessary, run a knife around the sides of the mug, and tip the still warm cake out of the mug and onto a saucer.

 You can make it even more chocolaty by adding some Chocolate Chips into the mixture before you Mircowave.  

“He turned and reached behind him for the chocolate bar, then he turned back again and handed it to Charlie. Charlie grabbed it and quickly tore off the wrapper and took an enormous bite. Then he took another…and another…and oh, the joy of being able to cram large pieces of something sweet and solid into one's mouth! The sheer blissful joy of being able to fill one's mouth with rich solid food!
'You look like you wanted that one, sonny,' the shopkeeper said pleasantly.
Charlie nodded, his mouth bulging with chocolate.”
― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory