Old School Butterscotch Tart

I finally found this after trying lots of recipes that claimed to be the original. This is just like the one I used to have at school. Sorry about the lack of measurements ...

(Ideally home-made) pastry-case baked blind
3oz demerara sugar
3oz butter or margarine
3/4 oz cornflour slaked into
1/2 oz dried milk (eg Marvel)

Melt the butter/marg in a pan.
Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
Add milk and cornflour.
Stir well until all is combined.
Pour into case and cool.

The mixture will thicken slightly on cooling, so don't be tempted (as I was) to add more cornflour.

It is truly delicious!!! And if you remember the 'mock cream' we ued to have with it, try this:

20z sifted icing sugar
2oz butter or margarine
1/2 oz cornflour
1 gill (???) milk
Few drops vanilla essence

Blend the cornflour with the milk and boil for 3 minutes.
Allow to go cold.
Beat in creamed butter/marg and sugar, a little at a time.
Add essence and beat until smooth.

I remember making it at school but haven't made it since, so if any of you make, please do let me know how it goes ... It made a rather curious thick white blob, with little white globules in it. Doesn't sound nice but we loved it as children!

And a Chalet School Recipe (I think ... somewhere) for Lardy Cake.

Make some bread dough (I do it in my bread-maker).
In a pan melt some lard.
Add any amount of sultanas, and some brown sugar.
Roll the dough out into a long strip.
Pour the melted mixture onto the dough (it's terribly messy - don't worry about it).
Roll up the dough into a 'snail'.
Put into a cake tin.
If there is any mixture lying about just scrape it up and put it on top of the cake.
Let it rise.
When it's risen, bake in a hot oven until cooked.

It is not healthy, but is gorgeous for a treat.

I could go on and on ... let me know if you would like a recipe for Rosemary Cake, which tastes unusual (not like rosemary at all).

I'd love the recipe for rosemary cake! I have a lavender cake recipe somewhere I'll dig out.

Here you go then - and I would love the lavender recipe, please!:
Rosemary cake (thanks to Nigella)
250 butter
200 golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
210 SR flour
90 plain flour
1 tsp vanilla
Lots of rosemary, chopped
4 tbs milk
2 tbs golden caster sugar
Oven 170C gas mark 3

Throw all the ingredients bar the Rosemary into a bowl and mix until light and fluffy.
Fold in the Rosemary.
Put into a loaf tim.
Sprinkle with sugar and rosemary.
Cook until skewer comes out clean.

Keeps well. Tastes almost gingery, and is mmmmm!

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
Just made this & it's a lovely light but very very decadent chocolate cake.

Ingredients
•8/225g ounces semisweet chocolate
•1/2 cup (112g)margarine
•8 eggs separated
•1 cup sugar

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 then melt chocolate with margarine over very low heat.
2.Stir until smooth then set aside.
3.Beat eggs yolks with 3/4 cup sugar then gradually stir in chocolate
4.Beat whites until soft peaks form then gradually add remaining sugar and beat until stiff.
5.Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture then pour 3/4 of the batter into a spring form pan. (22cm)
6.Cover and refrigerate remaining batter then bake cake 35 minutes and cool completely.
7.Spread remaining batter over top of cake then refrigerate overnight

This is something of an appeal for recipes - a friend of mine suffers from lupus which has caused various complications. Her medication changes a lot and she's just been told to go on a wheat- and gluten-free diet. Unfortunately, she loves bread and cakes and I'm feeling very sorry for her as I know she's feeling down, and wondered if the collective resources of the CBB could point me in the direction of any good wheat- and gluten-free baking recipes? The cakier the better - I'd like to make her something to cheer her up and help satisfy her sweet tooth!

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"All young ladies are accomplished. They sing, they draw, they dance, speak French and German, cover screens and I know not what." (Mr. Bingley, P&P) - Well, I'm half way there; can't dance, but does anyone know how to cover a screen?

The recipe right above you would work!

There is also a lovely Nutella cake on the thread (in the same post as another flour-free chocolate torte).

I have an absolutely yummy brownie recipe which involves a filling of dulche de leche. My non gluten-free friends all love it (you could make it with normal flour, but I find the gluten free version to be yummier). I'll type it up in a little bit.

BTW - if something is gluten free it is always wheat free. So, you can just search for gluten-free recipes. Be careful - wheat free does NOT always mean gluten free.

