Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Grease and line two 18cm sandwich tins with baking paper.
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, margarine and vanilla. Add the eggs and beat using a wooden spoon or electric beater, until pale and fluffy. Divide the cake mixture between the tins and smooth the tops.
Place onto the centre rack in the oven and bake for 30–40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the filling, sift the sugar into a bowl, add the butter and vanilla and beat well.
To decorate, spread jam to top of one sponge, followed by a layer of filling on top of the jam. Finish by placing the other sponge on top and dust with icing sugar.
Note: Make sure you use 59g eggs so the proportion of ingredients is correct.
HARRISON’S SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
lots of olive oil
4 onions, chopped
4 carrots, finely diced
12 (or so) garlic cloves, crushed
4 bay leaves
4 wide strips lemon rind
1 small tub or 2 sachets tomato paste (100g–140g)
1–2 bunches basil, finely chopped
1–2 bunches parsley, finely chopped (including stems)
2 teaspoons sugar
2kg beef mince (see Note)
4 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 cup milk dried chilli flakes, to taste
4 handfuls button mushrooms, thickly sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
Drizzle a good splash of olive oil into two large pots on the stovetop. Place half the onion into each pot. Cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Divide the carrot, garlic, bay leaves, lemon rind, tomato paste and herbs between the pots and stir to combine.
Add another good splash of oil to each pot and add a teaspoon of sugar to each. Divide the mince between pots and cook till it changes colour, breaking up lumps as it cooks. It doesn’t have to be completely cooked at this stage. Add 2 cans of tomatoes and ½ cup milk to each pot. Bring to a simmer and add chilli to taste.
Bring to the boil and cook for about 1 hour or until the liquid has evaporated, reducing the heat over time as the liquid reduces. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pots. Add the mushrooms for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Season to taste – it will take quite a lot of salt and pepper.
Serve over pasta or rice with grated parmesan, or on toast for a confirmed bachelor’s supper!
This makes a large batch, so freeze the rest in portions for later use.
Note: Add meat from two pork sausages to the mince for an even more Italian flavour. You could also substitute part pork mince or pork and veal mince if you like.
DEBORAH’S LEMONADE SCONES
These scones are absolutely simple to make and guaranteed to rise.
3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup thickened cream
1 cup lemonade
milk, to brush
whipped cream and jam, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced) and line a baking tray with baking paper. Stir the flour, thickened cream and lemonade together in a large bowl. The mixture will be quite sticky – that’s normal. Turn onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly. Press out until about 5cm thick.
Cut scones using a scone cutter or a medium-sized glass. Pat offcuts back together and repeat. Place scones close together on prepared tray and brush lightly with milk.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until the scones have risen and the tops are golden. Cool slightly, then serve with whipped cream and your choice of jam.
Note: Add a little icing sugar to the cream when whipping, if you like.
KATHRYN’S PARTY SAUSAGE ROLLS
4 slices bread, crusts removed
400g sausage mince
400g chicken mince
1 onion, grated
¼ tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp dry French onion soup (optional)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
salt and pepper
6 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced) and grease 2 large baking trays. Place the bread into a bowl and cover with warm water. Set aside for a few minutes to soften.
Place the sausage mince, chicken mince, onion and mixed herbs in a bowl. Add the soup mix and Worcestershire sauce if using. Season with salt and pepper.
Drain the bread, squeeze out the excess water and add to the mince mixture (the bread absorbs excess fat in the sausage mix). Use your hands to mix well.
Cut sheets of pastry in half to create long rectangles. Pipe or spoon the mince mixture down one side of each piece of pastry. Brush beaten yolk down the opposite side of the rectangle. Roll from the mince side so that the filling is completely enclosed and the seam side is down. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheets and mince filling.
Brush the rolls with remaining egg and cut into 5cm lengths. Put rolls onto the prepared trays and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and cook for a further 15 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.
SHONA’S LAMINGTONS
Cake
4 eggs
⅔ cup caster sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
¼ cup cornflour
25g soft butter, chopped
⅓ cup boiling water
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp coconut essence
Coating
⅔ cups icing sugar mixture
½ cup cocoa powder
20g soft butter
¾ cup milk
3 cups desiccated coconut
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and flour a 20 x 30cm lamington pan and line the base with baking paper.
Using electric beaters, beat the eggs in a bowl until pale. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the mixture is thick.
Sift the flours together into a bowl, and combine the butter and boiling water in cup. Gently fold the flour into the egg mixture, then fold in the butter mixture and essences.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched. Stand for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut the cake into 20 even pieces. If possible, leave uncovered in a container overnight to dry out.
To make the coating, sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a large heatproof bowl. Add the butter and milk and stand on a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water). Stir over medium-low heat until the icing is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Divide icing mixture between 2 small bowls.
