Suburban Life – Page 19 – MakeCookGrow.com

Special Birthdays, Making, Cooking, Growing, Cleaning, Eating

Share this post

SPECIAL BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK

Last weekend was a long weekend in Western Australia . It’s a holiday to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. It’s an example of Australian pragmatism, as the Queen’s actual birthday is 21st April, when we celebrate other significant events, such as ANZAC Day. So, this year we celebrate the Queen’s birthday on 28th September. Usually it is in October to coincide with the beginning of the school holidays.

My Mother ( in the plaid skirt) with her parents and sister, 1949

My family are celebrating a more significant birthday this week. It is my Mother’s 89th birthday. She has been celebrating for a week already, with her gym friends, other friends with birthdays around the same date and family members.

At the farm with my brothers and me, 1959.

My Mother lives about two hours away down south and she is coming to stay for a few days. Our son is flying down from Kalgoorlie and my brother and sister in law will travel from the country, too, so we will all meet for lunch in the Swan Valley.

My parents outside their local church, St Nicholas, the smallest Anglican Church in Western Australia. 2009

Many Happy Returns, Mum!

MAKING

Every few days I make a 100% rye sourdough loaf. I make it in this shape as it is easier to slice a standardized piece. Not as beautiful as a rustic boule, but it tastes very good. This one is plainer than usual as I forgot to slash the top after its final rise. The whole process takes two days from “waking” the mother/starter to eating the bread but is worth the time and effort involved.

COOKING

We are enjoying a bumper crop of asparagus this year. The shops have lots of it and it is a good price. Was our asparagus exported previously? I steam it and serve it with butter and black pepper.

GROWING

This dear little savoy cabbage is growing from a kitchen scrap. Instead of chopping the core and putting it out for the worms, I planted it. Within days little leaves began to appear. I have grown celery and bok choy from kitchen scraps this year and both seem to regenerate at least twice. Very frugal! Also very handy.

Starting heirloom tomatoes in mini greenhouses, aka strawberry punnets. Easy to keep moist and I leave the lid shut on dull or cold days. They need to be a bit bigger before I plant them in pots.

CLEANING

I’ve been wearing these shoes on and off for about three years. They’re spring shoes; not as heavy as boots and not open toed like sandals. They had become scruffy. Scrubbed them with soap and a toothbrush and covered the marked leather using a grout pen! It has done a very good job.

EATING

Took the train into the City to do some jobs and had Japanese food for lunch. Two of us shared this delicious treat, followed by coffee and cake from an Italian shop. Very satisfying.

This week is INTERNATIONAL COFFEE WEEK.

Launched six years ago in Milan, I think we should celebrate everything coffee, too, so raise your macchiato, espresso or cappuccino and toast the coffee bean. Love the history, the flavour, the versatility and the aroma plus the sociability of a cup of coffee. Or coffee walnut loaf, coffee flavoured cupcakes or a coffee roll. Interestingly, caffeine is the new “go to” ingredient in skincare.

Today we acknowledge the coffee farmers of the world, those hard working men and women creating and sustaining strong communities in Ethiopia, Colombia, Mexico, Indonesia, India and Nicaragua. These communities are supported in their work creating sustainable and stable communities with developing educational systems by the Rainforest Alliance, the Fair Labour Association, Fairtrade International, Technoservice, the Pur Project and the Federacion Nacional de Cafeterios.

Share this post

Modifying a Mat, Reading and Eating

Share this post

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.

Share this post

Collie Art Gallery and Other Things This Week

Share this post

One day last week we drove two hours to Australind, where we picked up my Mother and then set off for Collie, about three quarters of an hour from her home. We drove through rolling green hilly farmland and bush. Our main goal was to visit the Collie Art Gallery and see their current exhibition,” A Glimpse of the Collie Art Collection”.

Collie was established in 1896 and named after the nearby Collie River. Coal mined from Collie traditionally supplied Western Australia with the energy to power railways, shipping and to generate electricity.

Karin Stein Sensational Southwest 2015 These grass trees are endemic to Western Australia.

