Project finished.

It took a while but I finally put the finishing touches to the toy I was knitting for my grandson in Denver.

As usual I wasn't entirely happy with it; I should have used a heavier weight yarn, but now it's done, parcelled up and, hopefully, on it's way to Colorado. I was quite surprised that when I set it in a shoe box before posting it looked kinda cute and got a few compliments which was nice although all I could see was the flaws. Anyway, here's hoping that it will give pleasure to the one who won my heart from the day he was born.

Now it's on to the next project. Another poncho in the same old cable pattern I've done six times before. Then, believe it or not, I've been asked to knit a blue fluffy bolero for my great-granddaughter who turned 9 on Monday 14th January. An auspicious date as it makes her one of the third set of birthday twins in our family. Maybe not as amazing to others who have birthday twins, but surprising to me who grew up the only pea in the pod and never came across this coincidence before. Anyway, attending the birthday celebration I couldn't but wonder just how quickly time flies. It seemed only yesterday that she was only an armful of charms and, mulling over the passage of time with hubby, we realized that, if we live for another 15 years and G-GD is settled in her early 20's and has a child then, we could be G-G-Grandparents. Now that's scary and certainly makes one really feel their age.

Anyway, in the interim it's back to the grindstone. Another pattern and I'll be halfway on project No.7. Just as well I managed to choose different textures and colours or I would really be pulling out my hair.

My favourite fruit cake.

Have you, like me, ever had the experience of losing a favourite recipe? It seems that no matter what I do, I frequently have to pore through masses of paper, magazine and books to locate something I've cooked some time ago and want to do again. For years I could rely on my memory and was fortunate that, in most cases, I could envisage the recipe and, more often than not, in which magazine or book where I found it. Or I could recall where I was when I first came across it and who gave it to me. However, ever since I had a nasty case of post-operative bleeding and our last house move, I've been in a real pickle and I've never managed to find myself in my previous lucky position. It seems that every Xmas that has come around I've spent hours, if not days, trying to locate special recipes. My most recent effort being the search for a biscotti style Cherry Bread which I only baked a few weeks back.

However, in the search, I managed to retrieve this lost recipe from an old floppy disc I had hanging around. So, taking my D.I.L's advice, I'm posting it here in the hope that I'll never have to go looking for it again. Also, I'm finally getting around to putting together what I hope will be a personal cookbook which I can give to my sons, daughters and grandchildren. Or indeed anyone who would be interested.

Which reminds me of funny incident that happened a year or so back when one of our teenage granddaughters came to visit.

One day when we were talking about the options for breakfast she asked me if I'd ever tried Sourdough Pancakes for breakfast. She said she and her sisters just loved them and that she made them quite often in winter. Well you can imagine my delight when I realized that she was talking about a recipe I had developed when we were all living in Korea and which I'd passed on to her mother long before she was born.

However, in the meantime -- on to this my favourite fruit cake recipe which I make for special occasions during the year.

BISHOP’S FRUIT CAKE


INGREDIENTS:

250g pitted dates
125g green glace cherries
125g red glace cherries
250g glace pineapple
150g brazil nuts
100g macadamia nuts
125g glace apricots or glace peaches
60g glace ginger, finely minced
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup light brown sugar (lightly packed)
2 tablespoons brandy (or rum if preferred)
90g very soft butter
½ cup plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1-2 tablespoons brandy (extra)
Pinch of salt (Note: if using salted butter, omit salt)


METHOD:

Chop all fruits to approximate size of cherries.

Scrape brazil nuts to remove most of the brown coating. Re-weigh and if necessary top up with 1 or 2 nuts. Cut large nuts into halves or three pieces. Leave small nuts whole.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons brandy (or rum) over top of fruit/nut mixture and toss lightly. Set aside while you make up the rest of the recipe.

Line a suitable loaf tin with baking parchment and have a smaller tin ready in case you have some mixture left over. (A small bar tin or a couple of individual loaf tins are usually sufficient).

