D is for . . . Damper

Happy Australia Day everyone.

I have decided today, that I would go back to the roots of Australia and bake some damper. Although I added a bit of an Aussie twist to make it a little more delicious!

Savoury Damper

Serves- depends on the size, I made 12 small rolls
Time- 15 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to cook

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/2 Cups of self raising flour

-1/2 cup of water

Then whatever you want in your damper

-Vegemite

-Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 200 Degree.

Sift the self raising flour into a bowl, then add water slowly until it is a dough like constancy. Make sure its a little sticky as it will be put on a floured surface.

2. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough into an oval shape, then add what ever ingredients you want in the centre, I did one with just Vegemite and one with Vegemite and cheese!

 3. Roll the dough into a log and cut into 3cm thick slices, place at least 2 cm apart as they will rise and grow.

4. Put in the oven for 15minutes. Until lightly brown on top.

5. Then Serve! We put some butter on the plain Vegemite ones and that made them extra delicious. The Vegemite and Cheese ones were perfect by them selves, with a cup of tea or a coffee. Perfection.

We will be using this recipe again as we thought of some other ideas to put in the middle

- Jam served with whipped cream
- Cheese and Bacon
- Pesto with sun dried tomatoes
- Dried fruit
- Spinach and cheese (i'm going to try this one tonight)

Seriously its such an easy recipe and you could put anything you liked in the middle.
Its also a great way to celebrate Australia day, especially if you have people coming over.

A is for . . . Australia

Ahh thank goodness for a long weekend this weekend!
Isn't it amazing how that extra day, makes all the difference? Whether it's an extra day with the family or an extra day on a holiday or even just an extra day for a sleep in, everyone loves a long weekend.

But, is that all we care about? How many people actually know what the day is for?
So here is a little history. . .

Australia Day, which has also been known as Anniversary day and Foundation day, is a celebration of the first fleet that landed in Sydney in 1788 and made this British land, called "New Holland"Although it wasn't celebrated as Australia day until almost a decade later.

Australia Day is now a public holiday in every state and territory around Australia and Australia day eve is when the Australian of the year is named.

Although there are now calls to change the name of "Australia day" to "Citizens day", and this seems to have divided the country. There are facebook groups and Twitter hashtags, social media is going crazy.
Even though the actual celebration, is when we became a nation. Its not a day for only "born here, Australians" to celebrate nor is it a day to celebrate "Australians" Its a day to celebrate our incredible country, to look at what we have and how lucky we are to be here and to have the things we have.

So I hope that people can relax and enjoy the day and remember the meaning behind it.

Personally i'll be celebrating with a traditional BBQ, with a few cold beers and making sure I see the people who are most important to me.

How do you celebrate? and what are you views on the name change?