It’s time to make crackers!!! I haven’t made crackers before, except the pumpkin seed ones from The 25th Bake: Pumpkin & Sunflower Biscuits. I had to make a special trip to the supermarket to buy lard. Not easy to find, it’s on the self with the baking ingredients, not by the butter in the fridge as you would expect. It reminded me of a story told by a 90 year old friend who was a child in Leeds during WWII. They fried their chips in lard and her favourite outing was going with her Dad to have Tripe pie and sloppy peas!
We went to the 97th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele on 12th Oct at the Auckland Museum, a battle in which 846 NZ soldiers died in one day. The injured may have lain in the mud, or trapped in barbed wire for up to 48 hours waiting for the No.1 NZ Field Ambulance Stretcher bearers to rescue them, and then only to have died in a hospital in the weeks that followed from peritonitis or gas gangrene from having lain in the freezing wet mud for so long.
Having been to Ypres and seen the cemeteries and the trenches, it was a very moving experience, especially as my husband’s Grandfather fought there. “From the utmost ends of the Earth, New Zealanders came the furthest and lost the most” was quoted on the day. Auckland War Memorial Museum sees the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day at 11am on 11 November 2018. Currently crosses cover the grass field in front of the museum in remembrance of those who died. We will remember them.
I measured out my lard and butter. There was quite a lot required for this recipe. Then
I measured out the self raising flour and plain flour, and added the fat. I mixed this through with my fingers to make a breadcrumb dough. 
I added the water and this became a soft lump of dough. 
I kept it in the fridge for 15 minutes, then rolled it out and punched out circles with a mold. I pricked these with a fork and baked on trays in the oven. They didn’t turn out crispy and thin as expected but thick and a bit crunchy, a bit like thin scones. 
Quite luscious, like you can taste all that fatty goodness! I wasn’t complaining. 
Eaten with brie or hard smoked cheese, Roquefort, hummus and sweet cranberry jelly, they were delicious. 
Cheese and crackers are after all my favourite food.
This recipe also called for making butter. 
I beat cream with an electric beater until it turned to whipped cream, then kept beating until it became the consistency of crumbly butter and sugar. Then liquid started to come out and bang, we had butter and butter milk. 
I drained this off, washed the butter and added salt. It was creamy and just like bought butter, though creamier. Interesting experience! 🙂
