Decorating – Page 4 – MakeCookGrow.com

How To Store Food

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Do you know the best ways to store the food you buy? Planning what you’ll make with what you’ve bought reduces food waste. Appropriate storage is part of this, too. I didn’t really know which fruit and vegetables went into the fridge or not so years ago I researched the best way to store food.

Here’s the basic food storage list. We live in a country with very hot, dry summers, so our storage needs will be different from cooler areas. Consider your climate and make adjustments according to the seasons, too.
Onions shouldn’t be stored in the fridge, nor should avocados, peaches and other stonefruit and melons until they ripen. Once I’ve cut an avocado I wrap the remaining half with the stone still in it in a large silicone wrapper. There’s some clever reusable capsules available for storing cut avocados but I haven’t tried them .

Eggs, carrots, apples and oranges should go in the fridge. The problem here for me is I like the apples and oranges in a fruit bowl where I can see them. I only buy a few at a time so they’re eaten fresh. Garlic should also be kept in the fridge. All berries go in the fridge, too.

Once you’ve opened tomato sauce it should also be stored in the fridge to limit bacteria and mold developing. Same with opened jams, chutneys, mustards and tomato paste. Leftover tomato paste can be frozen in icecube trays then popped into containers and the individual cubes can be quickly thawed when required.
Bread is one of the most wasted foods in many houses. It should be stored in the fridge. It is easy to remove as much as you’ll use in a day and store the rest in the freezer. It takes us ages to use a loaf, so I freeze it and remove a few slices when needed. The more you put in your freezer the more effectively it keeps things frozen. Before you throw leftover bread in the bin, consider making breadcrumbs or croutons which will keep for ages, or a bread and butter pudding.

Leafy greens ( lettuce, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, celery, spinach) should go in the fridge. Years ago I bought (from Tupperware) a celery keeper and a lettuce keeper. Both work really well. Fresh peas and beans, in the fridge too, and beetroot. None of these should be kept for more than a few days. Leftovers make great vegetable soup, risotto or fritattas. Add leftover herbs, too.

Fresh herbs are tricky to keep fresh! Most can be stored in the fridge for two days but you can also put them in a glass of water and they stay fresher long. If you have room, pot up the herbs you use most often and they’ll always be fresh.

Potatoes should be stored in cardboard boxes, wicker trays, or lined drawers, not in plastic and not in the fridge.

There’s so much information online about safe food storage which will help reduce food wastage.

Apart from fresh produce most of us have an array of dried produce stored. I like clear containers so I can see what I have and what needs topping up. For years my favourite canisters have been recycled glass jars. They are a good size, I can see what’s in them and they fit and stack well on the shelf in the pantry. I can wash them in the dishwasher and they’re not so heavy I can’t grab one in one hand in a hurry.

After many years of constant use the labels have become tatty. Went searching for new labels online. I wanted an attractively shaped label with an outline. The design needed to be editable so I could add my own ingredient list as so many of the ones I saw listed things I’d never need.

My first choice was just written food names with no borders. Not what I thought I wanted but they do look fresh and clean. Printed them off and set about transferring them to packing tape to transfer onto the glass. I taped each onto packing tape, burnished each with a soup spoon and dropped them into the water bath, just as directed.

That’s when things went wrong. Was I using the wrong sort of packing tape, didn’t I leave the labels in water long enough? Instead of print staying on the tape when I rubbed off the wet paper, everything came off! After many attempts I accepted the stickers weren’t working, so just wrote the ingredients on tape and stuck it on the jar.

Problem number two: I couldn’t read the label on the jar once I put something dark, like peppercorns or brown lentils, in it! New plan involved printing a new set of labels and photocopying a drawing which I cut in half. Then I glued the food label in the middle. Looked too big, trimmed some off the top and bottom of the image then it looked fine.

Floral image from Shutterstock.

Fiddled about for ages trying to decide on the size I wanted and whether they should have a border.

Meanwhile, I emptied the jars and washed and dried them in the dishwasher. The lids went outside on a tray. It was 38ºC so they dried quickly. Then, labels attached with a rectangle of Contact, ingredients poured in and all back on the shelves in the pantry. Not what I imagined but they do look fresh and clean.

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Fine Bone China, Spring Flowers, Grazing Platters and a Book Review

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fine bone china

This is my ever growing collection of fine bone china mugs. I generally drink double espressos, so about 150ml of coffee, and I really like drinking from these mugs! They are illustrated with rollicking and frolicking mice and are a pleasure to use.

I first discovered Anita Jerman’s whimsical designs years ago when my son gave me a card featuring her Two Bad Mice design. He was attracted to it initially as the mice are very similar to ones I’ve been drawing for years. Loved the card and my first Two Bad Mice 300ml mug followed. These fine bone china mugs are hand decorated in Staffordshire, England and portray the mice involved in everyday activities, such as eating cake (Sugar Mice), painting (Art Club), shopping (Retail Therapy) , frolicking with the butterflies and flowers (Urban Jungle) and enjoying each other’s company (For You)

The thin lip makes these mugs lovely to drink from. They are illustrated on the outside and the inside and there’s always a little message at the bottom, to entertain you when you’ve drained the last drop!

spring flowers

This has been a bumper year for all the spring flowers in Western Australia. The roses have been blooming like mad! Some of these are from my Mother’s garden and some are from our garden. The flowers at the back are alstromerias which grow year after year and would happily inhabit the entire garden. They need to be kept firmly in their assigned bed!

grazing platters and a bed bowl

I can’t remember what we called platters of finger food before they became grazing platters. Surrounded by bowls of other finger friendly foods, the platters are an easy way to entertain. I made these as it was my husband’s turn to host his book club this week and the focus is on the books, so easy to handle food is essential. Nothing hot or fussy, just tasty, easily picked up, finger food.

