day 319: ANZAC cake

this cake is divine, the coconut is so delicious with the golden syrup mixture :)

day 319 and it is the day we remember our fallen and those that have served our country ... lest we forget.  i found this ANZAC cake on pinterest a couple of weeks ago and figured it would be perfect to make for ANZAC day.  the recipe comes from cooking for the gang and is pinned to my lest we forget board.

no help from the peeps today, i was no my own but i am sure they will turn up with the smell of baked goods wafting from the house.  the recipe is really straightforward and requires pretty basic ingredients, although i did have to wait for the chookies to lay an egg as i only had one in the pantry ... that took awhile, after being inundated with eggs over the last several months we are now a bit lean in this area thanks to winter getting closer.

it smelt SO good it was hard to wait for it to cool before icing :)

the iced cake ... 

this was steve's first piece of THREE he had tonight ... honestly

outcome:  i think this cake could fast become an ANZAC day tradition :)  it was beautiful, my only worry is only having in once a year!

my thanks to cooking for the gang for this great recipe. love the idea behind her blog for using it as a "family cookbook" for when her children have moved away from home and want to know how to make food they had from their childhood.  such a great legacy to leave :)

day 317: a twist to some ANZAC cookies

ANZAC cookies with a twist

day 317 and the peeps and i are making ANZAC cookies today.  each year around this time we make some to enjoy on ANZAC day.  these cookies have a long association with ANZAC day as wives and mothers sent them over in tins to their loved ones at war, why?  well they stored REALLY well so could make it over on the long sea journey and still be edible when they arrived, and they used cheap ingredients that were readily available during wartime, so they weren't a burden to make with regards to food stamps either :)

the other day i was searching all things ANZAC on pinterest and came across this variation to our beloved ANZAC cookies from the cupcake architect.  yum, ben and i were drooling at the thought of white chocolate drizzle over some ANZAC biscuits!  as it was our first day back at school after the easter holidays i decided the peeps might need some enticing to get through the day and doing some baking seemed like the right approach to take ;)

for this recipe these cookies also have dried cherries added to them, i didn't have any in the pantry but i did have some dried cranberries so we used those instead.  that was the only variation we made to this recipe, which is pinned to my lest we forget board on pinterest.

my pinterest helpers for the day ... look at the levels of concentration!

my happy stirrer

fresh out of the oven

adding the final touches ... polly is never far from helping in the kitchen, we lost ben to a book ;)

finally they were ready to eat, they smelt so good!

outcome: seriously good, in fact they were so good we had requests for a second batch on ANZAC day :)  we still have some left over but the troops seem to think by wednesday they will be all gone.   surprisingly its not the white chocolate on top everyone loved but the cranberries with the oats and golden syrup were divine.  this is definitely not a wartime only cookie with the cranberries and white chocolate, but as we are currently living in peace in nz, i am happy to push the boat out for the extra ingredients in this version!

as i once again have a very happy family thanks to another successful pinterest pinned recipe, i have to give many thanks to the cupcake architect for there brilliant twist on the traditional ANZAC cookie.  

day 306: ANZAC printables

lest we forget

day 306 and we are only two weeks from commemorating our fallen soldiers on ANZAC day (25 April), a day that resonates with me and my family.  i wanted to put some decor around the house in honor of those lost, the sacrifice for all including those left at home by war ... i am hoping it will ignite my peeps to seek more information and never become complacent about the impact war has had on our nation and why freedom has often been hard fought for.

i have chosen a range, because lets face it, war covered it all and then some.  below are the ones i have printed and framed and the reasons why each was chosen.  instead of printing them on card or paper i went with printing them on canvas and then took the glass out of the frames as i wanted them to be visually closer and more tactile so the peeps could touch the printables and feel more connected to their contents ... deep kirsty, i wonder if the reality will be this vision ;)

the frames and canvas and the cute crocheted poppy, a gift from dee :)

keep calm and carry on has become an iconic saying over the last couple of years with all sorts of merchandise appearing with this catch cry on it ... i love it because of the meaning behind it.  it was one of the british pre-war posters to encourage their citizens to carry on life "normally" but it was never made public and lost to history until it was rediscovered in 2000.

