Saturday, May 24, 2008

Two Drumsticks



Tonight I'm giving my drumsticks an airing. I'm playing the timpani part in Elgar's 'Cello Concerto with my local orchestra. I've been playing since I was 14 (which is a very long time!) and since I started I've always played with a local orchestra or two. I've been a bit surprised at my reaction to tonight's programme as I've not usually enjoyed playing Elgar. Perhaps it's being away from the 'Homeland' that's done it but I've found that I've been really moved by the music. It could be that the soloist is an absolutely wonderful player but I feel it's a bit more than that. I keep seeing the Malvern Hills and Worcester Cathedral as I'm playing.


The orchestra is my local community orchestra which plays to a very high standard. The ticket sales are indicating a good sized audience so the call went out for cakes and biscuits for the interval. What a time to bake George's Wattleseed Cookies! I sent a packet of ground and roasted wattleseed to George in a swap organised through the now defunct Nigella.com forum. George is very creative with ingredients from all over the world and after a bit of thought came up with this recipe. I'm not only feeding some of tonight's audience with this recipe but also trialling it for George.


Wattleseed Cookies

6oz 00 flour
4oz soft butter
2oz castor sugar
1 teaspoon ground wattleseed
1 tablespoon Nutella


Beat the sugar and butter together until pale and fluffy then beat in the wattleseed and Nutella. Then beat in the flour to make a stiff dough. Roll the dough into a sausage shape and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Slice the dough into 2cm rounds and place on a baking tray. Cook for 7-10 minutes at 180 degreesC until golden and firm. transfer onto a cooling tray.



The concert went well and the soloist played beautifully. I was particularly proud that the plate of cookies was demolished with relish. In fact they disappeared so fast that no one in my family managed to get one. Luckily I've made some for home and they've been demolished with great gusto. A great triumph George!

5 comments:

hungryandfrozen said...

Good luck with the airing of the drumsticks! :) Those cookies sound lovely, though I've never heard of wattleseed before. What sort of flavour do they have?

vonsachsen said...

Now, that´s cool! I didn´t know you played the drums!
The cookies look good and the Nutella sounds good in it, although I must look up what wattleseeds are:D
So, break a leg? Or just simply good have a nice time tonight!

JillyB said...

Laura, wattleseed tastes a bit like roasted coffee and gives the cookies a lovely grainy texture!
VS, nice to see you! Wattleseed comes from one of the many Aussie native wattleseed.
The concert was a near sell out last night and we repeated the programme this afternoon to a sell out audience!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jilly :) The evening sounded great, a real triumph

Rosie said...

How great is that to hear you play the drums! The cookies sound wonderful too :)

Rosie x