I’ve never been much of a poet. Until I was a teenager, I always thought that poems had to rhyme. I’ve never quite understood haikus but I don’t mind the odd spot of non rhyming poetry. It doesn’t help though that Mr NQN guffaws whenever he hears poetry from yesteryear. If I were to write poetry, it would probably be an ode to a cake or food and in this way I thought that these cookie pops, based on Bakerella’s incredible cake pops, would be the most appropriate Ode to a Biscuit.
I had a packet of Tim Tams and Mint Slice biscuits in the pantry-a leftover from Halloween when I bought them intending to use them as gravestones (I bet Arnotts never envisaged them being used like that!). Made up of three ingredients, these would have to be among the easiest and most smug making items I’ve ever made. Not only were these cute, but they were easy to make and did I mention only required three ingredients?
I wrote before about how difficult it was for Mr NQN and I to say “I Love You” to each other. That reminded me of a situation from back when I worked in an office. We were a typical “Office Space” company, a technology start up where very few had offices with walls and we’d find ourselves staring at neutral coloured woolly material covered partitions all day. Of course with partitions, we would hear everything that others around us were saying. Every morning I’d hear one of my buyer’s pre work rituals: checking out the scores for Arsenal and browsing various adult entertainment websites (yes really).
For someone that fears and loathes deep frying, I’ve been doing it an awful lot in the last few months. I have progressed from someone who wore a masquerade ball mask and long sleeves when deep frying to someone that will fry without any of the “head gear”. I am still paranoid enough to make sure that the recipes I choose are ones that are low in water and therefore less likely to protest by way of injury to myself.
Fast forward to 2:47 for the action (and you might want to turn down the volume)
I am even at the stage where I can watch videos like this where a whole frozen turkey is deep fried and promptly catches fire that reader Wayfarer showed me the other day. Still I do prefer an experienced deep fryer to be nearby and that would be my mother who has a love of deep fried foods. If I have a recipe that requires some deep frying, she is the first person I call.
There are those who love playing games and those who don’t. I come from a family that like playing board games but loathe any sort of game where they have to test their physical dexterity. Mental dexterity is fine but anything where you have to act silly or have fun making silly gestures is out. When we used to go away with Mr NQN’s family and mine for Christmas and someone would suggest charades my family would opt out and simply watch from the sidelines watching everyone have fun. I think it’s a cultural thing where they were afraid of embarrassing themselves but to me, they seemed to be missing out on all the fun.
I love to participate in things and if you want to play a game I will be there although I have a firm rule: no cheating. Otherwise what is the point? I was determined to participate in this month’s challenge as Lauren from Celiac Teen is one of my favourite bloggers. She’s articulate, smart and mature and still at school which is a fact that constantly surprises me.
Australian bakers may relate to the frustration when we see cheesecake recipes and see that the recipe specifies graham crackers. They’re next to impossible to get here although common as muck in the U.S. I was so excited to try these when I visited the U.S. many years ago that I jumped up and down in the supermarket aisle and said “Oooh look graham crackers!”. People around me must have thought that I was very strange or easy to please (either that or I had just gotten out of prison) and I tried these honey and vanilla flavoured biscuits and thought they were delicious and I was excited to be able to make these again. I made sure to make a lot so I could process them into crumbs and freeze them in case of emergency cheesecake making (or to top my 5 minute cheesecake). I wasn’t sure how to style these-after all they’re just bars and what else can you do with a bar but then I though of the game Jenga and decided to do a Nanaimo Bar Jenga.
By now you’ve perhaps all heard of my friend Kathy. She’s the one that when she tells me that she’s found a cool idea for NQN I listen. She’s Australian but lives in the US now with her American husband and somehow, she always finds the coolest things to make. She knows and shares my prediliction for bacon, that wonderful salty smoked meat and when she saw my bacon jam she found me the most fabulous counterpart for it-Salted Bacon Caramels!
As usual I decided to fiddle with this recipe a little and instead of corn syrup which I’m told is evil stuff and is hard to obtain here, I used pure maple syrup and honey. I accidentally set the heat on a fraction too high and it spat at me when I stirred it but like an addict I kept stirring for a while before getting the ice pack out so be careful. I wouldn’t set it higher than the halfway point (or 6/10 maximum) on your stovetop.
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