BTW2 - it doesn't have too many desserts on it, but I LOVE this site:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
It is all slow cooker (aka crock pot) recipes, but they could be adapted for normal cooking. They are all gluten free recipes.

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Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed. ~Charles Schulz, Peanuts

Apparently I had already typed up the recipe (and added hints for my non-GF friends). Here you go:

ORIGINAL RECIPE

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
5 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup Multi-Blend Gluten-Free Flour Mix
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
Melt butter and chocolates in the top of a double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat.
Whisk in cocoa powder and let cool slightly.
In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until thoroughly blended.
Whisk in warm chocolate mixture.
Then stir in multi-blend mix and xanthan gum until just combined.
Pour half the batter into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Pour last half of batter over the chips, covering completely.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven or until a toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs clinging to it.
Set pan on a wire rack until cool enough to handle.
Run a knife between walls of the pan and baked brownie and invert onto a flat surface to
release. Peel off parchment and place brownies on a rack to cool completely.
Use a sharp knife to cut the bars, wiping the knife clean between cuts.

ADAPTIONS
First, I just used the microwave to melt the butter and chocolate. I’m also fairly sure that my pan was 9x9 (though the cooking time was still about 40 minutes).

Also, I realized that I misread this the first time I made them and used 3oz (rather than 2oz of unsweetened chocolate). I did the same thing on the next batch as well.

The important adaptation is the dulce de leche. You can buy this pre-made (I know that Loblaws sells it), I make my own. Take a can of sweetened condensed milk and take the paper wrapper off of it. Stick the can into a pot of boiling water ENSURING THAT THE ENTIRE CAN IS SUBMERGED. Boil it for about 3 hours (I tend to lose track of time, so this is approximate – it doesn’t matter all that much). Check on the pot periodically to ensure that the can is still submerged. Add extra water to the pot as needed. When the time is up, I remove the can and stick it in a pot of cold water to cool completely (you are fine just cooling it in your counter, but I do it this way). When cool, open lid of can and enjoy!
I spread it on the brownie layer where it suggested sprinkling chocolate. I suggest stirring up the dulce de leche first to make it easier to spread. I have discovered that a soft (i.e. less cooked) dulce de leche is easier to spread, but makes the spreading of the second halve of the brownie batter more difficult– it all taste good anyway (just may not look as pretty).

And the gluten free bit. Both batches I made were gluten free (the recipe came to me as a gluten free recipe). I used Molly B’s bread flour mix which is a mix of white rice flour, potato flour, tapioca flour, and sea salt. Any gluten free flour blend will be fine. These are generally a mix of: rice flour (brown or white), potato flour, potato starch flour (which may be the same as potato flour – I can never figure it out), tapioca flour, corn starch, sorghum flour and may (or may not) contain xantham gum. Get one with xantham gum, and then you don’t have to buy xantham gum separately.

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Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed. ~Charles Schulz, Peanuts

Thanks! Can't believe I missed the one already there right above my post - I blame the fact I was in a rush as usual! And thanks for the info on gluten-free being always wheat-free.

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"All young ladies are accomplished. They sing, they draw, they dance, speak French and German, cover screens and I know not what." (Mr. Bingley, P&P) - Well, I'm half way there; can't dance, but does anyone know how to cover a screen?

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.as ... ten%20free

Loads of recipes here - I have't tried these myself but I have tried other recipes on the website and find the reviews are very good i.e. if it has a 5 star review it's usually very good indeed.

Hi

Thought this one might be popular - it certainly is with my friends!

Bailey’s and Malteser Cheesecake

Ingredients
200g chocolate digestives – plain
50g melted butter

200g cream cheese
3 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
200ml double cream
100ml Bailey’s
100g melted plain chocolate (50% cocoa solids or more)
Packet maltesers (milk or white chocolate)

Method
Crush chocolate digestives into crumbs. Add melted butter and mix thoroughly. Press crumb mixture into base of a flan dish or spring based flan tin. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Beat cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth.

Add cream and baileys – should make a dropping consistency.

Spread half of the mixture over the base. Push Maltesers into the mixture.

Separately melt the plain chocolate and add to the remaining half of the mixture. Either mix completely or leave with swirls.

Pour the rest of the mixture onto the cheesecake. Place in fridge to set.

Use raspberries or strawberries if desired for colour


I;ve also just been given a recipe for Muscovado Banana Cobbler - will let you know what it's like when I make it!

