Thank you to all our service members and their families who have followed My Hero and MY adventure through the past 24 months – we made the 52 weeks in the first year because he was transitioning to another unit and there were plenty of offers to receive my boxes. While he was back in country by 21 June 2010 I did not restart up my box sending until August because of the change of command between units that happened then – thus the reason my blog does not make it to 52 weeks during Part 2. It would be inappropriate to keep sending boxes once this Commander departs - but believe me it was 24 months almost to the day and I couldn’t be any prouder for the accomplishments of him and his soldiers as well as myself and YOU sticking to our plan and cooking and sending care packages weekly. Many hugs and best wishes to all who encouraged this endeavor ~ it really has been fulfilling for me – and now we continue onto our new adventure as my Soldier retires from a life he has thoroughly enjoyed and I with him!!
So for the last box I am mailing this week a big batch of his favorite – gingersnaps and you’ll find the recipe in the original post of this blog some 97 weeks ago!! Don’t forget we still have great gifts and opportunities to take your uniforms and custom create an amazing keepsake for you or one you love. And if you have little girls or special occasions coming up never hesitate to visit our other site Sweetie Sweet Smocking (www.sweetiesweetsmocking.com) where I offer custom work as well as some pre-made items for sale.
Thanks for sharing this journey with us and if you take nothing else with you please take this:
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!! GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
This is it, the final week – refer to the original Week 1 recipe (some research required!) for your shopping list!! We’ll end the way we started!! We cook tomorrow!!
The Item: Our final Slice from Australia will not disappoint. However this is really a three part recipe and you can tell when you read thru the ingredients and see butter listed 3 times and sugar listed 3 times 2 different ways. Well lets clear that up – caster sugar is just ordinary sugar while icing sugar is confectionary sugar. If you ever need to substitute its a one for one substitution. Confectionary sugar is just ordinary sugar more finely ground. Infact, I use icing sugar for the crust and for the topping. So look at the recipe and see that the first 4 ingredients -ending with the egg is the crust; the next 4 ingredients ending with the ground almonds is the filling and then the last 4 ingredients is the topping that is baked on the last 10 minutes. This is very yummy so make it and enjoy!
The Process: I followed this recipe as written except I used confectionary sugar for the crust as well as for the topping and it all worked out fine. Also make sure you stir constantly the topping during the 2 minutes it cooks so it does not burn – I don’t know if it would or not but for two minutes stirring makes sense!! OH and my BIG news is that this recipe only covered half my jelly roll pan which really is the same size as a lamington pan so I guess I messed something up but what I made was so delicious I wouldn’t change a thing – so watch how well you can distribute the crust and if it only makes it half way – I’d say you are fine!!! Let cool completely and again cut up when it is warm ~not hot ~ just warm so the knife goes through without issue. Enjoy this fabulous treat delicious with tea or coffee.
The Extra: Only a few weeks left so no extras ~ God Bless Our Troops! Remember we live in the land of the FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE 
Toscanner Slice from taste.com.au
Makes
24 pieces
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 125g butter, chilled, cubed
- 1 egg
- 185g butter, softened
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
- 100g (1 cup) ground almonds
- 90g butter, chopped
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 125g flaked almonds
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 3cm deep, 24cm x 29.5cm (base) lamington pan.
- Combine flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg. Process until dough comes together. Press into prepared pan.
- Make filling Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs. Beat well to combine. Using a large metal spoon, fold through flour and ground almonds. Spread mixture over base. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch.
- Make topping Combine butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Slowly bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2 minutes. Stir through almonds. Pour over warm slice. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely in pan before cutting into pieces. Serve.
Do you have what you need? Check the pantry and take the list with you…
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup icing sugar (confectionary sugar)
125g butter, chilled and cubed (1 stick)
1 egg
185g butter, softened (about 13 tablespoons = 1 stick plus 1/3 cup)
3/4 cup caster sugar (regular sugar)
2 eggs
3/4 cup plain flour
100 g (1 cup) ground almonds
90 g butter (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup honey
125g flaked almonds ( about 1/2 cup)
The Item: As we continue on with our DELICIOUS new found treat of Slices from Australia, you will not be disappointed by the one I selected for this week. While Nutmeg is normally associated with the Christmas holidays, it fits nicely in this square treat that combines its flavor with currants (raisins) and walnuts for a fabulous slice of heaven. I made some adjustments like using wheat flour instead of plain and I also had to add the additional baking powder and salt because I was not using self-rising flour – but we have become pros in the area of substitutions so either follow the recipe exactly or use my substitutions which I will describe below. NO matter which way you make them – just do it and Enjoy them!!
