Easy Changes For Plastic Free July

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CHOOSE TO REFUSE SINGLE USE PLASTIC

clear plastic water bottles

We all need to work towards eliminating single use plastics. Plastic itself is a great and useful product but should be made from recyclable materials and used over and over. Single use plastics are releasing toxins from landfill and choking our waterways and oceans.

Plastic has been found in almost every food we eat. Recent Italian research, reported in Environmental Research claims microplastics are being absorbed into fruit and vegetables. Fruit typically has older root systems than vegetables and are seen to absorb more plastic particles.

We need to adopt alternatives to plastic. I have listed a few beginner swaps to reduce the plastic in your life.

EASY STEPS TO USE LESS PLASTIC

Here are some easy ideas to replace your single use plastics.

1. Find replacements for cling wrap. Use glass jars or glass containers with lids that are strong and suitable for frequent use. Silicone, stretchy covers seal dishes well. I bought some expensive silicone covers which were stiff and a bit of a struggle to stretch over bowls but have lasted a long time. I also bought some cheaper ones which were softer and easier to use but have stretched out of shape. Lesson learnt.

Waxed fabric wraps are also popular and can go in the compost when they wear out. I could never get them to stay securely on things in the fridge. They never sealed well. I also use clear shower caps on large bowls I use for bread making. My mother uses saucers to cover bowls in the fridge.

2. Buy a “keep” cup, a reusable covered cup you can get filled at your coffee shop, but this might not work during the CV-19 pandemic. You’ll probably have to ask when you order. A set of reusable cutlery is handy, too. Ours is in a fabric roll I made. It is light and compact.

3. Try buying everyday staples from bulk supply shops. You can fill your own glass jars with flour, sugar, oatmeal pulses and many other products. I can buy flour in bulk from a bread making supply shop.

4. Is your soap wrapped in plastic? There’s so many paper wrapped or not wrapped at all bars of soap available. Unfortunately, I prefer liquid soap at the basin, so buy it in bulk in recyclable bottles which I decant into old pump bottles. I’ve tried making my own which was not a success and have found a bulk supplier nearby so will go there when I’ve used up my supply.

5. Apart from taking your own bag shopping, take small, light (netting) bags for buying loose fruit and vegetables. We can buy F&V in little, reusable thick paper bags but if I suddenly see something I need and don’t have a bag I get one from the mushroom area where they always offer paper bags.

6. Shopping online was great during isolation but a real problem when things arrived in layers and layers of plastic. I ordered three clothing items from the same company and they arrived in three individual bags in two very big, thick plastic bags. I have commented in the customer satisfaction email they later sent, but no response, yet.

7. If you subscribe to magazines which arrive in the post, ask when you order if they are posted in paper or compostable, eco- friendly wrappers. Two of my subscription magazines from overseas are posted in big paper envelopes and they arrive safely every month. Another comes in an eco- friendly, 100% compostable wrapper with the message “Please dispose of it in your home compost bin, food waste caddy or green bin.” My Australian magazines come in plastic, but I’m hopeful this will change.

8. Check if online to see if your tea bags are plastic free. Many brands still seal the bag with a plastic product. Apart from the problem with the plastic entering the environment, some chemicals can leach into liquids at high temperatures.

After being introduced to a lovely fruit infusion at my local cafe ( I’d already had two double espressos) I’m ordering it as loose leaves and will make it in a teapot, just like they do!

7. Reduce the number of cleaning products bought in plastic bottles. Some time ago I started making and using MIRACLE SPRAY ( formula freely available online) I have decided it works better than the range of products I used to buy and use. I make several litres at a time and decant it into old spray bottles which I will replace with glass when they become brittle. It smells fresh, costs very little and does a good job. It is not recommended for use on granite and marble so I use detergent and hot water to wipe down those areas. I also use old clothes as cleaning cloths which I wash and reuse. Mine are old sheets and clothes but I’ve seen really fancy ones on blogs where the clothes are cut into perfect squares, hemmed and folded neatly into pretty piles.