Using a large fork, dip a piece of cake briefly into the icing until evenly coated. Hold over the bowl to drain off any excess. (If the icing becomes too thick, stand it over hot water while dipping, or reheat gently with a little more milk.)
Place the coconut into a shallow bowl and toss the cake gently to coat. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to set. Repeat with remaining cake pieces.
Note: If all else fails, a packet sponge mix, baked in a lamington pan, can be used. Lamingtons are great to freeze too. Ready for any feeding emergency!
THE GREAT PLAINS
Nicole Alexander
It is Dallas 1886, and the Wade family is going from strength to strength: from a thriving newspaper and retail business in Texas to a sprawling sheep station half a world away in Queensland.
Yet money and power cannot compensate for the tragedy that struck twenty-three years ago, when Joseph Wade was slaughtered and his seven-year-old daughter Philomena abducted by Apache Indians.
Only her uncle, Aloysius, remains convinced that one day Philomena will return. So when news reaches him that the legendary Geronimo has been captured, and a beautiful white woman discovered with him, he believes his prayers have been answered.
&n
bsp; Little does he know that the seeds of disaster have just been sown. Over the coming years three generations of Wade men will succumb to an obsession with three generations of mixed-blood Wade women: the courageous Philomena, her hot-headed granddaughter Serena, and her gutsy great-granddaughter Abelena – a young woman destined for freedom in a distant red land. But at what price …?
From the American Wild West to the wilds of outback Queensland, from the Civil War to the Depression of the 1930s, The Great Plains is an epic story about two conflicting cultures and one divided family.
AVAILABLE NOW
THE MAXWELL SISTERS
Loretta Hill
All families have their problems. No more so than the Maxwells of Tawny Brooks Winery. Situated in the heart of the Margaret River wine region, this world-renowned winery was the childhood home to three sisters, Natasha, Eve and Phoebe.
Today all three women are enmeshed in their city lives and eager to forget their past – and their fractured sibling relationships. Until Phoebe decides to get married at home …
Now the sisters must all return to face a host of family obligations, vintage in full swing and interfering in-laws who just can’t take a hint. As one romance blossoms and others fall apart, it seems they are all in need of some sisterly advice.
But old wounds cut deep. Somehow, the Maxwell sisters must find a way back to one another – or risk losing each other forever.
From the author of the bestselling The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots comes a heartwarming romantic comedy about three extraordinary women on a journey to find love and rediscover family.
AVAILABLE NOW
MOUNTAIN ASH
Margareta Osborn
After years of struggling as a single mother, Jodie Ashton has given up on love and passion. What she craves now is security for herself and her beloved daughter Milly. And marriage to widower Alex McGregor, the owner of the prosperous Glenevelyn cattle station in East Gippsland, will certainly offer that. If only he wasn’t so much older and so controlling.
Needing space to decide her future, Jodie reluctantly agrees to a girls-only weekend at the Riverton rodeo …
Meanwhile, cowboy Nate McGregor vows off women, after his latest one-night stand costs him his job in the Northern Territory. Perhaps it’s time to head back to his family home, Glenevelyn, to check out for himself the ‘gold-digger’ his father seems determined to marry.
But first, on his way through Riverton, he plans to stop off at a rodeo.
Two lives are about to collide in one passionate moment – with devastating results …
From bestselling author Margareta Osborn comes another scintillating rural romance with a devastating love triangle twist.
AVAILABLE NOW
The Painted Sky is the work of five members of a Sydney book club, writing under the collective pseudonym Alice Campion.
L–R: Jane St Vincent Welch spent her childhood on an isolated rural property in the New England region of NSW. Jane now works in Sydney as a documentary editor, and enjoys telling stories in pictures and words. She would like to sit on a verandah one day and just paint.
Jenny Crocker looks forward to rainy weekends and their potential for endless guilt-free reading. Jenny has been a journalist, public relations manager, non-fiction author and now manages awareness and education campaigns.
Denise Tart is a marriage celebrant with a background in performance and event management. She has written for the theatre and business, but now mainly pens romantic ceremonies. Denise loves a good yarn.
Jane Richards is a senior editor and journalist at Fairfax Media. She loves a mystery.
Madeline Oliver’s reading group, The Booksluts, germinated the writing group that created this book. Madeline is a Sydney writer who yearns to be under a big sky. She’s working on a young adult novel.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
The Painted Sky
9780857984869
First published by Bantam in 2015
Copyright © Jenny Crocker, Madeline Oliver, Jane Richards, Jane St Vincent Welch, Denise Tart 2015
The moral right of the authors has been asserted.
A Bantam book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Random House Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
The painted sky/Alice Campion.
978 0 85798 486 9 (ebook)
Australian fiction–21st century.
Alice Campion (Sydney book Club), author.
A823.4
Cover images © Jamie Evans/Getty Images (background); © Goran Bogicevic/Shutterstock.com
Cover design by Christabella Designs
Author photo by Rachel Murdolo
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The Painted Sky Page 38