The Process: I do want to make sure that you realize this recipe has a patted in crust layer and then a topping layer and since I am the worst at using half from a fully made mixture I found it much easier to just divide the common ingredients as I went. So I had my food processor and my kitchenaide bowl at the ready as I went thru the ingredients. First the brown sugar – no real hardships here as 1 cup goes into each bowl; then I used wheat flour and the ratio is 7/8th cup of wheat flour to 1 cup of plain. We know there are 16 Tablespoons in a cup of flour so the easiest way to get the amount is divide 16 by 8 which means 1/8th equals 2 tablespoons so 7/8ths equals 14 tablespoons. Put 14 tablespoons of wheat flour (you do realize that is a cup of wheat flour minus two tablespoons ~ much easier to dish out!!) into each bowl along with 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into each bowl because this was not self rising!! Then 1/2 tablespoon of nutmeg into each bowl and then stop adding to the kitchenaide bowl and finish the crust layer in the food processor by cubing up one of the sticks of butter and adding to the food processor. Pulse it until the mixture resembles little pebbles or coarse sand and then pat into a jelly roll or lamington pan if you have one that has a layer of parchment paper on it. Now back to the filling – take the other stick of butter and soften it a bit in the microwave – I promise it worked great!! Add that to the mixture already there and run the paddle a bit, then add the milk and mix well followed by the baking soda and the egg, raisins and walnuts. Spread on the crust and in a 355 degree F oven for about 40 minutes! Fabulous but do cut them when they are warm or you won’t be able to as the sugar hardens a bit. Delicious with tea.
The Extra: Found some ice tea packets and some spiced cider – the movers come in a week so I think the team will enjoy these before I would ever get to them! Off go the slices then ~ God Bless Our Troops! Remember we live in the land of the FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE
Nutmeg slice from taste.com.au
Makes
20 pieces
Ingredients
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 250g butter, chilled, cubed
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup currants
- 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 3cm deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan.
- Place sugar, flour and nutmeg into a food processor. Process until well combined. Add butter. Process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Press half the mixture into prepared lamington pan. Transfer remaining mixture to a large bowl.
- Pour milk into a jug. Add bicarbonate of soda. Stir with a fork to combine. Add milk mixture, egg, currants and walnuts to remaining crumb mixture. Mix well to combine. Carefully pour over base. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in pan. Dust with icing sugar. Cut into slices to serve.
Here’s the shopping list for this week’s blog recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups self-raising flour
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
250g butter, chilled and cubed (2 sticks)
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup currants (raisins)
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
The Item: Our Muesli Slices already got there and they were a big hit, so this week we will continue to excel while using items I have to finish off in my kitchen before my upcoming move! All those who are military know that “eating it all” is the battlecry of many a Mom before a move. So I looked in the cupboard and I still had oatmeal and some lavendar sugar and craisins – time to pull and Emeril and ’spice up’ an already great recipe. So I found Oatmeal Slices that would use all my oatmeal if I doubled the recipe, continue to use my golden syrup from Australia (so you can use Karo syrup the light version or honey if you don’t have golden syrup) and I would just use the lavendar sugar instead of plain white to “spice it up”. I find the results DELICIOUS!!
The Process: The fun thing about this recipe is that someone had already put the US equivalents for the meaurements except for the butter where 125g = 1/2 cup and again for the 180 degrees celcius use 355 (0r 350) and the cooking time should be about the same. I sifted all the flour into the bowl of my kitchenaide – and I used the recipe from week 41 to make my own self rising flour since I only have plain on hand. Then I added each egg separately (remember I doubled the recipe so I could use my jelly roll pan) and then after the butter and golden syrup had melted and cooled for about 5 minutes, with the paddle attachment on low I slowly poured in the syrup mixture. If you don’t mix in the eggs OR you add the eggs to a very hot mixture they could scramble on you so caution on how you add the eggs – my way makes it harder for the eggs to scramble for sure! I also added craisins because I had them left over and I thought they would add nice flavor. Into a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper went the mixture and then into a 355 degree F oven for 20 minutes. I pulled them out and let them cool for 5 minutes – then sliced them in the pan. Don’t wait too long or they will be difficult to cut! Now with a cup of tea its a heavenly snack~the craisins ROCK. YUM!!
The Extra: This week I couldn’t resist sending some Wheat Thins and squeeze cheese – to get him ready to come back to the US ~ FUN food. God Bless Our Troops! Remember we live in the land of the FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE
Oatmeal Slices from taste.com.au
Makes: 24
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
- 1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
- 1 cup (90g) rolled oats
- 125g butter, chopped
- 1 tbs golden syrup
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 16cm x 26cm baking pan and line with non-stick baking paper. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add sugar and rolled oats.
- Stir the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat until melted. Add to dry ingredients with the egg and stir to combine.
- Spoon into pan and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool, then cut into rectangles to serve.