in flanders fields, written by john mccrae is a must, it provides such a haunting memory of what sacrifice those that have fallen have paid.

simpson and his donkey is a truly ANZAC story of incredibly courage. john "jack" simpson was stationed at gallipoli and used a donkey he found roaming to carry wounded soldiers from the front line back to the beach where they could be evacuated for medical care.  he did this in horrific conditions including being under fire, for three and a half weeks he carried countless wounded to the beach that otherwise would not have survived.  unfortunately his bravery paid the ultimate price when he was killed on one of his trips to the frontline by enemy fire.

victory, v-j day kiss this photo is used over and over again and i never get sick of it ... it is so wonderful to remember the overwhelming happiness that resulted in the end of the war and, for me, this photo sums it up without the need for words.  i love the way his hand grips her middle so tightly like he never wants to let go! victory aside, the chance for families and friends to be reunited after sometimes years apart must have been such a welcome relief.

for the fallen by laurence binyon, this part of his poem is recited the world over at remembrance services including here in new zealand. we will remember them and hopefully in doing so we will remember the sacrifices that war brings and work harder at preserving our freedoms while understanding others differences making peaceful compromises the priority as opposed to war where no one wins really (off my soap box now  .. but thanks for indulging me)

finally, this photo of life at home i love ... both my grans served in the woman's corps and they literally took up the jobs left by the men who were overseas fighting.  these gals are the 'new' postal girls that took up the slack  and became part of the corp known as WASP (women airforce service pilots in wwii).  the mail will still get through ... even if there is a war ... i don't know that i could be that brave!~

all of these and many more photos and images with wonderful stories are pinned to my lest we forget board at pinterest.




my sincerest thanks goes to sparkle box, wikipedia, wings across america, wikimedia, and turfing as the sources for the images and inspiration of the above ANZAC printables.

day 304: ANZAC day pillow

the perfect remembrance pillow for ANZAC day

day 304 and this is a day which has become a bonus.  i have an amazing friend who is also an awesome artist.  today i had some stencils out to make the first of a couple of pillows for ANZAC day. ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) day is a national holiday in new zealand and australia to commemorate those lives lost serving our countries, lest we forget.  lana, luckily offered to help ... seriously i was never going to say no and handed the materials over to her for the project.

for today's pillow, i purchased this cotton ready made pillow for $5 (loving the versatility of this cheap pillows which are just perfect for embellishing) which is cheaper that making a cushion from scratch ... i kid you not.

photo of the materials, remember to put something inside the cushion cover to stop the permanent marker bleeding through to the other side.  the crocheted flower was given to me by a dear friend and i was going to use it on this cushion before lana volunteered to help with the artwork!

lana used chalk to mock up some poppies (our national symbol of remembrance for ANZAC day) and the words before commencing with the permanent markers.  she used this watercolour, available from dreamstime, as inspiration for the poppies on the pillow.  the artwork is available for download and it is definitely a favourite of mine with regards to poppies and something i will buy and get a canvas made from.

the finished artwork, now to put the filler back in :)

done!  thank you so much lana, i will treasure this always :)

outcome:  if you have amazing artists around you, use them for your creations!  this is one of my favourite pillows ever AND its an original!  she is so wasted as a teacher and i am so lucky to have her as a friend.  permanent markers are completely underrated for making cushions pretty and personalised ... i LOVE it and not only is this pillow perfect for ANZAC day, it's also incredibly special to me as this creation was designed and done by someone so dear to my family ... what could be better :)

my sincerest thanks to alana for creation this pillow for me while all i had to do for today's creation was provide the materials and my lest we forget pinterest board for inspiration ... love you.  thanks also goes to dreamstime for buying the copyrights to such outstanding original artworks and making them available at attainable prices ... awesome!