Peanut Butter Crinkles - Biscuits

Two of my gorgeous followers Sarah from Shabby Chic Sarah and Little Blue Mouse
asked if I would share the recipe for Peanut Butter Crinkles which I made for my  Vintage Tea Party.

I'm very happy to share the recipe and here it is.

PEANUT BUTTER CRINKLES

125g (4oz) butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind *

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1/3 cup peanut butter **

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

1.  Cream butter, vanilla, lemon rind, sugars and peanut butter.

2.  With a wooden spoon work in sifted flour, soda and salt, making a stiff dough.

3.  Roll heaped teaspoonfuls into small balls with floured hands and place on greased oven trays or trays lined with baking paper.  ***

4.  Press biscuits down lightly with a fork, first crosswise and then lengthwise, for a crinkled effect.

5.  Bake in moderate oven for 15 minutes.  Cool biscuits on oven trays.

Makes about 25, but I always manage to get a few extra.

*  The addition of lemon rind isn't necessary but if you have a lemon on hand, it adds a little something extra to these yummy biscuits.

**  Any peanut butter will do, but I use chunky 'cos that's what is in the pantry.

***  I don't usually flour my hands, the mixture doesn't seem to be  too sticky.

Recipe from The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits - The Australian Women's Weekly Home Library

Here is a photo to remind you just how good these biscuits look.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Anne  xx

P.S.  It feels like the temperature has got to 30C already and it's only 11.10am.  Off to hang out the towels and sheets on the line.

Vintage Tea Party

When the idea of a virtual Vintage Tea Party was suggested by Mum's Simply Living

blog, I added my name to the list to join in.  I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to make a strawberry cream sponge cake which I haven't made for ages and show some of the beautiful vintage china my Mum has given me.  Here is the table set for a tea party.

We needed more than sponge cake so I made peanut butter crinkle biscuits.  They melt in your mouth.

The sponge cake was delicious as was my cup of tea being sipped from a beautiful teacup.

I used a white tablecloth with beautiful crosstitch.  It belonged to my maternal Grandmother and was given to me by my Mum a few years ago.  It graced our table for both Charlotte's 21st and Genevieve's 18th birthdays this year.  Isn't the detail pretty?

The tea set was given to my parents as a wedding gift and as my Mum doesn't use it anymore, she gave it to me.  Aren't I lucky?  The set consists of six cups and saucers, six cake plates, a milk jug and sugar bowl.  Look at the detail.

Detail inside the cup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Markings on the back.

 Also on the table was another piece given tome by my Mum, a gorgeous plate that I love.

Also used were silver cake forks and teaspoons found very inexpensively in an antique shop a few years ago.  The cake pedestal was a wedding present hubby and I received and the BIG teapot one I bought a few years ago for when we have family get togethers.  

Have a look at this beautiful silver tea strainer which was purchased from the same antique shop the forks and teaspoons were bought from.  From memory I paid $10.00 dollars each for the tea strainer, fork and teaspoons sets.

Thank you for visiting my Tea Party and bearing with this photo heavy post.  I had so much fun, I just didn't want to stop taking photos.  This has been a most enjoyable way to spend Melbourne Cup Day.  Not only has the Vintage Tea Party been fun, we now have leftover sponge cake for dessert and biscuits for the family for the next week, or I should say next few days.

  I'm just off to join the other ladies at their Vintage Tea Parties.  The link at the beginning of this post lists the other ladies participating.  Have a lovely day/evening everyone.

Anne  xx

The price of "vintage"

Am I a cheapskate or what?  On one of the blogs I follow, a lady has won a give away of a lovely bag/tote, the retail price being $365.00.  Now I guess I'm going to sound jealous here but let me assure you I am not.  What I would like to say is that I can't see the value in the item.  The bag in question is made from an old German grain sack and made into quite a large tote like bag.  Is the value in the old grain sack, the labour hours it took to make (it's looks like a fairly simple design) or the fact that it can be bought from a business that sells "vintage/antique"?

I am not about criticising people who are earning a living, crafting, designing and spending a lot of time building a business.  I'm questioning whether the pricing of such items is over the top because it has the label "vintage or antique" attached to it?  I have similar issues with branded clothes.  They are made in the same sweat shops in China or India as the clothes you can buy in Target or K-mart, are usually the same quality but cost three and four times the amount, sometimes more.

This really does sound like I'm full of sour grapes but I don't understand when it appears someone is taking advantage of an image or idea and then uses that to tack on a huge price.

I may well be misguided and uneducated on this subject and would be interested in the opinion and viewpoints of other people.  Be brave, let me know what you think if you have the time to comment.

Anne

P.S.  I am in no way criticising the concept of give aways on blogs, vintage, antiques, or the lovely lady who won the bag.  It is lovely and she has used it beautifully in her home as a decorative piece.  It's all about the concept.  Just wanted to make that clear.