Australia Day 2020

I make ANZAC Biscuits on Australia Day, because Turbo taught me to do this when I lived in Australia (in three-month increments for two years, 2002-2003, ducking out when my tourist visas were up), and it just became something I did every year. Sure, I've missed some years, like when I lived in Kuwait or Cairo, but mostly, I try to acknowledge Australia Day.

Why? I'm not sure. Maybe just to recall the life I might have led, and did lead for a while. I sometimes reflect on how I was still too...young to settle down? Unlikely to live in a rural environment for more than a short time? Impatient with other humans around too long? A bad match for someone equally as intimacy-averse? Only my therapist knows for sure. Or would, if I had one.

There are many days I wish I'd become an Australian. I wouldn't call it regret. More like a pining for a past life. Nostalgia? Maybe.

This Australia Day, I made the regular kind of ANZAC biccies with all-purpose flour, but I also made a batch with brown rice flour and gluten-free oats, since one of the associate editors at work can't have wheat. The regular flour kind ARE better—I tasted one of each (for research, obvs). But the wheat-free ones are okay. They just don't quite have the right level of chewy.

And I put Paul Kelly's "Comedy" on the iTunes. Crikey. Why go halfway? Maybe I'll go to work tomorrow and address people as "mates."

Here's the ANZAC Biscuit recipe I took from the local weekly newspaper in 2002, back in northern New South Wales, in a small town near Murwillumbah.

ANZAC BISCUIT RECIPE INGREDIENTS
1 cup of rolled oats (or gluten-free rolled oats)
1 cup of plain flour (not self-rising)
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of coconut
2 tablespoons of golden syrup (this is the secret ingredient, can be hard to find in the US)
1/2 cup of butter (let it sit out until it's soft)
1/2 tablespoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of boiling water
METHOD
Mix together the oats, flour, sugar and coconut.
Melt the syrup and margarine together in a saucepan.
Mix baking soda with the boiling water and add to the melted margarine and syrup. You should get a satisfying gurgle of buttery golden syrup. then add this to the dry ingredients.
Mix it with your hands. If it's still too crumbly, add a little water.
Place tablespoons of the mixture on a greased tray and bake at (300F) for 20 minutes. Start checking after 15 minutes.