Guy Grey-Smith Mount Clarence, Albany (Claude Hotchkin Bequest)

Old hotels I really enjoyed seeing some of the remaining old buildings.

The Collie Art Gallery, opened in 2015, holds a bi-annual art prize with a total prize pool of $69 000. The competition attracts works from all over Australia. The two winning pieces from the inaugural 2018 Collie Art Prize are both on display in the gallery.

The current exhibition involves work from the galleries own collection. We were particularly interested in seeing the works from the Claude Hotchkin Bequest. He bequeathed 36 pieces to Collie. Claude Hotchkin believed access to good paintings would inspire people, especially young people. He donated an estimated 2 000 pieces to West Australian galleries, town councils and other public institutions. He donated works by Hans Heysen, Rupert Bunny, Elizabeth Durack, Guy Grey-Smith, Norman Lindsay, Sir Arthur Streeton and my particular favourite, Kathleen O’Connor, to various collections. His bequest also consisted of many other Australian artists.

EATING

West Australia climatic zones range from tropical in the north to temperate, or Mediterranean climate in the south, so we still have fresh citrus fruit, a winter crop and also strawberries, a summer crop and everything in between.

My favourite treat at the moment is a thin rice cracker, with a wedge of blue vein goat cheese and half a strawberry on top. Delicious!

PLAYING

Mahjong was popular amongst the expats when we lived in China. I missed playing when we returned to Western Australia, so taught some friends the game and they gathered here, weekly, at my house to play. Then work intervened and I seldom played until I retired and joined a group who play each week at the local library. It requires concentration and well thought out strategies. I enjoy it and the company of the other players, enormously.

Although we play with a modern set my Husband has an old bamboo and ivory set his grandfather brought back from the China Station in he 1890’s. It is housed in silk lined drawers in a camphor wood box along with a set of ivory gambling tokens. Traditionally the Chinese loved to gamble playing mahjong and play much more quickly than we do.

GROWING

The first tomato to ripen on the voluntary plant. There are many more. It was sweet and firm and tasted very good. Picking lots of limes now, too.

The first iris has also bloomed. It is almost pure white! Not what I expected.

This week I have planted cos lettuces and petunias. The pruned rose bushes all have buds. Spring has arrived in the garden.

EXERCISING

My yoga group hasn’t returned since everything stopped in April due to CV-19. I tried Zoom sessions and Youtube but eventually gave up on both formats. I’ve been told Yoga will probably start again in a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

I still walk 14 000+ steps every day, but my new formal exercise routine involves pilates. So many people I know rave about pilates but it wasn’t until last week I really understood their enthusiasm. Now I’m a convert but it took a few weeks of one on one sessions to get there! Are you a pilates fan?

This weekend is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Yes, I missed it last year and will miss it again this year. The last well known “pirate” to visit Australia was Johnny Depp. He’ll always be remembered for smuggling his two Yorkshire Terriers into Australia, contravening Quarantine laws.

Share this post

Planting and Growing, Mending and Fast Dinner

Share this post

PLANTING and GROWING

Planted some Heirloom Tomato Seeds, but will only know which ones I’ve put in when they start producing tomatoes.Some went into a pot where they will grow and some went into faux mini greenhouses, actually lidded strawberry punnets. Now I wait! Also monitoring tomatoes on a self seeded tomato bush, hoping they will go red.

REPAIRING

For years I have kept embroidery hoops and floss, darning mushrooms, cottons and threads, bobbins, lace and other sewing notions in this picnic basket. I pulled it out of the cupboard looking for some tape I needed to mend something and noticed the wicker was damaged. I like to repair things, if possible, as soon as I notice they are broken.

There were two areas requiring attention; the handle and a loop on the lid. I used contact cement to glue the pieces, some masking tape to keep the mended loop secure and my very favourite tool for so many jobs, pegs, on the handle. Pegs are so useful for holding things in place while the glue dries!

