Crispy Currant Butter Biscuits to Nibble on in the New Year

So I went forth and, finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night

And He led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So, heart, be still!

What need our little life, our human life, to know if God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things, both high and low,  God hideth His intention.

The Desert 1908

Marie Louise Haskins 1876 – 1957

Deliciously Crisp New Non-Alcoholic Bubbles if you want to stay clear headed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Personally I was very happy to see the end of 2012 and I waved it goodbye last night with a smile on my face and a glass of champagne in my hand! It was a year of solitude and suffering for me (in among so many great blessings too and I do prefer to focus on those rather than the negatives) but thankfully that is at an end now and, although I am not completely healed….yet….. I am looking forward with great anticipation to 2013 and all it’s new promises. And a delicious steak that I have been promised as soon as I am able to manage it 🙂 I do wish each and every one of you the very best of everything, the realization of your heart desires, happiness, love and good health throughout the year that lies ahead of all of us, a blank book, it’s pages clean and waiting for each of us to write our life story in it. I pray it is going to be a best seller, bigger and better by far than 50 Shades of Grey or whatever, and definitely in better grammatical style 🙂 Speaking about “that book trilogy” my grandsons have been some of my greatest blessings this year during my enforced stay at home. For those who do not know I have been going through a series of reconstructive oral surgical procedures so socializing was out of the question….as was eating regular food. I have spent 18 months drinking smoothies and slurping up soups, custard, jelly, soft ice cream and baby gloop. Not much fun in that and so any entertaining from the grandsons and my faithful pooch, Tasha, became the highlight of my days! One day my daughter sent over the first of the Fifty Shades of Grey books for me to read (now remember I had no desire to read so she said this would definitely pique my interest and get me reading HAHA) So 4 yr old Jay brought the book in and said “Here is Fifty Shades of Grey for you to read Nan.” So I gave him a sort of smirk and said thank you (while wondering why HE had to bring the book in to me) and over the following weeks I desperately tried to get those pages to turn but somehow not even that worked for me. It was not my type of book at all (sorry darling daughter) and I just could not get into that animal Christians head at all….so the book sat on my bedside table, largely unread, I dont think I got past page 20 if that. Until the day Jay walked in and asked very conversationally “So did you enjoy Fifty Shades of Grey Nan?” And I replied that I had not read it…..his response: “WOT?? But everybody I know has read that book Nan and they all thought it was fantastic!” I panicked briefly, wondering if he had actually read the book surreptitiously and was going to ask me what parts I did NOT enjoy and then I remembered he was only 4 after all 😉

Over and above no desire to read books I have been struggling to write and have had absolutely no inclination to read any blogs, I have been suffering from deep depression which does remove one’s ability to enjoy those simple pleasures but, with good medication, I am doing much better and I promised myself that even if I only wrote down 3 lines along with some photographs I was going to be doing a blog post today. So, here I am fulfilling that promise. And I will try, for now, to do at least 2 posts a month, if not more.  I am not short of photographs of food that I have taken and laboriously edited over the past months, I certainly kept myself busy during the long days and it is something that gives me a lot of pleasure so I clung to it and did lots of photography and editing. My beloved has stood by me throughout this journey and has supported and cared for me so very well. I am indeed fortunate and very blessed to have a husband of his caliber and I appreciate him so much. Not being able to socialize means that I have not done the shopping either, he has done all of that. I am so keen to get to a mall sometime soon and just take hours of browsing to see whats new on the shelves. I have not been to church in 18 months and cannot wait to accompany him once again and sit under God’s word. So 2013 is going to hold a LOT of changes for me! And I welcome them with open arms, as I welcomed the new year in. I think, in general, among all the people I have been in communication with, 2012 has not been a great year. So many folk I know have suffered so much, certainly more than I have! My sister in law lost her beloved husband of almost 4 years very suddenly to a pulmonary embolism and she is walking into the future alone, trying to sort out her life that was thrown into such turmoil in an instant. Hubby and I will be walking alongside her so that she is NOT alone. We can encourage, support and care for her along the way. Fortunately her faith has deepened and strengthened through this. I encourage all of you to reach out to someone during this new year and to find out what their troubles are and to walk the distance with them. All is not always as it seems and so many are suffering behind the cheery, brave smiles that are the facade for the general public to see. We ALL need someone to support and help us…we all need company, we all need a shoulder sometimes…we all need someone to bounce possibly our deepest dreams and desires off to get the courage needed to go out and succeed.  Maybe we are stuck in a cycle of abuse in the home and all we need is someone to tell us we are worthy of so much more and don’t deserve what is being dished out to us…..so many possibilities exist where we can come alongside someone and help lift their life’s burdens, just a little bit, and make 2013 a better year for everyone!

And on that note, caring is sharing so here is a very easy cookie recipe that I make every Christmas holiday and everyone enjoys it so much. I may have them somewhere in my blog archive on my original blog but I think they need a new introduction and a dusting off. Try them, you will be so surprised at how easy they are and they just don’t fail…..they make wonderful Christmas (or any time) gifts for family and friends, or elderly neighbors and when the boys visit their little hands are always reaching out for just one more butter cookie!

CRISPY CURRANT BUTTER COOKIES

250g Butter at room temperature
120g Castor Sugar
300g Cake Flour
125g Corn Flour
2,5ml Vanilla Extract
5ml Salt
100g Currants – washed and dried well

Icing (Confectionery) Sugar or Castor Sugar for sprinkling

I added the finely grated zest of half a ClemenGold to my dough. It was a very good addition and gave these already delightful cookies a delicious citrus boost! 

Preheat oven to 180 oC

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper

Place butter and sugar into mixing bowl and beat until very pale and creamy

Sift flour, corn flour & salt into a bowl then add to batter together with the currants

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter using a dough hook or a wooden spoon (I use my K blade on my Kenwood mixer)

Using your hands roll 15g amounts of dough into neat walnut sized balls and place in rows on the lined cookie sheet

Flatten each ball gently with a fork – it’s a stiff dough so will crack slightly around edges

Bake 10 – 12 minutes in the centre of the oven (mine baked for 12 exactly)

Leave to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet then sprinkle with icing or castor sugar

Remove gently with a spatula and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack

Pack into airtight containers when cold

Makes about 60 cookies – that is if you can resist the fabulous tasting dough while rolling it into balls!

The sun sets on 2012 – taken from Chapman’s Peak, Cape Town

Phew, I’m done, and I wrote more than 3 lines too!

Have a great week everyone, I promise I will be back soon 🙂

browniegirl xx

You may also like these recipes:

Bay and Citrus Shortbread 

Holiday Fruit Mince Bars 

You say Macaroon I say Macaron

Easy No Bake Chocolate Biscuit Fudge