Golden syrup dumplings

The big girl and I have just finished reading Layla Queen of Hearts by Glenda Millard. It made us sob and our hearts ache long after we turned out the light. It was very difficult to read the final chapter because it felt as if my throat was full of glass shards and the tears streaming down my face blurred my vision considerably.

"A friend like Layla comes along once in a lifetime, and Griffin Silk knows this with all his heart.

Griffin's daddy used to say that Layla had been sent to comfort them after Tishkin went away; ‘like an arm about their shoulders, a candle in the dark or like golden syrup dumplings for the soul’.

When Senior Citizen’s Day is announced at school, Layla wishes for someone special to take. It is then that the intriguing Miss Amelie comes into their life. Through their new friendship, Layla and Griffin learn the importance of memories, generosity of spirit, and of small miracles that warm the heart."

Of course we knew it was going to make us cry. Last year, just weeks before my wee girl was born we read her book, The Naming of Tishkin Silk - Oh how it shattered my heart, I could hardly breathe to finish it. I remember stopping and putting the book down and my big girl holding me and soothing me while I cried from fear and sadness and pity - it is a beautiful, beautiful book.

At the end of Layla Queen of Hearts there is a recipe for golden syrup dumplings, we had friends join us for lunch last Sunday and it was a cold wet day - just the kind of weather for a sticky dumpling!

The wee girl helped me cook; it was so lovely to have her there by my side, a bit "like a golden syrup dumpling for the soul"

The dumplings were yum! A bit of lemon zest and juice in the sauce cut through the caramel sweetness.

Because of copyright I can't reproduce the exact recipe from the book BUT this one is almost the same; just add the zest of one lemon and half its juice to the sauce.

We have another of Glenda's books, the third in the series - but I couldn't read it straight after Layla so we are reading Seven Little Australian's by Ethel Turner instead.

2 more sleeps til Hawaii... and I haven't packed yet! So i guess I'll post again when I return. Cheers.