Long weekend and delicious cockle biscuits

We rose early Saturday morning and hit the road by 7.30am on route to Port Augusta for a 50th birthday party (4½ hours away).
We stopped for morning tea at Clare and picked up friends who were also invited to the 50th.
From Burra through to Clare was a really picturesque drive with canola and wheat fields creating a colourful patchwork of bright yellow and green. This isn't a great photo but you can get the idea!

We arrived at the motel in Pt Augusta in time to sit back with nibbles and refreshments to watch the AFL grand final. We had a great time at the party, catching up with quite a few people who we haven't seen in a very long time.
Sunday morning we headed back to Clare where we meandered up the main street and visited the bakery again before dropping our friends off and heading back to Loxton.
We decided to stop at Burra as there were quite a few shops open and it was buzzing with people.
The main street is filled with very old buildings, and has a nice selection of gifts, clothes and secondhand shops.

Today is a public holiday and I was in the mood for some baking, so I made some 'Cockles'. I have had this recipe for over 30 years, it was one of my friends Mum's. They were her specialty and whenever we visited there were always some in her biscuit barrell. You can tell by my recipe book how old it is!

I have actually typed and printed off all my recipes from this very old and tatty excercise book, but for some reason it's still the one I pull out over the neatly typed one...don't ask me why!
Another give away that this is an old recipe is how the method is written. Here it is:

COCKLES
Three eggs, their weight in self raising flour, butter, sugar and cornflour. Beat sugar and butter to a cream, add eggs then the other ingredients, plus a tablespoon of vanilla essence. Drop in tiny pieces onto a cold tray and bake in the quick oven. When cool spread with jam and put another cockle on top and ice.

I filled some of mine with raspberry jam and some with lemon spread.

Anne with an 'E'

One of my favourite nostalgic movies is 'Anne of Green Gables'. It's such a lovely, innocent, spirited and feel good story. I watched it again last year and compiled some of my Anne's quotes that are classic.

A picture of the tranquil setting of the homestead where Anne grew up in the 1985 version of the movie.

I loved the relationship that developed between Anne and Matthew right from their first encounter.

In a review I read someone summed up Anne's personality quite well.

Did you enjoy that movie too?

Out with the spray paint!

You might remember a couple of weeks back I showed you some wrought iron pot stands that I purchased from a garage sale for $15. Anyway, here they are again.

Yesterday at another garage sale I picked up a wrought iron wine bottle holder and serviette holder for $2.

Today was the perfect sunny day, to get the spray paint out and go to work on them.
Here is the finished product for the stands.

And here is the wine holder and serviette holder...just waiting for someone to join me for a wine!!!

 

Excuse the unironed table cloth...the cloth was another item I purchased a while back at an op shop. It had a few stains on it, but I soaked it in Sard Wonder powder they came out, so it's like new...just a pain to iron as it's 100% cotton!

You may wonder where the 3rd pot stand is? I ran out of spray paint, so that will have to wait until next time!!

We had friends over for a bbq yesterday to watch the AFL grand final and amongst those friends was an 8 week old little girl...had lots of cuddles...she's so cute!

Look what I got in the post

Last week while browsing through some blogs I came across Our Shabby Cottage and discovered the lovely fabric handbag doorstops that Kathryn makes. I ordered one made out of the pretty 'Wildflower' Ashwell fabric. Here was how it came in the post.

and here it is all filled up and doing it's job in it's new home.

Thanks Kathryn, you do a great job and so quick!

I'm currently looking for a new spring/summer quilt cover. During autumn/winter we have a warm and practical flanellete cover on and it's usually in the cream/brown tones so for the warmer months I prefer something feminine and light. My last one I've had for a while and it's time to replace it. This process takes me ages sometimes to find just the right one.
Here are a few pics I found while having a search. Something similar to these I would be happy with.

 

 

Things my mother taught me

A few years back I compiled a little booklet for a lady who had documented lots of memories of things her mother had taught her. She wanted it as a keepsake to hand down to her children and grandchildren.
I have extracted some of the sayings to share with you.
I'm sure some of them will bring a smile to your face.

There are definately some words of wisdom in those sayings aren't there?

On Thursday night we had some friends stay the night as they had something on in Loxton the following day. As they were only arriving after tea, I made a trifle to have with coffee on their arrival.

I thought the below shot was interesting. It shows the shapes of the jam scrolls soaked in jelly with the cream filling in the cracks.

Recipe:
Make up 1pkt of Jelly, any flavour you like.
Beat equal quantities of cream and custard until thick (depends on how big you want to make the trifle), mix in a tablespoon of icing sugar and splash of vanilla.
Line a bowl with sliced jam scrolls and then place in some sliced strawberries and bananas (or whatever fruit you want) and place on top. Pour all the jelly in and then pour some of the cream mixture on top. Repeat with layers of jam scroll, fruit and cream until full to the brim. Decorate with strawberries, flaked chocolate and almonds.
Takes a couple of hours for the jelly to set. Can be made a day before use.

Scenic delights

I just purchased the 2011 Australian Country Collections Diary. Flicking through it in the newsagent I couldn't walk out without it!! It opens out flat with the left hand side a week to a page and the right hand side is adorned with beautiful images of gardens and home interiors.
Here are some snapshots.

For those times when you're craving something sweet, try this quick Chocolate Pudding in a Mug. It takes only a few minutes.

Mix 4 tbspns SR flour, 4 tbspns sugar, 2 tspns cocoa. Add 1 egg and 3 tbspns milk, 1 tbspn oil and 3 tbspns choc chips and a splash of vanilla.
Take a 'large' mug and pour the mixture into it (or 2 smaller ones).
Put in microwave for around 2 - 2½ minutes (depends on your microwave)..Whalla..chocolate pudding!! It serves 2 people.

The first time I made it I mixed it in the mug but the second time I mixed it in a bowl first. I also sprayed the mug with olive oil first.

 Does that tempt you to want to go and make one now?

A quick sewing project

Since I started my blog just over a week ago I have visited many blogs and it has fuelled my enthusiasm for crafting and decorating, something I've always loved but of late haven't done too much at all. I actually used to sell craft items in a shop when the kids were young!

I came across a little tutorial on a handkerchief tissue holder at Beach Vintage. It was so easy that it spurred me on to make one. I remembered I had a vintage handkerchief that I had bought at an antique shop in Mildura, so delved into my fabric box and discovered it would be just perfect for this project.

So here is what you do....Lay the hanky down with the wrong side facing you. Fold each end in towards the centre and iron. Sew a straight stitch along each side of the folded hanky. Insert hankys carefully inside. That's it!!!

However, the hanky I chose was screaming out for some embroidery, so I dusted off my needle and threads, made a coffee, sat in my recliner, switched the tv on and away I went.

I was on a roll....I thought a smaller one would also be nice, so I delved back into my fabric box and found some moda squares that had had the pinking shears treatment so that made it easy. I joined two together and stitched the sides.

These would make great gifts or to have in a guest room, or in your handbag, or to dress up your dressing table.

Another lovely find on a blog was the recipe for a super easy fruit cake. Amanda Brook drew attention to the recipe which can be found  here

 

I added a packet of glazed cherries to the mixed fruit and a packet of slivered almonds. It tasted really nice.

We have had a couple of 21sts of late and one of them had a 'hippy' theme. Everyone got into the spirit of it and there were some great outfits. Here is a pic of our eldest son (ssh don't tell him, he hates having his photo taken let alone being pictured on a blog!!!) and his girlfriend. They looked like they had stepped out of the 60's.