This morning I read the latest issue of Home Beautiful in bed, with a cup of coffee. And then I read last month’s issue, and then I thought I’d branch out into Country Style, so I read the latest issue of that as well.

ALL FOR FREE ON MY DEVICE.

Did you know that with your Darebin Libraries card (and many other library cards) you can download and sign in to RB Digital, to access all your favourite magazines … and it also has comics.

It’s like having that whole great section of your local newsagent where you pretend you are buying - but where you often just spend lots of time browsing - right next to your bed (or your favourite armchair, or the kitchen table, or your toilet … perhaps we shouldn’t go there! Haha).

Anyway, I can highly recommend it. Note I downloaded it on my phone, but I would suggest putting it on your tablet if you have the option (a better viewing size - you might even be able to imagine it is the real-life magazine!).

And if you‘d like to explore the other elibrary things that Darebin Libraries have up their sleeves just click here.

Happy magazining.

Today I am handing you over to Michelle Fidler - an amazing Alphington community leader. She’s been a tireless woman of action for years. And … if seamlessly organising school fetes and wetlands festivals with care, good humour and generosity isn’t enough, she’s also a fabulous cook.

As the current (and founding) President of Alphington CWA there’s no one better to take you through the sacred scone making process! Take it away Mich …

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When people hear CWA, many of them immediately think "scones". 

I had never made a scone prior to the establishment of the Alphington CWA three years ago.  My mum, a life member of the CWA, joined when the South Wangaratta branch started in the 1950s. She had always made our scones - and always late in the afternoon of Christmas day - to have with cold meat and salad for dinner. 

I remember as a child watching as she sifted and poured (never measuring anything), mixed and cut … and 15 minutes later we would be eating hot scones straight form the oven. I would wonder, how does she do that?

Today, I cannot count how many I have made! And last year I was lucky to have a lesson from Joy - the queen of scones - as I worked alongside her in the CWA cafeteria at the Royal Melbourne Show.  

One thing I can say - there are never two batches exactly the same - but no matter what they look like, the taste always takes me back to the kitchen bench at the farm.

Recipe

• 4 cups of SF flour

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 300ml thickened cream

• 300ml milk

Sift the SR flour into a large bowl. Add the salt, thickened cream and milk. Stir with a knife until well combined. It will be a little bit sticky. This is where my mum would say to add more flour or milk as needed!  You'll get to know when that is only by experience.  

Turn out onto a floured bench.  Turn the sides in four times - one each side (fold up the bottom, then down the top, then RHS, then LHS).

At this point I ALWAYS hear Joy's voice in my head, "I have done all my mixing in the bowl - no need to mess with it too much on the table". 

Next turn it over and either use a rolling pin or use your hands to flatten it until it is about 2-3cm thick (I just use the length of my thumb to the first knuckle as a guide - that's how I was told to measure).  

I use a scone cutter with a 5.5cm diameter. This is a good size for afternoon tea scones and will make 18-20 scones.  Place them on baking paper on a tray (tapping off any excess flour) so they are not quite touching and bake for 12-15 minutes at 200 degrees.  They are cooked when the top and the bottom are about the same colour, and if you pick one up and tap it on the bottom it sounds hollowish.  

When you take them out of the oven, brush the top and bottom with melted butter and put on a wire rack to cool.

And that's it - CWA scones my way.  Enjoy.

This week Kalimna has been touching base with our book clubbers (we now have 5 book clubs on the go at ACC). We’ve been working with the lovely staff at Darebin Libraries to explore how we can keep these groups ticking along in the new world.

If you are part of one of our book clubs please look out for the email from Kalimna and let her know your thoughts.

Also, if you are keen to join a book club please contact us here. We’ll let you know if spots are available in any of our existing groups, or if we have enough keen beans we could even start a new one!

Corona times are surely good times for book clubs!

If you enjoy drawing (or think you’d like to start drawing) you can now join in a free class run by the National Gallery of Victoria. They are publishing one a week on the NGV Channel. A direct link to the first one is here.

It starts off with blind contour drawing and takes you through a drawing study process. It looks excellent! I am keen to have a crack myself, and I am going to get my kids to do it too. All you need is a pencil, some paper, a real life object to draw and a comfy seat.

If you have a go, and would like to share the outcome we’d love to see it. Even if it is just your blind contour drawing - they are always a hoot! Email us a photo or two. Don’t be shy!

Hi, it’s Leanne again.

I just thought I’d mention that at our house we’re in the middle of a massive cleanout (we have nearly filled a 6 cubic metre skip bin already) so that we can better accommodate 5 bodies all day every day. Its is a well overdue task. On the other hand, realistically, we have lived tolerably well with all this stuff we’ve suddenly chucked out for years - so I suspect (and should probably say it is definitely true) that this cleaning frenzy is perhaps something bigger - relating to wrangling the things I can control into some form of order when the world is changing by the minute.

For sure, it’s definitely corona cleaning.

In any case, not only am I tackling the big picture stuff (like the roof storage and the chookhouse that became a handy place to store an assortment of broken plastic garden paraphernalia after our feathered friends were killed by a fox) but I’m also simultaneously tackling the minutiae - including my drawers.

And in an attempt to fit all my long-sleeve t-shirts into one small drawer I turned to Marie.

I am not sure I achieved the exact outcome she expects (compare the pair). Yes, I did go through the process of assessing joy - unfortunately I feel equal joy for about 20 of my black/dark grey/navy blue t-shirts. In any case I vaguely folded and rolled them and they magically fit. Which in itself is a great outcome!

I am just unsure how I am going to distinguish one from the other, and whether, realistically, this is going to last … But, perhaps that’s not the point right?

Can you tell which one was done by Marie Kondo and which one was done by me? Haha… I might need to read her folding instructions next!