The World's Best Cracker Recipe

Pretty intriguing title huh. My friend Di sold me on this recipe with some she had made - better than anything you can buy.
The recipe comes from The Australian Womans Weekly, a recipe from Wendyl Nissen. It is so simple to make, makes about 3 packets worth of crackers, and they keep, perfectly crisp in an airtight jar for weeks (If you don't eat them all first).

Knackebrot  -  Swedish Crackers

220g wholemeal flour

220g rolled oats -wholegrain if you can

2 tsp salt

150g sunflower seeds

75g sesame seeds

75g linseed/ flaxseed

40g pumpkin seeds

700mls water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 130 degrees C

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the oil and water.

3. Oil a large oven tray (I actually use 3 trays, to get it thin enough), and pour the mixture onto the trays.

4. Spread as thinly as possible. I put a piece of wax paper over it and use my hands to spread the mixture out evenly. Don't leave the paper on there though.

5. Fan bake for 15 mins, then remove from the oven and cut it into pieces. (A pizza wheel works well here)

6. Bake again at 130 degrees until golden and crisp - around 1 -2 hours, depending on the thickness of your crackers, and whether you use fanbake or just bake. 

Oh bliss with blue cheese! Tell me if you make and love them!

How is it that a person can get to their fifties and discover simple things they should have been doing for years?

Please tell me if you have a bunch of things like these, that you think everyone else must surely already know. Maybe one person will not already know these - I'm writing this for you.

1. Lettuces keep way better in the fridge if you wrap them in a clean, damp teatowel.

2. Cucumbers keep crisp if you put them stalk end down in a jar of water.

3. You can wash and reuse silicone baking paper.

#3 is going to raise some comments from my daughter and the step kids about my frugality. I deserve this after making similar comments about my mother washing and reusing clingwrap. At least I don't do that (because I don't use it). I try not to use silicone baking paper much because it's not biodegradable, although I hear there is now a biodegradable one available. Now at least it doesn't have to be single use.

More on Books

You'll find plenty of mentions of old books in my blog posts. Books are a passion of mine, and collecting old books, a passion of my Derek.
I  was excited when I recently found this book in the library - Shakespeare and Company, Paris. Have any of you been to this iconic bookshop with such an interesting story to it?

It is an English language bookshop founded on Socialist ideals by eccentric American George Whitman, where poets, writers and drifters were able to find a free bed in exchange for working in the shop.
We are off to Paris later this year - and this shop is on my list of places to go.

There are a lot of books here for me to dip into - most of them very droll, but they harbor some interesting insights into the past, such as from The Saturday Magazine for 1839, a book made of the collection of magazine articles. There are diagrams of early electricity, tales of travel to exotic lands, examples of fashion and carriages.

I read an article about a young English woman servant, who after sailing for months to Australia, quickly married a man who turned out to be an ex convict, who hadn't changed his ways. Ah Australia - we Kiwis always tease the Aussies about their convict past.

An article on dental care gave a recipe for toothpowder  - 
2 parts chalk and 1 part well burned charcoal, or another using just ground cuttlefish. 
But I wasn't so keen on their ideas for filling teeth using creosote, metal and cement - hmm. 

Derek should have plenty of time to enjoy his books now - today is his last day of work. Early retirement starts at 4pm. 

I'm Working on Straws

It's not easy to go zero waste and to be quite honest, we'll probably never achieve it. To offset the bit of rubbish that we do make, we make an effort to work some environmental improvement of our own, such as picking up beach and roadside litter, trapping pests, removing noxious weeds, giving out reusable bags at the Grower's Market....and my latest one....

Targeting Plastic Straws 

When I started to search for solid paper straws, available in New Zealand, that wouldn't collapse on use, could be bought in bulk and weren't too expensive - I came up with nothing...until I found out about The Rubbish Whisperer.
I figured that if it was difficult for me, then bar and cafe owners would probably be pleased if someone found that for them.

The Rubbish Whisperer has since sent me samples and price brochures which I have made into a little pack with cellophane. I  have been dropping these into our local bars and cafes with it - three or four every time I go into town.
In the pack I have included a little information from The Last Plastic Straw which is an organization dedicated to ridding the world of plastic straws. The line that I use is that even if they don't buy into using paper straws, would they please consider adding a sign that says straws available on request, instead of putting them into every drink automatically. 

I point out that I'm not affiliated to the company - just concerned about single use plastic.
I've generally had a good response so far from the places that I have visited.
It's just a little step, but if some take it up, then my time spent will have been worthwhile. At the very least - it makes them think. 

Something to Wake You Up and to Put You To Sleep

We don't drink a lot of plunger coffee here - but our visitors do, so we are often left with opened packets of ground coffee. They don't keep forever, so we have sometimes used them to make a body scrub, which is divine, but a bit wasteful too.

