Our questions for...Helen Skelton

Helen Skelton joined the Blue Peter team in 2008 and has since gone on to complete some amazing physical challenges. She has kindly found time in her really busy schedule to answer some of our questions.

Image credit: Ruth Crafer


In 2009 she became only the second woman ever to complete the Nambia Ultra Marathon – a gruelling 78 mile course through the Namibian desert, which she finished in under 24 hours. Two weeks later she was back in her running shoes, taking part in the London Marathon for Leonard Cheshire Disability.

In early 2010 she decided to push herself further by kayaking 2,010 miles down the Amazon in support of Sport Relief. Along the way she broke two Guiness World Records; the longest solo journey by kayak, and the longest kayak by a woman in 24 hours.

Never one to rest on her laurels, for her Comic Relief challenge in 2011 Helen drew inspiration from "Man on Wire" and decided to train in the art of highwire walking. A BBC1 special, Girl On Wire, followed her progress from her first tentative steps three feet off the ground, to her spectacular 150 meter long, 66 meter high walk between the towers of Battersea Power Station.

All of these remarkable achievements however were utterly eclipsed by her latest challenge for Sport Relief. In January 2012 Helen travelled 500 miles across Antarctica to the South Pole by ski, kite and bike, enduring temperatures of -48 degrees. However even that wasn’t enough to stop her breaking another world record by becoming the fastest person to travel 100km by kite ski. Her entire journey from day one of training through to completing her challenge was broadcast in a nine part series of Blue Peter Specials on BBC1.

Q: Out of the physical challenges that you have done was there ever a moment where you just found it too hard/scary and thought you couldn't complete it?

A: During the 80 mile run I did in Namibia after 26 miles I was on the floor in tears, I was so sunburned I had nothing left in my legs and I was starting to hallucinate through dehydration. It was awful but I just didn't want to come home and say to people I had failed. The thought of that made me get up and keep going.

Q: Do you find you are ever written off because of your looks (a young, attractive woman is not usually associated with extreme physical achievements)? And how do you combat this?

A: Constantly, the other runners at the ultra marathon said to me "you won't finish so just enjoy it." As long as you know who you are and what you have to offer, the things other people say shouldnt affect you

Q: Do you have any tips for how to complete endurance running races? I am trying really hard to train (only for a half marathon!) and am not sure I'd ever be able to run a full marathon although I'd like to!

A: Don't over think it. If you can run 5 miles, break a run down into 5 miles at a time, take it bit by bit.

Q: Is there a challenge that you'd really like to do in future?

A: I want to do a team event, and I would like to do an ironman.

Q: How important do you find things like sports massage/post training care? Do they really make a difference to recovery/performance?

A: I don't take sports massage and diet seriously enough. I find if I eat and drink a lot I can get through endurance events. My attitude towards food has changed since I started running. I have cake and biscuits guilt free. They are food!

Q: What sport or exercise do you do for fun?

A: I play tennis and squash against my fiancé, I love going out on my bike but the thing I do everyday is go out with my dog.

Q: The WI motto is 'inspiring women' - who do you find inspiring?

A: Chrissie Wellington is my hero. I was hugely inspired by Ellen Mcarthur as a teenager.

Q: How do you decide what challenges to complete? Do you look for records to break (e.g. the longest solo kayak down the Amazon), activities you'd like to try or are you presented with options?

A: It is always about doing something new for the audience. I don't like setting records, you get too much criticism for the elite pele who do that particular sport but my boss loves them from a tv point of view. I set them I don't break them.

Q: How have you found the label 'role model' that must come with being a Blue Peter presenter? Is it more of a burden than you expected before you took the job?

A: It's an honour to be called a role model but most of the time I just talk out loud so I think there are people who deserve it more than me.

Q: And lastly, what's your favourite cake?

A: Lemon drizzle

Cake pops recipe

Cake pops are the new macaroons which were the new cupcakes, or something. Anyway they are super easy to make and very delicious to eat.



Credit: BBC

Here is the recipe for cake pops from our July meeting.

Ingredients:
Cake: this recipe uses 1 chocolate sponge made in a loaf tin, but this could be replaced with any sponge or fruit cake. You can either make a cake or buy a ready made sponge (shh no one will ever know).

Icing: this recipe uses chocolate fudge butter icing but you could use any thick, spreadable icing or frosting. Again you could make your own or buy ready made.

Chocolate, melted: we used white chocolate.

Sticks: we used white chocolate Mikados but you could use lollipop sticks or candy sticks. In fact Mikados turned out to be a bit unsuccessful with warm hands as they snapped so don't use them!

Decoration: sprinkles, sparkles, whatever takes your fancy

Method

1. Bake cake and leave to cool completely. Or take cake out of packaging!

2. Cut crusts off of cake. This will ensure there are no lumps in your finished cake pops.

3. Crumble the sponge into a bowl. The finer the sponge the better. You could use a food processor to do this, your hands or a knife.

