Cooking: Chocolate Chip Biscuits

The one thing that scared me silly when I joined the Country Women's Association was the scones. CWA is renowned for beautiful scones. Feather light and delicious.

Mine aren't. My scones are rocks. Hard, crunchy and tasteless. Needless to say that worried me a lot. Would I have to make scones? And be drummed out because I can't cook them to save myself?

Thankfully the wonderful ladies of Harcourt CWA told me I could bake biscuits instead of scones. Naturally having a child the biscuits I make the most are Chocolate Chip ones. But that is a modification of my basic recipe. I can't remember where I found it, I think it was originally from my sister, but I don't know where she found it either.

The basic recipe is simple. HUGE, but simple.It's my go to recipe for fundraising events for school, for CWA and just simply for eating at home. Of course when I use it for at home eating I tend to split and freeze some. Because this recipe freezes so very well.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
500g of softened butter. (Yes that's half a kilogram)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (325g tin I think they are. Standard size in Australia)
5 cups of Self Raising Flour (White, Wholemeal or Gluten Free options, your choice)

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar together. Depending on the sugar is how pale this is. Beat until fluffy and the sugar is mostly dissolved.
Add whole can of sweetened condensed milk. Scrape it out. Beat the ever loving hell out of it some more.
Add flour. Beat until it's a nice, soft dough.
Add flavourings of choice in here.
Roll into balls about the size of a golf ball.
Bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden.

Makes approximately 120.

No you didn't read that wrong. That does say 120 biscuits. That would be why it's my go to recipe for fundraising. 10 dozen biscuits and the ability to make multiple flavours and only having to make one base? Best possible recipe for fundraising.

You'll note that there's no actual chocolate chips in that recipe. That's what the green line is for.

I turn it into dozens of different flavour biscuits.

Use brown sugar instead of caster in the base and you get a slight caramel taste and extra chewiness

Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa to half of the base, refridgerate for an hour then you can roll with a rolling pin. roll it out then roll both colours up on top of each other to make spiral biscuits

Add 500g of chocolate chips to make the yummiest biscuits ever.

My Dad thinks the ginger ones I made are fantastic as well. I don't actually like ginger biscuits so I'll have to take his word for it. 2 tablespoons of ginger into half the mix apparently makes yummy ginger snaps.

Don't be scared of the amount that the recipe makes. It divides and freezes brilliantly. And if you flavour it before rolling into cylinders of mix in glad wrap then when you need more biscuits you just pull out a roll and slice it up then cook as usual.

Knitting: Blankets for Kiddlings

My mother bought a magazine in early 2009 I think it was that had a pattern for a throw blanket in it. Fairly simple pattern and she decided that she wanted one - but this is the woman who started knitting herself a jumper when I was pregnant... My son is 13 years old now and her jumper was only finished last year. So if Mum was to get her blanket it meant that someone else was going to need to knit it for her.

So I did. And she loves it. It's big enough that it covers her up completely when she lies down on the couch, it matches most of her decor and for all that it was knitted out of *gasp* acrylic - it's warm enough that she doesn't need to have the fire burning 24/7 so she doesn't freeze when watching TV in winter.

Of course there was a drawback. I finished hers in time for her birthday which is in September and that Christmas I had "orders" put in - for each of the kids. That's my Smurfling, my cousin who is 2 weeks older than Smurf, my brother's daughter and FIVE of my sister's kids. They wanted them for Christmas. That year.

Now Mum's throw took me 4 months to knit and fringe. I admit I knitted one for myself out of scrap wool while I was knitting Mum's one, but they're not a fast knit - because of the sheer size. It's just garter stitch so it's not terribly complex.

But really.

So I told them they were getting them for Christmas. In 2013. In order to give me time to spread them out a little bit since there was 8 of them to do. Smurf got his early - and a car sized one as well from different scraps. And I also did a full sized one in purple and black for myself that is a tad larger.

I was down to 2 months per blanket before my back deteriorated, it's gone back up again because I can't lie down and knit these, they're too big. And the kids didn't get them for Christmas that year. Maybe next year.

2 months for a blanket you say?

Here's the pattern.

On 9mm size needles (Straight or circular depending on your preference, it's knitted back and forth) cast on 154 stiches.

Knit until length is 160cm (5' roughly)

Cast off.

Make tassle fringes.

See, it's not complicated. Knitting 5 feet however gets rather heavy. And I injured my back and shoulder in July 2010 so can't sit up for huge stretches of knitting time anymore. I did get two more finished since the promised date, but that was all. I need to double check that the rest of the kids still want them and haven't changed their minds about the colours that they want.

Country Women's Association: Craft Fair.

Before Easter this year I had decided I was going to “go nuts” and enter a whole bunch of things into the Country Women's Association State Craft Fair this August. Due to a rather large number of things going wrong with my hands since March this isn't happening any more.