So I mended the broken pieces and left them to set while I foraged through the contents of the basket. Now all the spare buttons are in colour coded jars, the sewing threads are upstairs with the machine, and the embroidery threads are all together in a ziplock bag.

I gently wound the wicker back around the rest of the loop, glued it with contact cement and taped it with masking tape until it was dry. Job done!

Mending the handle was more difficult as some of the wicker wound around the frame was missing. I have secured both loose ends and will look for a small piece to glue into the gap.

Also mended the turned edge of this sheet. These sheets are quite old and regularly used and I have repaired the edges often. This time the cotton has just worn through, so I decided to sew cotton tape over the worn out strip. Sometimes I have to hand stitch the lace, sometimes cover a worn piece with tape and sometimes I do a little bit of both. I’ll keep mending this sheet until I can’t fix it anymore and I suppose then I’ll use it for something else!

PRETTY LAVENDER ENVELOPES

These adorable paper envelopes are based on a design from Diana’s dreamfactory (here) . Diana’s envelopes are more ornately aged and coloured. I made the mid-sized envelopes from her download . When they were finished I filled them with dried lavender and gave them to friends. I thought they could be placed under pillows and the scent of lavender might encourage sleep. So many of my friends struggle to get to sleep and stay asleep. ( More about the naturally dyed, lavender filled hearts here https://www.makecookgrow.com/2019/08/making-natural-dyes-and-lavender-hearts/)

Printed the template, speckled them with strong coffee, left them to dry. I used an old toothbrush and very strong instant coffee to “splatter” the paper. I diluted the coffee when the first lots had dried on the paper and added lighted spots.

Using just my finger I smudged some of the bigger blobs of coffee.

I “aged” half of the envelopes and left the others plain as I wanted to use them to line the envelopes. Glued an aged envelope and a plain envelope together when I had cut them all out. Trimmed any pieces which didn’t match exactly. Put them carefully under a heavy book until they dried. This resulted in flat, smooth envelopes

Glued each envelope and left them to dry. Gently shook some dried lavender into each envelope, sealed them, gave them to friends. They smell very pretty and were fun to make. I really enjoy Diana’s blog and her craft activities.

FAST DINNER

Quick Vegetable Stir-Fry ( to use up all the vegies before I go shopping.) The bok choy is going to seed, and I had plenty of celery ready to pick. I was making dinner for two people but could easily add more vegetables for more people.

I picked, washed and cut up the celery and bok choy. Sliced an onion and 3 cloves of garlic and browned them slightly in 1 tbspn olive oil. Added the Dutch carrots, some bits of broccoli, cauliflower and a few green beans which were in the fridge. While they cooked I whisked 3 tbspn brown sugar, ¼ cp chicken stock, ¼ cp soy sauce (low salt) and 1 tbspn cornstarch. ( I didn’t add the thickening this time, but usually do.) Move the cooking vegetables frequently so they cook but not burn. Add the mixed sugar, stock, soy sauce and cornflour then pour over the now cooked vegetables. Give it a minute to thicken, then serve. This also works with baby corn, mushrooms and snow peas. This time I added slithers of steak but chicken goes well, too.

Wednesday 8th of September was TEDDY BEAR DAY. A favourite toy for many children and adults, too, teddy bears evolved about 118 years ago. Apparently, Theodore Roosevelt, the then president of the United States, refused to shoot a bear cub when he was out hunting.

A store owner in New York, inspired by a popular cartoon published after the event, created a bear and wrote to Roosevelt asking if he could name the toy after him. Teddy bears were born! Their popularity continues today.

Share this post

How To Make Microwave Marmalade, An Author Review and Local Iconic Images

Share this post

MAKING MARMALADE IN THE MICROWAVE.

A bumper year for citrus and my friends and neighbours are very generous, sharing their surplus crops of kumquats, limes, lemons and grapefruit. We have our own lime tree, too. I make marmalade, a favourite of my husband. Last month I tried making it in the slow cooker and it was a total fail. Tasted great but wouldn’t set, so I devised a cake/cupcake/pudding recipe to use the non-setting but delicious failed marmalade.(Refer blog 17/07/2020) So back to cooking it in the microwave, a method which has never failed for me.

