Anzac Biscuits for Tea, Carrot and Orange Soup followed by Pears Baked in Wine for Dinner

I decided to bake Anzac Biscuits as a tribute to Anzac day. This year was the centenary of Gallipoli and has been particularly poignant, lest we forget. I haven't had a great history with making these biscuits.  I first baked them when we arrived in Australia, because of the limited equipment in our temporary beach house. They weren't a great success then and neither were these! The Anzac biscuits I make taste lovely, but are always crumbly, when they are supposed to be chewy! This time I added some more butter to the recipe and they turned out all right at last. 
For exact recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/15770/chewy+anzac+biscuits

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

Last night I watched the film Julie and Julia to remind myself of the journey Julie Powell took. It has re-inspired me, not only to complete my 10 remaining recipes, but to add a more personal note to my blog, just as Julie does. Fortunately I am not having a nervous breakdown, a split from my husband (??) or a failed dinner with a publisher! Although I am very much looking forward to receiving a copy of the Australian Master Chef Cookbook, signed and personalised by Matt Preston (thank you to my parents for bidding on this for me!)  So, to the Carrot and Orange Soup...... it froze unbelievably well, as we didn't eat all of it at once. It is a light, refreshing soup with a hint of spice. It is a delicious, slightly sweet soup  and not too heavy for the harsh Australian summer heat. It went perfectly with a rustic, crunchy baguette. 
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/27745/carrot+orange+soup

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 5

Baked pears are a luscious dessert, particularly when they're baked with Marsala and Italian Amaretti cookies. I totally agree with this statement, except when I made them, I chose not to use Marsala but red wine. The family loved the baked pears. I don't think I cooked them all the way through as the middle was quite hard, whilst the outside was soft, if I had continued to cook them they would have been the same texture all the way through. I think the picture came out very well and was one of the easiest to take. The baked pears were served with the red wine sauce, don't worry all the wine was burnt off (we weren't drunk at the end of the meal) and of course ice cream!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/pears_baked_in_marsala_with_crumbled_amaretti.html

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4