Mushrooms and Anzacs

Mushrooms in the garden .... we have had some rain in the last week, but these mushrooms are the beautiful hand printed Thea and Sami Fabric. http://www.thea-sami.com.au/ I was fortunate enough to win some of this hand printed linen from Thea's blog giveaway in February, and this is what I made with it.

This woodland elf is an adaptation of Jacquie Lecuyer's pattern, Uma . This was a pattern of the month in January at Hello Dollies http://www.agbhellodollies.blogspot.com/ - my doll group at Anne's Glory Box . My version of Uma not only features the prize fabric, but some my embellished felt and one of my husband's wooden buttons. It is a cloth doll, with a needle sculpted face. I am still very much a beginner as far as needle sculpted faces go, as I tend to make most doll heads from clay, but I like the idea of "soft sculpture" so am determined to keep practising.

Mother's Day is coming up , so with the remnants of the mushroom fabric, I made some very simple little matryoshka dolls. I really enjoyed making these and think I will make some more, with other little bits of leftover fabric I have stashed away because I've liked the prints so much.

Tomorrow is Anzac Day - an important day of remembrance in Australia.for those who have been lost in war. The dawn services and other memorial ceremonies are very moving and allow for serious reflection, but later there is usually time for celebrating mateship and family. Our family love ANZAC biscuits. There are lots of variations of the recipe, and while this one isn't original , it makes the biscuits just the way we like them and we pretend it's healthy because it comes from the Weight Watchers' site.

Anzac Biscuits
POINTS® Value: 2.5

Servings: 18

Preparation Time: 10 min Cooking Time: 15 min

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Fast to make and utterly delicious, these ANZAC biscuits are not too crunchy or chewy, but just right!

Ingredients
1 spray Gold 'n' Canola Canola oil spray
150 g plain white flour, sifted
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup rolled oats
100 g butter, melted
2 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray 2 baking trays with oil and cover with some baking paper.
Mix flour, sugar and oats together in a large bowl until well combined.
Melt butter and golden syrup together. Combine one tablespoon of boiling water with baking soda and add to butter mixture, with vanilla essence.
Mix butter and oat mixture together to form a dough. Drop teaspoonfuls onto baking trays, gently flattening each one. Leave 3cm aside each biscuit for spreading.
Bake biscuits until edges turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let biscuits stand on trays for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool and crisp completely.
Notes
You can also add ½ cup of dessicated coconut to the dry ingredients for a slight change

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Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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