8. Some butchers will pack your meat into your own containers. Just ask. Nearly all bakeries will wrap your bread in tissues and put your pastries in cardboard boxes or trays. Ask if you can buy milk in glass bottles.

9. Takeaway food is a dilemma. So much of it comes in polystyrene or plastic boxes with plastic cutlery. Pizza comes in a recyclable box which goes in your compost or recycling bin . Pizza can be eaten with your fingers. Just saying!

Pizza in cardboard good, plastic drink bottle not so good.

10. I’ve reused some old plastic containers many times. For example, the plastic punnet some avocados came in is regularly used as a seedling box. I stand used toilet rolls in it, use a funnel ( made from rolled up scrap paper) to pour in seedling mix, pressed down to compact the soil, then poke the seeds into it. I spray the seed tubes and move them around indoors or in a sheltered area so they get good winter sun exposure. This means they’re ready to go at the end of winter.

I use a dibbler to make a hole where I am going to plant the seedling, put the roll in and water as usual. By the time the seeds are ready to be planted out the cardboard is quite mushy and already disintegrating.

Planted tomato seeds and some sage seeds. I really like sage with chicken but my bush became woody and died, so I am replacing it.

Another way to get lots of “no plastic” hints is to ask your grandparents or elderly friends or neighbours for hints! Eco warriors before the concept existed, older people managed without home delivered takeaway, plastic packaging and huge super markets.

Please share your hints for minimizing the single use plastic in your life!

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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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Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon, Date Loaf and Two Book Reviews

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Slow Cooker Beef dinner with fall apart delicious chunks of beef and perfectly cooked potatoes and carrots in a rich sauce of bacon, tomato, red wine ( I used shiraz), soy sauce and beef stock, thickened with a little flour.

My husband likes to buy big pieces of grass fed beef and butcher it himself. We sort it into meal size pieces and freeze it. He selects and buys very, very good meat, until last time. The last lot was tough. We could not eat it as grilled steak. I thawed all of those pieces and planned to make something requiring a long cooking process.

I decided to make Slow Cooker Beef Bourguinon as I had all the ingredients available. Although I go out shopping each week now, I don’t want to go out for “top up” shops. I based this recipe on a slow cooker Beef Bourguinon recipe on Therecipecritic.com but made several changes to suit our taste. It made a delicious dinner for two nights.

This is far less complex than an authentic Bœuf Bourguignon, a French beef stew, but achieves the rich gravy and fall apart loveliness of the classic recipe. I have made this on the stove top in a Dutch oven but prefer the slow cooker result as all the flavours mix and mingle. It only requires a few steps and then everything is in the slow cooker and only requires stirring occasionally. I think this tastes as good as the stove top, four hour, attention intensive Julia Child recipe I used to make. The set and forget method is very attractive, too. Traditionally, the stew would include pearl onions but I didn’t have any on this occasion. I love the addition of soy sauce, too.

SLOW COOKER BEEF BOURGUIGNON

INGREDIENTS

750 gm beef, cubed ( stewing steak or any tough beef )

375gm packet bacon

1 cp red wine, traditionally burgundy, I used shiraz

2 cps beef stock

3 cloves diced garlic

2 tbspn tomato paste

¼ cp low salt soy sauce

¼ cp plain flour

5 carrots peeled and cut into chunks

750gm unpeeled potato, cut into chunks

METHOD

Cook the diced bacon until lightly coloured in a little oil. Scrape into the slow cooker set on HIGH.

2. Sear the meat in the same pan, add to the slow cooker.

3. Add the chopped vegetables. Make the sauce by pouring the wine into the pan used for searing the meat, when it’s bubbling add the stock, tomato paste, garlic and soy sauce. Mix the flour with enough water to make a watery paste and whisk into the other liquid and keep stirring. Let cook for a few minutes.

4. Add the sauce to the slow cooker, give everything a good stir, put on the lid. Give it a stir every hour or so. Inhale and enjoy the process. Cook for 5 hours, test the meat.

