So a very quick post today as it is 5:46am and we have a MASSIVE day ahead. As usual, I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and started getting ready for the day.
Miss G turned 6 a few weeks ago, and as her present we organised a “Zookeeper for a Day” experience at Australia Zoo. Well, finally the day is here, and we are headed up the coast this morning.
Yesterday was ANZAC Day, and for those of you who follow the blog from overseas, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It is probably one of our country’s most important national memorial occasions, and marks the day that Australian and New Zealand military forces first fought in the First World War. Even though my parents migrated to Australia, my siblings and I all were all born in Australia and completed our schooling (and subsequently University) here so the importance of the ANZAC tradition has never escaped us.
I think family traditions are really important. It gives children (and families) a sense of their roots, and ancestry, it teaches them to respect their elders and history and the ANZAC tradition is not only important for these reasons but also because it is a chance for all Australians to pay their respects and to remember those soldiers (and their families) who paid the ultimate price to secure our freedom and those that continue to protect our country. We celebrate Chinese New Year, just as we celebrate Christmas and Easter and although the tone of ANZAC Day is different, it is just as important.
My husband’s grandfathers and great grandfathers fought in both WW1 and WW2, as members of the Air Force and the Light Horse, and so ANZAC Day traditions have become even more important for my kids. Yesterday (and each year), Troy and his dad take the kids to watch the ANZAC Day parade and I bake ANZAC biscuits with them. We talk about the significance of these biscuits being that they were sent to soldiers abroad, because the ingredients don’t spoil easily and they kept well during shipping.
I posted some pictures yesterday of making the biscuits with my kids, and I have had a few requests for our family recipe. There are LOADS of different recipes for ANZAC bikkies – the recipe you decide on will depend on whether you like them chewy, or harder and more crunchy. I like a perfect balance between both these characteristics, and if you do too – then this is the recipe for you. It has evolved over many years, the first time I made them being back in high school.
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup of plain flour
- 3/4 cup of dessicated coconut
- 1 cup of rolled oats
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 100g butter (I use Nuttelex made on coconut oil to make it dairy free)
- 2 tbs golden syrup
- 1 tsp of bicarb soda
- 1 tbs boiling water
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 140 degrees Celcius
- Mix flour, coconut, oats and sugar into a large bowl
- Melt the butter and syrup together on the stove over low heat, or in the microwave
- Mix the bicarb and boiling water and then add to the melted butter and syrup (be prepared for it to froth right up!)
- Gently mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients
- Place tablespoons-full of mixture onto a lined baking tray
- Bake in a slow oven for 15 min or until golden brown
I hope you guys enjoy making and eating these yummy bikkies, as much as my family does!
Lest we forget.
xxDr Megs
