Anzac Biscuits

I've been baking Anzac (stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corp) biscuits numerous times this last month.
My kids simply love them and consume them at lightning speed.
Fortunately they are so easy to make.
So I thought I would share the recipe here,
this recipe is taken out of one of the Women's Weekly's mini cookbooks named "Biscuits and Slices".

Anzac Biscuits

For better result, use traditional rolled oats rather than quick-cook rolled oats.

1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1/2 cup (110g) sugar
3/4 cup (65g) desiccated coconut  (I don't use this as someone in my family doesn't like it)
125 g butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
2 tablespoon boiling water

Combine oats, flour, sugar and coconut (if using) in large bowl.
Combine butter and golder syrup in a small saucepan, stir over heat until butter is melted.
Combine soda and water, add to butter mixture; stir into dry ingredients while mixture is still warm.
Place heaped tablespoons of mixture on oven tray lined with baking paper, 5cm apart, press down lightly.
Bake in a slow oven (160C) for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Stand biscuits 5 minutes to cool on tray to give time for biscuits to solidify.

Enjoy!

Mango Tango

Mango is no doubt one of my favourite tropical fruit.

The juicy sweetness of its flesh just makes my mouth water every time I think of it.

I love it in ice cream and desserts just as much as on its own.

This is an Ice Cream I made,

it has mango pieces, canned pineapple pieces, unsalted pistachios and dried cranberries in an ice cream made with strawberry puree, whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk,

I love the sensation of every mouthful you get hit with different ingredients,

the fruit and nut combo always appeal to me.

Now dig in, shall we?

This cheesecake is delicious,

even if you think you can't make cheesecake,

you'll have to try this.

It's not as hard as you think.

Recipe from here: Mango Nectar Cheesecake
Only change the fruit to whichever you fancy.
It was originally Apricot Nectar Cheesecake,
I also added mango pieces to the topping.

See the little guys standing up with a letter pegged to them with a mini peg?
They are cute, aren't they?

I just love the idea of them standing around in front of every placesetting at the table to show the guests where their seats are.
I've been combining work with enjoying and eating, in this case Mango Cheesecake,

been twisting wires making these for placecards,

You can't see it clearly, but there's actually a little hook that I twisted for the letter card to sit on.
The top of the stand is like the shape of the top end of a shepherd's staff.

I think they are handy especially when different guests with different names come over,

I can just swap the letters over to suit the initial of their first name.

Or I could make up some name cards with their first name on,

or make the card white and the names black so they look more distinctive.

Now if you would excuse me,

I would like to go back to work......... and the yummy cheesecake and tea.

Have a fabulous weekend, won't you?

Today I'm linking up with My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday.

Tea Time Strawberry Gateau

Hi, there, how are you all? Last Friday was a windy day here, and since gardening was not a practical thing to do then; I decided to stay indoors and do something I would enjoy doing. This spot where I look out of my kitchen window kept saying "Strawberries" to me. Strawberries have been in season and they are everywhere, including in my fridge. So why not make a strawberry cake. I remembered seeing this recipe in a British Country Homes and Interiors magazine, I found it in the May 2008 issue, yay! I checked the ingredients, yes, I had all of them on hand except the hazelnuts. However, I had flaked almonds in the freezer, so I would use them instead. This recipe is super easy to make, but looks impressive. I think the most fiddly and time consuming part was to stick those flaked almonds on the cream on the side of the cake, and even that was honestly not really that difficult! So there you go, everything else was simply easy as pie.
STRAWBERRY GATEAU serves 8-10
Ingredients: 225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
225g caster sugar (fine baker's sugar)
225g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
4 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk 20 strawberries
5 tbsp strawberry jam
300 ml whipping cream Flaked almonds, toasted
Icing sugar, to dust
"Flake" chocolate broken up or flowers to decorate.
(1) Preheat oven to 190C. Lightly grease and flour two 20cm sandwich tins. (2) Put the butter, caster sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla and milk into a bowl and beat until smooth. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 20 minutes untio the sponge is golden and springs back to the touch. (3) Reserve 10 (I used 12) strawberries and roughly chop the rest. Invert one cake on a plate, spread with jam and scatter with chopped fruit. (I stewed my chopped strawberries in a saucepan for a few minutes with some sugar) Top with the second cake.(4) Whip the cream until stiff and thinly coat the sides of the cake, press nuts into sides. (5) Pipe rosettes over the top of the cake and top with reserved strawberries. (In order to give it a more casual look, I didn't pipe the rosettes, I simply made 12 mounds of cream using a tablespoon) Place a whole straberry in the centre of the mounds of cream and sprinkle broken up "Flake" chocolate in the middle. Dust straberries with icing sugar. Voila, Strawberry Gateau! I rested the glass cake plate on top of a glass drink goblet and made it an elegant pedestal cake stand. Now let's serve the cake with some tea or coffee. Here, do not be in a haste, one slice at a time please. All gobbled up in three minutes! Mmm! So superb and moist!!!! Another one please.............. Another window outlook Have a lovely week with a wonderful outlook.