5. Serve scattered with parsley, which I forgot. Enjoy!

I like to make recipes to serve four or more, giving me leftovers to freeze. This means I can take these out of the freezer to thaw then heat while green vegetables steam if we’ve been out all day.

In fact, we enjoyed this for dinner again the next night. SO good on a very cold night after a busy day. This time I remembered the parsley.

Date Loaf

Do you like old fashion loaf pan cakes? I was going to meet a friend at a cafe this week when suddenly a gale blew up with very heavy rain. A quick phone call and we decided she’d come here, instead. There was no cake, no fresh biscuits but I knew I had fresh dates, flour, brown sugar, bicarb soda and butter. Decided to make a Date Loaf. Chop, chop dates in the melted butter and brown sugar, add the bicarb and the flour and into a baking paper lined loaf dish and into the oven.

By the time my visitor arrived, dried off and had a coffee set in front of her the loaf was done. Let it cool a little on a rack, then sliced and served. Later we ate more slices, this time adding butter, the usual way to eat date loaf. The rest went rather quickly the next morning when we were playing mahjong.

Interesting how popular these all fashioned cakes are and how quick and easy they are to make.

BOOK REVIEWS

THE SHIFTING LANDSCAPE

During hibernation I read lots of book reviews. I went online and reserved anything that appealed from the library. The first of these reserved books to arrive when things began to return to normal was Katherine Kovacic’s ” The Shifting Landscape”

Alex Clayton, an art dealer, is employed to travel to a farm in the Victorian Western Districts to value the family’s art collection. The rest of this thriller involves murder, art theft and kidnapping. Traveling with her always is her wolfhound Hogarth.

Involved in the drama, especially after valuing one of the paintings at more than a million dollars, is Alex’s art restorer friend who helps her solve the mystery.

I really enjoyed the reference to many painters and paintings, her description of the old farmhouse which had been in the family for several generations, the small local town and the well written story, full of mystery. I really enjoyed this fast moving, easy to read book. Great on a wet day.

THE HIDDEN

Written by Mary Chamberlain, this book club book is set during the Nazi occupation on the Channel Islands. It is inspired by two women, a German Jewish refuge, who is betrayed and murdered and another woman who had been earmarked for Himmler’s Lebensborn¹ breeding program. Himmler planned to breed typical Aryan children to develop the master race.

The hideous crimes against the main characters are all based on fact and are extremely distressing. This fictional account is based on the war crimes committed at SS run labour camps, in particular Sylt, on occupied Guernsey

This was a difficult book to read at times, but it was also something I knew very little about, so I am glad I persisted.

¹ Founded in 1935, Lebensborn was a SS Nazi association in Germany with the goal of raising the birth rate of Aryan children born of people classified as ‘racially pure” and “healthy” based in Nazi ideology.

After that book review I’d like to tell you that on this day in 1945, in San Francisco, the United Nations Charter was signed by 50 nations.

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How I Roast Chicken, a Book Review and White Bean Dip

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ROAST CHICKEN

Do you find it difficult to roast a moist, tasty chicken? We eat chicken quite often and one roasted chicken makes two meals plus chicken stock and thick soup for the two of us. Over the years I’ve tried so many recipes but none were fantastic, until I found this one. I have modified it to suit our tastes and this is my preferred way to roast a chicken now. It’s not bland and the chicken flavour shines through, rather than the spices I’ve added, which was the problem with other recipes.

To begin, heat the oven to 175° C fan forced (345 ° F) Pat dry a 1.5kg (3½ lb) chicken, after checking the cavity is empty. The drier the skin, the crisper it roasts. Quarter a lemon and push it into the cavity with a generous sprig or two of rosemary. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.

