During our final visit to our family home, my sisters, Sonnie and Jan, and Gary and I took a half day away from the packing and cleaning to explore what used to be our greater back yard. The plan – to deliver more goods to St Vincent de Paul in St Arnaud, to have lunch at the cafe “Country Delights” which is housed in an historic building opposite the beautiful Botanical Gardens in St Arnaud, and finally a drive to the wineries in nearby Moonambel.
So with the morning’s work complete, we loaded up Jan’s car, climbed in, and headed off. First stop, and we unloaded yet another stash of goodies that hopefully will find a new home via the St Vincent de Paul Op Shop.
Next stop “Country Delights. What a beautiful old building, I think it used to be the offices of what was once the Kara Kara Shire, and was constructed in 1902 using locally made bricks. The interior was beautiful, the high timber ceilings, the windows and the artwork on the walls.
Country Delights Cafe, St Arunaud
The ceiling in Country Delights Cafe, St Arunaud
Country Delights Cafe, St Arunaud
Country Delights Cafe, St Arunaud
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At home for the last time, we got to work! We were expecting around 40 immediate family, and those considered family, for lunch the following day. Isn’t that what everyone does a week and a half out from settlement!
A branch from one of the bottlebrushes growing down the lane made the perfect Christmas tree simply adorned with a few decorations that we had found during previous visits. With the tree set up, a few additional decorations were set out. Then a table was set up with a a few bits and pieces to take everyone on a trip down memory lane. Added to the table were sweet pea seeds, and coathangers that mum had covered, for family to help themselves to.
A bottle brush Christmas Tree…
A bottle brush Christmas Tree…
A bottle brush Christmas Tree…
A bottle brush Christmas Tree…
A few little decorations
Mum & Dad’s wedding photo
Sweat Peas for family and friends…
A little memorabilia
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Since the pandemic hit I have tried to avoid writing about it, but as we must live with it, it often gives us a reason for doing something.
As we entered yet another lock down in the middle of the year, we had no idea of what lay ahead. For those of us lucky enough to live in the country, our lock downs have been much shorter than for those who are living in Melbourne. In Melbourne it is ongoing.
When I heard that the restrictions were being increased to prevent children’s access to playgrounds, I just wanted to do something for my grandboys who were being home-schooled, and now they were no-longer permitted to go to the playground. Continue reading →
My mum was an amazing cook, anything she turned her hand to was always delicious. Her Yo Yo biscuits/cookies never lasted long, so it was always such a treat when she baked them.
Category:
Afternoon Tea, Baking, Lunch Box, Snacks
Style:
Australian
Keyword:
Biscuits, Christmas Cookies, Mum's Recipes, Nana Grace's Yo Yos, Yo-Yo, Yo-Yos
Author: sbaskitchen
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225
g
/ 8 oz butter
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115
g
/ 4 oz custard powder
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115
g
/ 4 oz icing sugar
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2 - 2 1/2
cups
plain flour
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Preheat oven to 160˚C/320˚F (fan-forced).
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Line two baking trays with baking paper.
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Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
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Add sifted dry ingredients and mix to a dough like consistency.
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Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into small balls and place on the prepared baking trays, leaving room for a little spreading.
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Use a fork to gently flatten (dip the fork into some plain flour every now and then to prevent it from sticking to the biscuit).
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Bake in preheated oven 15-20 minutes.
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Join together with a little icing (see note below).
While many choose to join their Yo Yo's together with a butter icing, we always made a simple icing using icing sugar, a small piece of butter, probably about half to one teaspoonful, a little vanilla, and just enough boiling water to mix to a nice consistency.
The instructions for the recipe in mum’s recipe book were limited…
Cream butter and sugar add sifted dry ingredients roll into small balls & place on slide press with fork. Join with butter icing and roll in castor sugar.
I have expanded the instructions a little and you will see from my note in the recipe that we didn’t use a soft butter icing, and we don’t roll the biscuits in caster sugar, as guided by my mum’s original recipe – she never followed these instructions either!
