Blossom and something yummy to eat

Hello everyone.  We are experiencing some winter sunshine and warm weather this week which is absolutely delightful.  We always get a warm spell in this neck of the woods about now which lulls us into thinking that spring and maybe even summer is around the corner.  I know that winter and crazy spring weather will come back with a blast in a few days, so I'm soaking up the sunshine as much as I can.  I put four loads of washing on the line this morning.  I love clothes, towels and sheets that smell of sunshine and fresh air.

As the weather has been so lovely, I've been out walking and took the following photos yesterday.

Flowering Cherry Plum

I love the pink of the blossom and brown of the branches against the vivid blue sky.

Wattle

Chaenomeles - japonica growing my neighbour's front garden.

I found a new recipe for a homemade muesli bar from this book The Thrifty Kitchen which I borrowed from the library.  This recipe is really rather easy and beats spending money on overly sweetened commercially made muesli bars and is much tastier too.  I've changed a few ingredients which I have noted below.

Here is a photo to tempt you to read on.

FRUITY MUESLI BARS

Makes 24

125g unsalted butter, ( I only had salted and it worked fine)

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup self raising flour

1 cup of sultanas or dried cranberries (craisins)  I used craisins because Miss G. hates sultanas

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans because I don't like the bitterness you sometimes get with walnuts)

1.  Preheat oven to 180C and butter and line a 20 cm x 30 cm lamington tin (line the base and the two long sides, making sure the paper overhangs the side by 2 cm.)

2.  Melt the butter with the sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir without letting it boil, until the sugar has dissolved.  Stir in all the remaining ingredients.

3.  Press the mixture firmly into the prepared tin and bake for about 30 minutes.  Leave to cool completely in the tin before lifting out and cutting into 5 cm squares.

My slice got a little bit overdone (I was out when the oven timer went off and Miss C. didn't hear it because she was dancing with her ipod on), but was still delicious.  I also cut my squares smaller than 5 cm otherwise it would be eaten in ten minutes.  I had a piece with a cup of tea this morning, delicious.

I hope the sun is shining on you today and you have something delicious to nibble on. 

Have a lovely day,

Anne  xx