BRIGHT 2016

Over the weekend, myself and some family took a little trip to Bright. I had heard from a friend that in Autumn, the trees all turned a wonderful orange, which is something you don't come across much in Australia. Or, at least, in Melbourne you don't. And given that I'm more than slightly obsessed with American Autumns - which include many an orange leaf - I absolutely wanted to check out this Autumn-Wonderland-Town.
Upon arrival, I was only a tiny bit disappointed to find that it wasn't quite the orange wonderland I had expected, we had come too early. Nevertheless, the trees were beginning to turn, some had already turned completely, and the town was still very picturesque.
Once we had checked out the cottage we were staying in, which had a very aesthetically pleasing bathroom mind you, we went for a drive through the streets and up to Huggin's Lookout.






This was easily among some of the best views I've seen, in my 18 short years, and I can't say that the camera shots do it justice.

After Huggins Lookout, we drove down to the Arboretum (a memorial park, I think) and while this was not exactly filled with colour, as we had been told, it certainly contained some beautiful views and I managed to get some good shots of Rodney.

On our way back to the cottage, we detoured down a long road scouting for some Autumnal magic, and though we didn't find quite what we were looking for, it was a nice drive anyway.

Later that afternoon, we went for a stroll around the park near our accommodation and then retired for the day.

One thing I do wish I had brought with me, was some DVD's or my laptop. I found that I didn't have much to do when we weren't out exploring and I read nearly an entire book in the two days that we were there. (City of Ashes, if you were wondering).


The next day wasn't as eventful, but I managed to get some photos in the morning when we went down 'Cherry Walk'.



 The rest of the day was spent driving around the mountains, through most of which I managed to sleep. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but it made Rodney happy which was good.

Let me know where your last holiday was!

VEGAN GINGERBREAD COOKIES ~ RECIPE

This is a really simple recipe, and it doesn't require many unordinary ingredients that you wouldn't already have in the cupboard!

What you'll need:

• 150g brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar for both batches, I think either light or dark would work fine)
• 2 tbsp golden syrup (maple syrup should be fine too)
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground clove
• 190g butter substitute (I use Nuttelex)
• 1 small tsp bicarb soda
• 450g plain flour
• Icing sugar + water (for easy icing)

Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients together, either on the stove or just in a mixing bowl (like I did), making sure to sift the flower. However, if you're choosing to mix them on the stove, remove the mixture from the heat and then add the flour.

Note: Add extra spices if you'd like a stronger flavour! I think I will next time.

First batch

2. This is what the dough should look like after everything is combined. It should be firm, so you may need to add more flour. Cover the bowl with glad wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

First batch

3. After you've taken the dough out of the fridge, spread some flour on your workbench and your rolling pin so that the dough won't stick to them, you will need to keep adding more as you go. Find some cookie cutters (I used gingerbread men, candy canes and Christmas trees) and pop them on a tray ready to be put into the oven. You can preheat the oven, in fact most recipes would say you should but I always forget and they turn out fiiiine, to 180 degrees Celsius and bake the cookies for 10 - 15 minutes. 

First batch

Here are my cookies, just out of the oven!
Note: It can be hard to tell whether they're done or not when you take them out because they will still be a bit soft (they harden up once they've cooled for a bit) but resist the urge to leave them in for just a little bit longer! That's what always stumps me and then they end up burning. In fact, that may or may not have happened today...

Second batch

SO. I made a second batch of cookies and you can probably tell from the photos that they're slightly different from the first one.
In the original batch, I had to use blackstrap molasses instead of golden syrup, despite the fact that I can't STAND molasses, oh my God. Even the smell.
I was hoping it wouldn't be noticeable once the cookies were out of the oven but I decided that while the dough was in the fridge, I would go up the street, buy some golden syrup and make another batch of cookies, because who wants gingerbread cookies that taste like sewerage? (No offence intended if you really like molasses hahah)
I used the same process and all other ingredients were the same, but I think the second batch is definitely better than the first, although everyone else in my house seems to like the first just fine, so maybe it's just dependent on personal taste - I still suggest golden syrup though.

I simply used icing sugar mixed with water to decorate these (just add icing sugar and water to your desired consistency - more icing sugar compared to water = thicker mixture) but obviously you can do whatever decorations you want! Food colouring is always fun too.

I didn't bother icing the first batch, mainly because I was tired but also because I wasn't as emotionally invested in those ones hahah.

So have fun baking and Merry Christmas!!