May 2023 – MakeCookGrow.com

Shopping in Bali and Good Books

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After two weeks in Bali we are back in Perth and back to our old routines. We left Bali on a sunny 30C° day and arrived back in Perth to overcast skies and 20°C. So getting all the washing dry has been challenging. The garden has obviously enjoyed the rain and will need attention later.

I’ve been asked about shopping in Bali. There’s everything from open fronted stalls to grand new malls. We went back to a shopping centre in Kuta where my husband bought quality boat shoes four years ago and were pleased to find they still have that brand, so he bought another pair! He wears size 46 (12) shoes and they had his size.

A bit squashed straight from the suitcase.

Wandered around the same department store and found cashmere scarves. Obviously not big sellers in Bali, they were being offered at 50% off the original price. We have two new scarves. We have found unexpected things to buy in Bali each visit.

Cashmere scarves found in Bali.

The next day we went to one of the newer, big shopping malls. I don’t normally shop at H&M and there isn’t one close to us in Perth but there was one at this shopping mall. I have a new shirt. The tag says it is made from 95% organic cotton and it replaces a very old striped T-shirt I have worn for many, many years. There were a few other clothing shops, lots of optical shops, Watsons pharmacy, tech shops and so many food outlets. (The entrance to many new shopping centres is off the main road. You’ll probably need to ask the person at the valet parking desk at the entrance to phone for a taxi unless someone is dropped off in one and you can grab it)

The price and information tags are attached by cotton threads, not strips of plastic.

So many shops everywhere selling clothes in every price range, shoes, too, and lots of decor shops but the most surprising thing was the number of tattoo shops! So many. Lots of lovely woven baskets with and without linings but I have so many baskets already. Some gorgeous jewelry, too, and other small items.

Food to prepare at your villa or room is available at various shops. Although we buy crackers and cheese, icecream and punnets of strawberries I haven’t bought things to cook or prepare. If we are hungry we order in or wander down the road. I cook all the time here but not in Bali. I am on holidays!

READING

We are keen readers and take books when we travel we’ll both read. The Ann Cleeves thriller The Heron’s Cry was in this category. Cleeves is probably best known for her Vera and Shetland detective series. Interestingly, Ann Cleeves’ first name is actually VERA. This book is one of her new Two Rivers series featuring Detective Matthew Venn and is the second one I’ve read.

Cleeves weaves clever tales with many twists and turns. This is a story about current issues in society, such as struggling small towns in the UK, suicide and the inability of health services to provide necessary services and the impact on families when one member is involved in a long running and complex murder enquiry.

It’s a great thriller and we both enjoyed it. We leave the books we have finished in the office for other guests to read. I like to borrow books from the library when we’re not traveling as we have so many, already, but take paperbacks on holidays.

Are you a fan of Redoutè’s gorgeous floral engravings and paintings? You’ll recognize his paintings everywhere, especially on gift cards, notebooks and address books because they are so beautiful. A lovely Mother’s Day gift, I am reading Pierre Joseph Redouté The Book of Flowers published by Taschen. Redouté, is referred to as the ‘Raphael of flowers’ for his exquisite, naturalistic paintings and engravings. This book features engravings from his Roses, Selection of the Most Beautiful Flowers and Lilies collections.

The works featured in this 500 page book are all amazingly accurate and very beautiful but just as interesting is the historical information about the time and the focus on gardens, herbariums and horticulture generally. The advancement in printing the engravings and watercolours, plus the developments in mass publications are all addressed, too.

Included is Redoutè original index of plants, plus a modern index reflecting reclassifications. A hefty tome, overflowing with glorious paintings and masses of information. An excellent reference book for gardeners, artists and historians. Redouté paintings feature on my address book, a notebook , an old diary I’ve kept for the beautiful pictures and several postcards so a very welcome gift!

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Lucky Bay, a West Australian Beach at Esperance, named by the explorer Matthew Flinders, is named the Most Beautiful Beach In The World.

So as the Southern hemisphere heads into winter the Northern Hemisphere heads into summer. Enjoy the special aspects of each seasons where ever you are in the World!

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7 Things About Bali

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We love Bali. For years we visited regularly but Covid prevented us from coming for three years. Now we’re back! We stay at the same villa, we’ve visited old friends, caught up with the wonderful staff here, eaten at our favourite restaurants and cafes and found a few new ones, had massages and reflexology and spent hours in the pool, chatting and bobbing about. It is wonderful! Here are a few things you need to know before you come to Bali. All interspersed with photographs of food because the food in Bali is wonderful.

SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BALI

ONE Bali is 8° south of the Equator so you will burn easily just walking around. It is very hot most months of the year. Bring a 50SPF sunscreen and reapply after swimming, wear a hat and stay in the shade in the hottest part of the day. The streets are full of badly burnt tourists! Be especially careful to protect young children from burning.

Not glamorous but good protection in the pool. I wear a rash top in the pool and add a hat when I’m not actually swimming. Rash tops, which look like fitted shirts, are made out of spandex, polyester or nylon manufactured with UPF, (ultraviolet protection factors) and provide some protection from the sun. They are most effective used in conjunction with sunscreen.

I love being in the pool! Instead of just counting steps every day I like to keep a tally of laps, too. These are my lap markers, which worked well until there was a gust of wind and they blew away!

TWO The Balinese are hospitable people and very welcoming. They don’t like confrontation. Stay calm and polite and a solution will be found.

THREE Clothing needs to be cool and protective. The Balinese are modest and tolerant but be mindful about what is on display. There’s clothing for sale in Bali to suit every budget. Explore and enjoy!

FOUR Taxis are everywhere and very affordable. You can choose from cars, motorbikes and scooters. Always check the taxi has a meter or negotiate a price before setting off. Tipping isn’t common but you can easily round the price up or have a small denomination note ready to give to the person providing the service, such as a masseuse, as you leave.

It’s late autumn in Western Australia and my feet have been hidden in shoes and boots so straight in for a pedicure .

The family legs lined up for an hour of reflexology. Not quite traditional Chinese reflexology, but it’s very good, anyway.

FIVE Authorized Money Changers advertise their rate outside the building and are more reliable than exchanging money on the street where it is hard to count reliably. There’s ATMs but the exchange/withdrawal sequence can be different from what you are used to and can be confusing.

Make sure you stay well hydrated.

SIX The food in Bali is amazing and affordable. Online restaurant reviewers are the most up-to-date source of information as more and more cafes and restaurants open or reopen after the pandemic. We usually eat breakfast at the villa then go out for a remarkable lunch and then snack on something light for dinner. Old favourites, Chandi’s ( accompanied by a jug of margaritas!) and Mamma San feature every few days but there are many choices to suit all budgets.

Sometimes late in the evening you need emergency supplies delivered to the villa.

SEVEN Bali belly, or gastro, can happen any time! Don’t eat from street stalls unless the food is taken out of a fridge to be cooked for you as you wait such as at a local warung. Otherwise, visit local cafes and restaurants. There are so many! It’s best to also carry anti-diarrhoea medication and re-hydrating products, just in case. There’s Apotek/Pharmacies with basic supplies. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhorea and will probably resolve within 12 hours otherwise seek medical advice.

Bali is known for its amazing beaches, beautiful mountains, terraced rice paddies, lush tropical forests and the warm welcome from the local people.Know as The Island of the Gods, there are temples in the eastern corner of every family compound and everywhere else, too. If you’re lucky, you will see one of the many parades and performances at a temple, celebrating special religious days, weddings or other events.

Dinner in Nusa Dua with dear Balinese friends at Mr Bob Bar and Grill. Really good food. We enjoyed ribs and steaks, imported from Australia. They were the best! Attractive building, attentive staff and a good night out. If you’re interested in genuine Balinese cuisine, he has another restaurant behind the Bar and Grill. We’ll go there next time!

Being in Bali is very relaxing. You can be busy sight seeing, snorkeling, swimming or surfing. You can eat fabulous food. You can indulge in massages, spa treatments and our favourite, reflexology. You can do a yoga class, just relax in the pool, catch up on emails or read a book.

We celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary while we were here. Housekeeping Staff saw our cards so we arrived back from lunch to this lovely surprise!

It was also Mother’s Day during our stay. We were lucky our son was able to join us for just over a week so we celebrated the day at one of our favourite restaurants. Such a lovely day.

Have you been to Bali? Tell me your favourite Bali stories.

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Preventing Breast Cancer, Tarts and Mystery Chicken Dinner

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GARDENING, OTHER EXERCISES AND CANCER PREVENTION

An article I read last week makes some interesting comments about exercise, gardening and the prevention of breast cancer. We know what we eat and how much we eat, how active we are and how much sleep we get are fundamental aspects of our well being.