I place various cold meats and cheeses, a soft, a firm and a blue veined, on the platter, then add quince paste ( plus fig and walnut paste this time), strawberries, two types of meat and a variety of crackers. I put a tub of hommus or dip in the centre of each platter, too. Other bowls held cherries, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, cashews, olives and more crackers. Add side plates and napkins and the food is done.

This morning I finished reading Ian Rankin’s latest book, A Song For The Dark Times in bed, before I got up. The minute I put it down my husband picked it up and didn’t move for a long time. I made him tea and took him a bed bowl, a little relative of the grazing platter, involving cashews, strawberries, cherries and blueberries with some crackers. He’s not a big fan of cheese, which is good, as I’m happy to eat the leftovers from the previous nights feasting. Bowls are easier than flat plates for eating in bed.

reading

This book is about planning and building affordable energy efficient and water wise housing. Many of the tips are relevant to existing houses and also a good reminder about doing easy things to use less water and energy.

Josh Byrne is a presenter on Gardening Australia, a weekly gardening program on television. He is globally recognised for his research into efficient use of water and energy. His ideas about using main stream builders and materials to create efficient housing make his recommendations affordable. The process he describes for choosing where to build and how to build is easily understood and often thought provoking.

Byrne shares ideas about monitoring the ‘effectiveness ‘ of your existing house and also how to maximise these aspects in new builds. Each of the eight chapters encourages consideration of each step in building, renovating or just refining current aspects of your house to make it more efficient.

An interesting book, full of information. As usual, I borrowed it from the library. A quick search of your local libraries online catalogue will reveal many books about making the most of your local environment and living more efficiently.

Some saints

December 4th is Saint Barbara’s Day. Venerated as an Auxiliary Saint or Holy Helper, she is the patron saint of artillerymen and miners. In more recent years her authenticity was considered questionable and she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969.

December 6th is Saint Nicholas Day. Saint Nicholas, a Greek priest was a Bishop in the early Catholic Church. He gave up all his belongings to follow Christ. He gave freely to needy people, but especially to children. He was well known for throwing gold coins into the windows of poor homes. St Nicholas became part of European culture.

In the 1800s, in America, Saint Nicholas began to evolve into Santa Claus, but gold coins, both real and chocolate ones still feature for many children at Christmas, a remnant of Saint Nicholas’s kindness and charity.

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Working, Decorating and Cooking and Eating

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I have been working for the past three weeks. I worked as an invigilator or supervisor for final year secondary school exams. This year has been very different for all schools and especially disrupted for final years students.

We have been very lucky and safe in Western Australia. Until recently, the hard border isolating WA from the other states of Australia meant our only CV-19 cases were people returning from overseas. These cases were managed with well organised quarantine arrangements. A range of assessments will be considered for university entrance to reflect this disruption.

Starting on Wednesday I am back to my usual occupations including Pilates, Mahjong and Yoga. Working is stimulating and satisfying but returning to my usual day to day activities is relaxing . Well, Pilates isn’t relaxing, but I’m sure it is good for me!

advent calendar

When our son was little we had a lovely fabric Advent Calendar with numbered pockets. These had tiny boxes of Lego, gold coins, chocolate treats and other toys tucked into them for him to discover as we counted down to the Big Day. We have no need of an Advent Calendar now, but I couldn’t resist this wooden house with it’s tiny drawers. The inside of the drawers is painted red, which I really like. Slowly filling them with grown up treats such as chocolates, messages about fun things to do each day including special walks for Louis, the dog and some lottery tickets. Christmas is different when there are no small children visiting.

framing botanical prints

The prints framed.

The rather gorgeous print from KMart and the newly framed botanical print.

My Mother gave me these two prints, a tulip and a hippiastrum (amaryllis). I paint botanical water colours and have done so for years. I was going to frame these in Ikea frames but the dimensions just weren’t right for the size of the prints. Walking through KMart I saw a gorgeous floral wall print but what really attracted me was the dimensions of the frame. It was perfect for my botanical prints! Bought two. Then I pondered for ages about mounting boards. Eventually I decided to try doing that myself, too, and bought some heavy (300gsm) Arches Water Colour paper. It is thick with a slight texture.

The dimensions of the frame with this art print were just what I wanted to frame the botanical print.

Positioned the print and then measured the area to cut out. Ruled the lines, used a trimmer to remove the centre piece then used UHU glue to adhere the print to the mount along the top.

Removed the original staples along the sides and base, but re-used those along the top. I didn’t remove the top ones but simply tilted the backing board, inserted the newly mounted print and pushed the backing board back into position within the frame. I had no way of re-stapling, so I used tape instead to secure the backing board.

Repeated for the second print, which was a bit faster to do as I knew what I was doing this time!

afternoon tea and DINNER

These chocolate strawberries are a new favourite. Strawberries are plentiful now and although melting the chocolate takes a while the actual dipping process is fast and easy. When all the strawberries have been dipped I put the tray in the fridge for a few hours before serving. They are proving to be very popular and pretty, too. Search for an online tutorial.

An early afternoon tea so I served light, easy finger food. This was almost “finger” dessert! Apart from chocolate dipped strawberries, there’s Christmas cake, ginger biscuits, some bought Italian biscuits and Turkish Delight, crystallized ginger and chocolates. Quick, easy, delicious.