I add some potatoes and carrots and sometimes onions at this point because they taste so good when they’re basted with the chicken juices. Next, melt 40gm butter with 4 diced cloves of garlic. ( I melt the butter in the microwave with the chopped up garlic as it enriches the flavour)

Drizzle some oil in the roasting pan, then season with ground black pepper and salt. Place the chicken in the middle of the pan surrounded by vegetables if you’re adding them. Baste everything with the melted garlic butter, put it in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, baste again (using pan juices or leftover garlic butter) rotate the pan 90° then set the timer for another 20 minutes. Continue basting and rotating until the chicken has been roasting for about one hour and 40 minutes. Test the temperature of the breast flesh. If it is 75°C (165°F) leave the chicken to rest under a loose foil cover for 10 minutes then carve. Different sized chickens will cook at different rates and ovens can vary in temperature so I rely on the temperature of the breast meat, not touching the bone, to decide if it is cooked.

The pan juices make very good gravy but this time I added them to the carcass to make stock.

I roasted the Brussels sprouts in another pan for 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes after I’d drizzled sweet chili sauce on them. This caramelizes and adds a wonderful flavour to the roasted sprouts. Delicious. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Glass dishes are my preferred roasting pans as they wash clean easily. Several of them have lids, too, so once the leftovers are cool, I can put the lid on and store them in the fridge until I need them.

It’s winter in Western Australia so I add lemons to almost everything along with making marmalade, lemon zest shortbread and lemon drizzle cake.

Winter also means it’s almost time to prune the roses. These are the last of them, I think, plus a pink lissianthus. Well, they are the last of my roses but I went to visit my Mother on Monday and gathered a vase of roses from her garden!

My Mother’s roses.

Book Review

There’s nothing better than going to bed on a cold night and settling into a good read. The Good Turn is the third book by Irish born but Fremantle residing Dervla McTiernan. I really enjoyed her previous two books, The Ruin and The Scholar. I am really enjoying this one, too. This cleverly crafted detective story focuses on police corruption and the impact of this on the police involved.

McTiernan is well placed to write these stories. She was born in County Cork and her stories are set on Ireland. She practiced there as a lawyer for twelve years before moving to Western Australia with her family. Her stories are fast moving without too much gore but always involve unexpected twists and turns. As usual, I try and get my books from the library. This one was a great read.

White Bean dip

First made this dip when I found a can of cannellini beans in the cupboard and thought I should use them. It is so easy to make and only requires things you probably already have on hand. I really like it as a change from hommus. I also like that it is dairy free, unlike so many dips.

You need 1 can drained and rinsed cannellini beans, about 310gms, (11-12oz) plus 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, ¼ cup of fresh oregano or parsley, salt and black pepper. I didn’t have any fresh oregano so used 1 heaped teaspoon of dried.

Put everything in a jug and coarsely mixed using a stab blender. Taste and add seasoning. I found I needed lots of salt. I think I bought “no added salt” beans.

Scrape into a serving bowl and chill. To serve, drizzle a little olive oil on top and some chopped parsley. Eat with baked pita bread, crackers, crudites or on toast.

Did you know 21st of June is International Yoga Day, intended to raise awareness about including yoga in our daily lives? There are many benefits from practicing yoga. As a keen participant, I’ll be doing my usual YouTube practise on Tuesday 21st, but I’m really looking forward to our sessions beginning again, probably next month.

If you are interested in trying some yoga or just reading about the benefits, Nicola Jane Hobb’s ‘Stay Young With Yoga’ is a great resource. If you’d like to learn more, YouTube has a huge range of videos, from beginners to achieving specific strengths or treating specific problems.

Nicola Jane Hobbs, Stay Young With Yoga, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

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The New Fridge and “Exciting Times”, a Book Review

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THE NEW FRIDGE DRAMA

Do you feel your electrical goods don’t last very long? I am convinced now that our electrical appliances are designed to stop working after about ten years. Why? When our oven was about eleven years old it stopped functioning. The electrician came and showed us the damage, quoted for replacement parts and then explained the oven was so old that new parts would take months to arrive. We use the oven almost every day and not having a working one for three months would be difficult.

