Practicing Patience

'See it as an opportunity to practice your patience' - that's what we used to say to our kids when they were in a hurry for something to happen or they were frustrated with delays or just plain sick of waiting! We figured that patience was one of those fabulously useful things worth having in your life kit - but there doesn't seem to be any shortcut to getting it - you simply develop it by practicing.

I had an opportunity to practice it myself recently when I was baking my Mum's delicious Walnut Slice. All went well and according to plan until I was making the icing and realised I would need some instant coffee to flavour it which I didn't possess. Plan B - cadge some from my lovely neighbor. (I nearly burnt the cake cause we got chatting.) She obliged with some freeze dried coffee which I promptly dumped into my icing as we chatted, all too quickly realising it was N O T going to mix in easily at all! Oops, it became very speckled and pale - not the look I was going for - nor the texture for that matter! I had to stir and stir and melt and stir and smooth and squish against the side of the bowl until every little itty, gritty bit of freeze dried coffee was dissolved into the icing! Phew! It all came good in the end. So parents beware - if you give your kids a 'tip' be prepared to hear that same tip coming right back on you just when you need it most!

I couldn't decide which 'old school' plate to use so I have used both! When I was a teenager I had this really cool enameled copper pendant on a leather thong (when thongs were for necklaces - not undies) so this wee plate takes me right on back to the '70s! Darling Man and I use the wee plates to convince ourselves that we are just having a wee sweetie after dinner. I popped this wee sweetie on his wee table by his chair for him to have after a hard days work. He deserves it!

Walnut Slice.

120 gms butter
1 tin condensed milk
1 TBLSPN golden syrup
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pkt vanilla Wine Biscuits (crushed)

Melt the butter and condensed milk and stir in the golden syrup, then the chopped walnuts and crushed biscuits. Press mixture into a tin and bake at 170 deg C for 25 - 30 minutes. This slice should be golden brown on top and soft to touch. Cool in tin. Ice with coffee icing and sprinkle with extra chopped walnuts.