Tray bake dinner with sautéd cabbage. The butternut pumpkin “chips” were partially oven roasted, then the broccoli was added and finally, for the last 20 minutes, the salmon fillets. Drizzled with a marinade of 2 dessert spoons of mirin, soy and maple syrup with a generous squeeze of lime juice. I turned the fillets after 10 minutes to crisp up the skin.

The chopped up cabbage is pan fried in butter and when the edges start to brown or caramelise, I add a generous splash of Apple Cider Vinegar and let it all cook until the liquid has evaporated. Good grating of black pepper finishes it off. We really like cabbage cooked this way.

Using the same pan I cooked the cabbage in I roast some sesame seeds to sprinkle on the salmon to serve.

This will make two dinners for us as I will cook more vegetables to add to the leftover heated salmon and pumpkin chips. The remnant marinade keeps the salmon moist when reheating.

November 18th was World Princess Day. I have no idea how a princess celebrates her special day, but it did remind me the next series of The Crown has started. So have many articles disputing the accuracy of the events portrayed. It seems this series is loosely based on historical events, many occurring within living memory and open to interpretation depending on your political and social affiliations. This is a drama production, not a documentary.

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Sewing a Fish, Mending, Recycling, Celebrating and Growing

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SEWING a FISH

Our son has this gorgeous ceramic sardine shown above. Inspired by blogs written by Ann Wood (here) and Kate (here), who have both been making stitched fish, I gathered the materials to make a Christmas ornamental fish, too, based on this ceramic sardine.

I cut a pattern from paper, following Anne Woods template, but later I modified the fatness of the body to better reflect the shape of the ceramic sardine.

Sewed the fish pieces together, eventually. Went upstairs to my sewing machine and discovered it wouldn’t work. Baffling as I’d used it last weekend without any problem. Fiddled about but made no progress so went looking online. Thank you to all those wonderful sewers online who have written about solving problems with sewing machines. So helpful! I finally solved the problem and sewed the fish, leaving the tail open to stuff it.

Stuffed the fish with polyester wadding, poking it in with the scissor blade, then hand sewed the end of the tail. It could have been machine sewn, too, but this was just as easy.

Started pinning on pieces of ribbon, leaving enough on the middle one to create a hanger. Hand sewed the ribbons on when I was happy with their placement. Added a bead to make a hanging loop on the longer, middle ribbon then worked on the face. Tossed up between button eyes, as on the two blogs I refer to above, or sequins, which seem shiny and more fish like. Although I had lots of buttons to choose from I thought they all looked too big. The only sequins I could find looked strange, too, so I ended up stitching the eyes in place.

My mother harvested anything reusable off worn out clothes, including hundreds of buttons. I now have those jars of buttons. Looking through them was quite nostalgic as I recognised some from my childhood clothes.

The finished fish, ready to hang.

PERSIAN CARPET REPAIR

Running up and down the stairs, trying to get the sewing machine working meant I saw this chewed Persian carpet again and again. It’s not new damage; it’s the result of Louis teething one day when we were both at work six years ago. I’d done a temporary repair a few years ago but actually sat and fixed it properly today. Lots of stitching and trimming and eventually the edge is secure but a little misshapen. Louis lay next to me watching carefully. Such a help.

The finished repair. I used embroidery thread and some wool to secure the frayed edge.

MINIATURE PICTURE and EASEL

Last term our painting tutor gave us each a tiny canvas and easel to create our own miniature. She has a collection of traditional miniatures and some she has done herself. I painted a bird in a bird cage hanging from a branch. It was all right but not great. Time to repurpose the little canvas and easel.

Went looking for something to cover the painting and add interest to the little collection sitting under masses of pink roses.

Printed off a pretty peony image and glued it to the canvas leaving lots of paper to fold around the edges. I used Mod Podge to glue and seal the image. Smoothed the front and left it to dry, then folded and glued the edges. I cut the surplus paper from each corner to create a sharper edge, then glued them down, too.

Much prettier. Don’t know how long it will last before I want to change it again but for now the pretty pink peonies work well with the masses of pink Pierre de Ronsard roses I’m picking from the garden.

JACARANDA DRIVE

This time of the year the jacaranda trees are in full bloom. Heavy wind and rain has resulted in less dense flowers but I still really enjoyed driving around the older river suburbs to enjoy looking at the trees. My mother, who went to school in this area, remembers planting the jacarandas on Arbor Day. They are very beautiful.

CELEBRATING

Celebrated my birthday last week. Birthdays seem to come around rather too quickly these days. Way too many candles for my lime tart, but loved these number sparklers. Reminded me of Guy Fawkes night, which was such fun when we were children but was banned in Western Australia in 1967 to prevent personal injury and bushfires.

Our son came down from Kalgoorlie for the weekend and we celebrated my birthday by going to yum cha, one of our favourite family foods. We hadn’t been to the yum cha restaurant since early this year due to CV-19 concerns. We wont be going again for a while, either, as our hard borders came down last Friday night, allowing Australians from most other states to return or visit. Unfortunately the first plane load of visitors came from South Australia where there had been an unexpected CV-19 hotspot. We now wait to see if this means we now have active cases in Western Australia.

GROWING and PICKING

Cut the cos lettuce, washed the leaves and picked them over to remove any discoloured ones, then patted them really dry on a tea towel.

Planted a punnet of cos lettuce about two months ago and have begun eating them. Today I made a Caesar salad, without bacon as I didn’t have any left. Some recipes use anchovy paste in the dressing, I use finely chopped anchovies in mine. This is a classic salad using cos lettuce and tasted very good. A simple family lunch with cold roasted chicken, baby romano tomatoes, potato salad and the Caesar salad.