I peel the fruit, except the kumquats, remove the pith ( the white layer between the skin and the pulp) and chop it into small pieces as my husband likes a chunky marmalade. I don’t process the fruit to make a smooth puree. I thinly slice some of the peel and add that, too.

I cannot find the little muslin bags I made for cooking the pips, pith and some peel in to add pectin, the setting agent, to my marmalade, so back to fresh dishcloths. So unattractive! I cut a square from a new dishcloth, put the pips, pith and peel in the middle, gather it all up and tie it tightly with kitchen string. ( I kept the seeds from the kumquats I candied before and put them in with the other pectin rich seeds, pith and peel.) Add it to the fruit while it cooks.

When the fruit is ready weigh it and add 75% of the total weight in sugar, stir, add the pectin bag and microwave on high for 8 minutes. Carefully remove from the microwave and stir. Return it and cook another 8 minutes, stir, cook another 8 minutes, stir and then judge how thick and cooked your marmalade looks. It should be getting thicker, more golden and glossy in appearance. I needed to cook it for a fourth lot of eight minutes. At this point I dropped a spoonful on a chilled saucer, let it cool a little then dragged my finger across the surface. It wrinkled, indicating it was ready to bottle.

I’d already sterilized the recycled jam jars in the dishwasher. I used a ladle to fill the jars with hot marmalade. At this point it is still a little bit runny but sets to a firm, thick jam. Left them to cool while I printed some labels. Glued the labels on, all done!

Last time I wrote about making marmalade I was asked what I thought it cost to make my own. All the fruit I use is free from our own tree or from friends and neighbours. The sugar for three jars cost about 75 cents and we have solar panels which provide most of our electricity. The majority of our electricity bill is for administration, sustainability research and maintenance of supply. The jars I use are recycled time and time again. I have no way of valuing my time spent picking, washing, preparing, cooking and bottling the marmalade. It takes about 90 minutes but I do other tasks while it is cooking. So, really I don’t know what it costs but probably not very much for delicious, thick marmalade made of fresh fruit and sugar, nothing else.

READING

Talking about books we’d read, a friend suggested I would enjoy a series written about Venice. She’s right, I am really enjoying them! So is my husband. The author is an American who until two years ago lived in Venice. Donna Leon and her books feature Commissario Guido Brunetti. These books are a travelogue and thriller all in one. We travel Venice as Commissario Brunetta gently and thoughtfully solves murders, usually only one per book, but sometimes more. History, culture, architecture, music and of course food are all part of these stories about human frailties. The way courts deal with murder cases is different, too, based more on the passion resulting in the crime.

Leon’s books are enjoyed by millions of readers in 35 countries. Although translated into many languages she will not allow her books to be published in Italian. She has written 26 Commissario Guido Brunetti novels. We have only read five but I’ve ordered more.

LOCAL ICONIC IMAGES

Western Australia has adopted a hard border for some months to prevent the spread of CV-19. We have been very lucky. The infection rate and death rates are very low here. The economy is effected by the lack of tourists but things can change very quickly. Meanwhile, here are a few iconic images from my local area.

THE DINGO FLOUR MILL

This historic and heritage listed silhouette of a red dingo is part of a flour milling complex on the highway going to Fremantle. The site has been used as a flour mill since 1922. The image is reproduced on a wide range of merchandise, from T-Shirts to stubby holders and tea towels.

COTTESLOE BEACH

This beautiful beach, recognisable for its pylon and Rottnest Island on the horizon is a favourite with tourists and locals. Known for good surf and amazing sunsets, Cottesloe Beach also is home to the yearly Sculptures By The Sea Exhibition.

The concrete pylon, on the left, is part of a failed attempt in 1936 to build a shark proof fence. It is now popular with swimmers who swim from the beach to the pylon then back again.