4. Add a tablespoon of icing to the sponge crumbs and mix with your hands. Keep adding one spoonful of icing at a time until the mixture comes together in a dough like consistency and forms one large ball. Too little icing and the mixture won't hold together, too much and it will be sloppy. This is a crucial stage!

5. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

6. Now roll ping pong sized balls of cake mixture and place onto a lined baking sheet.

7. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

8. Break the white chocolate into an oven proof bowl and put into the microwave on 20 second blasts until melted. Be careful not to over cook or the chocolate will separate.

9. Put a blob of melted chocolate on the end of a stick and push into a cake ball. Do this for each cake ball and leave the chocolate to dry. This will only take a minute or so and the chocolate will act like glue to hold the stick in place.

10. Now dip each cake ball into the melted chocolate ensuring an even coverage. Stand the cake pop upright to dry - you could use a cup, jam jar, floristry oasis, whatever you have to hand.

11. Before the chocolate dries add your decorations. For inspiration google 'cake pops' there are hundreds of pages of inspiration. If in doubt hundreds and thousands look quite nice.

12. Sit back, feel smug at your baking wonder and eat cake pops.

Our questions for...the Mayor

Next in our series of interviews is a Q&A with Cllr Pippa Goldfinger who was elected Frome Town Mayor in May 2012.

Q: What is your highest priority for your time in office?
A: My highest priority is to increase public participation in all aspects of the community and with the Town Council itself.


Q:What's your vision for Frome over the next few years?
A: To improve the physical appearance of the town, especially the centre. Establish the Neighbourhood Plan so that future developments in Frome are of a high standard and we get the right economic balance – Frome must not become a dormitory town! Also to increase community engagement.


Q: What is the most challenging aspect of being mayor?
A: Dealing with stuffy protocol!


Q: What is the biggest impact the government’s austerity measures will have on Frome?
A: Both Mendip and Somerset councils have pulled back funding in many areas, leaving Frome Town Council to pick up the pieces. This often seems unfair.


Q: What do you think Frome could do to encourage greater financial investment/development?
A: We have already made a start by employing a new and talented economic regeneration officer with great experience who is both excited and enthusiastic about working in Frome. We are also one of the government’s front runners in the ‘Neighbourhood Plan’ – where the public get to shape the future development of Frome.


Q: How do you plan to engage with more people, actively get people building communities we are proud to share & live in?
A: In our September newsletter we will include projects proposed by members of the community which the public can vote on to receive grants in order to carry these proposals out. Our aim is to get people involved in rather than commenting on community projects. We also currently run ‘working groups’ where the public help us to shape policy and carry out projects using their expertise and enthusiasm. The Town Council is compiling a database of all community groups in Frome so that people who want to get involved can join an existing group.

We’ve also invited people to come and speak at the start of Full Council meetings and Committee meetings. It would be great if the W.I. came along at some point to give us a presentation on what you are upto.


Q: Why will you be different from any other mayors?
A: All mayors are individual but in recent years Frome mayors have broken from tradition to reflect both their personalities and the changing face of Frome. I intend to follow this model.


Q: Why should we be interested in a town mayor? what can you do which will make a real difference?
A: The mayor can provide a focus for the public and can communicate what the Town Council is trying to achieve to the public. It’s a community role. If you’re interested in your community you should be interested in the mayor and your town council


Q: Are you excited about waving for hours in the carnival procession?
A: I will be waving graciously as a mayor should, but please look out for my entourage!


Q: And finally, a very WI question. What is your favourite cake?
A: It’s got to be a ‘Tarte de Naranja’ a Spanish almond and orange cake from Claudia Roden’s Mediterranean Cookery.

For more information about the mayor and Frome Town Council have a look at their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/FromeTownCouncil

June meeting pictures

On Thursday 21st June we held our latest WI meeting.

Sport and Fashion

We had a talk by Rosemary Harden. Rosemary is curator at the Fashion Museum in Bath where she has worked for over 20 years. Rosemary has organised a number of exhibitions including Women of Style (2000), John Bates Fashion Designer (2006) and The Diana Dresses (2010).

This year the Fashion Museum have an exhibition on Sport and Fashion and Rosemary described how sports clothing has had a significant impact on the world of women's fashion, for example the link between tennis and the mini skirt, and horse riding and the tailored jacket.

(Credit: Fashion Museum)



For more information and to find out about visiting the Fashion Museum to see the current exhibition along with the incredible archive of garments, please visit the website.

Hooks and needles

We spent the rest of the evening in yarn joy, with experts showing novices how to knit and crochet.  Thanks to everyone who brought along yarn, needles and hooks and a special thank you to the lovely lovely people at Future Publishing for providing us with bundles of yarn, hooks, needles and patterns. They have also provided us with a FromeWI special offer on The Making Spot. Woohoo!