The next problem was finding a double oven which would fit the existing cavity. We’d recently had the kitchen cupboard doors replaced and I didn’t want to have to get a carpenter to modify the oven space so we were limited to only a few models which would fit. We bought a stainless steel Smeg double oven and we have been very happy with it. The big issue for me was the stainless steel finish in my all white kitchen. I got used to it and eventually didn’t notice it every time I walked in there.

About eighteen months later the dishwasher also stopped working. This was during the early days of isolation and it was worrying having an appliance repair man come into the house. He arrived gloved and masked and after inspecting the machine, shared the news; our Bosch dishwasher had died.

His company was able to supply and install another dishwasher and remove the old one. We weren’t keen on shopping in a huge electrical shop so took his advice and bought the dishwasher he recommended, a Siemens. We are pleased with it but the only one available at the time had a stainless steel finish. Not my preferred finish but I felt we had a solution which meant we stayed isolated and had a functioning dishwasher.

Then a week ago we came inside from gardening. I turned the coffee machine on, my husband turned on his laptop. Coffee machine worked, no internet connection on his laptop. Modem not working. Investigating the meter box revealed we had a problem. Called the electrician. He diagnosed a dead fridge. It wasn’t the compressor or the fan belt and probably couldn’t be repaired and anyway, parts would take months to come. The fridge, despite looking very new and modern was actually about twelve years old.

So, Friday mid afternoon we go to a big electrical goods supplier as we have to find a fridge which will fit the existing cavity. The salesman wanted to know what we were looking for in a fridge, which I hadn’t given any thought, but told him the size was actually the most important factor. That limited us to very few options and we selected the one from a brand we knew. The salesman thought it was available in white and tapped away on his computer. Tap, tap, tap, yes, available in white, tap,tap, tap, delivery in ten weeks! Only stainless steel or graphite finish available now. We bought stainless steel. It matches the oven, dishwasher and hot plate.

We keep a lot of food in the freezer. We buy locally caught fish and prawns (shrimps) which are very affordable this year as the traditional export markets are limited. My husband buys big pieces of meat and butchers them to suit our needs. There was a lot of meat in the freezer. Luckily, a neighbour (we have great neighbours) offered us several shelves in her freezer.

The next afternoon the new fridge arrived. It was very difficult to get through the portico and front door to the kitchen. I was really impressed by the two young men and their determination, care and problem solving skills. Eventually the new fridge was in place, the old one was gone and my once white kitchen now has all stainless steel appliances. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Relating this drama to my mother she referred to the fridge she has in the garage and the one in her kitchen, telling me they are really old! Both are over 30 years old and no problems. Fridge design didn’t change very much for years so despite their age, her fridges look fine and do the job well.

Pondering inbuilt obsolescence led me to Buy Me Once, a business promoting long lasting products. Tara Button created a website featuring products which do last. She considers

1. Do the materials used result in a durable product?

2. Do customers and independent reviews confirm the product’s longevity?

3. Is the product manufactured from ethically and sustainable materials?

4. Is exceptional aftercare offered?

5. Is the design timeless?

I like the concept of buying the best and buying less. Sometimes the best will have already proven its durability, such as an antique or second hand product and sometimes the brand is well established and recognised for its quality. As consumers we all have the power to buy thoughtfully.

More information, mainly focusing on UK products from www.buymeonce.com

Bought 38 years ago in still in frequent use.

EXCITING TIMES by Naoise Dolan A BOOK REVIEW

I hesitated to review this book as I was always told,”If you cant find anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”. The nice thing; this story is set in Hong Kong and I really enjoyed the author’s references to places I know well. Many of the streets, MTR stations and routes and even some restaurants were familiar and I enjoyed the nostalgic journey, but not much else.

This is a book about millennials. I know a few things about millennials; I grew one myself. He is thoughtful, funny, focused and hardworking, as are many of his cohort. The angst, self obsession, ennui and ability to ignore her core values in favour of free rent in a lovely flat (without the cockroaches in her paid accommodation) in exchange for sex and occasional company, seems at odds with our protagonist’s communist leanings and constant sneering at those who house, feed and entertain her.