The article from The Journal of Physical Activity and Exercise, published on the Mail Online News site summarises a study of 48 000 women in the UK and concludes daily light exercise, such as gardening, housework and walking can reduce the chance of developing breast cancer by 21%

a woman in a blue top and leggings is on a pink exercise ball

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Being active for 5 hours and 45 minutes seems to have the most impact on preventing breast cancer. The 48 000 participants wore fitness trackers to determine their daily activity. The researchers also considered age, weight, alcohol consumption and smoking histories, all contributing factors in developing breast cancer. It is not clear if genetics such as a family history of breast cancer were considered as part of the research.

Before feeling overwhelmed by this amount of activity consider the steps taken getting to and from work, at work, doing the shopping, cleaning and generally attending to daily activities. Add some weight bearing exercises and you will be close to the daily target. To determine the amount of exercise suited to age, weight, health and current fitness level just search online. There’s a wealth of information.

woman in blue dress shirt and blue denim jeans standing beside brown wooden chair

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Recognising gardening as being good for your health is great! I like gardening. I wander out the back first thing in the morning to have a look around, I often do some tidying up during the day and water in summer in the evening as well as walk around out there talking to my Mother on the phone every night. My minimum step goal each day is 12 000 steps, some in the high intensity range but a lot are accrued incidentally.

So now that gardening is identified as a healthy activity, here’s a brief update of what’s happening in our garden.

This frequently blooming canna continues to please with brightly coloured flowers. I’m often asked what it is called and I don’t know! My mother grew it at the farm and she has it at her new house, I grew some , too. It was growing in a garden bed but it was so vigorous I dug it up and put it is pots. So pretty.

The hollyhock seeds have germinated as have the stock seeds, planted in a recycled dip container. I will plant them soon and add ranuncula corms to entice bees to the garden. We enquired about ‘hosting’ a beehive in our garden and were told it was too crowded. Shame, it seems bees need a bigger runway than we can supply.

PUMPKIN, FETA AND CARAMELIZED ONION TART

Needed to take finger food to an At Home movie night so decided to make a tart. Roasted some butternut pumpkin, caramelized some onions and crumbled some fetta. I had intended to use crumbled stilton but decided it might be too rich. ( So I ate it instead) Lined the tart tin with pastry and blind baked it, then added the other ingredients plus beaten eggs and milk, sprinkled fresh rosemary on top and baked it. Delicious.

How something that tasted so wonderful could look so unattractive is a mystery but I think it’s the caramelized onion which looks black, not luscious brown and richly flavoured.

Turned the leftover pastry, feta, onions and butternut pumpkin plus eggs and milk into a smaller, rather rustic pie to eat on the weekend.

What is the difference between a tart and flan? Both are open topped and generally pastry based but a tart can have a savoury or sweet filling but a flan is generally sweet. Despite finding agreement in these definitions I have seen both terms used to refer to both sweet and savoury dishes.

CHICKEN DINNER

I thought I was pretty particular about labeling leftover food before I put it in the freezer. Apparently not, so the container of chicken I thawed to make something for dinner was a bit of a mystery. I added leftover roasted butternut pumpkin, leftover caramelized onion and half a cup of peas. Turns out the chicken had a slight curry flavour and went well with the other flavours. Mystery dinner was great but I’ll never be able to repeat it as it will never taste quite the same. And I’ll be sure to label containers before I put them in the freezer.

CINNAMON SCROLLS

Then the weather changed and it really started to feel like autumn even though winter is only a month away.My thoughts drifted to cosy, warming afternoon tea food. I made cinnamon scrolls. The soft, satisfying dough, kneading and adding cinnamon and sugar and rolling them out resulted in fat little scrolls.They smelt so good while they baked. When they were cool I added drizzled icing. We fell on these cold weather treats. Luckily there were some left for breakfast, too.

Did you watch the coronation?

This frequently blooming canna continues to please with brightly coloured flowers. I’m often asked what it is called and I don’t know! My mother grew it at the farm and she has it at her new house, I grew some for my son and of, course, we have some. It was growing in a garden bed but it was so vigorous I dug it up and put it is pots. So pretty.

The hollyhock seeds have germinated as have the stock seeds, planted in a recycled dip container. I will plant them soon and add ranuncula corms to entice bees to the garden. We enquired about ‘hosting’ a beehive in our garden and were told it was too small. Shame. A lot of alysium seedlings have have self seeded in the same area.

An article I read last week makes some interesting comments about exercise, gardening and preventing breast cancer. We know what we eat and how much we eat, how active we are and how much sleep we get are fundamental aspects of our well being.