Lately I have started drinking Iced Coffees and find this a great way to finish off packets of coffee. I make a full plunger of strong coffee and let it go cold, then put it in the fridge - where it is good for several days. My iced coffee recipe is a large glass of ice cubes, topped with a scoop of homemade icecream, a little extra sweetener if necessary - pour the coffee over, top with low fat milk, stir and enjoy.
Small quantities of leftover plunger coffee get made into coffee ice cubes to go in the iced coffee too.

I reckon it's better than most ice coffees that I have tried from cafes.
I have some metal straws that I usually use, but this straw is special - more about it in my next blog post.

If I accidentally overdose on the iced coffee then sleep can be elusive.
Derek and I have just had our shared birthday, and as part of his gift, I found this cool little antique pot, then just had to make something to put in it.

Hence...
Sleep Salve

2 Tablespoons of coconut oil
2 Tablespoons of olive (or grapeseed oil)
2 Tablespoons of beeswax
15 drops of lavender essential oil
15 drops of cedarwood essential oil

In the microwave or a double boiler, melt the coconut oil and beeswax then add the olive oil and mix. Remove from the heat and add the essential oils and stir.
Pour into a suitable container and leave to set.
Apply a little to skin somewhere, such as hands or feet, to aid sleep.  

Upcycled Beach Debris, Rolling out the Green Carpet

My Latest Upcycle

I loving reusing something that would have been just waste - so how about this:
When I ran out of nylon for my weed whipper, which isn't zero waste, but is better than weed spray around the house and garden, I spent ages hunting for a spare reel, but there was none.
Well we live out of town, so I looked around for an alternative - finding this lump of fishing nylon that we had picked up off the beach. It was the perfect diameter, so I wound it on to the reel - and it works perfectly well!

Putting beach debris to good use

Exciting developments on the local zero waste/ plastic bag free/ environmental front.
There has been a round of emails to gather all of those working and volunteering in these fields in Northland to get together to present a unified front.
There are quite a lot of groups keeping our beaches and roadsides clean, our events as low waste, reducing plastic bag use, helping our schools and businesses to reduce waste, encouraging small coastal towns to go single use plastic free, putting pressure on farmers and the government to clean up our rivers and working on better waste management in the North.
Isn't that fabulous? Watch this space.

As if that weren't enough! Yesterday, my favourite Bin Inn bulk store in Kamo, has decided to give all shoppers who bring their own containers a 5% discount, as well as giving away a free jute bag (with no plastic liner) to shoppers who spend over $50.
Then I stopped in at the Kamo butcher's to pick up my order (in my own containers) and I noticed that they have a huge roll of brown paper behind the counter for wrapping meat purchases. The lovely young butcher proceeded to tell me that he's turned into one of us - refusing plastic bags and receipts, and taking his trundler to the market. Change is a-happenin'.

Upcycling a Painted Canvas

I have been waiting to find one of these in an op shop for a reasonable price...
so last week when I saw this little beauty for $4, I snapped it up.

I have been seeing pictures of things made with old canvases that so appealed to me - such as covered chairs and journals, and lots of bags.

This is the work of Leslie Oschmann - www.swarmhome.com

A journal cover by Swarm

You can see more here at atelierrueverte.blogspot.

I got to work yesterday to make my own version of a painted canvas bag, using some material from my stash for lining, and an old woven leather belt that never sees the light of day for the handles. 

I love how it turned out! It combines two of my loves - art and upcycling.
I'm not sure how well it will wear, but when it has finished being a bag, it will become a book cover.

Thanks for visiting.

Waitangi Day Celebrations

Waitangi Day is a national holiday here in New Zealand. It commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 6th, 1840. There has been much argument since then as to the meaning of what was signed away by the Maori, with there being a document that was translated for signing by Maori, not being of the same meaning as that in English. 
However, Waitangi Day around New Zealand is a day to celebrate family and the culture of New Zealand.
Waitangi is not a big place, but it is the home of the Treaty House and Flagstaff, plus a wharenui - Maori meeting house. 
Here's a quick video link from waitangi.org.nz that gives an overview if you want to get a mental picture.
Having an overseas visitor, as we did, is always a good reason to visit Waitangi on this day. 

It was a blazingly hot day, we've had no proper rain for weeks here, but it makes for a great summer.

Love the sun shade

We watched the waka,(Maori canoes) 

I got a video from my phone, wanting to catch the sounds for you, of the conch shells being blown and the calls as paddles are dipped. It isn't clear enough, but you get the idea.

This video bite of 3 seconds is the group preparing for the haka.

As well as entertainment on several stages, there were cultural groups, the NZ Navy band, markets with lots of NZ foods to try, like hangi and creamed paua, mussel fritters, flax ketes to buy.

All entertainment and buses were free. The buses are so that you can park a distance away and be ferried to and from your vehicle.

They had made a big effort to minimize waste, with much of it being biodegradable, and having volunteers manning the recycling stations to help people recycle everything correctly.

All in all, a fabulous day.