Australia 2010 Pics

Here are just a few pictures from our trip to Australia (April-May 2010):

All six Nicholson siblings: (from left to right) Geneal, Rebecca, Lorin, Louise, Dean, and Melissa.Nicholson girls: (from left to right) Rebecca, Louise, Geneal, and Melissa.Me and Miriam on the headland above Fraser Beach.

Here is a happy Miriam with Grandad at Lakes Beach.

ANZAC Biscuits: An Aussie Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Apart from being a tasty reminder of home for me, you'll all appreciate that this is also a good food storage recipe since it doesn't call for eggs.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flaked coconut

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 tablespoon golden syrup (honey will suffice)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons boiling water

Directions:

1. Mix oats, flour, sugar, and coconut together.

2. Melt the golden syrup and butter together in a small bowl in microwave for 40 seconds, or on a small saucepan on medium heat on stove.

3. Mix boiling water and baking soda together and then add to the melted butter and syrup.

4. Add butter mixture to the dry ingredients and combine.

5. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are golden around the edges but still soft on top.

7. Allow baked cookies to remain on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Tips:

*Do not overbake.

*Substitute golden syrup for half honey and half molasses.

*Use a 1 tablespoon sized icecream scoop to uniformly size and shape the cookie dough balls (tip courtesy of my mother-in-law, Anne-the-awesome-Taylor)

*Place cookie dough balls side by side on a lined tray and place in freezer for later use.

*Frozen or chilled cookie dough is less prone to flatten while baking and makes for chewier cookies.

A Day in Australia

We took a trip to Sydney today--Mum, Dad, Miriam and me. We walked from Coogee beach to Bondi beach. It was a perfect day (except that Joe wasn't here...) There was just a slight breeze, it was warm and sunny but not hot, blue skies and turquoise water, nice waves, white sand... Lots of runners passed us and it made me think of Joe every time although the company was good as it was. Miriam liked the dogs that passed us along the way too. When we sat down on a bench to have a snack at the top of a headland, she watched a dog pass us and then watched it all the way down the hill and around the bend--perhaps she's my daughter after all.

The only mis-hap was this morning--after a night of screaming, she finally unloaded into her diaper (and all over her clothing) right about when we got on the train this morning. Lucky I brought extra outfits for her, but unfortunately it meant a slightly chilly nakey baby for a minute or two at Gosford station. Her mood improved though after that.

Just a few more days and we'll be heading home to Texas. Trying to make the most of it.

G'day Y'all!

three sleeps until Miriam and I head off to Australia. It's a first time for her of course, but it's been a whole four years for me. I'm a little nervous for all the travel phase, but mostly excited.

The things I'm most looking forward to are:
* Getting all six siblings together for the first time in fourteen years.
* Celebrating after Lorin and Dean complete their 2,500 mile bike ride across Australia.
* Having a "cuppa" (aka a cup of hot chocolate or some such drink) and late evening chats.
* Aussie burgers, meat pies, sausage rolls, fish and chips (on the beach!), crumpets, salad sandwiches, ginger beer (don't worry, it's not alcoholic), vanilla and passionfruit slices, Dad's custard, and Mum's curried sausages. You can count this long list as an admission that I'm a bit food centric...
* Even more than the food though, I'm looking forward to hiking with Dad, seeing all the bright colors of the ocean, the trees, and the birds (in particular, the cookaburras, magpies, and rainbow lorikeets that frequent Mum and Dad's backyard), and which have become somewhat friendly.

It's going to be great!

In other news...
1. Anne and Ben/Moppy and Poppy came to vissit us last weekend. We hope they'll come again soon.
2. Joe and I had a very nice lunch date yesterday at Red Lobster. The food and company were both great. I'll miss you Joe while I'm away.
3. Miriam can sit up by herself and will be crawling any day now.
4. I'm finally going to make that strawberry lemonade cake today! It was meant to be for Miriam's half birthday, but as it is, it's a few weeks late.
5. I played flute in church today.
6. I'm reading Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games series--Good so far.
7. I'm going to Natalie (Lunt) Haughawout's house tomorrow morning for a visit.
8. I'm super duper uber excited for Kristen and Aaron's four-year adventure living in Okinawa.

I've probably forgotten a few items from each list, but it wasn't as if you wanted to read a novel about me anyway. This is me signing off.

The Good Life

I always like hearing the news from home. Talking with Mum and Dad is generally sprinkled with interesting tid-bits about Dad's most recent fishing trip, catching half a dozen flat head in his boat off Birdy Island, or Mum having coaxed a local kookaburra and a pair of magpies to eat out of her hand. It's easy to miss Australia.

This is a picture of Dad showing off the big-fella sunflowers he grew this year.