Friday November 13th was World Kindness Day. Well, that was easy enough to celebrate, wasn’t it?

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How to Marble Paper with Shaving Cream and What Is Countrycore?

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SHAVING CREAM MARBLED PAPER

For many years I have written a daily journal. I buy the red and black A5 sized notebooks you can easily find at news agencies. Recently these books have been available in other colours on the spine and corners, so easy to match with your chosen gift wrap covers. This is a convenient size to take traveling. I write with a fine 0.4 felt tipped pen as this doesn’t seep through the paper, discolouring the reverse page. I cover the front and back with gift wrap or some similar paper, leaving the spine uncovered.

Journals with traditional red spines and ones with pink spines. I’ve also seen these diaries with lime green and bright blue spines now available.

I glue a calendar in the back and also glue lining papers in the front and back covers. Up until now I have marbled the papers using non-toxic Japanese inks. (http://: https://www.makecookgrow.com/2017/08/how-to-marble-wi…water-based-inks/) Today I decided to try a technique I have used to decorate hard boiled eggs at Easter time, but not paper.

Japanese ink marbling

SHAVING CREAM MARBLED PAPER

Gather:

1. a can of shaving cream

2. several colours of food dye

3. paper to print on. I recycled A4 photocopy paper

4. a container bigger than the sheet of paper to be printed

5. protective plastic for your work surface

6. an old credit card, or similar rigid material to scrape the shaving cream off the paper.

7. rubber gloves. This way of printing is messy!

Shake the shaving cream vigorously then squirt it into the container until the base is covered. Spread to make a smooth surface, then drizzle with food dye. Mix the colours to create swirled patterns. I used a chopstick for this.

Smoothed the dye with gloved hands, drizzled food dye, swirled with a chopstick.

I flattened the cream a bit, then after squirting on the dye, placed the paper on top. Smoothed over the paper to ensure all of it was in contact with the dye.

When you’re happy with the colour distribution, smooth your paper over the surface, peel off and then scrape the surplus cream off the paper. Place flat to dry. Add other colours to the cream or just reuse the existing dye to print more papers. I don’t have an old credit card to scrape off the residual foam so used some stiff cardboard. It got very messy and needed replacing half way through the process.

This is a cheap and easy way to print faux marbled papers. The colours are generally stronger on recycled photocopy paper than when I print with water based Japanese inks. Other papers grip the colour differently.These are strong, vibrantly coloured patterns and I’ve decided I prefer the more traditional colours I achieve with Japanese inks.

I would do this activity outside if I was working with children as it is messy. I’d also recommend they wear art shirts or aprons. I used recycled A4 printer paper and bought food dye and shaving foam. I estimate my cost for this project to be less than AU$10. The Japanese inks I like to use cost about AU$50 but last a long time.

COUNTRYCORE

So what is Countrycore? Apparently, it is the biggest lifestyle trend during quarantine and it just passed me by! Countrycore is all about living like your Grandma did, supported by modern technology. It’s about living in an imaginary cottage in the country where you grow your own food and flowers, have animals, surrounded by peace and calm and nature. You bake and cook from scratch and practice many crafts to decorate your environment, relax and reuse materials. All this involves wearing floral, tiered dresses ( think Laura Ashley from the 1970s ) to go searching for mushrooms complete with wicker basket and hair ribbon.

So it’s like I lived as a child, growing up on a farm, surrounded by nature, chintz, wholesome food, animals, a make and mend attitude, but no floral frocks. I can only think of one frock photo and that featured a tulle petticoat. I generally wore hand-me-downs from my brothers, so there’s photos of me in jeans and checked shirts although Mum was keen on plaiting my hair, another Countrycore passion.. No mention on Instagram of over three hours a day spent on the school bus either! Nor milking the cow every third morning.

Social media is hopping with Countrycore lifestyle images and I can see the appeal of a slower life eating fresh food surrounded by nature. Apparently there’s over 700 000 posts on Instagram on the subject. I think many people have re-assessed how they live and what is really important to them during this year. And there are so many enticing photos on Instagram!

November 7th is NUMBAT DAY. Above is a photograph of a numbat (Myrmecobius faciatus) as you may not have seen one before. Numbats are a small marsupial common in the south west regions of Western Australia although they used to be found in the east coast, too. They are threatened with extinction, with only about 1000 left in the wild.

We celebrate Numbat Day to draw attention to the need to conserve the species. Introduced predators such as foxes but particularly feral cats are threatening their survival. Unneutered cats left to wander and breed are threatening many small bush animals. The day focuses on responsible pet ownership and reminds us to never remove hollow logs, the natural home of numbats, from the bush.

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Modifying a Mat, Reading and Eating

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MODIFYING A MAT

Bought this mat to put in the laundry at the door going outside. This is where our dog, Louis, goes in and out. I chose this rough textured mat hoping it would remove some of the winter debris walked inside whenever he uses the door. Unfortunately, I soon realised the fringes on each end were getting tangled when Louis exited at speed, something he does if the dog next door barks, or the lady on the other side goes out her back door, or if a cat dares walk along our fence.

Initially, I thought I’d leave a smaller amount of the fringe exposed by partially covering it with hessian fabric tape, but changed my mind. So, pinned on the tape, sewed by hand along the top and then trimmed the fringe to make it shorter than the hessian edging. Then stitched along the bottom edge. It was hard work and I don’t know how many times I pricked my finger.

Enclosing the fringe in the hessian means the knots holding the mat together were still intact, just stitched inside the hessian edging. I couldn’t machine stitch the hessian onto the mat as it is too thick for my elderly, domestic sewing machine. But I’m happy with how it turned out and how well it is wearing.

