We have friends arriving later today. We have not seen them in many years. During that time babies have been born, various states have been home, rocky roads have been walked, and consequently, we have all changed. Back in the day we were naïve, reckless, carefree.
I was young in every sense of the word when I met the couple who will be staying with us. I had moved to an isolated town to be with my now husband. I was nervous, unsure of myself and unsure of all that surrounded me.
The first person to greet me was Josh, we would be living at his place for a week or two. I will never forget the way he instantly eased my anxious mind, or the huge, warm cuddle he greeted me with!! There have been two occasions in my life when I have made an instant best friend, this was the first of them.
Best of all Josh came with an amazing wife!!! Sally is everything that I am not. She is sensible, practical, capable and thorough. When Sal and I were together she excelled at giving me a fresh perspective on things, and always had the simple answer.
I could never understand why these exceptionally intelligent people had not only befriended me but they took me into their homes and their hearts. Whilst they discussed politics, I talked about sushi, when they shared stories of their travels I thought of nothing more then eating a delicious curry, and when the conversation went well and truly over my head I let my mind wander and created recipes for tasty cakes.
These years were filled with fabulous moments. During this time I grew as a person, I laughed and I loved more then I ever had before.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get much better, Sal and Josh had a perfect baby boy. I met Lachie.
Had I ever loved so deeply? I think not.
Every lunch break I walked to their house to see him. On Saturdays when we would all go out for dinner I would take this beautiful bundle into my arms and would not share him with anyone. Everything this little boy did fascinated me. I had never experienced anything quite like it. Lachie was around six months old when we made the decision to move on. The weekend before we left we all went out for dinner, when I walked into the restaurant Lachie’s little legs kicked with excitement at the sight of me. My heart started to break, the realisation of all that I would be leaving behind was sinking in. The night before we drove away we had dinner at Josh and Sal’s house. As we walked home I cried and cried in the way that makes your entire body shake.
Since I last saw them an adorable little girl has blessed their world. I have not doubt that little Zoe will be filled with everything I love about her family. I cannot wait to meet her and nor can my very excited children.
We promise not to ask you to hang a single picture or set us up with any of this fancy technology I am always hearing about. You must refrain from cleaning our cars and I will make sure Gav opens you a super bottle of wine.
We have so much catching up to do, I hope you don’t mind if we have crackers for dinner?
Quick Crackers
1 heaped cup of almond meal
1 egg
20 grams finely chopped butter
Pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place your ingredients into your blender or food processor in the order listed above, quickly combine at medium speed – you don’t want the mixture to become sticky or turn to almond butter, although do not worry if this happens, it will still work.
Roll the mixture into a ball and place between two sheets of baking paper, roll out to your desired thickness.
Remove the top layer of baking paper and place on an oven tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool prior to cutting into crackers. Enjoy.
If you are using a thermomix I typically do 1 second at speed 6 and 15 grams of butter if using the thermomix scales.