World Diabetes Day

I was lucky enough to receive a free World Diabetes Day geocoin from Groundspeak. Geocaching.com has an association with Unite for Diabetes and have released these geocoins to travel the world in geocaches to promote awareness of Diabetes. The coins were issued to commemorate the passage of UN Resolution 61/225 and mark the First UN-observed World Diabetes Day on November 14th 2007.

Sadly it is not mine to keep, I am only its guardian, and my job is to release it asap so that others can discover it and hear the message about diabetes. So I thought I'd spread the message here too. For more information go to http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/

As for quilting info, I managed to get up my EQ file from when I tried to work out the yardage for the setting squares, and I have discovered that I need to make 4 rows of 29 blocks, 2 of 27, 2 of 25 and so on til I get down to 1 block in 2 of the corners. So that is all sorted out, thank goodness.

A few people have asked which book the photo of the original was in. It is actually in 2 books that I own. One is The Quilter's Resource Book, and the other is American Quilt Classics.

The other thing I wanted to do here is add my recipe for Scones. I have always wondered about what those in the US call "biscuits", as in a photo they always look like scones to me. What we call a biscuit is a cookie in the US. Recently on Bren's blog Pieces From Me I spied a photo of these biscuits on the side of a plate of food she had photographed. So I asked the question, and she has posted the recipe. It seems there is a recipe mix that is commonly used to make them, but she has provided a link to a site that explains what is in the recipe mix. I always make them from scratch, but the recipe we use is much simpler, and we eat scones with butter, or with jam and cream with tea or coffee, not with our meal.

I like to make them with dates added, or sultanas, and sometimes I add some cinnamon because I love it and put it in everything I can! You can add herbs to the recipe or maybe some cheese to make them savoury.

Here is my recipe: (I'll do it in imperial measurements too, although we are up to date in Australia and use metric like the rest of the civilised world!!)

SCONES

8 ounces (500g) of plain flour + 5 teaspoons of baking powder
OR 8 ounces (500g) of Self Raising Flour
1 tablespoon of butter
a pinch of salt (I leave this out - who needs it?)
6-7 fluid ounces of milk (don't know the metric as I always add it bit by bit and go by feel)
1 dessertspoon of sugar ( I leave this out too as there is sweetness in the dates or sultanas)
1/2 cup of chopped dried dates or sultanas (optional)


Preheat oven to 450 deg F (230 deg C or 210 - 220 deg C for fan forced)

Sift the flour ( and baking powder if using plain flour).
With the fingertips rub the butter through the flour until no lumps of butter are left.
Add the dried fruit and mix well.
Add about 3/4 of the milk and mix well with a flat blade knife. Add further milk as required until you have a soft dough. If it is a little sticky this is ok as you add a bit of flour when shaping the scones.
Turn onto a floured board and knead lightly then pat the dough out about 1 inch (2.5cm) thick with floured hands.
Cut into scone shapes with a round scone cutter or the rim of a small drinking glass.
Place on baking tray.
Glaze the tops with a little milk and place in the oven.
Cook for 12 - 15 mins until golden brown. Don't overcook.

Serve with butter, or strawberry jam and whipped cream.

In unrelated news, Ms Chloe Beagle is in the bad books today. We got up at the Crack of Dawn to go on our walk, and she would not come to me to have her lead put on. This is becoming a big problem and she has been left at home on 2 occasions as a result. Today during "the run away, see if you can catch me" game, she slipped out of the gate and was off. It took me over 30mins to catch her, and I think I would still be chasing her now if not for the fact that she ran under a lady's house (who we know luckily) and she came out and helped me to corner her. She is outside at the moment, and I can hear her scratching at the door to be let in, but I am not responding. She needs some time to think over the fact that a serious adjustment in attitude is required! What I am going to do with her I don't know. Maybe I will have to give in and stop using the lead that she hates. I don't like to give in - I'm the boss - but it is becoming ridiculous. Any experience or thoughts Dog Lovers?

Simon is a good boy who loves his walk and stands at the gate waiting to go.