READING

This is the year of vicarious travel for West Australians and many other people, too. Although we went of the Silo Art Trail and thoroughly enjoyed it and have another road trip booked, we cannot leave Western Australia due to the hard border.

So when I saw Janice MacLeod’s A Paris Year, My Day To Day Adventures In The Most Romantic City In The World I knew it would be high on my weekend list of things to read. Best known for her previous book, Paris Letters, MacLeod illustrates or photographs and writes about daily discoveries in Paris. She combines personal anecdotes along with historical information about landmarks, monuments and people.

Took me a while to tune into her handwritten text but once I did I really enjoyed this record of MacLeod’s year in Paris. Plus I learnt the history of things I’d seen, such as the Wallace Fountains, funded by Richard Wallace and all painted carriage green and intended to provide free, fresh water for those wandering around Paris. He created the fountains with each of the four sides decorated by a beautiful sister, representing kindness, simplicity, charity and sobriety.

A long but interesting love letter from MacLeod to Paris. I really enjoyed it. It’s a book you can flick through, reading those entries with illustrations or photos which appeal or read from the beginning to the end.

EATING

Fresh mulberries, picked this morning from an abandoned tree. Some of the berries were sweet and some were a little tart, but they tasted good, anyway. Served on sheeps’ yoghurt at breakfast. The immature berries at the front are good for removing the ripe berry stains.

Collateral damage. An abandoned mulberry tree is carpeted thickly with fallen, overly ripe berries. I had to scrub my shoes as the soles were stained and impacted with squashed berries. I had already scrubbed them before coming indoors.

Amazingly, the stained soles came clean after some vigorous scrubbing. I’ll be better prepared next time we go picking mulberries.

A wonderful snack! There isn’t an Aldi supermarket close to us but when we do go to one I always buy anchovies, ginger biscuits, their 1 kg tub of hommus and now, their spreadable Goats Cheese made in France. It is very good. I pick some chives from the garden and chop them, using kitchen scissors, into the cheese then spread it on a cracker.

We had planned to have fish for dinner so I was keen to try this David Herbert recipe in the Weekend Australian Magazine. This is his recipe for CANTONESE STYLE STEAMED FISH. Although the steamed fish follows the recipe, my bok choy wasn’t ready for picking but we had some cabbage and also fresh asparagus, so I used them instead. (https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/cantonesestyle-steamed-fish-and-garlic-prawns/news-story/2f12f44f1b9e7e957db748077abb272ere)

The fish, flavoured with ginger and sitting in a little water and Shaoxing wine, was steamed on a plate over boiling water for about five minutes. Then I added the finely cut cabbage and continued steaming until the fish was quite white and opaque.

The steamed fish was placed on the plate and then drizzled with the cooking juices, soy sauce and sesame oil and served with the cabbage, plus the asparagus which was steamed separately. This is not genuine Cantonese cuisine but we really enjoyed it!

More cooking, this time scones. Friends were coming for morning tea and it was wet and windy, so I made PUMPKIN SCONES. These are served steaming and hot straight from the oven, with butter. Butternut pumpkins are in season and plentiful, so we have been enjoying them roasted, too.

I used a recipe from a very old cookbook called The Golden Wattle Cookbook. Reliable recipes but I have to look up the Imperial measurements to convert them to metric.

Eaten hot from the oven, enjoyed with butter and good friends.

September 24th is WORLD MARITIME DAY. The United Nations Sustainable Development goals intended this day to showcase their work regarding “sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet”. Disrupted supply chains and severely reduced cruises traffic has shown clearly the damage shipping does to the environment.

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Eating, Reading and Decorating

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EATING

We went to the Farmers’ Market in Albany and bought these three small cabbages, a red cabbage, a savoy cabbage and a Chinese cabbage. They were very attractive.

I cooked the red cabbage in butter drizzled with apple cider vinegar. Crisp, crunchy and very tasty. Served with meatballs in a thick, garlicky tomato sauce. Delicious. I cooked the Chinese cabbage much the same way after I’d cut it in half longways and removed the very small core.

Removed the core from the miniature savoy cabbage and cooked it in olive oil with a splash of apple cider vinegar towards the end. I added it to leftover roasted pumpkin and sliced chicken breast to make a light lunch. The flavour of these small cabbages is very strong.

MORE EATING

Then on the weekend we ate at ANGEL’S HOUSE in Essex Street in Fremantle, run by Jeremy and Anthony Blanchet. We have eaten at Jeremy’s restaurants before and were always delighted at the food and presentation. The restaurant is located in a 1880’s heritage house and is fresh and modern. We were keen to try Angel’s House as soon as it opened. We were not disappointed.

Photo used with permission.

This French Bistro offers a small but perfect menu featuring classic French bistro food and both Australian and French wines. ( There is a new menu starting today, reflecting seasonal change) The dishes are beautifully prepared and presented and the wine list is varied and very good.

To begin we had French Onion Soup with Emmantal and Croutons and Salmon Gravlax with Celery Remoulade and Brioche Both were delicious. Followed up with Boeuf Bourguinon on Creamy Polenta and the amazing Cassoulet Toulousain. These were both hearty, traditionally prepared dishes, full of flavour and substance. Warm, tasty and delicious on a cold and windy day. Our lunch dishes were perfectly matched with Zarephath Pinot Noir and Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône.

Photo used with permission.

