How horrible has this weather been! Although Auckland hasn't been nearly as cold as down in Dunedin with all of the snowy, freezing weather, it still hasn't been amazing at all!! We've had a lot of rain and some very stormy weather.
Hungry Male has been away for the past week, so I have been spending a lot of the cold, wintery nights rugged up in bed with Basil (my cat), catching up on my reading. On Saturday I braved the wet weather and headed into Newmarket to catch up with a friend. We went to Little and Friday which I have been wanting to go to since I got here. I forgot to take a photo, but I had a lemon cake which was delicious! I then went and did a little bit of widow shopping and found a pattern for my wedding dress! That was very exciting. As I was wandering I spied a massage place called The Rub, so I popped in and treated myself to a neck and shoulder massage. I didn't realise just how tight I was until the masseuse got started. It was definitely a nice treat.
In the evening, I somehow survived driving in torrential rain with surface flooding on the motorway (aargh!) to go have a Girls night with some friends. We got some chunky chips and pate and breads to start and then shared a margarita pizza, to go with a couple of delicious wines of course. Our favourite was definitely the Kumeu River Pinot Noir (you can buy your own bottle here). Because of the horrible weather, instead of bar-hopping we grabbed a bottle of wine, headed back to the girl's flat and got in our pyjamas to chat. All-in-all it was a fantastic night!
On Sunday I used the day to myself to do lots of baking. These crackers were one of the things I made. I love crackers as a snack, but I know that crackers can be a bit of a trap for salt and artificial flavours and additives, so I decided that they were something that I should try and make myself. As usual, I compared a few recipes..... and then came up with my own take.
Along with wholemeal flour for fibre, I added almond and pumpkin seeds to up the nutrients in the crackers. I made my a bit thicker, so they are kind of a stodgier cracker rather that a light crispier one. I like this as it means they hold toppings really well, but you could easily make light, crispy ones by just rolling the dough thinner. You can also easily play around with the fillings that you choose to put in your cracker.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup plain almonds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
Pinch salt
5 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp Olive or Coconut oil
Sea salt and herbs for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease a baking tray and line with baking paper.
In a food processor, whiz your almonds and pumpkin seeds to break them up a bit. Add the flour and salt and whiz together some more. Gradually pour in the olive oil while still whizzing.
Little by little add in your water (you may not need it all). Your dough is ready when it has begun to clump together, but isn't sticky.
Dust a board with some flour, then roll out your dough until it is about 3mm thick, or if you want nice crispy ones, roll it thinner. Cut into squares or rectangles and place on the baking tray. Take any dough offcuts, roll in a ball and then repeat.
Brush your crackers with a little olive or coconut oil and sprinkle with seas salt and herbs.
For thick crackers bake for around 18-20 minutes. Crackers should feel hard and be golden on top.
For thin crackers, they will only need around 10-12 minutes. These will be golden and feel crsipy.
Leave to cool, then enjoy.
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