poppy

Muggle, bought me some cornmeal yesterday, so I'm going to give your pancakes a crack over the weekend. Forgot the maple syrup and don't have buttermilk but I think ordinary milk will be much the same, don't you ?

Thank you Kylie. That's kind of you to say. I was pretty impressed with Sydney when we were over. The harbour was pristine clear and all round a very nice city. I would have loved to have taken a trip to the Blue Mountains.

Yes, but would you be up to taking on Miss Piggy? Big Welcome Gelfling

You should see this local rose nursery we have. They have rose gardens spread over several acres, mostly the old-fashioned variety and you can just wander around for hours. The smell is almost overwhelming. The majority of my roses came from there, everytime I go I can't resist buying another one or two or ........

If you go back to Pg 4, Post 40, you'll find some there. (Muggle I can't remember how to compress photos once I've scanned and saved them. I've tried putting them through Image Resizer, but I think they are just too big for it to handle. These are not digital photos.)

I don't very often eat these, but my favourites would be honey roasted peanuts, roasted cashew nuts and dried apricots. Once I start eating them I can't stop (angerball, just noticed you and Muggles are reading the same book - you'll have to compare notes)

I've just read the excerpts 'Frayed Tapestry' and 'Falling'. They are GREAT Immi, they certainly leave you wanting more. Where do I find Gaps?

I use cast iron, but either should be fine. Probably makes about 8.

OK Muggles, I accept that's what you THINK pancakes are, and very nice they sound too. And I promise to try your recipe as soon as I can get some cornmeal. Now you've gotta promise to try a REAL pancake recipe. REAL Pancakes 4 ozs flour pinch salt 1 tsp baking powder 2 eggs approx 1/2 pint milk Sift flour and salt. Add eggs and milk, beat well, gently stir in baking powder. Make the mix pretty thin, like runny cream. Pour into jug. Heat a heavy frying pan and melt some butter in it. Pour in enough mixture that will coat the whole bottom thinly, when you tilt it all round. Flip over when cooked and cook the other side. Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice and a knob of butter. Roll up and devour (I'll even let you have them with maple syrup, but you've gotta try the lemon juice and sugar first.) Watch for indigestion

Well done Megan. We don't put milk in gravy, I'll have to try that. I'm OK at making gravy from scratch, but this was a packet of Biscuit Gravy Mix that my American sister-in-law had given me. I was asking Muggle what you could do with it, but OH has told me in no uncertain terms what I can do with it, so it now resides in the rubbish bin

Woooo .....that was a lucky save, just remember you're pretty out-numbered here

Since when was boiling some water, mixing up this white powdery stuff with cold water and adding it to the boiling water, cooking??????

Darn Muggle, if I'd known earlier I could have sent you some Old-fashioned biscuit gravy mix to go with those grits

Well the biscuits came out fine, I added some chopped onion, cheese, bacon and herbs, but the gravy ........is it really supposed to resemble white tasteless glue? I fed the rest to my chickens and even they just took a quick peck, squawked and went off to wipe their beaks. I think I'll stick to home-made gravy

I've just finished this book and really enjoyed it, I couldn't stop reading. Wouldn't recommend it for people who are sensitive to animal cruelty, and the violence is pretty graphic at times. Imagine this is pretty true-to-life to what circus life would have been in the 1930's in the USA, not an easy time, but a fascinating insight. I wonder if you didn't know the author was a female, you would have thought this was written by a male? I found her style very gritty, maybe it was because it was narrated by Jacob. Thank you for the recommendation Janet, a thoroughly good read

I had one of her books as a child and absolutely loved the illustrations. It's left me with an abiding love for gum trees

I very much doubt it Muggle, but I'm one of those weird people who like making things from scratch anyway

Heck Megan, we can't even get a decent pack of cake-mix here

The harder you prune, the less flowers you get, but they are larger and of better quality. I usually prune quite lightly so I get lots of flowers.

Well that looks basically the same recipe. I'm sure you can get buttermilk in NZ but it is not something that we generally use. Biscuits and gravy here we come Though it's a bit hot at the moment, it's mainly salad weather.

Thanks Megan and Muggles. I'm going to give it a go and I'll let you know the results What would be your biscuit recipe? Ours is: 3 cups flour 3 tsp baking powder pinch salt 100 gm (4 oz ) butter milk to mix I usually just grate cold butter into the siffted flour and baking powder and mix it in with a knife. Add plenty of milk to make a very soft dough, mix it very quickly, cut it into pieces and wack it into a preheated oven 200

I've always wondered what grits were too (along with Ranch Dressing ). Thought it was some sort of fried thing. Muggle, I've just been given a large packet of Old Fashioned Biscuit Gravy Mix from the US. It's got instructions of how to make it but I have no idea what to make with it. I understand your biscuits are like our scones, but scones with gravy sounds kinda wierd.

Hi Sarah, let me be the first to wish you a very warm welcome. Everyone is very friendly here, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun

I'm sure I did. I must admit I had a tear in my eye when I finished

Have just finished 'Wish You Well' and it is just as you say Muggle, it makes you laugh, cry and feel good. A delightful heart-warming story, where family and love are far more important than material wealth. Thank you very much for the recommendation.