It's our nation's birthday today!
By bernieh
28 comments
Australia Day is our special day to celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian. It’s a day when we can reflect on our achievements and the things that makes this a great country.
Aussie, aussie, aussie …. oi, oi, oi!!
OK ….. so we’re celebrating the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of convict ships full of undesirables from Great Britain, and the day when these unwanted, unloved Europeans forcibly took the land from the indigenous Australians!!!! But it’s precisely because Australia commenced in such a negative way, that this date provides a great opportunity to reflect upon how far Australia has come, and how far it still has to go.
Whereas many national days around the world involve citizens reflecting on the achievements of their ancestors – achievements that many have not personally lived up to!!… Australia’s national day involves citizens acting in a vastly superior way to the people that the date acknowledges.
It’s a day when we recognise outstanding Australians with our Australian of the Year Awards.
Australian of the Year Award Recipients
It’s a day when many new citizens will be able to call themselves Australian for the first time after being conferred citizenship.
It’s the day when we have another excuse to get together with friends and family, drink and eat round the barbie, and enjoy a national holiday so soon after our Xmas break.
It’s also a day when we can unashamedly enjoy out most popular sweet things. Mmmmmmmm!!!!
Pavlova (meringues topped with whipped cream and slathered with strawberries or passion fruit) is considered our national dessert, but other favourites include lamingtons (cubes of sponge cake coated in chocolate and coconut), and Tim Tams, which are “the best chocolate biscuit in the world” (chocolate malted biscuits with chocolate cream filling, coated with chocolate).
And while I mentioned above the our famous Pav is usually covered with strawberries, kiwi fruit and passionfruit ….
I hate passionfruit … so here is my recipe for Pav:
Australia Day Pavlova
Ingredients:
• 6 eggs whites
• 1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 large (600g) mango, sliced
• 2 medium (170g) kiwi fruit, sliced
Mango Yoghurt Filling:
• 2 teaspoons gelatine
• 2 tablespoons water
• 250g light cheese, softened
• 2 × 200g mango and vanilla flavoured reduced-fat yogurt
Directions:
1. The meringue can be made four days ahead. Store the layers separately in airtight containers. 2. Cover two oven trays with baking paper and mark two 20cm circles on the baking paper. 3. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with the electric mixer until soft peaks form; gradually add the sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved between additions – this process should take about 10 minutes. Fold in the sifted cornflour and the vinegar. 4. Scoop out and reserve a third of the meringue mixture. Divide the remaining meringue mixture in half and spread equally over the two marked circles. Drop spoonfuls of the reserved meringue evenly around the edge of one of the circles. 5. Bake meringue circles in a very slow oven (120 degrees C) for about 1 to 1/2 hours or until dry and crisp to touch. Turn the oven off, leave the meringues to cool in the oven with the door ajar. 6. Place the plain meringue circle on a serving plate and spread it with half of the Mango Yoghurt filling. Place the second meringue circle on top, spoon the remaining filling over it and add fruit – lots of mango slices, kiwi fruit and sliced lychees!Mango Yoghurt Filling:
1. Sprinkle the gelatine over the water in a cup, stand the cup in a pan of simmering water and stir until the gelatine is dissolved; cool slightly. 2. Beat the cream cheese in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, then fold in the yoghurt and the gelatine. 3. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
26 Jan, 2010
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Comments
Thanks Healerwitch ... yes it's one of those rather indulgent days. Plenty of beer too ... to wash down the lamingtons and pav!!
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Auzzie,.happy birthday to yoooouuuu....
Have a great day and save me a slice of the Pavlova ....Ta..:o))
26 Jan, 2010
Uh ...oh! Too late ... sorry Mushy, pav's gone ... but there's some a lamington left! and I think there's even a beer left.
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Australia Day...
...nominated for GoYpedia Recipes from the Garden :o)
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Auzzie Day Bernieh.
