The Rambler

Pumpkins, perspective and ANZAC biscuits

I’ve spent most of the last week in Sydney visiting family, so I don’t have much to tell you about … but let’s give it a go …

Mum’s pumpkins

My mother is one of those naturally green-thumbed people who can grow vegetables anywhere. She got it from her father, who got it from his father (who owned a nursery in Sydney), who got it from his father, who probably grew whatever he could in the soils of Lanarkshire, Scotland. Anything I know about growing things (and it’s not a lot) I learnt from Mum.

One of the highlights of a visit home (aside from family, dumplings for lunch and smooches with my parent’s corgi) is checking out what Mum has in the garden. She doesn’t have much garden – a couple of terraced beds – but there might be cherry tomatoes growing up a trellis or sweet potato in amongst cutting lettuce. This time, it’s pumpkins – and they’re massive. She’s growing a couple of varieties – all from seeds she’s saved – the largest of which is the Queensland Blue. She offered me one to take home, but at 9kgs, it weighed in heavier than my carry-on allowance, and we’re not supposed to bring fruit or vegetables over the border.

Back to the future

Back in 2009, I began writing the book that would, six years later, emerge into the world as Baby, It’s You. That book, followed by Big Girls Don’t Cry and Wish You Were Here, was written while I was working full-time, travelling extensively for work, and juggling Sarah’s school and swimming commitments. I wrote in the car, in the food court at lunch, at airports and on planes, poolside while she was training, in school corridors when she had maths tuition – I wrote wherever I could grab ten minutes, or a half hour.

On Saturday mornings or rare days off I’d head down to the Castle Hill Library and spend a few hours in uninterrupted writing bliss.

Last Friday I found myself back there. This time though, instead of writing my first book, I was writing my fifteenth. Not only do I not know where the years have gone, but I have no idea where all of those words have come from! It definitely puts the achievement (and it is something I’m proud of) into perspective.

Recipe of the week - Anzac Biscuits

Because I’ve been away, I haven’t been baking. However, tomorrow is ANZAC Day, so it would be remiss of me not to share my Anzac biscuit recipe.

For those outside of Australia and New Zealand, or those unaware of it, ANZAC Day is arguably our most important national day.

As with many important national dates, political issues muddy the water – but today isn’t about that and I’m not going there. This day is about respect, honour, mateship, freedom of self-determination and freedom from oppression – the values we hold dear and important and worth fighting for.

It’s also about the shared experiences and collaboration of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces – not just at Gallipoli but in all the campaigns and exercises since - and a reminder of the close relationship between Australia and New Zealand. While there are plenty of things that we argue about – rugby, cricket, jandals or thongs, eskies or chilly bins; and the ownership of pavlova, Pharlap, Sam Neill, Crowded House, and Russell Crowe…okay I admit we probably can’t claim Sam Neill and we’re mostly happy not to argue about Russell Crowe – ANZAC Day is something we share unreservedly.

Another thing we share is the ANZAC biscuit.

Like the pavlova, the Anzac biscuit's original origin has been in dispute from time to time. A Dunedin cookbook was (apparently) the first to publish a recipe titled Anzac biscuit. It wasn’t, however, a biscuit but a cake and there were no instructions on how to make it. In 1917 an Australian cookbook also named an Anzac biscuit. It wasn’t, however, an Anzac like the ones we know today. In that same cookbook was a biscuit made from rolled oats (catchily named a “rolled oats biscuit”) that was similar to what we know as the Anzac.

Regardless of who was the first to write it down, stick it in a book, and publish it, Anzac biscuits were being baked on both sides of the ditch at around the same time. Baked by wives, mothers, and girlfriends, they were designed to last weeks or months until they could reach their recipient on a battlefield somewhere and still be edible. Today’s are lucky to last past morning tea.

These biscuits weren’t just baked to be sent to hungry, homesick soldiers; they were also (and mostly) baked to sell (and be eaten) at fetes, galas and other public events to raise money for the war effort.

The ingredients were important—they were all store cupboard items that would have been in most pantries. Golden syrup was used to bind the ingredients rather than eggs (which would have spoiled before the biscuit could reach its recipient), and everything was melted and mixed together and shaped into balls before baking instead of being rolled and cut.

These days there’s controversy over the use of the name Anzac biscuit – yes, it’s bureaucracy gone mad. They say that it’s to protect the integrity of the original recipe – although who can say exactly what that is. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the biscuit should include coconut, rolled oats and golden syrup – with some deviations allowed for gluten or lactose intolerance, but no new ingredients. 

My mother’s recipe is my recipe—with a few tweaks around the sugar component (she uses a cup, I use a little less). She’s been baking these biscuits weekly for most of my life.

This recipe doesn’t involve equipment other than a bowl and a spoon, and allowing for 15 minutes of prep and 15 minutes in the oven, they are a super quick and easy morning tea treat.

Oh, and the plate? It’s another vintage Shelley.

What you need…

• 1 cup each of plain flour, rolled oats, and desiccated coconut.

• 1 cup caster sugar (split between brown and caster sugar for a chewier biscuit)

• 125g butter

• 2 tablespoons golden syrup

• 2 tablespoons water

• ½ teaspoon bicarb

What you do with it…

• Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)

• Mix the dry ingredients together (except the bicarb)

• Melt together the butter, syrup & water

• Throw in the bicarb and watch it all froth up. I love this part.

• Add the wet to the dry and stir it all up

• Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and place on trays lined with baking paper.

• Flatten a little with a fork, but not too much

• Bung in the oven for 15 mins or until they are golden or smell oatily delicious

Hints…

• Be careful on the bicarb as too much will leave a metallic taste

• For a dark biscuit, use brown sugar

• If you prefer a blondie, use only caster sugar. This also gives a crunchier biscuit - especially if you cook if until its golden-brown rather than just golden

• Make sure your oats are real, not instant ones – it will make the mix spread across the pan.

• Over-mixing will make a tougher biscuit – possibly better suited to months at sea…

• My daughter prefers a rounder, chewier Anzac and my husband likes them to be flatter and crisper. This time I gave into my daughter’s wishes, but for a crisper biscuit flatten the little balls a tad more and cook them for a few minutes longer.