Anzac Biscuits and Rosella Jam

Today is a very sacred day in Australia and New Zealand, which we call ANZAC Day. ANZAC stands for "Australian New Zealand Army Corps", and the annual holiday is to celebrate and remember all Anzac soldiers who have fought in any war.

There's lots of ways to celebrate Anzac Day, in the least most get a day off work! Recently, there's been a rise in those who attend the Dawn Service and Parades. The Dawn Service traditionally is a solemn military occasion where wreaths are layed at Anzacs memorials (there's almost always one in major cities and towns) and the Last Post is played by a solo bugler. In the past, I've attended these as a member of a performing choir which sang spiritual songs. The Anzac Day Parade is often held in the streets of major cities and towns, where returned soldiers, their families and descendants march in a parade. These are usually held later in the morning, and are followed by drinks at the local RSL club.

David loves to bake and makes a mean batch of Anzac biscuits, this year they turned out fantastically!  These were traditionally made by wives and mothers during WWI and sent to the front-line in food parcels. They are sweet, nutritious and filling. The recipe David likes to use calls for macademia nuts, a native Australian nut, but we didn't have any so he used cashew nuts instead. The Anzac biscuits with macademia nuts recipe is from www.taste.com

Another thing we did for Anzac Day was to make up a batch of Rosella Jam. Now, I'm not sure if the hibiscus rosella bush we got from the local nursery is a native plant, it might be, or it might the introduced species. It's in a pot, scrawny and about as tall as David. It was laden with fruit which we picked this morning, and made into jam. We used the Rosella Jam recipe from Eumundi Papers. Thankyou heaps to Wendy for the recipe on your blog, it turned out a treat! The red from the rosella fruit was very bright and beautiful looking, too.

Like the biscuits, the jam turned out deliciously, and we are very proud of our Anzac Day cooking adventures! At least David isn't that keen on the Anzac Day sports match, watching it is apparently a very popular pastime for Anzac Day celebrations. It's very common to hear boisterous males in neighbouring homes enthusiastically cheer for their team, whatever it is, playing whatever they are, just like we could hear today! Thank goodness for my non-sporty, clever husband! <3 <3 <3