Please welcome....me- Sonja - the new down- under correspondent for le Crispy Waffle, currently based in Brisbane Australia.

As today is my nation's public holiday to commemorate Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) day- to honour the 100,000 + who died in the eight-month 1915 campaign aimed at capturing Istanbul, what better way to preserve such a nation-defining memory than through the power of COOKIE. Yes that's right- here's how it all started:

During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer - a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible (ingenious!). The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers' Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

Now get cooking- these things are mucho delicioso:

Anzac Biscuits
Serving size: Serves 10 or more Cooking time: Less than 60 minutes
You can make these biscuits as large or as small as you like & can be eaten as soon as they have cooled. Biscuits can be stored in airtight containers a week or frozen for up to 2 months.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup (45g) desiccated coconut
125g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

METHOD

Combine oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut in large bowl. Combine butter, golden syrup and the water in small saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until butter is melted; stir in soda. Stir mixture into dry ingredients.Place rounded teaspoons of mixture 5cm apart on lightly greased oven trays; bake in moderately slow oven about 20 minutes or until biscuits feel slightly firm. Use spatula to loosen biscuits on trays; cool on trays.

(Source: Australian Women's Weekly)