Me time .... and Oat biscuits
I am a dreamer.
I have a permanent second channel in my
mind pursuing some form of fantasy
... Often times, this channel is tuned firmly on food and the food related. At others, it is day dreaming about exotic places that I make very elaborate mental plans to visit replete with detailed notes. Oh and some times, it does descend into a mild form of neurosis on any number of topics ranging from the sad state of big name driven food monopolies to the impact (or really lack of) of a spineless democracy on my immediate life.
At many times, this second channel bullies itself into my primary zone of cognizance and entirely overruns the whole cortex of my brain. This is when, in a surrealistic trance, I find myself spending hours pouring over many, many sites researching in minute detail and being restlessly inspired. After that, I will have bleary eyes, a parched throat and jittery fingers but a very actionable list of to-dos and resolutions on a certain subject.
Then, rejuvenated yet weary, I will hobble into the kitchen to make myself some
strong coffee with a side of digestive biscuits
, come back and sit at my table by the window to
ponder more certainly on something else
. I love that little ritual.
That brief
space of time to myself
when I abashedly surrender to my fantasies and world-changing ideas or just a bit of internal vision leading upto a major (or minor!) breakthrough or just settling in peace with everything around me and being happy with life!
The point of this long prelude is, yesterday, I bounded into the kitchen looking forward to this me-time and lo behold! what do I find? No biscuits! My world came crashing down! I was loth to trudge the few blocks to Fairway to pick some up and suddenly inspired by the scores of blogs I had been browsing prior, I decided to...
make my own biscuits
!
Well, what I, eventually, baked were
far more decadent and worthy of dessert cookies
but nevertheless made for a rich afternoon experience and deservedly so! These cookie-biscuits are perfect dunked or crunched or just taken a deep bite off. Oh! I find they are also splendid to accompany a riveting episode of
Downton Abbey
, which, is my latest viewing obsession! I just began season 3 and I find myself squirreling away time and extending lunch hours to accommodate just a little more of the Crawleys (especially
Matthew Crawley
).
Ok! I just found out the sickening twist of season 3 (thanks to google! :() I think I am going to give up on the entire series! :(( Bawwl! Not fair! Totally rankling the dreamy bit in me.... That's all I have to say! Sighhhh
Oat Biscuits
[adapted from
]
75g old fashioned oats, as finely ground as you can
75g spelt flour
75g raw sugar
75g organic butter, room temperature
1 tsp baking powder
1 T golden syrup
1 T warm whole milk
Whip the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Heat the syrup with the milk to thin it a bit and add to the butter. Fold in the flour, oats and baking powder. If the mixture is too crumbly, add flour a teaspoon at a time until it comes together to form a log. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 or so minutes to set and cool.
Slice the log into quarter inch thick pieces and lay them on a prepared pan. Just press each slice to flatten and shape appropriately.
Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes until golden brown on top and the smell of brown butter wafts through the house. Cool for a few minutes and then eat. The cooling bit is important as the cookies will still be soft and delicate when they come out of the oven. They harden as they cool.