We ending this very satisfactory lunch with Poached Pear with Walnut Candy and Chantilly Creme and a Creme Brulée with Mandarin Confiture. My double espresso, the perfect way to finish a meal, was perfect! This is a gem of a restaurant. Highly recommended.

READING

So while we’re on a French theme, let me tell you about this gorgeous French magazine, My French Country Home.

This fabulous magazine about living in France is the work of the well known French based author and blogger, Sharon Santoni (here) and her team. I have read digital editions of the magazine and looked at subscribing but the postal charges to send it to Australian were a bit fierce! Then I asked my local library to subscribe and I get to enjoy the hard copy now. And I really, really enjoy it.

During this time when we have hard borders in Western Australia the magazine is a lovely glimpse into life outside our shores. The photographs are gorgeous, the stories engaging and the insight into life in France enticing. Now I just have to find an affordable way to have her divine seasonal French boxes delivered!

DECORATING

These pretty flowers are from the bok choy. It has gone to seed! So pretty, so I put them in a vase.

Some years ago I saw this mirror for sale in the eastern States. The cost, plus secure shipping, made it very expensive. I often thought about how much I liked it with is intricate, classic Chinese lacquer work. Then I was looking at an overseas decorator’s blog and saw it again. And really wanted it! Searched online for a few days and found it again, for sale, in the Eastern States.

Inspired by Chinese pagodas, it is carved from mahogany to look like faux bamboo and finished in a gloss black lacquer. It is heavy and large and joins three other mirrors in this room!

Ordered it at the beginning of the CV-19 crisis in Australia. Supply of so many things was disrupted so it took months to arrive. Now it hangs in our sitting room along with other Chinese influenced furniture and other decorator pieces, reflecting the years we lived in China. I love it!

Did you know September 1st was Letter Writing Day? Sending someone a letter takes effort. You need a pen, some paper and envelope and stamp and usually have to leave the house to post it. It takes days or even weeks to arrive at its destination. You consider the content more carefully than an email or quick text.

Letter writing was once the most common means of global communication. Apparently, the benefits of writing a letter include making the recipient happy, promoting mindfulness as you focus and consider what you write and generating self reflection. Time to write someone a letter?

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Everyday August Activities and Two Book Reviews

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August brings change as we move from winter towards spring in September, although there are few signs yet! We are experiencing very cold weather but I notice new growth in the garden.The days are already a little longer; it is lighter earlier and sunset is later. Time to finish pruning the roses and transplanting one which becomes overwhelmed every year by it’s huge neighbours. And I am watching the self seeded tomato closely, hoping the green tomatoes will turn red.

AUGUST FOOD

Winter eating! We like to shop for fruit and vegetables at a green grocer we’ve been going to for a long time. Lots of fresh produce to be eaten raw (apples, tomatoes and mandarins), roasted (sweet potato, butternut pumpkin, Dutch carrots) and steamed ( cabbage and broccoli) The limes and lemons are used mostly on fish. The clips around the fruit bowl are used to seal the top of bags, they aren’t for eating!

After a happy break from bread making I am back making my own sourdough. I have had to use the ‘proving’ setting on the oven to get the starter and then the dough to rise as it is very cold now. Well, cold for Western Australia! This homemade bread is simply made from sourdough starter, flour, water, a little olive oil and salt. It takes nearly two days from waking the starter to eating the cooled bread and is worth the effort.

Lunch for my mother. She has been staying for a few days to go to a specialist doctor’s appointment. She grew the lettuce. I added cheese, cucumber, ratatouille, mushrooms, hommus and crackers.

My husband has become a regular customer of a nearby bakery along with many, many other keen bread eaters, too. He loves their white loaf, thickly buttered and even more thickly covered in honey or marmalade. It is very good bread, but I prefer sourdough! Bread from this bakery comes wrapped in tissue paper.

WINTER ROAD RE-SURFACING

We went to look at this local road which has been re-surfaced with asphalt made from sustainable and recycled materials. The asphalt is made from more than 125 tonne of recycled materials including over 30 000 glass bottles, 50 000 plastic bottles and tyres and recycled asphalt. This has resulted in a durable and long lasting road surface considered to be equal to traditional road surfaces. This is the first recycled material surface in our area and only the second in Western Australia. This is a good way to use rubbish!

WINTER FLOWERS

I don’t remember another winter when the roses have flowered for so long or been so beautiful. I have benefited from my Mother’s garden, a neighbour’s generosity and a few remaining blooms from my own garden. The table is covered in vases of flowers and I love it!

The bromeliad blooms are such gorgeous colours but they droop almost as soon as they are cut. I used green garden wire to attach the blooms to recycled chopsticks!

Most of the roses have been pruned but the few remaining ones will be done tomorrow. We have three rubbish bins; a general one, one for recycling and the best one, for someone who can’t make compost, a bin for green waste. I like the green waste bin to be really full when it is emptied every fortnight. We have lots of roses so pruning is spread over two bin emptying days!

WINTER READING

I’m not really interested in magazines about clothes and celebrities or reality TV stars, but I love decorator magazines! I enjoy seeing how people live, how they integrate old and new but mostly, how they make their houses their own, how they show their interests and what they like to have around them.

So, when I picked up this decorator book by Tara Shaw, called SOUL OF THE HOME: Designing with Antiques, I was really interested. Then I read her comment about your house being your biography, a true reflection of your passions and interests. I really like individualistic houses, reflecting the owners. She says, ” Always feather your nest with things that are meaningful to you. You should be able to ‘read’ a great house just like a biography.”

This book is full of great houses and great ideas. Like so many books I read, and I read many, I borrowed it from the library.