Chocolate and cherry or raspberry cake

Ingredients (but see notes below)
200g butter or margarine
180g sugar
4 eggs
150g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch cinnamon
100g dark chocolate flakes
125g ground hazelnuts
4 tbsp rum
1 glass morello cherries (drained weight 370g)

Prepare dough and add well drained cherries at the end. Butter a springform (approx.24cm diameter). Throw everything in and bake in a pre-heated oven 170°-180°C for 1 hour.

Notes: The recipe is German and over there you can get dark chocolate flakes, I've not seen them in the UK and I used the 74% dark chocolate from Lidl/Aldi which I ground up in a coffee grinder. Coarsely grating would also work fine. I prefer not to buy ready ground hazelnuts because I think grinding them fresh, skins and all, gives a better taste.
If you do this in the coffee grinder remember to do the chocolate first so that the nuts clean the grinder (I didn't )

Germans have no self-raising flour which is why you get baking powder in the recipe. I used self-raising instead.

I was very distracted when making it so I also forgot to prepare the dough first by creaming butter and sugar and eggs. I just hurled everything in the mixer together and the result was perfectly fine. Although the recipe calls for a jar of drained cherries I prefer the cake made with either all fresh raspberries, which I would drench with some sugar first for an hour or so, or part fresh, part drained can. Then decorate the top with fresh raspberries and devour with whipped cream

PS It would also work with almonds I think.
PPS I also forgot to put the rum in and ended up spooning it over the hot cake, with no apparent ill effects. I think you could equally well leave it out completely.

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Cestina's dolls houses - It's that time again.....

White Chocolate and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream
About 1 quart (1 liter)


3-inch piece (2 to 2 1/2 ounces) fresh ginger, unpeeled
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk (semi-skimmed works fine)
1 cup plus 1 cup double cream (500 ml, total)
8 ounces (230 g) white chocolate, finely chopped
5 large egg yolks

1. Slice the ginger thinly, cover it with water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain away the water but return the blanched ginger to the pan. Add the sugar, the milk and 1 cup of heavy cream to the saucepan and re-warm the mixture.
Cover and steep for at least an hour, or until you are satisfied with the ginger flavor.

2. Put the chopped white chocolate in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the ginger-infused cream mixture, whisking constantly as you pour in the warm cream. Pour the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the white chocolate, and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Discard the ginger. Add the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream and chill thoroughly. You can set the bowl over an ice bath to speed it up.

5. Chill mixture thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If, like me, you don't have an ice cream maker, put the mixture in the freezer and get it out and stir every 30-45mins until it's too solid to stir anymore.

From http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/07/#000274. I found the recipe randomly when figuring out what to do with excess leftover egg yolks.

Why do all these recipes seem to contain chocolate?
Here's a non-chocolatey one. It owes a lot to the Squeen.


Spinach Risotto
Fry 1-2 chopped onions in a little oil in a wideish shallow pan/wok/frying pan. Meanwhile, peel and chop some garlic, add this and fry some more.
Add a splash more oil and risotto rice and fry gently for another couple of minutes.
Add a small glass of white wine and stir until it has been absorbed.
Make up some stock (I like Knorr vegetable for Risotto) with boiling water. Add a ladleful at a time and keep stirring until it has been absorbed. (If I am honest I do not stir the whole time but you are supposed to).
If you run out of stock make some more up. If you taste it and the risotto is salty enough just use boiling water rather than more stock.
Keep going with the ladling/stirring cycle until the rice is no longer crunchy in the middle. Towards the beginning of adding the stock add frozen spinach.
Turn off the heat and stir in some grated cheese (preferably fresh Parmesan) and a lump of butter. let it rest for a couple of minutes.
Serve.

Frozen peas are good added to this but add towards the end as you don't want to cook them, just heat them through.

Quantities are flexible. A 500g pack of rice probably makes at least 6-7 portions.
I used a whole pack of rice, about half a kilo bag of spinach, two onions and two stock cubes with at least three pints of water.



To make into Risotto cakes, cut a lump of cheese (I used cheddar but anything that will melt is fine) about the size of what you'd use for cheese and pineapple of sticks. Form risotto round it in a fat burger shape. Dip in beaten egg and roll in bread crumbs.
Fry in vegetable oil over a medium heat until the outside is crispy and the centre hot. To test this I stick a knife in, leave for a few seconds and see if it's hot when I take it out.
If you have to make 20something them keep warm in the oven while you fry the rest.

