paper liners
A while back I began making muffin tin liners from folded baking paper. They looked like tulips and prevented the batter from overflowing. Then I was tidying a drawer and found 100s of paper patty pans. Some were plain, some were coloured, some had a Christmas theme and some look like they’re made from lace! There was a time in my life when I bulk cooked cupcakes for school lunch boxes, birthday parties and weekend snacks.
White chocolate and raspberry muffin
Although I threw some of the cases out, I kept others. I carefully measured the amount of batter to fill the liner so it would cook without overflowing. Now I know how much batter to put in the old fashioned icecream scoop to make a nice sized muffin with no eruptions needing scraping and scrubbing.
proteas
My Mother really liked pink proteas. They are native to South Africa and flourish in Australia. Their nectar attracts birds, bees and other insects. They typically bloom in winter. The blooms are long lasting both on the bush and as cut flowers. They are similar to the native West Australian banksia. Not surprising when you consider that W.A. was once joined to South Africa in Gondwanaland.
When I saw these for sale I bought a bunch, came home and painted one. I had put it in a jar on the table so I could closely inspect the shades of pink and green. Suddenly, the jar toppled over under the weight of the flower and drenched one of my other paintings.
Water damaged painting of sweet peas. Some time ago I soaked some sweet pea seeds overnight then planted them to grow up a frame. None germinated. There was one seed left over which I poked into an empty pot as I was coming back inside. It is thriving.
The water seeped onto another finished painting, changing the colour of the blooms of the sweet peas. I tried to resurrect the original mauve colour but it was determined to stay blue. Shame, because I really liked the painting.
Peonies don’t grow locally. I really like them and used to buy them frequently when we lived in China. These were bought locally by my husband and lasted two weeks. So pretty!
martha stewart
When we lived in China I became a huge fan of Martha Stewart. A neighbour in our compound had her friend in America record and send regular videos of Martha’s program to her in China. I loved those programs! Her gardens, her farms and her recipes and flower arrangements were all in sharp contrast to the way we were living. I ordered her cookbook, which amazingly was delivered in about a week.
We could sometimes get potatoes at the market. I tried buying potato salad from Daily Living, a shop for gweilo, but tinned potato salad is very gluggy and strangely sweet. So I followed a Martha Stewart recipe to make our own. Her recipe was simple: steamed potatoes, white vinegar, green onions, salt, pepper and bought mayonnaise. I made my own mayonnaise. So today, when I noticed the potatoes were beginning to sprout, I peeled about seven and steamed them. The original recipe suggested leaving the peel on. Obviously, I didn’t. Then into the vinegar with the white parts of the onions to soak for a little while. Then I scraped it all into the mayonnaise and added the green part of the onion.
We ate it warm. My husband is not a big fan of potato salad but liked this while it was still warm. I loved it. Simple, quick and delicious for lunch with leftovers.