tiny happy

In April I get inspired to do things like bottling and baking, and cast on knitted hats.

The first of these came off the needles while we were travelling in Japan. I amused myself on the plane by knitting on a grey Roku hat for Arlo, albeit slightly clumsily due to the wooden double-pointed needles (I'm usually more of a magic loop knitter). I do love the Roku pattern – it has a nice crown decrease and works up quickly in aran-weight yarn. You can find a link to the pattern and other details here on my Ravelry page.

(Also on the plane I watched the film The Favourite, which I found quite interesting – have you seen it?)

Marmalade is one of my favourite foods (or at least, toast-spreads) and last week I found myself with a bowl of ageing oranges, bought from the Newtown market the week before with delusions of establishing an orange-for-breakfast habit. That didn't happen. But I can still have them each morning, just on my toast instead. To make this marmalade, I used a formula much like this one, except I didn't mash the fruit after cooking. There's something comforting about a late-night marmalade session, especially when you see the jars of gleaming jam on the windowsill the next morning.

The other thing about April in the kitchen is the tradition of making Anzac biscuits. You can read a bit about the history of them here.

The combination of oats, coconut and golden syrup has always been synonymous with autumn for me, but they are also just a useful thing to keep in the cake tin to have with a cup of tea or pop in the kids' school lunchboxes.

Lately I've been making Anzac bars instead of the traditional cookies. You can see them in the first photo above. The mixture is basically the same, but it's a bit quicker and simpler to make, because you just press it into a shallow tin to bake for 10 minutes or so. Here is my recipe. You can add in other things if you like, such as sunflower seeds or dried fruit – anything you have, really. I like to throw in a handful of pumpkin seeds and some currants because they always seem to be waiting there in the cupboard.

ANZAC BARS

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup rolled outs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Mix these ingredients together in a big bowl. Then, in a saucepan, melt together:

100 grams butter
2 Tbs golden syrup

until combined and starting to simmer. Then stir in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. The mixture will froth (and smell delicious).

Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Bake in a shallow slice tin lined with baking paper for around 15 minutes or until golden. Let the slice cool completely (it will become more firm after half an hour or so) before removing from the tin and cutting into bars.