ANZAC Day

 It’s Anzac Day downunder to commemorate the war dead. I went to an Anzac Day service in the morning which was just right, I thought. It began with a group of ukulele players strumming old songs, including a classic Kiwi song Te Aroha, which is a blessing set to a beautiful melody that every New Zealander would recognise.

Love (aroha), faith (whakapono), peace (rangimarie) and respect to all.

There were readings, poems, lyrics to songs read as poems, a few hymns, the laying of the wreath and, very wonderful, a young bloke played The Last Post on a bugle. I confess, a tear welled up at that. It’s such a poignant thing.

At lunch, I baked, and I made Anzac Biscuits. Fortunately, there was no shortage of the crucial ingredients of oats and coconut in the shops, and they turned out pretty good. I do love Anzac Biscuits. Just straight and pure, without the bastardisation of adding chocolate to them.

Here’s the recipe I used. To be honest, all recipes are pretty much the same whichever website or recipe book you look at, so goodness knows where this one originated, but it worked a treat.

ANZAC BISCUITS

Mix together one cup (250mls) of each of the following:

Dessicated coconut, oats, flour and brown sugar.

In a pot melt together:

125grams butter, ¼ cup Golden Syrup and 2 tablespoons hot water.

When the butter has melted, stir in ½ teaspoon of baking soda and mix really well.

Then mix the buttery mixture into the dry ingredients until it is well mixed. At this point taste a wee bit of the mixture....just because!!

Shape into balls (the size of a golfball is about right though can be a bit smaller), leave room for them to spread as they will more than double in size, and bake at fanbake 160 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Thirty minutes means the biscuits will be quite crisp and they also harden further as they cool.

~ Joanne