A recipe we like

Traditional Scottish Recipes
- Oatmeal Cakes

Oatmeal was a staple of the Scottish diet and has been described as "the backbone of many a sturdy Scotsman." It was used in many ways - porridge, oatcakes, brose (oatmeal and peasemeal) and scones. Here is a recipe for a sweet oatcake which is more like a biscuit than a conventional oatcake.



Ingredients:
Teacup of medium oatmeal
Teacup of plain flour
Half teacup of milk
Tablespoon of soft brown sugar
3 oz butter or margarine
Level teaspoon salt
Level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Method:
Sieve the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl, add the oatmeal and mix. Cut the butter or margarine into small portions and rub into the mixture with your fingers. Add the sugar and mix well. Pour in the milk and mix until you have a stiff but workable dough.

Shake some flour on a worktop, turn the dough onto it and shake a little flour on the top. Roll out thinly (about half an inch thick) and prick over with a fork. Cut into rounds with a scone cutter and place on an oiled baking tray. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15/20 minutes at 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4. Use a palette knife to lift the biscuits onto a wire coming rack. Store in an airtight tin.
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I'm not a teriffic cook, not even close, but occasionally I find a recipe that we like and plan to use often. My daughter Googled "Scottish Oakcakes" and this is what came up. I made them like I do biscuits, with my floured hands. We ran out this morning, must make some more later on. Great for breakfast!!

Christmas Snow

My daughter just sent me this photo of the Christmas Day snow at her house. I have not been out to take any pictures here as the wind is blowing fiercely! She lives on the side of a mountain, and you can barely see her house for the snow! This is the first time we have had a Christmas snow in our part of the country since 1981, the year we moved here!! Our family had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve this year as snow was predicted for the next day, so on Christmas Day, I spent the day watching it snow! A quiet but pleasant day, but it gave me time to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas; that is, the Birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! This morning at 1:30am I awoke to the sound of a car stuck in the snow/ice just up the hill from my house. That was the first of many! In the 29 years we have lived here that has never happened before. The road was a sheet of ice with drifts of snow knee high. The snowplow came at 6:30 and worked on it for awhile. All is moving as usual again now and the sun is out!! Happy New Year.... it is predicted to be 60 degrees F. on Saturday and Sunday! Hooray!!

Snow Day

This photo was borrowed from another blog, it isn't one of my cats, nor do we have that much snow here (yet), but schools are closed here today due to some snow and ice. Yuck! I can handle snow, but ice is a different story altogether. Well, it is almost Christmas...

But, but.....I was just helping!

Icanhascheezburger.com has the cutest stuff. Sometimes, although not often, I just sit and look at all the photos and captions that people have come up with. So clever! Although I'm not making any sweaters as Christmas gifts this year, I sure have in the past!! Thought that someone might appreciate this one and get a chuckle out of it. Enjoy! By the way....my good intentions to get the small gingerbread quilt done have been put on hold. There are 3 inches of ice/snow on the back porch and I cannot get to my studio. When the weather gets cold and miserable like this, I tend to stiffen up like an old snake. Can't get out the back door, no hope of getting to the snow shovel. Sheesh! Guess I'll have to work on something else... as if I don't have enough to do already,eh?

Small Christmas Quilt

I am all the time trying to come up with new ideas for small quilts for Project Linus. That is, small, easy to make, stashbuster type patterns. I found the idea for this one on the internet, as I have made several of the "Stashbuster" pattern, using 6 fabrics, and I wanted to try something different. This little quilt turned out around 42 inches square (the blocks are 9 1/2 inch squares) and I am pleased with it. Now to get it quilted before Christmas...but that's another story.

The finished afghan

The Bernat Crochet Along afghan is finished. I have enjoyed working on this project, but I am glad to get to move onto other UFO's now (namely a Round Ripple 12-point star). My son was kind enough to hold it up for me. Now I'm going to give it a spritz with water & into the dryer just to fluff it up and even it out. I used stash yarn, mostly OLDER Red Heart yarn (hate the newer stuff, it reminds me of crocheting with ground up pop-bottles, yuck!!) Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'm cooking this year & got to get started! God's Blessings!

Edited to say...Now that it is finished & held up, I see a big mistake!! Oops, too late now...better finished than perfect, eh?

Poor Lucky Dog

Lucky Dog had her "surgery" on Thursday and my daughter picked her up on Friday. The little rascal won't leave her stitches alone, and had to go back to the Vet today with an infection (has to wear the dreaded "Elizabethan collar"). My daughter has caught a bug herself and is under the weather too. When it rains, it pours, eh? For years I have been a confirmed dog-hater, but I have to admit that Lucky has won me over. She is not only a nice dog, she is a good guard dog as well, but she is friendly to my son and I. Really smart, eh? Admittedly, I still would rather not be around dogs that bark constantly and have no manners, but Lucky is a start in the right direction. Maybe someday I might consider one myself....will have to think on that for a (long) while. (Photo taken by my daughter and sent to me by email. They were hiking at Hanging Rock State Park, Stokes County, NC.)

Bernat Afghan Crochet along

This is week #7 of the Bernat Afghan Crochet along. I have completed all but today's square. Whew! It has been a challenge, since the week before last called for 16 mitered squares! They are not all coming out the same perfect size and I don't know if this'll be a problem. The mitered ones are smaller than the rest. Seems like every week I say to myself "why am I doing this?", then I get back busy on them. This week's square is a great big, multicolored granny square. The CAL is just halfway done now. Too many projects, too little time (humph!).