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Eating, Reading and Stealth Wealth

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EATING

Made a Spanish Tortilla to share at a neighbourhood breakfast. It takes quite a while to ‘construct’ but tastes very good, hot or cold and has no meat or dairy products so good if you don’t know your guests’ dietary regimes. A Spanish Tortilla is not related to a Mexican tortilla; they are flour based flatbreads intended to hold meat or vegetables.

A kilo (2.2lbs) of thinly sliced potatoes, two onions, six eggs, some salt and olive oil becomes a delicious tortilla, wonderful hot or cold.

The Spanish Tortilla, also known as Tortilla de Patatas or Tortilla de Papas is a mix of potatoes, onions, salt and eggs, cooked in olive oil. It is most like an omelette or a quiche filling without the pastry.

Still eating salads and enjoying local prawns (shrimp). Actually, the weather is finally cooling down. Now the rain has come. This usually means soups or stews and casseroles bubbling away in the slow cooker. I only buy seasonal fruit and vegetables so that dictates the soup flavours I make.

READING

Have you read any of Elizabeth Strout’s books? Probably the best known are the Olive Kitteridge stories, Olive Kitteridge and Olive Again. Then I read My Name Is Lucy Barton, Oh William and I’ve just finished Lucy By The Sea. The characters in many of the books slightly overlap which adds depth to these stories.

As usual, a library book. The EXPRESS stickers means it is a popular book so you can only borrow it for a week.

Lucy By The Sea is a Covid story which makes it very different from the other books I mentioned. Lucy, now widowed, is persuaded by her ex-husband William to leave New York and isolate in a house on the coast of Maine with him. Lucy is still feeling fragile and a bit lost after the death of her next husband. She takes a long time to settle in Maine, in isolation.

This story reminded me of how protected we were from the horrors of Covid. She writes about freezer trucks in the streets storing the deceased, mass graves and friends dying . But the story is also about her relationship with her beloved daughters, who are also experiencing all sorts of problems living in isolation. Their daughters are shocked by her reconciling with her ex-husband, their father, as they’d be shaken and hurt by his infidelity and had helped her through the trauma.

This is a thoughtful book about childhood experiences, the power of education, marriage and families and unpredictable circumstances changing everything. Another great book from Elizabeth Strout.

STEALTH WEALTH

Apparently gathering momentum for some time but I have only just become aware of this world wide movement. Stealth Wealth, also known as Quiet Luxury, is about being discreetly wealthy, so no flashy cars, no clothes with logos or distinctive, bright patterns. Some define the movement as protecting yourself from scams when all your information is on line and easy to hack. It is also a reaction to constant consumerism.

It’s all about pared back investment pieces you’ll wear forever and no logos! I see it as a way to buy fewer things by choosing good quality purchases and taking care of them.

There’s lots of reasons stated for following this lifestyle. The main aim is to function below the radar, to not draw attention to yourself. This is to do with your security. Living below your means so you don’t attract burglars and scammers. I’d like to think you’d also consume less, too.

Image Dreamstime.

There’s suggestions about jewellery, clothing, housing, entertaining and even hairstyles. Comfortable, classic furniture features which makes sense if you’re keeping it for years. Other articles talk about the reduction in stress as you’re not competing. Living below your means apparently is very relaxing.

The other thing about quality clothing in classic styles is less landfill. Australians are amongst the highest consumers of fast fashion, most of which becomes landfill after being worn a few times. Clothing made from wool, cotton, linen and other natural fibres last and last and will eventually disintegrate. No plastic microbeads are released into the water system with each wash, either.

Another interesting sign of Stealth Wealth is buying designer handbags without evident branding. These are made from the best quality materials and designed to last. Carefully chosen, they will last years. I know because 25 years ago my husband gave me a handbag which I still use most days of the week. The only branding is stamped into the leather and only on one side and on the padlock. The zip still works, there’s no scuffing, the stitching is even and strong and the lining is perfect. I rub R. M. Williams Leather Dressing into it about once a year and it looks great. Per use it has been extraordinarily economical.

The article I read about keeping your cars for years and buying mid-range new cars mentioned how the aristocracy in the UK get around in old Land Rovers. I immediately thought of Vera, the main character in a UK detective series of the same name, who has recently upgraded her inherited Land Rover to a newer model, but probably wouldn’t like to be thought of as a trend setter! Neither would my husband whose very comfortable and reliable car was made in 2007. He has no intention of trading it for something newer.

So the message seems to be buy less but buy long lasting quality items and live below your means. Easy, relaxing and sustainable!

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