On my drive back to my family home for Christmas, I had the time to reflect on the year that was 2023 🎄
2023 has been HUGE in terms of Author interviews and they have taken place in many forms. I have conducted over 10 in person, online, written and panel interviews.
I am so incredibly grateful, feel incredibly privileged and in all honesty, speechless when I look at this collection of talented Australian Authors who have given their time, knowledge and enthusiasm on Mel Reviews Her Books (excuse me while I start getting teary writing this).
Thank you; Sulari Gentill; Zoë Coyle; Anita Heiss; Brooke Hill; Karina May; Emma Grey; Clare Fletcher; Michael Thompson; Kate Mildenhall; & Jack Heath.
Additionally, a big thank you to Sandie Docker; for your time spent in Wagga visiting me, sharing your festival knowledge and attending Collins Booksellers after years of connecting online but Covid stepping in our way!
Thank you to the stunning Maya Linnell, for featuring me on her latest novel Kookaburra Cottage! 💫 *honestly a dream come true*
Extra thankfulness to Sulari Gentill – your encouragement, support, strength and belief in me pulling together a book festival for our region. I cannot express my gratitude enough x
And lastly, thank you to all of YOU! Thank you for reading, viewing, liking, commenting, sharing and watching the book content I create and work on each and every week 💖
Now, it’s time to celebrate yourself!! ⭐️ COMMENT BELOW something you’re proud of this year 💬
I’ve always played with this biscuit recipe that my dear friend Georgie passed on to me years ago. I remember her saying it was from an old Marie Claire cookbook – remember those in a home kitchen!! Waaayyy back in the day 💫
The Chocolate Weetie Bickies has that OG biscuit base and then I added my little tweaks purely because I was missing one ingredient! Are you a baker who starts experimenting when you’re missing one or two ingredients? Comment below if you are ⏬
INGREDIENTS:
125g of melted butter *I tend to use salt reduced
1 cup of Brown Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of Vanilla Essence or paste
1 cup of SR flour
1 cup of Plain flour
1/2 cup of crushed Weetbix
3 tsp of Cocoa
1 block of dark Cadbury or Nestlé baking chocolate, chopped roughly
METHOD:
Preheat your fan-forced oven to 170 degrees celsius.
Melt butter in the microwave or on stovetop, then mix through brown sugar.
Add 1 egg and vanilla then stir through until it makes a golden paste.
At the same time, add in both flours, Weetbix & cocoa. This is the stage where instead of Weetbix and cocoa, you’d usually add 1 cup of dedicated coconut 🥥 (OG Marie Claire recipe) but I didn’t have this handy so I experimented! (I don’t even sieve my flour and cocoa because I’m usually in a rush to make these but they always turn out great!)
Mix all together 🥄 It’s going to look pretty dry but trust the process. It will come together to make the perfect consistency for bickies.
Prepare a large baking tray with non-stick paper.
Divide bickies into whatever size you like! I tend to enjoy a large, chunky and gooey bickie. I make around 12 or 16 depending on guests and/or my planned baked good delivery for friends.
Bake for 20 minutes (*hint* I’ve found from years of watching Crumbs & Doilies – she’s EPIC, that biscuits actually keep baking after you’ve gotten then out of the oven and they need that time to set the outside crust to become gooey on the inside. So if you like a nice soft biscuit, get them out just a touch sooner than them going brown on top!)
Allow to cool (as per previous *hint*) and serve once warmish. These are also epic with icecream … just saying 🍪🍦
Fire round coming up … I’m going to give short statements as to why I DNF’d these books. I can say with absolute clarity and honestly that I will be going back to these books. They are not leaving my shelves. They have just been started, stopped and then removed from my bedside table (immediate book grabbing pile).
I find it challenging to convince my brain sometimes that I am the best person for the job. Self-doubt can weigh in on decision making in my life far too heavily at times.
Let’s talk an example; recently, I decided to expose myself to a new opportunity/challenge and perspective. At the time of this challenge taking place, my thought patterns when a little like this … “YES! I can do this.”, “I tick all the boxes.”, “I have the ability to make this fit in my life and thrive.”. All great and probably truthful things, correct?
However, a day or so after being in that positive frame of mind, performing at a happiness rate and with confidence that is a true part of myself, I began to doubt my ability. Thinking thoughts of; “Maybe I won’t be good enough”, “I probably wouldn’t be the right fit.”, “What if I can’t handle it?”, “Surely, there is someone better than me to do this”. These overpowering negative thoughts tend to hold more traction in the human brain than the positive thoughts. Why do you think that is?