A bit of needle felting with Gilly...




Ladies getting stuck in...



























If you would like to join in more regular knit chat online then please join our Ravelry group. We are thinking of setting up some knit alongs/hook alongs for us to craft together from the comfort of our sofas.

If you are interested in meeting up in person to craft then please get in touch either via Facebook or email and we'll set something up.

Thanks and thanks again!

So as always, thanks to everyone who came along. It's such a lovely way to spend an evening - chatting, learning and eating cake.

Thanks to those who brought drinks and a huge thank you to the ladies who baked cakes. The cake standard is AMAZING and I for one look forward to them every month! I only managed to get 2 pictures as they were all gobbled up really quickly!









Next month

The July meeting will take place on Thursday 19th July and will be vaguely Olympics themed.

Old skool rules

Jessica Johnson used to work on the WI Life magazine. She now publishes her own blog The Vintage Cake Spot among other things.

Check out these very useful vintage WI cookery tips she has discovered and then visit her blog for more vintage wonder.

"During the research of The Vintage Teatime, that I’ve been only too happy to soak up the chapters on ‘Culinary’ or ‘Cookery’ Hints which were a mainstay of self-published cook books by the WI over the last sixty years. More time-saving ways with potatoes, milk, eggs and pretty much all cupboard staples available to the home-cook in her respective decade. Here’s the best of the bunch…

CABBAGE To prevent cabbage boiling over, add a small piece of dripping or lard. Adds good flavour, too.

CAKE tins. When buying new cake or meat tins, run them inside out with a little lard, then put into a cool oven for an hour or two. This prevents rust and cakes will turn out without sticking.

EGGS you’re doing the separating thing and you drop some shell. Rescue little shards with a large piece of egg shell which acts as a magnet cum lifeguard.

PANCAKES and Yorkshire puds get even tastier with 2ozs of butter thrown into the batter before cooking.

PEARS are much improved by being cooked in a little lemonade rather than water. Think Nigella and her cola ham.

MINT for your summer mojitos can be chopped much more quickly and finely with a pinch or two of sugar in the mix.

ORANGE peel dried and hung up in a paper bag can be used as an excellent flavouring stewed with dried fruit.

REVIVE a drooping lettuce by standing its roots in a little water

THICKENING Put flour in a jar and bake in a slow oven until it just starts to change colour. When cool this can be stored and used for thickening sauces and gravies as it won’t turn lumpy upon adding to hot liquids. What a relief – that’s the white sauce sorted"

(source: the vintage cake spot)

First meeting - done and dusted!

On Thursday 19th April 2012 the first meeting of the new branch of the Frome WI took place at the Round Tower. Over 70 women attended the first meeting and we somehow managed to fit in the building!

Storm Fagan (Frome WI) gave a brief introduction to the meeting. The aim of the evening was to introduce everyone to the Women's Institute, find out more about what everyone hoped to achieve with the branch and eat some cake.

Margaret Bigg (Somerset WI advisor) spoke about the National Federation of Women's Institutes organisation from a wider perspective, explained how to join (£31.50 per year or £3.00 per visit with a maximum of 3 visits per year) and spoke about some of the recent campaigns (including the call for more midwives, plight of the honeybee and the relationship with the ACWW, specifically the Women Walk the World campaign).  

During the rest of the meeting we rotated between:

Subscriptions desk
The subscriptions desk will be available at all meetings should you wish to either join up or find more information about joining the Frome WI.

Cakes and drinks

There was the most amazing array of cakes and bakes that were brought along. If there is a recipe you'd particularly like then please post in the comments and hopefully the baker will come along and share. 

Origami

An origami folding session took place on the upper floor learning how to create the crane which is traditionally the symbol of good luck. If you'd like to try and fold the crane then here are some easy to follow instructions. And if you fold one thousand of them, you can make a wish...

Questionnaire

A questionnaire was available for people to fill in. It is very short! And with the aim of ascertaining how involved people would like to be and what topics the group should cover in future meetings. If you missed the meeting but would like to give us your thoughts then please email us at: wi.frome@gmail.com. 

Thanks to everyone who came along and made sure this meeting was a fantastic start to our shiny new WI. We'll post some photos in the Facebook group. 

Future meetings

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 17th May 2012. We'll upload a separate post about this meeting and set up a Facebook event with details. If you are not on Facebook and would like the information then please let us know via email. 

First meeting update

So after careful consideration and taking on board your feedback - which mainly consisted of requests for cake :) we can confirm the first meeting will be a cake and champers night.

A chance for us to meet each other, learn about what the WI does on a local and national level and discuss what topics we should be covering this year. And eat cake of course!

Please feel free to bring a cake or something to drink. A post on our FB page would be very handy so we have an idea of how many cakes there will be.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

19th April 7.30 - 9.00 pm in the Round Tower at the Black Swan Arts Centre. There is plenty of parking by the library.