Christmas Countdown 11 : Shortbread

Mary, Queen of Scots loved shortbread petticoat tails -from www.julescatering.com

I know you are all too familiar with the tartan decorated packets and boxes of shortbread which seem to multiply to take over the biscuit and cookie displays at this time of the year. This crumbly, buttery biscuit was once so expensive, and considered such a luxury that it was only seen at Christmas and Hogmanay ( Scottish New Year) . Shortbread originated in Scotland, but it is no less popular in the rest of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world with British connections. I first learnt to bake shortbread because my late father-in- law, from Birmingham, UK, loved rich , buttery homemade shortbread at Christmas, and at any other time with a strong cup of tea. ( His favourite commercially made treat was a Scotch Finger - a shortbread biscuit which can be broken into two finger and is still one of the most popular of Arnott's Biscuits classics)

1. fingers

2. small rounds

3. petticoat tails

There are three traditional shapes of shortbread - 1) finger /small rectangle; 2) small round : 3) large around segmented into triangular, wedge shapes, called petticoat tails. it is thought these were names named after the French biscuits, "petits cotes", triangular biscuits eaten with wine . However, there is another story far more regal ...Queen Mary’s favourite shortbread was cut into triangular “Petticoat Tails,” so named because the triangle wedges cut from the circle of dough were the same shape as the pieces of fabric used to make an Elizabethan petticoat, and the name for a pattern back then was ‘tally.’ Queen Mary’s preferred ‘petticote tallis‘ was flavoured with caraway seeds
While I have noticed an amazing array of recipes for variations of the classic shortbread, for example, chocolate, caramel, macadamia, cranberry, honey and cinnamon, traditional Scottish shortbread remains the most well known. Walkers Shortbread is Scotland's largest food exporter.

A good shortbread needs to have a crumbly texture and is traditionally made from one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour . I think a really good shortbread needs the inclusion of one part rice flour or corn flour in its three parts flour, but that is my preference to achieve the "short" texture. I also like my shortbread patterned with a fork before baking and sprinkled with caster sugar when still hot from the oven - another personal preference because it just looks home-made I also own a type of wooden "springerie" mould with a pattern of a Scottish thistle which is pressed onto the rolled shortbread dough and creates a lovely decorative surface. These moulds are most commonly patterned with thistles - what could be more Scottish ?

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that work up

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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