THE BLUE BOAT HOUSE

Owned by a local family since 1944, the Boat House, on the Swan River in Crawley, used to attract long queues of tourists, mostly Asian, wanting to take photos of themselves in front of it. A huge social media hit, the Boat House is mainly deserted nowdays but recognised world wide after featuring in advertisements for Singapore Airlines, Qantas and many Japanese ads.

AND IN THE GARDEN

Very little blooming in the garden except this camellia which survived the last storm so we’re enjoying it inside.

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY

August 19th was World Humanitarian Day. This day is observed world wide each year to pay tribute to all the aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian services. As the world fights CV-19, aid workers are facing enormous problems helping those most in need.

Share this post

How to Candy Kumquats, Pruned Roses and Cooking Cabbage

Share this post

CANDIED KUMQUATS

We are still enjoying a surplus of citrus fruit. Usually I turn kumquats into marmalade but this time I wanted to preserve them to use as a final touch on a hot, winter pudding I’m making for guests this week. The colour of the candied kumquat contrasts well with golden yellow pudding and creamy coloured icecream. And they taste amazing.

Originally from China, kumquats are unique in that the peel is slightly sweet and edible and the flesh is quite tart. They smell wonderful. They are high in vitamin C and fibre. About 80% of their weight is water. They should be stored at room temperature.

This easy recipe results in candied fruit which look pretty and really pack a flavour punch! In fact, it might be the easiest thing you’ve ever made and possibly one of the most delicious. I served the Candied Kumquats on a hot pudding made using my Failed Marmalade Cake recipe (here) with some icecream on the side.

CANDIED KUMQUATS

INGREDIENTS

600 gm (1.5lb) thinly sliced kumquats
1 cp water
2 cp sugar

METHOD

1. Wash and dry the kumquats. Pick through your haul and select the ripest with flawless fruit. Then thinly slice them using a sharp knife. Discard the seeds.( I kept them as I had enough left over fruit to make some marmalade, too)

Put the kumquats into a sieve and swish under running water. Shake to partially dry.

Pat them dry on a tea towel. Remove any remaining stems.

Select the plumpest kumquats and weigh out 650gm. You’ll lose about 50gm when you remove the pips.

2. Bring the sugar and water to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then add the fruit and simmer 20 more minutes.

3. Drain the fruit holding a sieve over a bowl. Return syrup to the pot and simmer for about 5 more minutes until it reduces slightly. Don’t take your eyes off it as the syrup can quickly turn into toffee!

4. Carefully spoon the fruit into a jar, pour over ¼ cup of syrup and stir gently. Leave to cool with the lid off. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Intensely flavoured and fragrant, candied kumquats taste like turbo charged marmalade. A little bit as a topping is enough. Disappearing fast.

Failed Marmalade Cake as a warmed pudding with Candied Kumquats and Vanilla Icecream.

IN THE GARDEN

The last of the roses are pruned, this one an arch of climbing Pierre de Ronsards. Stunning when they’re in bloom. Also dug out a rose and replaced it. Lots of fresh soil and pea straw, then all the pruned plants were treated with Seasol. No more vases of roses for a few months. I’ll miss them!

Roses from my Mother’s garden.

My generous neighbour continues to share her stunning yellow roses. These will be the last for some time as she cut these then continued to prune the bushes. They are such a welcome addition week after week on my winter table. Western Australia has had a bumper year for roses.

Our red Pierre de Ronsard has very long stems and usually five blooms on the end of each one so I wanted a stable but high vase for them. Went looking in the local op ( thrift) shop and found this vase. Couldn’t resist cutting some arum lilies and putting them in the new vase. Will have to wait until spring for more red roses. Found another vase while I was there, too.

These roses came from my lovely neighbour, too. It is now the end of the rose season and all the local roses have been pruned.

CABBAGE

It’s a bit strange sharing a quick way to cook cabbage, but they’re in season and fresh and tasty. I really like Savoy cabbages, not because they taste much different from normal cabbages but because they look so good! So here is a great tasty, very quick and easy way to cook cabbage.

Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Slice half of the cabbage into smaller pieces.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon or two of butter in a heavy based pan until the butter is melted.
Add the enormous pile of cut up cabbage. It will cook down to a manageable amount quite quickly! Add a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar and cook until it has evaporated.
Let it cook for a while, stir it around, let it cook until it begins to brown and crisp up a bit. The edges will almost caramelise.

Serve with grated black pepper. If you have the time you can also fry some bacon, chop into small pieces and sprinkle over the cabbage.

And just in case you think all I do is cook, here’s last night’s dinner delivered to the door.

Wednesday 12th August was World Calligraphy day. I should have written this in a fancy font but actually don’t know how to do that on a blog! Loved a range of fonts when I was working and always enjoyed calligraphy. In fact, I was the staff member who usually wrote on certificates and cards. Anyway,calligraphy is art in written form.This is the perfect time to try this form of writing if it interests you. All you need is paper and a pen. There’s so many tutorials online to guide you through the process.

Share this post

Everyday August Activities and Two Book Reviews

Share this post

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.

Share this post

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

Share this post

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.

Share this post

Making, Cooking, Growing and Reading

Share this post

MAKING

SUPER EASY, SUPER FAST BOOKMARKS. I read a lot and I’m often searching for a bookmark. I have so many but I still misplace them. I read mostly books from the library and the one I’m reading at the moment suggests bookmarks were few and few between in the previous readers life, too, as annoyingly, every 40 or so pages, the edge of the page has been folded over!

So I was thinking about bookmarks. I wanted something bright so it’s easily found, cheap so it’s not too sad if it goes missing, quick to make and clearly visible in the book. These book marks also have the advantage of being stored on the book, for instance slipped over the back cover, while you’re reading, so less chance of it being lost.

I save the coloured envelopes birthday cards come in as they’re such pretty colours. Of course, I don’t really have a use for them, so I had lots to choose from when I decided to make these bookmarks.

You need

coloured envelopes or paper to fold and glue like the corner of envelope
glue
pencil and eraser
scissors
feltpen, Sharpie or similar if you’re making the slice of watermelon

For sheer simplicity I chose to make hearts and slices of watermelon. I’m planning to make these as little treats for the members of my bookclub and will use similar designs.

I drew half a heart shape on a folded piece of scrap paper and cut it out. Flattened it and traced it onto the corner of an envelope. Make sure it’s on the glued up corner, not the flap for sealing!

Cut on your pencil line, slip over the page of your book, close the book. Page saved by a secure and attractive bookmark.

To make the slice of watermelon, cut a curved piece the size of your completed bookmark from scrap paper. Trace the curve onto the envelope and cut. Use the same scrap piece to cut a white piece and glue it onto the green base. Use the curved scrap again to cut a red piece and glue it on. I used a Sharpie to draw seeds randomly on the red part. Done!

COOKING

After a brief but happy dalliance with bought rye bread, I “woke” up my starter/mother and made my own loaf. Not rye this time, apart from the starter. I used Premium White Bread Making flour simply because it was easier to get out of the cupboard where the bulk flours are stored!

It was so cold the morning I began this process I knew the starter wouldn’t get bubbly and look puffy without artificial warmth. Usually I put it on the table and the sun coming through the French doors is enough to get it started. Not this morning! It was cold and bleak and there was no warmth in the sun. This is the first time I have used the PROVING setting on the oven. I was really pleased with how well the starter and then later the dough reacted to this setting.

This is the white sourdough loaf I made and we enjoyed.

Also made an Egg and Bacon Pie. So easy and delicious. Brown 250gm of bacon in a pan with a splash of oil. Remove to a plate then brown a finely chopped leek. I had to add some extra oil to cook the leek. Spread this in a glass dish lined with baking paper. (So much easier to clean up!) Then whisk six large eggs until frothy, add 1/4 cup of water, or milk, whisk again. Pour over the bacon and leek. Grind some pepper over it. Put in 165° fan forced oven for 35 minutes, or until the middle is set. Serves 4-6. We like to eat it cold.