The second book I’ve been reading is Michael Moseley’s FAST ASLEEP. I’m a MM fan after repairing my gut following his Clever Guts system from a book of the same name. It took a while but has been a great relief. Living with constant gut pain is very tiring.

Getting enough sleep is challenging at times. I have read about cognitive therapy recently to treat poor sleep but find this book far easier to follow. It includes information on diet, fasting, settling to sleep and how to ‘retrain’ yourself to get to sleep and stay asleep. All his ideas are backed by recent science. Still a work in progress for me but his system is easy to follow.

I’m not a fan of magazines in general but subscribe to lots of decorator magazines and country life magazines. Probably too many but I really enjoy them. My most recent haul of four magazines included two from the UK in paper or compostable wrappers. Good. The two Australian ones were delivered in plastic. Annoying, but I carefully slit the top and re-use the plastic but would prefer paper wrappers. The magazines from the UK always arrive safely.

This is National MISSING PERSONS WEEK in Australia. This program is organised by the Federal Police and aims to raise awareness about the significant number of people, particularly young people, who are reported missing every year. Of the approximately 35 000 people reported as missing each year in Australia, approximately 20 000 are under the age of 18.

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What’s in the Box, The Winter Garden, Mussels and a Book Review

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MATTRESS IN A BOX

We needed a new mattress and went to the bed shop to start looking at what was available. We’d done some online research and knew the level of support we’d prefer. The sales lady was lovely and showed us two suitable mattresses and we lay on both. They were very comfortable.

We went away to consider our options. Both mattresses recommended were expensive, but really about the price we’d expected from our research. Later that evening my husband was looking at information about the two recommended brands and came across a Choice ( consumer testing and recommendation publication) site which had assessed a range of Mattress in a Box products.

They rated very well. He looked at user reviews, most of which were very good, too. We started looking at what was available and decided we would try one! The obvious advantage was the price difference for a mattress with similar springs, latex, memory foam and other features. We’d been looking at the mattresses with bases costing $1800 and $2500. The boxed mattress delivered was a fifth of the cost of most expensive mattress.

The box finally arrived. We expected it to come within five days. We ordered 3rd of July, it arrived 24th of July after many, many texts and phone calls.

The compressed mattress is well protected and was clean and fresh. We rolled it out on the floor and left it to settle.

Wheezing and sighing, the mattress quickly decompressed and puffed up into a proper shape.

The literature which came with the mattress recommended leaving it 24 hours to fully expand. We have been unable to register the mattress to activate the warranty as the site doesn’t work. I’ll try scanning the Q code and see what happens.

After 24 hours it looked like a regular mattress. We re-used our previous base. The mattresses we looked at in the bed shop were pairs, that is a base and mattress.

The first tester is still assessing the comfort and suitability of the mattress. We will sleep on it tonight.

General Comments.

This is a very economical mattress by comparison but we could find no reviews from people who had slept on them for more than four years. We are happy to wait and see.

We ordered online and could only text the company representative. This became very frustrating as delivery was such a problem. Expected within days it actually took 21 days and that eventually involved daily texts and promises about delivery on Monday 13th, then Tuesday 14th, then “later in the week” so stayed at home Thursday and Friday. No mattress. Started texting again on Monday, then Tuesday 21st at which point we were sent a tracking number. The freight company didn’t recognise the number and it took A LOT of time and effort for them to find the box. It sat at their depot until Friday 24th July when it was delivered mid-morning. We were enormously inconvenienced by staying home waiting for delivery which failed to eventuate, day after day.

The mattresses we looked at in the bed shop were made in Australia. The mattress we bought gave no country of origin information online but is made in China.

CV-19 is very well controlled in Western Australia but we didn’t want to go into the bed shop and lie on mattresses. The pillows supplied were covered in protective sheets for our use but we’d rather avoid doing this again at this time.

THE WINTER GARDEN

The self seeded tomato was covered in flowers and I was very pleased to see some grow into fruit. I don’t know if they will mature into red tomatoes, but I have my fingers crossed.

The arum lily has begun to bloom, too. These are considered a weed in Western Australia but I really like the large, lush green leaves and the beautiful white bloom. I grow them in a garden bed where they can’t escape! I really like to cut them and bring them indoors, too, but also enjoy looking at them out of the window.

WINTER EATING: MUSSELS

Fresh and available here in winter, these are local Leeuwin Coast mussels. I prefer to eat them at home because I always make such a mess prising those tiny delicious morsels of meat from the shell. The little bowls of lemon scented water accompanying mussels in restaurants can’t compete with the mess I make enjoying my seasonal feast, so I eat them in the privacy of my own home!

I make simple sauces to enjoy with the mussels. This year I made a cooking broth from onion, garlic, tomato, white wine, parsley and tinned tomatoes.

Cook the mussels until the bivalve pops open. That means they are cooked. Discard any shells that don’t open, ladle some into a bowl, add a few slices of toasted sourdough ( or any other bread) and another sprinkle of parsley and enjoy.

The recipe is available here. https://www.google.co/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=delish+recipe+mussels+in+tomato+and+garlic

READING

I know botanical art is not of interest to everyone and hesitated to review this book which I enjoyed so much. Ellis Rowan was a successful, fearless and very talented artist who thrived during a period when most respected artist were male. She lived her life on her own terms and created accurate paintings of botanical subjects from many countries but particularly Australia. Her works are still recognised as accurate representations of Australia’s flora in the 1800s. Strong and determined, she succeeded against the odds.

Christine Norton-Evans book about the Australian botanical painter, Ellis Rowan called ELLIS ROWAN: A LIFE IN PICTURES is an amazing account of a remarkable botanical artist and her astounding 50 years of adventure and achievement. This resulted in more than 3 000 works now in private collections and the National Library.

