Jammy badgers

.....that's what my 2 1/2 year old was calling these yummy Jammy Dodgers we created this afternoon...

They are simple shortcake biscuits with the centre cut out, then sandwiched together with delicious raspberry jam once cooked and cooled.

You will need:

125g of unsalted butter, softened
60g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
60g semolina
Jam ( raspberry or strawberry.....or be adventurous!)


Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy, either by hand if you're feeling energetic or have help, or in a food processer.  Then sift in both flours and combine until it comes together in a ball.  Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll out to .5cm thick.  Try not to overwork the dough, although if you have an enthusiastic assistant, this is a tad difficult.

Using whatever shape cutter you like, cut out shapes.  You can use the same shape for each or vary them if you like, as long as you have even numbers of each. Put half of the shapes on your baking tray, then cut a piece out of the centre of your other half. Sprinkle these ones with caster sugar and place on the tray.

Chill for 15 minutes or so to firm up the dough.  Preheat the oven to 180C.

Once the biscuits have been chilled, bake them for 12 - 15 minutes or until they are a pale golden colour.  Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

Spread the jam on the solid biscuits, leaving a 1cm border around the edge.  Again, could be difficult with an assistant. Then sandwich the biscuits with the centre cut out on top, sugar side up.  Viola!  Yummy scrummy jammy badgers.

Apparently the biscuits keep for a week.  We've eaten all ours so can't verify that.

Hot and cold

I'm a huge fan of natural hot springs and visited quite a few while travelling.  At one place, the aptly named Baños in Equador, the hot springs are the focal point of the town social life.  So as well as tourists who've come to relax, you find the locals of all ages hanging out.  Staring is perfectly acceptable, perhaps even obligatory, so it's a great place for people watching.  One of the pools is hot rather than warm. Think a hot bath.  It sits right next to a pool that's so cold (you're in the Andes), if you stay there for more than a couple of minutes, you start to lose all feeling in your body.  That's where I first discovered the amazing rush you get from going from hot to cold, and back.  First you get all lobster like in the warm pool.  Next, you get into the cold pool, with a bit of an involuntary whoop.  You get accustomed to the temperature, then before you go unconscious, get yourself back to the warm pool and wow......the natural high is incredible.   The same principle as a roll around in the snow after a sauna, I suppose.  


To replicate this at home, if you have a separate bath and shower fill the bath with either very hot or cold water, then jump between the two.   My shower is in the bath so I just alternate the shower between the two temperature extremes.  It works well enough that I have a huge grin on my face from the natural endorphins.  You can finish on either a hot or a cold round, whichever you prefer. 


Does it sound a bit crazy to you?  Even so, you should try it.  Next time you're feeling a bit flat, or stressed, or low, give it a go.  You've got to be brave enough to stay in the cold for as long as you can bear.  I find concentrating the cold shower on the back of your neck really gets you yelping.  Then the bliss when you turn on the warm water and feel the heat moving through your body again.  It never fails to make me laugh.


Some other ideas for creating natural endorphins if you're too wussy for this :)

http://suite101.com/article/how-to-achieve-a-natural-high-everyday-with-endorphins-a403298

Do it!

When we had the "big snow" a couple of years ago, we did this using the hot bath and the snow in our back garden.   Giddiest moment I can remember in recent times. My husband started a snowball fight.  He lost after I threatened his snowballs with snowballs.

Double trouble

So I knew having two kids was going to be harder than having one.   But now that I'm a couple of months into it, I can't quite remember what I thought that meant.  I suppose I thought it would be hard being busy, and finding time for yourself, and that I'd possibly be exhausted from having to fall in with a newborn's sleep pattern.

But the newborn is no problem.   He is, in fact, a bit of a dream.  He sleeps.  By day, in a wrap, against my heart.  By night, beside me, now in a bedside cot.  He can sleep 2 or 3 hour stretches in the day, 7 hours or more at night.  Not every night, but enough to mean that I'm not drained because of him.  He smiles.  He goos and gaas.  When he cries, he's easily soothed. It's the toddler that's the drain.

Whining. Moaning. Complaining.  She was happy enough with the baby in the beginning, before she realised he was a person that was going to command attention from Mammy.  Lately,. her whinging has become insufferable.  I've had a day of it today and it's worn me to shreds.  Emotionally, I'm a shell. I'm relying on this one measly glass of red wine to help me piece together my shattered self.  It's times like this I wish I wasn't one of those "breastfeeders", so I could hit the bottle.  Hard.  I'll have to settle for smashing something instead. 

The US had it all wrong.   Forget waterboarding.  Just stick suspects in a room with whining toddlers and all will be relieved in record-beating time.