Mainly because, unlike the group craft fair that happened in March, the state fair is, well, state wide. There's bound to be more entries. Enough that mine won't be missed if I leave it for a year or two.

I had planned on a rather extensive list of crafts to enter. I'm still going to make them all, I'm just going to take a bit longer and document them all on here first.

So. A list first. Numbered with the CWA listing in the entry form to make it easier for myself to find and tag them later. (If I had more than a month to get it all finished I'd still enter a bunch,, but it's too close.) Since everything will be photographed and documented along the way, I'll keep adding the links in on this post as the new blog post is put up as well.

Handicrafts

Bags

7. Embroidered
8. Knitted/crocheted
9. Patchwork

Canvas

17. Long Stitch

Craft, other techniques

36. Floor rug or mat, any other type

44. Pin cushions, 3 distinct techniques, boxed

50. Something new from something old

Crochet

53. Baby's Garment
54. Child's Garment
55. Booties, 3 pair, distinct pattern, boxed
56. Adult Garment

61. Rug
62. Shawl/wrap/shrug/snood
63. Headwear
64. Accessory set, 2 pieces. Eg hat and scarf or hat and gloves etc
65. Scarf

Cushion

68. Embroidered

Dressmaking

78. Apron, themed

Dyeing/Spinning/felting

102. Felting – Knitted

Embroidery

112. Cross stitch – stitched area 30cm and under

Knitting

151. Child's Garment
152. Baby's Garment
153. Baby's Set
154. Bootees, 3 pair, distinct styles, boxed
155. 
     
156. Headwear
157. Accessory set, 2 pieces, eg. Hat and scarf etc
158. Article using 2 or more different coloured yarns
159. Pair of socks
160. .
161. Scarf
162. Shawl/wrap/shrug/snood
163. Tea Cosy, creative
164. Knitted cotton/garment/article

Toy

196. Character – name character
197. Crochet
198. .
199. Knitted
200. Set of related toys
201. Soft and safe for baby

See. And awful lot of things to get finished. And right now I have.....2 things finished to my standards of entry. This is what happens when you have an allergic reaction to an ant bite on your left hand, followed by a bee sting on your right hand, followed by a fall that resulted in 2 weeks of plaster and a following 4 so far of your left hand being strapped up immobile. This year has been less than good starting from about the 8^th of March. Please ignore the numbers that don't have anything written, my word program is having issues with leaving out a number in a numbered series.

Understandably, the crafts that come up in the blog posts that are coming will be as I make them, not in numbered list order that appears here. Mainly because... well.. the crocheted Headwear is already done, and technically the knitted scarf is as well. But due to a weak left hand, and being a left hander for crochet, the knitted stuff will likely get done before the crochet, I'm still working on the rug at #36, because it's a whole bunch of plaiting, and pulling it hard enough to not come undone is painful as well. The knitted Shawl is under way however and it's a third of a 3 part set, the other two parts will be entered as a “set of 2” but I'm not decided on whether I'm going to knit or crochet them as yet.

One last thing before I go start the individual crafted blogs. I am NOT good at making up my own patterns. Not for anything beyond dishcloths anyway. So I will either link to the exact place I got a pattern from, or in the case of me getting it from a book, give credit to the book itself. Having said that, if you find I have posted something and NOT given credit to someone (and if by chance I write my own, I will claim it fairly blatantly) and you know who SHOULD have credit, please poke me and I'll get it fixed.

Crotchet: New year, new skills

I have been trying to learn to crotchet for many years now. There are things that are easier to do with crotchet than with knitting and the multitude of small end balls of wool that I have in a stash are much more suited for crochet than for knitting.

So I decided that this year I was going to learn how to do it properly, even if it meant that I was going to have to pay someone to teach me how to do it. So when the local community centre ran a crotchet course for beginners I decided to bite the bullet and sign myself up.

Turns out that the reason no one in my family could teach me was because although I am right handed in everything else, I crochet left handed. You have to flip everything for me which is why it didn't make sense when they tried to teach me.

Nana! It wasn't your teaching, it was my learning cack handed!

And even more fun, I went to the Country Women's Association State Fair and was sitting with a bunch of ladies having an impromptu lesson in making crochet flowers and all of a sudden a lovely lady reached over my shoulder and corrected how I was actually doing it. Turns out I was "knitting crochet" instead of actually crocheting.

Expect crocheted items to start appearing - when I get my camera to work properly again and can give photo goodness.

Cooking: Potato Wedges

If you're anything like me, your kids like chips. I don't know about you but deep fried foods don't do it for me anymore - ever since the doctor told me that as a 5'2" woman I should only weigh about 55 kilograms... Not the 109kg I was when she had me on the scales. So a lot of foods went out the door right quick. Fried fish and chips were the first to go.