Sift flour and baking powder into a small bowl. Beat eggs, vanilla and brown sugar until mixture is pale, light and mousse-like. Beat in the butter until well incorporated. Mixture will collapse but still retain sufficient air. Add to fruit and nuts mixture with the sifted flour. Mix well. Spoon into prepared tins and bake in a slow oven 150-160 degrees for 1 and ½ hours or until cake is firm to the touch and a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean; cake may have a surface layer of melted butter but this will settle on cooling and moisten cake. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle the extra brandy or rum over the top.

Cool in tin standing on a wire rack. When cold. Remove cake from tin. Strip off the lining paper and rewrap in greaseproof paper and then in aluminium foil if keeping for any length of time.
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And now for something not so new.

Old habit die hard and I guess that's true for many older people. At least it is with me, especially when I go visiting. I absolutely loathe to go empty handed: a custom that seems to have fallen by the wayside as the years have passed. So, being of the old school I generally find that something fresh from the oven is usually very welcome.

Yesterday when we went to see my husband's brother and to catch up with our niece daughter who was visiting from Sydney I decided to throw together one of my quick little tasties - a batch of Lemon Madelaines. This is a recipe which has saved me on more than one occasion when the cookie and cake tins have been bare and is delightfully quick and simple to do. So for anyone who wants to add a tried and true recipe to their collection, here is my version of these little French delicacies.

LEMON MADELAINES

1 egg

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/3 cup plain flour

2 oz unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preheat oven to hot. Grease a madelaine pan or a 12 hole tart tray.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a small bowl until mixture is thick and creamy. Beat in the essence. Fold in the rind. Sieve flour over the top and carefully fold in taking care not to lose too much volume. Finally fold in the cool melted butter.

Drop tablespoons of mixture into each pan hole and bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Stand for 5 minutes before turning onto wire racks to cool.

Dust with sifted icing sugar and serve.

In the archives.

Looking through My Pictures I came across this bolero which I finished yonks ago and sent off to my grandaughter in Denver. From what M-F reported, it was a great hit when C. wore it to school. Hopefully she is getting some use out of it now that the weather has turned snowy over there. Quite unlike Oz where the weather is warming up and we are moving into a more normal summer pattern with a wet summer predicted after our long period of drought. However, for me, finding this snap has been a reminder that I have another bolero to make up, but for the life of me, I can't remember who it was for. No doubt I'll remember in due course but it seems that the older I get the more my memory lets me down. Oh well. Just as long as I can keep active and productive I guess I haven't got much to complain about.

Unfinished projects.

If, like me you have masses of unfinished projects, you'll no doubt have experienced the same feelings when I'm rapidly approaching the end of the project. The perfectionist in the back of your brain will tell you that what you've done is not really up to scratch and you should abandon, or start again on the whole project. Somehow, my daughter-in-law in Denver realized by my chat comments that I was rapidly approaching that point and asked to see a photo of what I was working on, hence the above photo. Now, having announced it to the world I guess I'd better get to work and finish the job.

Since my arthritis has kicked in this year, knitting has become more than a pastime. It has become a necessity to keep the old digits up to scratch because, as my G.P. is so fond of telling me, "use it or lose it". Regretably this is easier said than done, especially with my spinal column which is why I've started going to hydro-therapy classes three times a week. Despite my bitching and moaning about the waste of time, I must admit that going to exercise classes conducted in the heated pool has certainly helped my condition. As has the tablets the doctor has prescribed. Whatever will I do over the Christmas break. I guess I'll just have to goad myself into being more active. However, if anyone has come up with something that helps arthritis I'd certainly be interested in knowing what it is but I'm not banking on it but will continue to up my stretching exercises, walking and keep on knitting.

Another new beginning.

