Rose Biscuits and a word of gratitude for the 'inheritance'

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."

Emma Goldman

Thank you. Thank you for the Cinnamon Sugar, Spice, Oils; the Coffee that I'm yet to drink and  the Tea that I have; as well as all the other goodies sitting in my larder today. Those wonderful store cupboard essentials.

Thank you also for the gorgeous chocolates, delicious biscuits, homemade mince pies and all the little things you've brought back on your trips home. 

These are for you. I ate five on your behalf with a nice, hot cup of 'inherited' Earl Grey. Here's wishing you all the best in the land of famous ruins, rose water and orange blossoms. 

ROSE BISCUITS

125g Salted Butter, softened

50g Icing Sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons Rose Water

1 drop Rose Essence

150g Plain Flour

A teeny bit of Pink Gel Paste

Put Butter and Sugar in a large bowl. Mix till combined with a spatula. Add in the Rose Water and Essence. gently mix through. Fold in the Flour until the mixture comes together into a soft ball of dough. Mix in the Pink Gel Paste until the dough is evenly distributed throughout.

Place dough in a biscuit press and press out shapes on a un-lined, un-greased baking tray. Press out shapes until all the dough has been used up. You may need 2 baking trays.

Bake the biscuits for about 20 - 25 minutes at 170 Celsius. Do turn the trays around at the 10 minute mark to ensure even baking and watch the biscuits so they don't burn. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray before storing in an airtight container. 

You will notice that the biscuits are a teeny bit brown and not so clean a pink in colour. This is how I like them. Taking them out when they're just set, while the pink looks fresh and oh-so-pretty leaves you with a slightly under-baked biscuit. So I let them bake a little more for a crunchier biscuit. In my little kitchen, biscuits are crunchy and cookies are soft. 

Broccoli Salad

I suppose I should call it Let's-Use-Up-What's-In-The-Fridge-And-Larder-Salad, because that's what this was really about. A bunch of broccoli lying in the fridge; a pack of walnuts in the larder; some almost sad looking golden raisins and the bacon that I'd forgotten about.

I have also in recent days, received an 'inheritance' of sorts from friends. Part of the 'inheritance' included a bottle of Walnut Oil. I have been waiting to try with something, and this was the something. While it isn't exactly a salad that most people would call healthy, it certainly was yummy!

It is Sunday after all. Everyone is supposed to have some treat or other on Sunday before the hectic work week starts, so this was a treat to myself. This AND the five Rose Biscuits I've eaten today. Shhhh... don't tell anyone. 

BROCCOLI SALAD

A head of Broccoli

A handful of Golden Raisins

A handful of Walnuts

Some Back Bacon 

Roasted Nuts salad dressing

Walnut Oil

Cut Broccoli into florets. Blanch in hot slightly-salted water, drain and refresh in cold water. Put them  into the bowl you will be eating from. Chop and toast the Walnuts. Dice and fry the Bacon till crisp in a little sunflower oil. Place cooked Bacon on kitchen towels to drain-off as much oil as possible.  Sprinkle Raisins, Walnuts and Bacon over the Broccoli. Drizzle the salad with one tablespoon each of Roasted Nut dressing and Walnut Oil.

Eat!