Poetry Saturday . . . Lifelong Friends

Life Long friends . . . what lovelier thing

Could the hand of Life bestow,

Than a friendship built upon

All the precious things you know,

Faith in each other and the ties

Of understanding old and wise.







A friendship flavoured by the past,

Old swimmin' holes and days shot through

With loafin' . . . fishin' . . . . catchin' crabs,

The crazy things that small boys do,

A hideout in the woods somewhere,

With adventure on the bill-o'-fare.







School days and hockey . . . bikes and skates,

A girl's face tangled in your heart,

Your first small job that in some way,

Became the groundwork of your start;

The glamour of a high school dance,

That seemed all beauty and romance.







These are the ties . . . the little things,

That add up to the kindly sum,

Of all that makes the days worth while,

The precious memories that become

Strong as a hampen rope to bear,

The strands of friendship woven there.







Earth holds no greater good I think

Than friendship welded link by link.

~Edna Jaques



Oh I do envy those who have lived in one place long enough to have forged a lifelong friendship. Such was my growing up years that, with a father in the airforce, I did not really live in any one place long enough to have forged a lifelong friendship like that. I do have dear and cherished friends that I know will be my friends for ever more . . . but we did not share a childhood, nor history in that growing up together way. I guess my lifelong friend would be my sister, and that is an extra special blessing in my life. We share a history together that nobody else could ever understand or know. We are linked with bonds of family, ties of blood and DNA . . . and a deep love and respect for each other that is very precious indeed . . . I love my brother too, and we do also have a link . . . but he is not a sister . . . and could never understand the feelings and heart of me that my much beloved sister does.



It was such a gorgeous day yesterday! I ended up feeling very nostalgic and I baked cookies. I have some really old Robin Hood Flour recipe booklets, the kind that used to be given out free. Sometimes you had to write away for them and sometimes they were there for the taking in the grocery store. I am not sure which year this dates back to, but the picture of the lady in the intro, looks very 1940’s! These are the cookies of my childhood. Delicious, old fashioned and satisfying in a way that cannot be described.







*Sour Cream Fruit Drops*

Makes about 5 dozen

Printable Recipe



These cookies helped fuel many a childhood dream on the way home from school. I always hoped that a big plate of these would be waiting for me! You could smell their deliciousness even before you opened the door and you just knew that this was a perfect day. Big, soft and full of lovely spicy flavours and studded with soft, juicy raisins, dates and crunchy nuts, these were the perfect after school treat! (don’t worry about the recipe making a large amount, as they freeze like a dream!)



½ cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup soft light brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large free range eggs

1 cup sour cream or crème fraiche

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 ½ to 3 cups of plain flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 cup chopped dates

1 cup glace cherries, chopped

2 cups raisins

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup chopped pecans

1 TBS finely grated orange zest



Cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the sour cream and the vanilla.



Sift together 2 ½ cups of the flour, soda and salt, mixing thoroughly to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mixing in well. Add more flour only if the dough seems too sticky. Stir in the fruit, nuts and orange rind. Cover and chill for 1 hour.



Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gs mark 5. Drop the chilled dough by heaping TBS onto lightly greased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned on the bottoms and the tops are dry and spring back when lightly touched. These delicious cookies will stay nicely soft if not over-baked. Let sit on the cookie sheet for several minutes before lifting off to finish cooling on wire racks. Store tightly covered. Bet you can’t eat just one!







Over in The English Kitchen today, delicious Lemon and Poppyseed Cupcakes!