Silky Cookie dough....

Mimi's Silky Cookie Dough

Makes 2 large logs

250gms butter, softened at room temperature for about 30 minutes (you can use margarine, but butter will be nicer)
2/3 cup icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (vanilla essence is fine too, but the extract is more fragrant)
2 1/4 cups GF flour blend or 1 cup cornflour and 1 1/4 cups rice flour

Use a small bowl and an electric mixer to beat the butter until smooth.
Add the icing sugar and beat until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla.
Put this in a larger bowl, and add the flour/s cutting them into the butter mixture with a metal spoon until the mixture comes together and combines. 

Add choc chips, sprinkles, nuts or dried fruit if you wish.

Dust your hands with more of the GF flour, or cornflour, or rice flour, and form the dough into two balls.

Wrap in cling wrap, and roll and shape into two logs.

Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Now, heat a sharp knife under hot running water, and slice off rounds.

(Alternatively, roll this dough into small balls, freeze on trays, tip into ziplock bags once frozen, and remove as required to bake. Bring to room temp and flatten slightly prior to baking. Bake until golden in a preheated oven. I actually prefer this method.)

Bake on a lined baking tray in a preheated 180C oven for 25 minutes.

Heavenly!

Note that the dough will keep in the fridge for up to 2 months or in the freezer for 6 months...if you can stop eating it that is! Cooked biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. They are a very crumbly texture though so keep a serviette close by to catch stray crumbs!

How life changes....

Life changes. There's no doubt about it. And although the changes aren't always welcome, they come along anyway. 

So could be said about youngest child and only daughter, leaving the nest about three weeks ago. She has just turned 21, so in comparison to her three older brothers, she's a late bloomer. But then, she is still studying, and that in itself, ruled out independent living for some time. In recent months, she floated the idea with us, being that we would be the ones funding said 'independent living', and we agreed that The Time Had Come.

A suitable share arrangement with a Uni bestie had arisen, and it seemed that along with The Time Has Come, Seize The Day was the apt motto.

So it is, that Husband and I now find ourselves co-parenting a cat that she wanted (no great hardship really), and fielding up to a dozen phone calls a day. Topics listed as follows:

Q. How do I make stir-fry sauce? 

Answer: Make a cup of broth with a stock cube, add whatever flavours you want, thicken it with a paste of cornflour and water.

Q. Where do I buy Pho paste from?

Answer: Any Asian Grocer stocks several versions of a Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) Base.

Note: See restaurant worthy version of her Pho above, our first meal with her in her own place.

Q. How do you make Gnocchi? Can I make beetroot gnocchi?

Answer: Roast a fresh beetroot and one or two large potatoes. Allow the potato to cool, and grate it finely. Puree the beetroot and add to the mashed potato. Season well. Add an egg and enough gluten free flour to form a dough. Divide into four portions. Freeze some if you want for another day. Take a portion of the dough, and roll into a long sausage. Cut the sausage into nuggets, and flatten with a fork. Add to boiling water and cook briefly until hot. Serve with olive oil, parmesan and cracked pepper.

Q.Can I make fresh gluten free pasta. 

Answer: Yes. It's just gluten free flour, and an egg, formed into a dough, rolled flat and cut into noodles with a sharp knife. You can even tint the noodles different colours for fun.

Q. Now that I'm broke, what can I give my friends for gifts?

Answer: A home made cake is always a winner. Palette knife flowers are dead easy.

Or come raid my scarf stash or grab some thrifted scarves, launder gently of course.

Then embroider with cute icons meaningful to the recipient. 

I love this one with beetles and butterflies.

It's a whole new world for her and for us. 

I think we can all make it work.

Happy Days.

What big changes are afoot there?

...Mimi...

Meaningful gifting...

If we've learned nothing else from 2020, surely we can say we've learned to NOT rely on mass produced, overpriced, imported gifts. Surely that. I've said for many long years, that developing skills that we can gift, or skills that allow us to create gifts, are not to be scorned. Even if you doubted this prior to this long, strange year, perhaps it now makes sense.

This Christmas, we'll be gifting Snowman Cupcakes as seen above. These truly could not be more simple. Any flavour cupcake, vanilla frosting, white and dark chocolate choc chips.

Grab yourself a palette knife (around $15AUD) from an art supply store and cultivate a skill for the new craze in cake decorating. So easy, a child could do it. Literally. This one was my first attempt!

Have sewing machine, will sew. Gingham hearts. Fill them with lavender, cinnamon sticks, or rice instead of polyfibre fill to make them more pleasing to the senses. Use them as decorations, or get out the sidewalk chalk and draw up a board for hopscotch or tic-tac-toe-toss, and use them as markers to teach your kids or grandkids those good old fashioned games.

I shared how to paint this Scandinavian inspired artwork here. Go on. Try it. Everyone has an artist inside begging to be let out...

Cinnamon sugar...just superfine sugar (we call it Caster Sugar here) and as much Cinnamon as you want. Mix it, decant it, gift it. Yum on toast, cakes, and pancakes.

Pick up an ugly statuette or figurine at your local op-shop (thrift store), and paint it a vibrant colour. Add tassels for a true Art Deco effect. Gift with pride to your stylish friends.

Get crafty with teeny tiny fabric scraps and tassel tops added to earring hook, to make these stunning earrings.

Coconut Ice does not have to be pink. Nor does Turkish Delight. Tint your home made confectionery fabulous colours, wrap in swathes of ribbon, add candy rosettes, and make a statement!

More gifts....doll panel dolls, home made cards with lavish georgette and tulle side bows, dollar store water bottles embellished with personalised labels and filled with candy balls, home made brownie wrapped in festive foil, hand blended essential oils in mini sprays, and home made lush lotion bars.
These are all ideas I've sourced or adapted from similar ones on Pinterest. If I can do it, so can you.
There's still time!
Happy Festive Planning!

...Mimi...

The time has come....

Sit back and let me tell you a story.... Once upon a time, there was a lady who wanted to help people. She got a job helping people. It was hard work, because she couldn't possibly help everyone who needed to be helped. The lady had sleepless nights, worrying about all the people who she couldn't help, or even ones she thought she hadn't helped enough. Then one day, she read a quote. It said 'Not every burden is yours to carry'. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. All of those burdens, those worries about people she didn't know...not really, fell away. Suddenly, she realised that her greatest burden, was the one of sacrificing too much of self. One cannot give from an empty vessel. She knew that. She took stock. She thought long and hard. She realised that she had done enough helping. She was desirous of a return to home and hearth. She welcomed it. As did her loved ones. And she lived on in the hearts of those she had helped. At least for a while. She slept. She dreamed. She found new ways to nurture and care for those who needed it most. She rose from the ashes of her fatigue and marched on... Stay tuned.....