Musings in February

Funny how we really don't see ourselves clearly.

This week I was having lunch with K and she gave me a wonderful birthday gift...a satin scarf in a lovely Baroque print in shades of brown and green. She was anxious because she wasn't sure it was my style (in fact it is just right for me!) and said that she doesn't have any style herself, which was why she was worried. That startled me because the day before I had been thinking that I wished I had her sense of style. She is always beautifully coordinated. She says that she just wears tops and bottoms, but her tops have embroidery, lovely wooden beads, and other embellishments, plus the colors are perfect for her.

Then I received a wonderful letter from Grandma L. She said that I am a formidable woman, as well as smart and other nice things. I had never thought of myself as formidable! Forceful, perhaps, and a go-getter, but maybe some of that translates into formidable. Who knew?

One thing I'm not is perfect (well, who is really?) and I proved that last night. I decided to bake some Anzac cookies for Sweetie for Valentine's Day in heart shapes. After dinner I put together the batter, even adding some anti-oxidant dried fruit mix to offset the butter. In to the preheated oven they went, I checked my watch for the time, then went and did some e-mail. My nose is notorious...I can't smell things burning until they are well and truly charred. That is what happened! The poor things were black on the bottom and sides. The broiler had been on to broil pork chops for dinner and I guess it made the oven hotter than it should have been. So the bad news is that there won't be any cute cookies for V-Day, but we are such sick puppies that the good news is we ate about half of them anyway, char and all.

I'm including a photo of how they looked, plus one of a batch I made a while ago that look like they are supposed to look. Also a shot of golden syrup dripping into the pan...the golden syrup is the 'secret ingredient' for these yummy bites. I use Lyles' Golden Syrup from the import section of my grocery store.

Happy birthday to me and Happy Valentine's Day to y'all. Hope your Valentines treats work out better than mine did!

xoxoxo Elle

There's Something About October

There's something about October that stirs the travel lust in me. The seasons change to my favorite one and I want to see how that looks elsewhere, far from home.

A few years ago we went to Australia in October to visit friends who live in South West Australia, in Perth. Since it is Down Under, we experienced the coming of spring, including dozens of sightings of tiny, tiny wild orchids in various places, plus lots of there wild flowers. When we arrived home, it was full autumn, so I had the best of both seasons!

Last year we went to Virginia about this time and saw the early fall color show there in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This year we will be off very soon to Taos in New Mexico to see the golden aspen and the gorgeous mountains there. So if this blog is sparse for a while, know that when I return, there will be some photos of the southwest of America.

Just to show that desserts are still my favorite recipes, here is one that was given to me in Australia by our hostess. She grew up in the town of Albany, far south of Perth, and so this is an authentic Australian recipe for a national staple: Anzac cookies.

Anzac Cookies
Yields about 2 dozen cookies
We can thank the veterans of Australia & New Zealand for these..

1 stick (1/2 C.) butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons hot water 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons golden syrup 3/4 Cup broun sugar
1 Cup rolled oats 3/4 Cup dry coconut
1/2 Cup flour 1/2 Cup walnuts, chopped (or pecans)
1/2 Cup self-rising flour

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Combine the melted butter, hot water, golden syrup in a mixing bowl. On a sheet of waxed paper
combine the oats, flours, salt, and soda.
3) Add the nuts, brown sugar, coconut and dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Blend well.
4) Pack dough into small tart pans or make drop cookies. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.
5) Cool cookies on wire rack. Store in airtight container. These cookies ship well.