A Yo-Yo Melting Moment Moment.

I love eating Melting Moments. It is the combination of oodles of butter, icing sugar and cornflour in the biscuit dough that creates a light, mouth dissolving treat, hence the name. They are my comfort food when I’m out for a flat white and I’m confronted with a counter full of cakes that frighten me with their lack of interest. With most of my baking focus being on cakes, I am ashamed to say that I had never attempted to make these iconic New Zealand biscuits. Also they are only part of my recent culinary history as I grew up in England. I turned to a Kiwi baker, Alexa Johnston, author of “Ladies, a Plate,” for a recipe. In her sequel “A Second Helping – More from Ladies, a Plate” I found what I was looking for. Alexa’s books are full of iconic New Zealand baking recipes; she has done all the legwork for me. Thumbing through the book you can see the hours of research with recipes predominately from New Zealand cookbooks that go as far back as the 20s, and recipes gleaned by and gifted to Alexa on the way.
To begin with, we get a little social history on my beloved Melting Moment and I learn that by simply switching the cornflour for custard powder it becomes a Yo-Yo! I got sidetracked and decided that because I love custard my Melting Moments should in fact be Yo-Yos!
The recipe was easy to use and I was thrilled with my biscuits except for the filling, which ended up a little runny. When I sandwiched 2 biscuits together as directed, the tops kept sliding off and the filling slightly dribbled out of the sides, not giving that perfect finish I desired. Funnily enough my baker’s instinct told me it was too runny but I wanted to be a good girl and follow the recipe exactly. This is a great discipline for me! I tried the filling recipe twice and concluded my tablespoon aint’ as big as Mrs Merrie’s of Pahiatua, the original contributor of this recipe in 1946. It needed more icing sugar. That’s the thing with old recipes, a tablespoon probably was some huge tarnished nickel plated spoon used to serve the veggies on a Sunday - not like our accurate measuring spoons of today. Or perhaps she has a very different idea of a “heaped” tablespoon, one requiring nerves of steel with icing sugar balanced precariously to such a dramatic height that you daren’t breathe.
I had fun in my kitchen this morning. Although I only ended up with 8½ finished biscuits when the intended amount was about 18 - (I instinctively made them the size they are in NZ cafés) - and my filling was a little soft, I really enjoyed using “A Second Helping.” It is a gorgeous book with a no-nonsense but loving approach. All the photographs are expertly taken by Alexa and as I am a fan of vintage kitchenware and paraphernalia this book is heaven; I not only drool over the baking but also all the pretty linen, plates and biscuit tins used as props. Well talking of second helpings, my daughter is on her second Yo-Yo .... I’d best get a cup of tea and enjoy one for myself before they are all gone!

http://www.ladiesaplate.co.nz/

Garters!

Touching on my last blog and the curiosities to be found in pockets and bags of avid Art Deco collectors, here we have some original, divinely cute and whimsical garters.

I was rather excited to see these and hold them in my hands, especially as a friend in the UK had sent me a newspaper cutting of similar garters that were being exhibited in London last year as part of a 1920s-30s lingerie display.

Their owner Inger, a "Sydney Flapper,"
does not wear them (the elasticity has gone!!!) but has found a supplier of some very pretty and practical replicas.

I have seen pictures of garters with a face opening like a watch front to reveal rouge to be used on the face and knees. So ingenious! Gets me wondering what would the modern gal want in her garter?????

Following is a link for replica garters- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30921800&ref=sr_gallery_6&&ga_search_query=flapper&ga_search_type=all&ga_page=2&includes[]=tags

“A Not-Too- Serious celebration of the Art Deco Style” it says on the posters.

In fact I found it a VERY serious business indeed!!!!!!

We’ve just returned from sunny Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, after performing my one-woman show “Forget-Me-Not” in the annual Napier Art Deco Weekend.
For anyone who hasn’t experienced a Napier Art Deco Festival I suggest you book your accommodation right now for 2011. The city bursts at the seams with everything Art Deco and visitors from far and wide make this annual pilgrimage to soak up the atmosphere and play at being flappers and dappers of the day. People collect and sew all year round to wear the correct outfits for the correct events, which extend to couples and families being totally colour co-ordinated with each other for the entire week-end. Phew! Dressing up is all part of the fun when people can take on another persona and enjoy being a character in their very own show.
Festival-goers are dressed to jaw dropping quality, in some cases even down to the correct underwear, and that’s because a high percentage of these clothes are the real thing. In some cases the garments being worn are as old as 80 years plus! To a lover of vintage clothes this is one mighty fine feast for the eyes. It’s not just the few that are making the extra effort but a huge proportion are going to extraordinary lengths to wear the correct clothes and accessories, including the odd vintage Rolls Royce to transport them in!
For someone like me who performs as a character from the period, it gives me a unique chance to indulge Forget-Me-Not in the sights, sounds, feel and even smells of the period. As with any club, you get to socialise with others who are passionate about the period, with fans of Deco proudly revealing their latest finds. Handbags open to reveal genuine compacts, garters, cigarette holders, purses, hip flasks and of course jewels darling! Under hats you will find freshly finger -waved hair or sharply cut bobs, and in our case, Pauly now has vintage glasses with prescription lenses so that he doesn’t feel out of place with modern specs. I think there is something very special about being able to wear and use genuine items in this context, and I swear people carry themselves differently wearing period clothes, whether they are genuine or not. Like elegant movie stars, people drift from soiree to soiree, and rather charmingly the men even behave with chivalry!

Here are just a few pics of a fabulous weekend.