I have made this with bacon and mushroom and it is lovely, too. If I’m cutting it up for a picnic or sharing as part of a spread, I bake it in a square or rectangular dish.

GROWING

The white camellia suffered enormous damage three weeks ago when we had storms and heavy rain. The white flowers had brown marks around the edges of the petals and didn’t really open properly. Luckily, it’s blooming happily again. As a little boost I had watered a tray of ash in around the roots.

Each year my mother and I order tulips from the same grower. These are the last of my crop.

My Mother lives further south than us and her tulips are only just beginning to bloom.

READING

A Theatre for Dreamers

A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS by Polly Samson

This is the imagined life of Australian author and columnist Charmain Clift and her husband, George Johnston during the time they spent living on Hydra during 1955-1964. They settled in cheap and sunny Hydra with their three children, where Clift scandalised the locals by wearing trousers and drinking in bars.

On the surface, they live an idyllic life. They attract other creative types, such as Canadian Leonard Cohen, who soon partners with the abandoned Norwegian, Marianne Ihlen. Racked with artistic doubts, rejections or requests for editing from publishers and criticism from other authors, this is a tense society.

Clift is the centre of the cosmopolitan society of international bohemians in Hydra, helping and compassionate and always resentful of time stolen from her own writing career, especially by her ill, heavy drinking husband, a once famous war correspondent. He later was best known for his book, My Brother Jack.

Focusing on the days before serious drug use was the norm in Hydra, this small community buzzed with sexual jealousies, alcohol and creative souls who often didn’t meet their own expectations. We learn a little about the extremely tolerant Greek population around them, but mostly, this story is told by a minor player, Erica, the daughter of Clift’s neighbour when she lived in London. She sets off for Hydra with her brother and her boyfriend when her mother dies and she receives a copy of Clift’s book, The Lotus Eaters.

This well researched book is an imagined account of the halcyon days in Hydra and I found it fascinating. It was from a time I didn’t really know, but about characters I did know of, and the descriptions of Hydra were enticing. I thought this was a great read and would recommend it.

The other book I have been reading is THE GIRL WHO READS ON THE METRO by Christine Foret-Fleury.

Reviews describe this book as a “gem”, a “joy” and a “delight”. Juliette, our main protagonist, leaves her dull job in a real estate agency and takes over the book business of a mysterious character. Her job is to follow strangers and observe their behaviour to decide the perfect book for them. Juliette believes in the power of books to change peoples’ live.

This whimsical book, part literary reference and part fairy tale was a quick and easy read and really didn’t have much of a story! I think the whole point was showing the power of the written word to change how people feel. The online reviews are mixed, but the book has been translated into English due to its popularity in France. You decide! I’ve gone back to reading an Australian murder series.

We’re still in PLASTIC FREE JULY so please consider ways you can reduce your use of plastics. Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder of Plastic Free July reminds us that only 9% of all plastics are recycled and only 0.9% are recycled more than once. Plastics don’t actually break down completely, they simply become smaller and smaller, but never disappear.

Share this post

Winter Occupations In The Kitchen

Share this post

COOKING WITH CITRUS FRUIT

It is the middle of a wet and windy winter in Western Australia. The citrus trees are covered in fruit this year. I live in an older suburb where many of the houses have fruit trees. Luckily, my neighbours share their bounty!

I made GLAZED LEMON SLICE, easy to make and very popular, from a Martha Stewart recipe. In her version there’s a glaze instead of icing but it sounded very rich and not, in my mind, in keeping with the clean, zestiness of lemons. I made a traditional icing using icing sugar, melted butter and lemon juice and added some finely grated lemon zest on top before it set. I prefer thin icing to thick frosting for cakes and slices.

Also made a baking tray of LEMON FLAVOURED SHORTBREAD biscuits. Apparently, these will last for a week, but never have in my house.

We like salmon for dinner at least once a week. Our favourite winter recipe involves baking two salmon fillets in a glass dish with one lime squeezed over the fillets and about 3 dessertspoons of maple syrup drizzled over the top. Baked for 15 minutes in 160° C fan forced oven, or until the outside is opaque, then served with vegetables. Quick, easy, tasty.

