Don't ask me how it did it but I think I have recovered all the lost material.  If this newsletter isn't what it is meant to be then please accept my sincere apologies.

In this months issue:

1.   Castle of the month - A Short History - Fort la Latte , North Brittany, France.

2.   Recipe Corner – Soda Bread – 8th Century Irish by Jennifer Mueller

3.   Travel Tips - How can I protect my health when I travel?

4.   Author Profile – Jennifer Mueller (Author of Crusader)

                                       1.   Castle of the Month

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Fort La Latte was constructed in the 14th century on a site that reputedly had a castle built on the same location during the 10th century and is located along the picturesque coast of North Brittany, France, on top of 70 meter high cliffs.

La Latte was constructed in the 14th century, on a site that reputedly had a castle built in the same location during the 10th century, by one of the oldest Breton families, the Goyon-Matignons.

Between 1379 and 1381, the castle fell into the hands of du Guesclin after a successful campaign to seize the castle from the Goyon-Matignons. It was eventually handed back after the signing of the treaty of Guerande in 1381.

In 1490 it was the turn of the British to lay siege to the castle after Brittany become a part of France.
 
During the later part of the 1500’s, Fort la Latte once again came under attack, ransacked and burnt to the ground. The Keep was the only thing left standing after the devastation.   She stayed like that until the end of the 17th century when Louis XIV rebuilt her as a part of his coastal defences to protect Saint-Malo from the Dutch and English invaders.

La Latte had the privilege of playing host to James II of Scotland in 1715; whose thoughts of the place were not kind. He thought the castle was menacing.

Fort la latte has been used to make cannon balls and as a prison for counter-revolutionaries. She came under attack one final time in 1815 by a group of men from Saint-Malo during the “Cent-Jours”. After the unsuccessful attack of 1815, she fell into disrepair and sold by the family in 1892.

Today she has been restored to her former glory and there are still signs of the originally 14th century castle still visible.

Soda Bread by Jennifer Mueller

INGREDIENTS:

 4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar (optional)                 
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk

Method :

Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Scoop up handfuls and allow to drop back into the bowl to aerate the mixture. Add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough.   Now work quickly as the buttermilk and soda are already reacting. Knead the dough lightly - too much handling will toughen it, while too little means it won't rise properly.

Form a round loaf about as thick as your fist. Place it on a lightly-floured baking sheet and cut a cross in the top with a floured knife. Put at once to bake near the top of a pre-heated oven, gas mark 8, 450°F, 230°C, for 30-45 minutes. When baked, the loaf will sound hollow when rapped on the bottom with your knuckles. Wrap immediately in a clean tea-towel  to stop the crust hardening too much.

Wheaten bread or brown soda is made in exactly the same way but with whole meal flour replacing all or some of the white flour; this mixture will probably require less buttermilk.

Another variation is to add 1/2 cup of sultanas to the white bread.

Serve forth and Enjoy!

                                                     3. Travel Tips

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How Can I protect my health when I travel?

• If you have any food allergies, learn the names of those foods in the languages used in the countries you’ll be visiting. This way you’ll be better equipped to stay on the look out for them.

• Find out what types of diseases are common to the area you’ll be visiting and take actions to prevent your exposure to those diseases.

• Find out what types of vaccinations you will need to enter the country, there may also be medications you’ll need to take before, during and even after your trip.

• Find out what types of vaccinations you will need to enter the country, there may also be medications you’ll need to take before, during and even after your trip. Get your
 vaccinations done early in case you have a reaction and need some recovery time.

• Do some research with your Customs Officers to find out what you can take with you and what you may bring back?
 
• You should consider a dental appointment if you haven’t had a check up in a while.

• Be careful what you eat and drink.

• Carry complete health information with you on your trip.

Jennifer Mueller (Author of Crusader)

As a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya a few years back I travelled quite a bit and now I just wish I was. A lot of the places I've written about I've been to, a lot of them I haven't.   Rafting on the Nile in Uganda, living in a Montana ghost town, African safaris, European youth hostels, the Black Hills of South Dakota all fill my scrapbooks. Now a daughter takes up most of those pages, but I still travel in my head every time I write.

My interest in writing came about simply enough, I was reading a series of books and I became fed up with them.  I just pulled out a notebook and said I could write one better.  That's it, I never dreamed of being a writer and truth be told for 10 of the 13 years since that fateful day I was a closet writer.  No one read any of my stories, very few even knew that was how I spent my spare time.

I love history and my stories range from ancient Egypt to modern day.  They range in genre from western, mystery, suspense, spies, romance, a few erotic pop up even, you get the idea.  Then 2 years ago, my husband said you spend so much time writing you should try to get them published.  This from a man I hadn't let read anything in four or five years and just like that, I did.  One of the first pieces I sent out was accepted within weeks.  This is going to be easy I thought.  I was wrong of course.  I had one other piece that fit their guidelines so I sent it in. 

Not quite as quickly as the first, I got a letter saying the publisher had died and the publication was closing.  Come to think of it, has that happened twice?  Any way as you can see I've gotten over the problem.  No one's died since.

*** used with kind permission ***

1. Castle of the Month – A Short History - A Short History - Castello Sforzesco , Milan, Italy

2. Recipe Corner - Eels baked in wine - 15th century English

3. Travel Tips - What should I do to keep my property safe while I’m travelling?

4. Author Profile – Veronica Towers (Author of Naked Visions Silver Blue Dreams)

5. News from the Romance Industry – How I thought of the Romantic Times magazine By, Kathryn Falk, Lady of Barrow
 

I hope you have enjoyed reading October’s edition and if you have any suggestions or comments about any part of the newsletter then please feel free to contact us.

Best Wishes

Stuart and Pam