Recently we enjoyed one of the most amazing weekends ever!
Our son, Christopher, married the love of his life, Olivia, at the beautiful Wandin Park Estate on the outskirts of Melbourne.
While everyone held their breath, hoping that there wouldn’t be another COVID outbreak resulting in yet another lock-down here in Victoria, as each day passed, we knew that finally their special day was to be.
Olivia and Christopher had planned and organised everything for their wedding. Much time was spent working on all the details as well as creating and making the decorations, creating those special touches that would make this day uniquely their day. Olivia dried rose petals to be used as confetti and made the cones for guests to help themselves. She made the most beautiful dream catchers to be hung throughout the venue, and the little string ball lights to be placed on the tables and barrels. Christopher worked on ensuring that everything would go to plan, with timelines, spreadsheets, and a little surprise for Olivia (but that’s for the final post in this series…)
Catching dreams
Rose petal confetti
Rose petal confetti
Catching dreams
Balls of light
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After an amazing Christmas break with our family, we returned home feeling relaxed, refreshed and looking forward to an additional mini break at home.
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Unfortunately that feeling vanished very soon! Gary discovered that I hadn’t closed the freezer door properly prior to our departure and everything had begun to defrost!
First job, stock take, make a list of everything that could be salvaged, dispose of what couldn’t, and then work out what to do with a freezer full of meat, seafood and poultry!
Idea’s began to form as I worked through it all, most would have to be cooked and then could be re-frozen. I realised that I could also, smoke and cure a little as well.
I had duck marylands, I would do Confit Duck and then freeze ready for use. There was one duck breast, it would be cured, airdried and then sliced/diced and frozen.
Here, I have carefully packaged each piece and labeled it ready for freezing.
Confit duck served with a salad of rocket, orange and walnuts, and chips.
Air Cured Duck Breat
Air Cured Duck Breat
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As we all scattered to our respective homes after our beautiful mother had passed, it was time to begin planning the farewell.
We are from a tiny community in Victoria, called Navarre (and yes, I still call Navarre home, so that is how I may refer to it in this post) and funerals are not just where family grieves the loss of a loved one, but it is where the community joins the family to grieve the loss of a friend and valued member of the community. So with that in mind, we knew that there would be a large number of people wanting to come and pay their respects. However, these were not normal times, things were changing fast given the world wide crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we had been restricted to a graveside service with no more than 100 people in attendance. Continue reading →
In 2009, it was agreed that our son, Christopher could have a Border Collie, so the search began.
It soon became apparent that there would be a wait, so put our name down with two breeders. Unexpectedly, the wait was not so long, one of the breeders had a puppy, in a new litter, that was not traditionally marked, and therefore not quite as desirable to others. We went for a visit and it was decided that we would return in six weeks time to bring our little Duchess home to join our family.
At the same time we had started a search for a ragdoll cat, surprisingly our new family members arrived at our home within a week or so of each other. The blue ragdoll was named Banjo, after the famous Australian poet, Banjo Patterson.
But this story is about our Duchess. While she was not the prettiest when she was born, it was soon evident that she was growing into a beautiful dog, not only in appearance, but also in nature. Her kennel was placed outside Christopher’s bedroom window, and as soon as she was able, Duchess would spend her time on top of the kennel rather than in it, that way she was able to be nearer to her Christopher! A very strong bond was forming.
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For me, there is one thing about Christmas that is reallyspecial, and it is the memories of family and friends, those who are with us, and those no longer here…
As I was deciding on the recipes for the biscuits (cookies) to be baked for this year’s Christmas gifts, I recalled a beautiful, kind lady whom I felt privileged to call a friend, Brigita, a lecturer and colleague whom I worked with at Deakin University almost 30 years ago! (She was an academic, I was in admin). The department we worked for was a very social group, and we celebrated Christmas twice a year! Brigita, originally from Latvia, always prepared the mulled wine, but what I remember more is her very special sweet treat, a biscuit that she called pumpernikel. It was not the dark, dense, savoury pumpernikel that I was familiar with, but rather a crisp, light, sweet, fruity biscuit that she had baked and given to me as a gift for Christmas. I was so privileged to have received this recipe from her, and it is through this recipe that Brigita will be forever remembered by our family.
The fruit and peel make this little treat delicious!
Category:
Baking, Biscuits, Cookies
Style:
Latvian
Keyword:
Biscuits, Christmas Biscuits, Christmas Cookies, Cookies, Fruit Biscuit, Fruit Cookies, Gluten Free Option, Pumpernikel, Sweet Pumpernikel
Quantity: 120 biscuits
Author: sbaskitchen
-
200
g
butter
-
400
g
sugar
-
4
eggs
-
1
tsp
vanilla bean paste
-
3
drops of almond extract
-
500
g
plain flour
-
300
g
ground almonds
-
1
tsp
baking powder
-
125
g
candied citrus peel
-
100
g
glace fruit
diced
-
75
g
currants
-
60
g
glace ginger
diced
-
Preheat oven to 175˚C (fan).
-
Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.
-
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
-
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
-
Add fruit and dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
-
Roll into 2 cm thick sticks and lay across the lined baking tray, leaving space for spreading.
-
Bake for 20 minutes, until golden.
-
Cut on the diagonal while still warm.
-
Lay out on baking trays and dry in a tepid oven. (See notes.)
To dry out the sweet pumpernikel, I heat the oven to 150˚C (fan), return the biscuits to the oven, turn the oven off and then leave them in the residual heat overnight .
For gluten free sweet pumpernikel replace flour with Gluten Free Flour Blend, add an additional tsp of GF baking powder and 1 tsp xanthan gum.
First published: 24 December 2019
Last updated: 10 July 2026
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With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.