Hope my Queensland friends haven't been too zealous !! :o) Seeing the flip flops as we call them, reminds me of when my friend was over here & the joke we kept having about-- she called them thongs.
26 Jan, 2010
Have a good day celebrating
26 Jan, 2010
What joke are you on about Pamd ... These are thongs!!!!
26 Jan, 2010
Thanks TT, Pam and Pipsqueak ... it's a great way to finish off the school holidays!
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Aussi day Bernieh x
26 Jan, 2010
why don't we here get Tim tams-- they sound just the thing with hot chocolate in this freeeeezing january......
26 Jan, 2010
If they started running those convict ships again, I'd be tempted to go and do something naughty ! Congratulations and good on yer Bernie ! :-))
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Australia Day Bernieh - yum on those recipes - pavlova is one of my favs :0)
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Holiday Bernieh....hope your celebrations went well !
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Holiday Bernieh ... Pavlova is our family favourite as well , my son even asked me if I would make huge piled up one when he married , I didn't dare ..the wedding was 200 miles away I couldn't imagine getting it there in one piece .. :o)
26 Jan, 2010
Happy Australia day !! Thanks for the pav recipe bernieh, hope you have had a great day.
I was made an Aussie for the day by Andy a chap from Adelaide I am working with. At lunch time here it was so cold so we decided we needed some entertainment to keep warm so Andy climbed on the back of the tractor trailer with a long cardboard tube ….you know what’s coming he did a lovely rendition of Waltzing Matilda on the cardboard didgeridoo my side ached with laughing by the time he finished. Hooroo ! :0)
26 Jan, 2010
Congratulations to all Aussies everywhere and especially you Bernieh I hope you enjoyed your special day, thanks for sharing the Pav recipe a favourite here too, your pic was mouthwateringly good even at 10 .10pm I desperately wished it was here!! Loved your footsie thongs too (more comfy than our version of thongs lol)
26 Jan, 2010
Hope you have enjoyed your celebrations Bernieh, that pav looks Oh Sooooooo Tasty..........
26 Jan, 2010
Amy... you could have said it was an Eton mess wedding cake that would have worked :0))
27 Jan, 2010
Yes Mushy , I could have but he wanted it piled high one on top of the other so it looked like a cake LOL .. he loves it so he would have eaten it anyway it turned up .. :o)
27 Jan, 2010
I see Homebird dosn't think of thongs on her feet either !!! or Neelan. We sent our friends a Xmas card with Santa dissapearing down the chimney head first wearing a "thong".
27 Jan, 2010
Happy Australia Day Bernieh,I hope you had a good time :) Love the fruit but can't stand meringue-sorry :(
Pamg I'm sure tesco used to sell TimTams,they are a bit like penguin bars.Must have a look !
27 Jan, 2010
Thanks to all for your great comments and wishes.
Sueb ... had a great chuckle about your workmate - there's just no keeping a really talented Aussie down! I'm sure it was a terrific rendition ... NOT!
Neellan ... our thongs are quite comfy and we wear them everywhere!
Pamd ... sounds like a great card ... Santa with thongs on his feet - nothing wrong with that! Lol!
Aster ... actually I'm not much of a meringue fan either. I tend to just pick off the fruit and eat some of the mushy meringue in the middle. The ducks usually get the rest!!!
Yes ... I've heard that Tim Tams are like your penguin bars. Having checked it out on the great googler ... they do look similar but I'm sure our biscuit is more sinful!
28 Jan, 2010
Ducks - pavlova sacrilege lol
29 Jan, 2010
Well .. they seem to like it, so....
29 Jan, 2010
Quackers but I do love ducks as well as pavola I don't begrudge them really :o))
29 Jan, 2010
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Wow...sounds like a great celebration for diabetics to avoid! lol Pav looks great...so sweet and fattening!
Hope You enjoy your Holiday...and congrats all you Aussies out there!
26 Jan, 2010