Little things that count

There seems to be less time in 24 hours a day for me these days. They say time doesn't wait for anybody; I think it's definitely proving true in my case. However to defy that, I made myself make time for this and that around the house the other day. Didn't someone say "It's the little things that count"? I made a centrepiece for our dining table by using English roses from my garden and lettuce I bought from a supermarket! This beautiful fresh lime green lettuce is called Salanova Green Coral Lettuce, quite a mouthful and fancy, huh?! I love its colour and texture, and from far it looks almost like moss that the roses are sitting on. I know the table looks a bit bare without a table-runner, (even though I also like the clean-cut fuss-free look) all my runners are too short for the table, I'm intending to make one in the near future. I also made some tea and coffee and all sorts of yummy treats for a morning high tea with some ladies. We had such a fabulous time taking time chatting and enjoying each other's company. Yes, it's the little things that count.Would you like to take a walk with me in the garden? Well, my garden is a little overgrown at the moment, it's a time when my roses say they want to stretch, and stretch they are doing no doubt. I've been letting them stretch till I give them a complete winter pruning in July. So you'll have to be careful to dodge the thorny canes that hook onto you and won't let go, the thorns sure have a way of making sure you get a "scratch" or two before you leave. But then the flowers are worth the pain and the risk. I guess thorns are no big deal when your reward is absolutely intoxicating fragrant lovely plump roses, don't you agree? Okay, luvlies, have yourselves a lovely day, remember to take time for small things.

Peanut Butter Cookies and Kids Boutique

G'day, lovely readers and bloggers, The weather here has been simply Perfect!! Yes, Perfect with a Capital P. We're fortunate our living room has ceiling to floor windows on two sides of the walls, so even when I sit inside, I can open all those curtains and let the sunshine in. Love it. It would be hard for me to live in a dark place. Sometimes my children would think of something I've cooked or made in the past and haven't made for a while and would remind me it's time I did again. These Peanut Butter Cookies were one of those things. They are extremely easy to make. The recipe I use does not use any flour, you can either use crunchy or smooth peanut butter. I used smooth here. Hope you'll try them and enjoy them as much as I did. Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup (260g) peanut butter
3/4 cup caster sugar (or a bit less would be fine)
1 egg, beaten lightly

(1) Combine ingredients in medium bowl.
(2) Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. (Go ahead, use your fingers!) Place cookies about 5cm apart on baking paper lined oven trays, flatten slightly with a fork.
(3) Bake in moderate oven (180 degrees C) about 15 minutes or until browned lightly. Stand cookies 5 minutes before lifting onto wire racks to cool.
**Remember, the longer you bake them, the crunchier they get. So if you like them softer and more chewy, it's alright to bring them out of the oven just before they brown. They will look a bit too soft to handle at first, but give them some time they will harden up.These cookies are so yummy, especially if you like peanut butter. I know at our house, we do! Now I'd better treat myself to a couple of them with a pot of tea before they get completely devoured by ravenous members of the family, wink** I also want to mention how a lady from The Vintage Village. com blessed me by aknowledging my blog in one of her posts. You can read it here. She has an online boutique called Cameo Kids Boutique which sells children's clothing, accessories and unique gifts items made from recycled vintage linens. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you go and check it out, here . Absolutely gorgeous things! To Felicity Anderson: Sorry for my oversight and haven't answered your question till now. The answer to your question is in the Comments part of that post. Thanks.

Lemony Sweet Treat

I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks ages ago, but never attempted to make it. So when I was looking for a sweet treat to bake, I decided this would be it. I love fruit in desserts and citrusy ones are one of my favourites. With this one the actual fruit is not visible, but you could say it has a lot of Vitamin C goodness in it. Lemons always remind me of summer, sunshine and cheerfulness. So in winter, with a hot cup of tea, these Lemon Sunburst bars really help maintain some of that. Here it is up closer, doesn't it look cheerful? The not-so-strong winter sun shining in through the windows, it's so precious. That was a nice tea break, now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go and continue with the rest of the preparation for dinner, we've got company tonight. Enjoy your week, till next time. Recipe for Lemon Sunburst

1 cup (150g) self raising flour
1 and 1/4 cups (185) plain flour
2 cups (320) icing sugar
250g butter, chopped
4 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups (330g) caster/ baker's sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon rind (I did not use this as my children don't like it)

(1) Grease 20cm x 30cm tray/lamington pan, line with baking paper, extending paper 2cm above edge of pan.
(2) Rub chopped butter into the self-raising flour, 1 cup of the plain flour and 1/2 cup of the icing sugar until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Press over base of prepared pan; bake in 170C oven for about 20 minute; or until firm; cool in pan.
(3) Whisk eggs, caster sugar, remaining plain flour, rind (if using) and 1/4 cup of the juice in medium bowl; pour over biscuit base. Bake in 170C oven for 30 minutes, or until firm; cool in pan.
(4) Stir remaining icing sugar and remaining juice in a small bowl until smooth; spread over slice, cut into bars or slices when set.