Last night I went down to Bristol for a literary salon, which was organised as a fringe event to the Bristol Women's Literature Festival which will be happening in March.
I didn't really know what to expect, having never been to such a thing before. I went with a friend for mutual moral support, without which probably neither of us would have been brave enough to get through the door, but once we arrived it was lovely: the group was fairly small, the atmosphere was friendly, and we enjoyed varied and engaging discussions. We both agreed that we'd definitely go again, even though it is a bit of a trek to get down there.
Everyone was invited to bring a piece to read - be it poetry, essay, or fiction - and we went around the circle taking turns.
I'd been planning to read a passage by Jo Walton for my turn, but then one of the conversations around an earlier reading got on to the subject of defaults in language, at which point I completely changed my mind. I just had to select a passage from Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, which does some very interesting things with pronouns (I won't go into detail here, but I reviewed it last week over at Strange Charm, if you're interested).
Aside from my extract from a sci-fi novel, we also had poetry, travelogue, art criticism, and historical fiction. All the pieces were very different, and certainly included some authors I'd be interested to read more of.
And I took a box of cookies, which probably didn't do any harm.

It's almost Christmas (shh, I know, but it's true! Less than a month!) and that means cookies will soon be coming out of your ears. I designed this recipe with a seasonal snack table in mind - they're bite sized (so you can try a few different things without feeling guilty) and not too terribly sweet.

Date & Sesame Cookie Bites
Makes approx. 55 mini cookies
3 cups (500g) plain white flour
⅔ cup (180g) white granulated sugar
1 cup (170g) dark molasses sugar
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
250g (2¼ American sticks) butter
1 cup (170g) date pieces
6tbsp sesame seeds
Makes approx. 55 mini cookies
3 cups (500g) plain white flour
⅔ cup (180g) white granulated sugar
1 cup (170g) dark molasses sugar
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
250g (2¼ American sticks) butter
1 cup (170g) date pieces
6tbsp sesame seeds
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- Melt the butter (I just zap it for a minute in the microwave) and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Mix the flour, sugars, and baking powder in a large bowl (breaking up any larger lumps of sugar).
- Add the melted butter, vanilla extract, and eggs. Stir and knead until all combined into a thick dough.
- Add the dates and sesame seeds, and knead into the dough until evenly distributed.
- Form into small balls, each about the size of a walnut.
- Arrange the balls on a greased baking sheet, and press gently to flatten. Make sure to leave enough space around each cookie, as they will spread to approximately double the size as they cook.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
1 comment:
"Not too sweet" is especially good at this time of year, I agree!
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