Rowan traveled the world, painting and exploring, often alone, and becoming engaged in 1873 didn’t slow her down. She was known for her glamorous and immaculate grooming but mostly for her botanically accurate representations. Her works depict accurate plants and colours. She generally painted water colours but in later years also used oils.

Cluster fig (Ficus racemosa )

This is the story of an energetic, gifted and determined artist who thrived in a time when males dominated the artistic world. I bought it after reading a review and began flicking through, really enjoying the paintings but then went back and read it properly. It is a great read!

Plastic Free July RECYCLE/REDUCE/REUSE

The old mattress was picked up by a company who recycle all the components. It cost $50 and all work is done in a sheltered workshop. Check options online.

Coffee pods can be recycled by the company who manufactures them. Nespresso have their own collection points and other brands have similar arrangements. Look online for options near you. Percolators, plungers and cafeteria coffee makers (pots used on a hotplate) result in grounds which can be disposed of in the garden or bin.

Please let me know if you have any clever tips.

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How to Keep White Bed Linen White, Cooking, Growing and a Book Review

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I really like white bed linen. It always feels fresh and clean, both cool in summer and cocooning in winter. I buy white, cotton, good quality sheet sets. So far both sets we use have lasted over 12 years, although I have had to mend the lace edging on one set.

Love the embroidered bees on these white sheets.

This beautiful set of sheets needs occasional mending to maintain the lace edging. As a new puppy, Louis somehow got onto the bed and chewed about 30cm of the lace edging. He found it very satisfying, I didn’t find mending it very satisfying at all.

We also have a white quilt cover. I throw a cream wool blanket over the quilt cover during the day. The sunlight and the dog have slowly caused the cover to become more cream than white, despite the protective cover.

Time for a whitening treatment. I didn’t want to use bleach because the chlorine component in bleach reacts with protein stains and causes discolouring. Protein stains are typically sweat, blood, vomit, egg and other foods. The chlorine causes these stains to yellow. After lots of research I settled on using Borax. I bought some at the supermarket.

HOW TO WHITEN BED LINEN

I wiped the laundry trough to ensure it was clean. Then I dissolved ½ a cup of Borax in very hot water before adding the quilt cover. I used a copper stick to agitate the cover and returned to do this every now and then. After four hours I put the wrung out cover in the washing machine with a scoop of my usual washing machine powder and put it on a long, hot wash.

This is the copper stick or washing dolly. It was originally used to agitate washing in the copper, a big copper tub over a fire. Then the stick would be used to “hook” the washing out to put through the wringer/mangle to remove as much water as possible, before rinsing or hanging to dry. We didn’t have electricity until I was 12 and my mother relied on the copper to do the laundry. My copper stick is actually a cut down broom handle with the ends slightly rounded. I am surprised how often I use it to stir things soaking in the trough.

Borax from Woolworths 500gm $4.10. The tub has a list of instructions and cautions to follow when using this product.

When the cycle finished I hung the cover on the line. Line drying, if the weather permits, always smells fresher. I like ironed pillow cases and the decorative edges on the top sheet but didn’t bother ironing the cover. Back on the bed. White, fresh and crisp. Covered with a wool blanket to protect the cover from the wet weather dog. A good result.

This treatment would work equally well on stained white shirts, sporting uniforms, other bed linen, tea towels and bath towels. I wish I’d known how easy it is to restore stained white fabrics when I was washing and ironing so many business shirts and school shirts every week. I think almost anything white would respond well.

cooking

Last week I made slow cooker beef bourguignon as a way of using some tough pieces of steak. This week I found we still had three pieces of that tough steak which was not quite enough for two meals, so when I made it I added a tin of cannellini beans. They bulked up the stew and tasted very good. Perfect dinner for wet and windy nights.

growing

These are vegetables grown from scraps. When I cut off the end of the celery and bok choy to use them I put the bases in water until they developed roots and then planted them. They are growing well. Something else likes them, too, and has nibbled at the leaves of the bok choy. A neighbour simply puts the ends in soil and her celery plants are impressive. I’ll try this next time.

At least 13 years ago I planted the ends of spring onions in a pot and they have thrived ever since. I have a year round supply of spring onions just outside the laundry door. Spring onions are used frequently in Asian cooking, but I add then to so many things. A quick favourite is an omelette with eggs, spring onions and a grating of strong cheese. Add a chopped tomato if I’ve got one. Almost instant food.

Versatile spring onions.

And the first of the tulips.

reading

This is another library book I reserved during isolation and now it has arrived. It is wonderful to have access to the library again.

Anne Tyler writes about the ordinary, the everyday. She manages to portray those same characters with depth and compassion.

Micah never really understands or connects with any of his girlfriends, although at 44 he feels too old to call them girlfriends. He works, he occasionally visits his large, chaotic family but mostly he lives a simple life, following his own strict schedule. He’s puzzled by how things have turned out, but an encounter with an old girlfriend makes him think, then act. Love a happy ending!

A beautifully told story from this brilliant story teller. Really enjoyed it.

The title refers to Micah refusing to wear his glasses on his morning runs and mistaking an advertising sign on the footpath for a redhead at the side of the road. This hints at how he often sees things a bit differently.

The beginning of July marks PLASTIC FREE JULY. The tagline this year is CHOOSE TO REFUSE SINGLE USE PLASTIC. Lots more information at PLASTICFREEJULY.ORG. You are encouraged to avoid waste, protect the ocean and sign up to be part of the solution.

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