The title says it all. A few friends commented that while they found my recipes of interest, they would really like to see a picture of the finished product. So, with trusty camera in hand I guess I'll be doing a bit more snapping. There must be something anti-tech about me because I have great difficulty adjusting to something new. I still haven't figured out how to use my mobile phone and really only keep it going as a backup when P. and I go travelling around the countryside.

Anyway, for those who accumulate masses of egg-whites and are heartily sick of meringues and pavlova, whip up a batch of these beauties. For those not keen on chocolate -- and yes, there actually are some -- I'll post a delish cherry nut bread once I've baked a batch and given it its moment of glory. So for those who love chocolate, here is one of my really favourite recipes.

CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA BREAD

3 egg-whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup raw macadamia nuts
3/4 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste.

Grease a long shallow loaf pan. Line base and sides with baking paper.

Beat egg-whites in asmall bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until dissolved between additions. Beat in essence.

Gently stir in the nuts combined with sifted flour, cocoa.

Spoon into prepared tin and flatten surface with a spatula.

Cook in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Stand bread for 5 minutes in pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

When cold, wrap in foil and stand overnight, or longer. I've kept this for three days before finishing.

When ready, turn out loaf and slice into 1/4 inch slices with a sharp serrated knife or use an electric knife.

Place slices side by side on an oven try and finish off in a slow oven for about 15 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Cool slices on a wire rack.

These make a very nice gift packaged in cellophane bags.

A Project Finished.

Isn't it wonderful to actually finish something? For far too long I've had a mass of unfinished projects, but lately I've actually managed to complete some of them. Like many people interested in crafts and handwork, I seem to spend an awful lot of time planning, collecting and eventually starting only to give up some way down the track. Thinking about it, it's just the same when I read books. Sometimes I've had as many as eight on the go at the one time. How I've managed to keep hold of the various plots I don't know but I know it comes about because, at times, I'm not in a particular frame of mind and with crafts etc, it's usually because I (a) run out of thread or what have you, or (b) something else of interest catches my eye and I'm eager to give that a try. However, since I've been up here in Currumbin, I'm actually managing to finish many of the things I've already started, as well as bring a number of new projects to completion.

This picture is of a prayer shawl I decided to knit for my wonderful D-I-L's mother. I was inspired to do it after reading Debbie Macomber's book -- BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET. The pattern is in the book but I took liberties with the edge as I found that my chosen yard had a tendency to curl. Since finishing the shawl I've been a bit hesitant about packaging it up sending it on. It's not that I feel I want to hang on to it but the fear that it might not be suitable. One would think that at my age I'd be over such emotions but I find that selecting things for others is terribly difficult because we are all so very different in our tastes and I'd hate to give someone a gift in a colour that they'd absolutely hate.
Anyway, I sent an email to my D-I-L and she assures me that the choice of colour is good. Just the sort of colours her mother likes so I have my better half to thank for that as I wanted to buy some brighter yarn. Maybe I'll knit another one in brighter colours, but who to give it to. Some thought needed there. The last time I used an angora type yarn was over 20 years ago when angora sweaters were all the rage and I remember very well spending days brushing fluffy bits off my clothes. This time the yarn was much better behaved, probably because it was a mixture of pure wool, angora and synthetic. Ahh! The wonders of modern science.

Talking of which, well modern times anyway, isn't it wonderful that Australia has been blessed with hosting the APEC get together. I wonder just how many people really appreciate the significance of bringing together the leaders of Russia, China, the United States and a host of other nations. One can only imagine the derisive scorn one would have met with if one had promoted that 20 or 30 years ago. Which just goes to show how much the world has changed in my lifetime. However, I wouldn't have it any other way. As someone once said, "there's a time shooting and there's a time for talking. Just remember not to start shooting before you've finished talking." Wise words I think. So anything that gets people talking must be a good thing, and while a lot of folk might not be impressed about the climate change inititives that are on the agenda because no specific percentage has been agreed upon, getting these important folk to acknowledge and talk about climate change can only be a good thing. Better to proceed slowly and surely than not at all.