Anzac day 2016

[Brian Cross]

Anzac day again Lest we forget

[Malcolm Robinson]

[webtrekker]

Sadly, Brian, many people DO forget, and I'll own up to being one of them. I never knew it was Anzac day today, along with millions of others in the UK I'm sure. However, is forgetting such a bad thing? Personally, I think we need to look to the future and not dwell in the past. The past can't be changed. Those last two lines of the verse Malcolm quoted above just highlight the futility of it all.

Nothing has changed.

Edited April 25, 2016 by webtrekker

[Malcolm Robinson]

Webtrekker,

I think we do need to remember because our past defines us as we go forward. 

It’s the lessons we have to learn so the same mistakes aren’t made again. 

[webtrekker]

That's true Malcolm, but the same mistakes are being made again,...... and again,..... and again! 

This idea of war after war to keep the population in constant fear, and therefore willing to support laws resulting in loss of freedoms, cannot be what our forefathers fought for. War in any shape or form should not be celebrated. 

[Vic Patterson]

[Canny lass]

My mother always baked biscuits called Anzacs but she always made them for Easter. I understood they were something to do with the Australian army but don't know what.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

5 hours ago, Canny lass said:

My mother always baked biscuits called Anzacs but she always made them for Easter. I understood they were something to do with the Australian army but don't know what.

Extracts from Wikipedia pages :- 

An Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water and optionally desiccated coconut. Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I.

It has been claimed the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation. Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale.

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Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale. Because of their military connection with the ANZACs and ANZAC Day, these biscuits are often used as a fundraising item for the Royal New Zealand Returned Services' Association (RSA) and the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL). A British (though still Australian-produced) version of the Anzac biscuit, supporting the Royal British Legion, is available in several major supermarket chains in the UK

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Recipe

ANZAC Biscuits - 

Ingredients

85g porridge oat

85g desiccated coconut

100g plain flour

100g caster sugar

100g butter, , plus extra butter for greasing

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Notably, Anzac biscuit recipes omit eggs because of the scarcity of eggs during the war (after most poultry farmers joined the war effort) and so that the biscuits would not spoil when shipped long distances.

Method

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the oats, coconut, flour and sugar in a bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the golden syrup. Add the bicarbonate of soda to 2 tbsp boiling water, then stir into the golden syrup and butter mixture.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter and golden syrup mixture. Stir gently to incorporate the dry ingredients.

Put dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on to buttered baking sheets, about 2.5cm/1in apart to allow room for spreading. Bake in batches for 8-10 mins until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

[Canny lass]

That's them! Although I seem to remember currants as well. Perhaps they were my mother's own addition to the recipe.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Canny lass