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"[Reprint means] word for word, comma for comma, not a mutilated updated version revised to take account of current fads and vocabulary." Antonia Forest

After Eight Icecream

4 eggs
250ml milk
250ml cream
75-100g sugar (depends on taste)
150g After Eights

1.) Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks with sugar until creamy. Simultaneously, heat milk to boiling point.

2) Add milk to egg mixture. Beat over a pan of boiling water to form a thickened custard (I find this always takes longer than I think it will.)

3) While custard is thickening, gently melt After Eights into cream.

4) Beat chocolate mixture into custard and leave to cool.

5) Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into chocolate mixture and turn into tub for freezing.

6) As it begins to freeze, take it out the freezer once every hour and beat it using a magimix (or something) - at least 3 times.

7) Leave to freeze completely.

Devour !

This works with any chocolate. Dark chocolate oranges also good.

Chicken and/or Mushroom rice 'pilaff' type thing.

(No weights because I cook by sight and never weigh anything, sorry)

Gently sweat chopped onion together with mushrooms and a little bit of garlic
OR
seal/cook chopped chicken; add onions and sweat gently (food, not the cook!) until onions are transparent.

Transfer to a casserole dish. Add sufficient dried apricots, raisins/sultanas and a cinnamon stick or two. Add tinned chick peas to mushroom mixture if you're doing that version. I've sometimes put (yellow) peppers in the chicken version, but not always.

Wash and drain basmati rice. Mix it (uncooked) with other ingredients. Add stock (and white wine if wished) to casserole, cover and cook at about 160C until rice is tender. You'll probably need to add more stock/liquid at some point during cooking.

This is a good one-pot meal and really easy to cook/serve/eat. You might be able to do it in a slow-cooker too; I don't know.

This "recipe" has been requested, but like FrauJ above I cook by sight and don't measure, so it's a bit approximate!

1lb diced lamb. I deliberately didn't get lean lamb. Remove as much of the fat as possible but don't throw it away.

Quarter a few button mushrooms (I had ten). Peel an onion and two medium carrots and cut them into chunks about the same size as the mushroom pieces. Take a large double handful of dried apricots and halve. Put everything into a casserole dish and pour about a third of a bottle of red wine over it all (I used a Chilean Merlot). Put the lid on the casserole dish and put in the oven for half an hour at about 180 degrees (we have a fan oven so you may need to make it a bit hotter).

Render the lamb fat, i.e. put it in a saucepan and heat gently. If you've never done this it will take longer than you expect. I've developed this technique because fat can be full of flavour but the texture makes me feel ill. If you don't mind the texture of fat you could leave it on the lamb, or if you could use lean lamb.

When the oven beeps, pulverise some juniper berries in a pestle and mortar (I think I used about 10). Sprinkle over the casserole and stir thoroughly. Turn the oven down to about 140 (or a bit more) and put it back in for about 3/4 of an hour. I was making a birthday cake at the same time so times are slightly approximate!

Dispose of the solids left in the lamb fat and heat the rest. [If you left the fat on the diced lamb or used lean meat, substitute vegetable oil.] Make a thick roux with white or wholemeal flour, salt and ground black pepper. Slowly add the liquid from the casserole and heat till the sauce is very thick. Slowly add most of the rest of the wine (you may find it easier to pour two glasses first and then add the rest). The sauce should still be quite thick. Add about half a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a teaspoon and a half of ground cinnamon. Pour the sauce back into the casserole and stir thoroughly. Return to the oven for another 3/4 hour or so, checking seasoning half way through (I needed to add more salt and pepper).

I served this on rosemary couscous (make couscous, add lots of chopped fresh rosemary) with steamed sugarsnap peas and a glass of wine. Because this was a birthday meal we had steamed asparagus to start and birthday cake (made from frozen wild redcurrants) for pudding. SLOC had three helpings and there's still enough left for another meal, so this would easily serve four.

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The Chalet School has done it again!

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[url=http://joyful-jewellery.myshopify.com/blogs/news/79806723-christmas-2015New blog post 28th November[/url]

I was introduced to these little darlings in Tasmania and I think I need to do my bit for Australasian cuisine by posting the recipe here. Warning, golden syrup dumplings are not for the faint hearted and should be avoided by anybody who would be troubled by gaining 5kg from one pudding. They are however fantastic, and really easy to make.