But having read the packets for those frozen chips you oven bake... they're fried before they're frozen half the time. So how to do it yourself so they're ONLY baked, with as little oil as humanly possible.

First off the potato. We use washed Chats - because they're the ones we use for everything since there's only me and a 10 year old who doesn't eat. Small spuds = small portions. So a chat makes 8 wedges when you cut it up.

Next, the spices. I've got something called "Season All Salt" from McKormics I think it is, so I use that, mixed herbs and a little bit of Turmeric.

How to combine them? Sandwich bags! Use bigger freezer bags if you're doing more than the 5 spuds I do at a time but as I said, there's only 2 of us so portions are tiny. Spices and herbs to taste, chuck the cut wedges in the bag, close it up and shake lots to coat everything.

And stick them on a tray and bake. Or leave them in the bag and stick in the freezer - then when it's Fish and Chips night shake them onto the tray and cook from frozen. I've got 5 bags in the freezer at the moment - because we don't eat enough spuds to get through 5kg before they go off and at $1.50 a bag of 5kg - occasionally it's easier and cheaper to buy and freeze ready to cook portions.

Another day - another location

I'll be the first to admit that I've not been keeping this up like I had originally planned. But plans are what you make while life is actually happening.

My back suddenly deteriorated and is now causing trouble for me walking, sitting and standing, naturally this also means I now have trouble driving, so I had to move house. I now live in an assisted living situation with the Smurfling. And it's been an adventure packing a 3 BR house into a 3 room unit that's for sure. There is an extension planned for later in the year when the weather warms up a bit since we have to cut a wall out to make it work and the weather has been atrocious. Amusingly.

There was no rain, complete drought in this location for years, watering done via the dam which we've kinda decided now is spring fed since the iron content in the water has gone through the roof. I move here, it rains. Solidly. For weeks. Wettest year so far, and my parents were here the year Victoria flooded.

One good side effect of the move is that I'm no longer turning into the "Crazy Cat lady Hermit". My mum got me involved in the Country Women's Association because at the time there was a play and dang it I trained for that!

Wonderful group of ladies, and people to talk to while I knit once a month if I either finish early on the group craft or don't want to do it for whatever reason. I strongly urge everyone to go find their local group. If nothing else they're lovely ladies and there's generally someone there who makes scones to die for!

Kids: The Lunchbox Monster - Oz Style

I've been reading quite a few blogs in the past few weeks and I have to say the cultural differences between here in Australia and what I've been seeing from American mothers is breathtaking.

I went looking for ideas for lunchbox fillers. And I found a ton of fantastic suggestions. Avocado and fruit pastes, tossing in a boiled egg, peanut butter filled celery with sultanas on them. All wonderful ideas. All banned from the school the Smurfling attends.

No eggs: Allergies
No Nuts of any kinds: Allergies
No yogurt/tinned fruit/jelly (Which also kills the pastes): Too messy
Jam/honey no more than twice a week: they're "sometimes foods"
No fruit juice: Jealousy issues with the kids who can't have them
No muesli bars: Allergens in them (nuts)
No chips/crisps: Unhealthy

By the time you run through the list of disallowed foods that get added to every couple of months... I'm almost at the point of bringing lunch in every day and having him eat in the car - so that he gets something to actually eat. I'm waiting for them to ban all meat and dairy products because of either allergies or the fat content. Then I will HAVE to bring him home for lunch.

So... what do you send to school in the lunchbox of an ASD child who when at home eats Nutella, peanut butter or egg sandwiches for lunch, who doesn't eat the same fruit 2 days running and who has periods where he doesn't eat either cheese OR meat, sometimes both at the same time?

Popcorn. And water. I bought an air popping popcorn maker last year so I could send popcorn with him to school. I'm personally not a fan of plain popcorn, I like mine dusted with icing sugar - but that's evil and unhealthy.

Occasionally I use another of my little bench top machines that I bought in the last couple of years and send tiny doughnut shaped pancakes as well. Why doughnut shaped pancakes? Because we tried the doughnut mix recipe and he's not a fan, but he'll eat pancakes like they're going out of fashion, and it cooks up just as fast anyway.

I had all these wonderful ideas before Smurfling went off to school. Homemade muffins, egg salad sandwiches, mini quiches, home made sesame snaps, home made fruit and nut bars.... I still make all these things. It's just I'm making them in tiny batches for weekends and school holidays instead of the masses that I was going to fill the freezer with so I didn't have to get up every day and make ruddy sandwiches.

Every day I make 2 devon and cheese sandwiches - or rolls - fill a bottle of water and try and sneak in half an apple or a handful of grapes.

I don't know who is more bored with school lunches - me or the Smurfling.