Everyone loves Australia. Seriously. Wrack your brain: How often do you hear someone say nasty things about Australia? The only snarky things I have ever said about the country have occurred in the heat of the moment during the summer Olympics. What can I say? I love swimming and team USA.
Not a bad record for a country that began as a penal colony. People used to REALLY not want to go there. Now? People rave about its gorgeous scenery, adorable accents and beloved celebrities.
Tea, anyone?
And so, with “Waltzing Matilda” in my head and UGGs on my feet (not really. It’s summer, silly), I enthusiastically hosted my first AUSTRALIA DAY. I gathered with some other sheilas (embracing the lingo…which rhymes with dingo…OK, I’m getting carried away) for an evening of gleefully stereotyping the land down under.
The main purpose of the evening was to watch the movie “Australia” starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Kidman wears deliciously adorable period outfits in the movie, and Hugh Jackman is…well…Hugh Jackman. Kidman was pregnant for the filming with fellow aussie Keith Urban’s baby. See? Australia connections all over.
As Australia was formerly a British colony, we made tea. I naturally wanted Australian food to accompany, but what do you really think of when you think of Australian cuisine? The only thing that immediately came to mind was vegemite. A quick google search for a recipe guaranteed that we would not be dining on yeast.
Brandon Walters, the adorable kid from “Australia” thanks to moviesboomerstyle.com.
Instead, we discovered the delicious, fantastic ANZAC biscuit (cookie). They trace their history back to World War I, when women would make them for soldiers because they kept well. They contain an outrageous amount of butter and sugar mixed with golden syrup and coconut, so obviously they tasted good. We had a little dilemma at first; the cookies were melting instead of baking. I soon realized however, that I had forgotten to add the flour. That’s what happens when you sing and dance to Australian tunes while cooking.
Keith Urban!
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”–Charles Schultz