Golden Syrup Dumplings
Serves: 4
For the Dumplings:
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
50 g butter, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Sauce:
2 cups water
1/3 cup golden syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
30 g butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
Cream or ice cream, to serve
1. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre. Beat the milk, egg and vanilla together with a fork and pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Mix gently until the dough is just combined.
2. To make the golden syrup sauce, put the water, golden syrup, brown sugar, butter and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Scoop up heaped tablespoons of the dough and drop them into the syrup. Cover with a lid and cook for 10–15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a dumpling comes out clean. (Do not lift the lid during cooking. The time will depend on the size of the dumplings.). If you can't fit all the dough in at once, cook the first batch then remove to a bowl and keep warm while you do the next lot.
3.Spoon the dumplings into serving bowls along with some of the golden syrup sauce and serve with cream or ice cream.
4. Lie very still for an extended period with the top button of your trews undone.

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Please do not feed the trolls

Our family birthday cake, which I still regard as the chocolate cake (or coffee if you prefer) to beat all chocolate cakes....

For cake:

7 egg whites
6-7oz caster sugar
7 oz ground hazelnuts or almonds. Best ground fresh, with an old-fashioned grinder. Otherwise in a coffee grinder. Almonds should be skinned, hazelnuts do not need to be skinned.

25grams = 1 ounce

Whisk whites until stiff, whisk in sugar, fold in grated nuts. Bake fairly hot to rise (190c) for 20 mins or so and then turn down heat and allow cake to dry out in oven (like meringue). Do not worry if it collapses somewhat. Cut cake in half when cold. Fill and cover all over with chosen filling

Coffee Filling:
Cream 5.25 oz unsalted butter until white and fluffy. Add 3 egg yolks and 3.5 oz icing sugar. Beat well. Add powdered instant coffee and/or Camp Coffee to taste. If using Camp Coffee, cut down on icing sugar. After filling/covering cake, sprinkle with grated nuts.

Chocolate Filling:
Put 15 oz double cream into a bowl that fits over saucepan of hot water (or use bain-marie) and break in 200 gram bar of dark chocolate. (Lindt 70% is good as are the 70+% Lidl bars). Melt chocolate into the cream, stirring occasionally. Whisk when cool. Fill cake as above and sprinkle with grated chocolate.

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Cestina's dolls houses - It's that time again.....

Decadent Chocolate Brownies

SLOC makes these and they are always described as the most decadent chocolate brownies anyone has ever tasted. There may be a reason why they are quite so rich...

Ingredients

40g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
500g sugar
125g chopped pecans or walnuts
250g good quality dark chocolate
250g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20 x 30 cm cake tin. Line the base with baking paper, extending over the two long sides.

Sift the flour and cocoa into a bowl and add the sugar and nuts. Mix together and make a well.

Using a large sharp knife, chop the chocolate into small pieces and add to the dry ingredients.

Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat, then add to the dry ingredients with the vanilla and eggs. Mix well.

Pour into the tin, smooth the surface and bake for 50 minutes (the mixtures will still be a bit soft on the inside). Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving.

My notes: It really is worth refrigerating this before you cut it up as it is so rich and sticky. It doesn't need to be stored in the fridge, though, just in an air-tight tin in the cupboard. This recipe is supposed to make 24. They'll seem smaller than brownies usually are, because they are so rich. You can always have two... if you dare...

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The Chalet School has done it again!

My website - Joyful Jewellery

Joyful Jewellery on Facebook

[url=http://joyful-jewellery.myshopify.com/blogs/news/79806723-christmas-2015New blog post 28th November[/url]

From the Autumn 2011 Gather:

Sausage and Cherry Tomato Casserole.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jami ... index.html
I didn't use as many tomatoes and I replaced some of them with a mixture of tinned cherry toms and chopped toms to reduce the cost. The tomatoes cook down to a lovely rich sauce. The prep is minimal as you just chuck it all in a pan. We had it with garlic bread.

Broccoli and Almond soup
Boil broccoli, until tender. Meanwhile toast ground almonds under a grill/in the oven. Add almonds, milk and stock powder/cube to the broccoli and water. Whizz with three hand blenders working simultaneously (okay, one will do if you are deprived in that department, or you could use a blender), thin with water or milk as you think fit. Tweak the stock if it needs it. Serve.

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"[Reprint means] word for word, comma for comma, not a mutilated updated version revised to take account of current fads and vocabulary." Antonia Forest