This time I also roasted carrots and red onions with cumin, sea salt and ground coriander plus lemon juice and sesame seeds to go with the salmon.

Having a supply of lemons, oranges, grapefruit and limes, I decided to try making SLOW COOKER MARMALADE. I have made marmalade since I can remember, either as assistant cook as a child or in my own kitchen. I rarely use bought pectin, instead relying on pips, pith and peel from the fruit tied in a muslin bag and cooked with the marmalade. Usually I make it in the microwave. Before I used to make it on the stove top. This time I followed a recipe for making it in the slow cooker. Followed the recipe, marmalade was still runny after stated time. Cooked it some more. Still runny. Bought and added pectin, still runny.

Pink grapefruit, oranges, lemons and also a lime cooking in the slow cooker. My first ever marmalade fail.

We like a chunky marmalade with peel and pieces of chopped up fruit. By the end of my attempts to thicken this lot it was boiled to almost clear liquid! Decided to experiment and see if I could use some of it to make a marmalade flavoured cake, because it still tastes great, it’s just too runny.

“MARMALADE THAT WONT SET CAKE”

I beat 140gm softened butter with 150gm sugar until it was pale and frothy. Added a 800gm egg and beat again, then added half a cup of runny marmalade. It curdled but went smooth and creamy again when I added 150gm self raising flour and mixed until it was smooth. Depending on how runny your failed marmalade is you might have to add more flour. Mine hadn’t set at all.

Scraped into a prepared cake pan and baked for 55 minutes at 160° C in a fan forced oven. Baked until a skewer inserted in the middle came out cleanly. Really lovely cake, would make a great dessert with cream or icecream. Not that I’m wishing ‘fail-to-set- marmalade’ on you!

Another day I used the same recipe to make FAILED MARMALADE CUPCAKES as our son was here for two days. Lots of cooking and eating together. Luckily, techno-kid also sorted out a few problems with my phone and blog. Thankyou!

OTHER EATING

I’ve made our own sourdough for some years and for the last eight months have been making my own sourdough rye bread. It is a heavy, dense loaf and probably an acquired taste but I really like it. Then my husband went to a nearby bakery and returned with this rye loaf. It was wonderful! I think we will keep buying it for a while then I will decide if I’ll go back to baking our own bread.

He also found other things we “needed”.

Another day and another bakery and more treats to fight off the cold weather. All very good.

MAKING PASTIES

Every winter I make trays of pasties and store them in the freezer. My family like them for lunch, at home or at work. Time to make more. I make pasties with meat and vegetables although I think traditional pasties have a vegetable filling. Pasties originated in Cornwall and originally Cornish Pasties had savoury filling in one end and a sweet filling in the other. The miners could hold then in one hand to eat.

Our new winter warming favourite dinner is SLOW COOKER BEEF BOURGUIGNON (here). I originally made it to use up some tough steak. I have continued making it because it is delicious and makes double generous sized dinners for two. Mostly I freeze the second one so I have a quick, hot, satisfying dinner available if we have a busy day. I thaw it in the fridge all day and heat it when we get home. I just add vegetables or if I’m rushed, buttered toast.

drinking

Normally I drink coffee and water but after too many double espressos recently at lunch I was introduced to fruit infusions. I occasionally drink lemon and ginger tea but this brew, cranberry and vanilla, was really lovely. Bought something similar in the supermarket and then read online that the brand I’d bought was still using plastic based materials to seal their teabags. Next time I was at the cafe I found out the brand name of the tea I’d been drinking there and hunted it down online. Now making tea using a tea infusers from my own bag of tea mix. And I really like it!

Just in case you thought all we do here is eat, I’ve included a photo showing just what one member of the family did when we got out of bed. It was a very cold (for W.A 7°C) morning and Louis found the warm spot!

Did you miss Bastille Day? Hope not! July 14th commemorates the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1789. Probably easier to just eat macarons or croissants!

Share this post