While Les Shearman of Darlington proclaims, “Let the warmongers eat yellowcake”, other readers were keen to don their diplomatic toques in the search for AUKUS biscuits (C8). Like Joy Cooksey of Harrington, who thinks “they need NZ, C, and J added, to solidify and sweeten the mix, and to prevent cookie crumbling chaos.” John Walter of Atlanta, Georgia (USA) suggests this breakdown: “A - One kilogram of rolled oats, UK - One pound of flour and US - Four pounds of sugar, sweeten to taste.”

And while we’re baking, Carole Dawes of Randwick has an update on her search for the ultimate rock cake from last year: “Apologies to Hank’s Kitchen (Grafton), but Nabiac Bakery has just surpassed you by a whisker, or rather a dollop. Travelling from Sydney to Queensland, I took a break at Nabiac and spied rock cakes at the bakery. They were fabulous, the dollop of raspberry jam on top was definitely the winning difference. The chap in front of me purchased six, with good reason.”

Elizabeth de Rooy of Mangerton and Michael Britt of MacMasters Beach are angrily trailing John Elmgreen (C8) regarding the New Guinea campaign, with Michael advising that “Kokoda Trail was an Americanism which greatly annoyed my father, a World War II serviceman: ‘It’s the bloody Kokoda Track,’ he’d growl. ‘And they’re not cowboys, they’re ringers’.”

More damn Yankees! “Just heard a promo for Vivian Bullwinkle’s book on ABC radio, where the word ‘lieutenant’ was pronounced ‘loo-tenant’,” says army daughter Vicki McLean of West Ryde. “More Americanisation of our language?”

“Is there any chance Granny, that you can talk George Manojlovic (C8) into sharing the name of the moonshine he was partaking in when he saw the southern lights all the way up there in Norway?” asks Jack Dikian of Mosman.

Richard Murnane of Hornsby advises Sputnik spotter Ken Finlayson (C8) that he can relive that magical feeling by visiting NASA’s Spot the Station website, which will alert him when the International Space Station is visible from his home (usually shortly before dawn or after sunset). The Find Starlink website offers something similar for SpaceX fans.”

“In the early ’60s, beer (C8) was a shilling - 12 pence a middy and 20 pence for a pint,” recalls Warren Menteith of Bali. “As poor thirsty students, we’d buy a pint, grab an empty middy glass and split it to savemoney.”

Column8@smh.com.au

No attachments, please. Include

name, suburb and daytime phone