For me, I think the negative thoughts can trigger that overthinking part of my brain where hypothetical downfall is more and more inevitable. The hardest part is challenging those thoughts and proving to yourself why they are not true.
Therefore, I am attempting to change:
“Maybe I won’t be good enough” INTO “I am good enough and capable as I have succeeded in this task or identical before in X,Y,Z.”
“I probably won’t be the right fit” INTO “Why should I try and fit when maybe what this experience is asking me to do is be myself and that in fact might be the perfect fit.”
“What if I can’t handle it?” INTO “This experience may be hard at first but if I am strong enough to ask for help when I need it, learn from those with more experience and take on valid feedback, I most likely will be able to handle it.”
“Surely, there is someone better than me to do this” INTO “I am capable and strong. I am intelligent and have an abundance of experience in preparation for this challenge. I could in fact BE the BEST person for this.”
I think a lot of these affirmations are in fact transferable to many experience and aspects of life. As I can only speak from my own experiences, I have learnt that self-doubt will stop my personal self growth if I do not challenge it and remove it from my thought patterns. Growing is part of life and changing paths is also part of life. I guess that is just some of life’s beauty, we manifest what we wish to get out of this life and self-doubt is not on my list people!
Chumpy, Ellidy and Minnie’s story is one for the ages. Their perspective on love, life and strength is unbelievable. In particular I strongly admire Ellidy’s ability to keep living through her grief and bring Minnie into a world swirled by strong belief that she is loved, she is a miracle creation and first and foremost, that she is the daughter of Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin.
Let’s start by chatting about the big and colourful being that was Chumpy.
Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin was an Australian snowboarder who competed at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. He held the honour of carrying the Australian Flag in the opening of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He won the snowboard cross World Championship – twice. He was an athlete. He was the musical creator and singer behind Chumpy and the Sunsetaroonies. He was a bright soul and he was Ellidy’s person for this wonderful thing called life.
On the 8th of July 2020, the life that Ellidy knew took a devastating turn. Chumpy tragically passed away in a shallow water diving blackout at the age of 33. This unfathomable accident shook those who knew Chumpy personally, had followed his athletic life and achievements, those who competed with him, those in his home town, celebrities across the globe and just ordinary people like myself who heard this on the news one morning. A fit, healthy and active man who was incredibly experienced in the water, passing away. Surely this doesn’t happen right?
A little about Ellidy – she and Chumpy met at the age of 21 and fell immediately in love. She had studied nursing, commerce and worked in a variety of jobs. Chumpy used to describe her as someone who was ‘always happy’ and ‘woke up happy’. For Ellidy to still find that light within herself and for Minnie, even now after the tragedy she’s experience, I’m just in awe and admiration. A really large part of what Ellidy’s purpose, advocacy and awareness is around shallow water diving blackouts. She also aims to shine a light on post mortem sperm retrieval, as this is how little Minnie was created.
Ellidy and Chumpy always knew they’d start a family and they’d been trying for the past 12 months before Chumpy’s accident. Luck was never on their side. They felt as if they came close a few times, but sadly never fell pregnant. IVF appointments were discussed, plans were made and then suddenly, Chumpy wasn’t there. In the hours after Chumpy’s passing, a close friend that actually brought Ellidy and Chumpy together in the first place, relayed to Ellidy’s brother this amazing procedure called post mortem sperm retrieval. Ellidy only had to hear the words, “There is still a chance you and Chumpy can have a baby” and that was enough for her to say “Yes, go, do what you need to do”, for close friends and family to jump to action. There are a number of loop holes in making a procedure like this happen, including time sensitivity after a persons passing, legal requirements and state legislations. The stars aligned and Ellidy likes to believe that Chumpy was along the journey pushing for those green lights from above.
Even through her grief, Ellidy knew that having Chumpy’s baby was something she had to do. She had her parent’s support, her brother, Chumpy’s parents and sister, as well as her multitude of close friends encouraging her to make this happen when she was ready. 15 months after Chumpy’s passing, que the creation of Minnie Alex Pullin. And let me tell you folks, she’s bloody gorgeous!
I’m so glad this heartbreakingly beautiful story was one of my first reads this year. I love watching my daily Instagram stories of Minnie, as found on Ellidy’s profile, and watching her grow surrounded by love. I encourage you to read this book, educate yourself on the power of true love and absorb the wonderful miracles that are created through modern medicine. Below, you’ll find one of the most heartwarming videos of Minnie and her dad 💫💖
Mel Reviews Her Books 