ANZACs For Americans

Anzac Day was March 25.  Oops.

Wondering how to better connect with your Australian/Kiwi friends? Concerned about your dearth of cultural empathy based on others' military historic remembrances? Why not make ANZAC bickies today!

ANZACs For Americans

Rolled oats, 3/4 cup (don't use instant/quick or steel cut)
Sugar, 1/3 cup (any kind, raw or "Muscovado" is most authentic)
Coconut, 3/4 cup (unsweetened is best, Bob's Red Mill sells it in my local shops. Reduce sugar if you use that heathen sweetened kind)
Flour, 3/4 cup
Bicarb, 1 tsp (baking soda)
Boiling water, 2 Tbs
Golden syrup, 2 Tbs (in most shops in the intl food section, usually Lyles tin or squeeze bottle. This is worth seeking out, it's a wonderful thing to have on hand. Sub honey if you can't find it)
Butter, 1 stick melted (if using unsalted butter, add 1 tsp salt to the recipe)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, combine. It's traditional to put the bicarb in with the wet so it goes fizzy, but you don't have to, I've checked. Roll into balls, flatten slightly and bake for 15-18 min.

Notes:
1) These are not cookies. They must never be referred to as cookies.
2) Some people like their ANZACs thin and spready and crispy. These are a bit puffier. Add another oz of butter and fizz the bicarb as described if you want to try them thinner.

Congratulations, you are now more culturally aware! And you have biscuits!

Preserving without canning

I made some nice sweet mustard pickles, a sandwich spread, last week.  I am still not very good with US units, so I made more than I intended -- the two whole bags of onions in the recipe should have been a clue.

Some American friends have expressed horror that I didn't process or pressure can the pickle.  My method, taught to me by my mother, included sterilizing repurposed jars, filling while hot, then turning the jars upside down to seal them.

This is safe!  There's several reasons.

- The pickles were thoroughly cooked - I boiled them for around an hour.
- The preserving liquid included lots of cider vinegar.  Acid environments prohibit bacterial growth.
- There was also a bunch of sugar and salt in the pickles!  This makes the pickles osmotically extreme. If any bacteria were to end up in the jars, the water in their cells would be drawn out by osmotic pressure.

I've opened, and have been enjoying, the first jar.  Alex isn't so sure, must be an acquired taste.  And, so far, no botulism, hooray!