Ava has finished university with a degree in English Literature and uses her “abortion” money to leave her home in Ireland to teach “rich children” English in Hong Kong. She doesn’t like them or the job but has no plans for the future. Ava actually scorns the job and her colleagues, scorns the children she teaches, scorns her sex partner but allows him to pay for everything. She is shallow and self obsessed.

This tale, a quick read, is full of clever quips about the use of language. These fill in the gaps between Ava leaving her rich, Oxford University educated male sex partner and going to her rich, Cambridge University educated female sex partner. Her parasitic behaviour was at odds with the irony and feminist views so important to our main character.

The author, Naoise Dolan , herself a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University, obviously hated her university years and everyone she met. She has been compared to Sally Rooney, author of ‘Normal People’. This is another book I found frustrating but I must be out of sync with young readers. It has been made into a series of 12 episodes currently airing.

Finally, I headed to online reviews and discovered many readers who reacted the same way I did to this book. Reviewers don’t publish their age but I would like to know if this tale resonates more with young people. I could not recommend it.

Did you know?

June 10th marked the 99th birthday of Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh. He is the longest serving consort in British history. Born to both Greek and Danish royalty he has been married to Queen Elizabeth 11 since 1947.

He is best known for the Duke of Edinburgh Award, developing competitive carriage driving and his sharp wit and occasional gaffe.

Many happy returns!

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Making, Cooking and Growing in Changing Times

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MAKING

Have you been busy crafting? There’s an amazing range of craft tutorials online and you can master so many useful and entertaining skills. I’ve been watching painting tutorials which have been very interesting but a bit intimidating, too. My favourite painting tutorials are from The Rijksmuseum. Search Youtube for a range of demonstrations. I was really inspired by the Botanical Painting demonstration, having just done a series of Asiatic Lily painings myself, nowhere near as detailed as those done on the Rijksmuseum video.

A friend said at Christmas time she and her group only exchange handmade gifts. I thought this sounded very smart until I realised my repertoire would only cover cooking and growing. Although I enjoying making biscuits (cookies) and presenting them in pretty boxes and growing plants for friends, I knew it was time to get some new ideas.

SEED PACKETS

My first effort is this set of seed packets. I printed the template from the Country Living site, then painted the pot and plant image using water colours. When the paint was dry I cut, folded and glued the packets. I’ll make sets of five or ten, I’m not sure, yet.

For templates and ideas for seed packets, try Pinterest or search online. Once you select a template is it easy to personalise the front with your own illustration and wording if this is what you’d like to do. Then print, cut and glue. Package with string or ribbon. Pretty and easy.

CANE CHAIR REPAIR and a NEW CUSHION COVER

My next project this week was not making gifts but re-covering a cushion on a cane chair in the family room. This is a very old but comfortable chair. My mother likes to sit on it with her coffee next to her on the sofa table. When I upended the chair to dust it I found pieces of cane unraveling and some nails sticking our. I also realised that when our dog was a puppy, not only did he like to lie under the chair and watch the world, he also teethed on one of the struts between the legs. Tiny little puppy teeth chewing was very evident. Luckily it has not effected the integrity of the chair.

The glued down cane needed masking tape to hold it in place while it dried. Usually I use clothes pegs to hold things in place until set, but the cane was too thick. It has stuck well. I also hammered in all the nails. Next I measured and cut a new cover for the cushion and two ties to attach it to the chair at the back.

The existing cushion cover had a coffee stain. I tried washing it but there was still a shadow of the stain. New cover required. To make the cushion cover I just cut a rectangle from white cotton fabric twice the size of the cushion and added seam allowances, then stitched up both long edges on the wrong side, trimmed and turned it the right way out. I made two ties from folded thin strips and turned them the right way out, which was a bit of a fiddle, then trimmed and ironed all the pieces. I was going to hand stitch across the top, then machine stitch where the ties were attached to make the join strong but ended up machine stitching across the top. I used a long stitch so I can easily unpick it to wash when necessary.

This chair gets a lots of use! It now looks fresh and plump and is very comfortable.

COOKING

I’ve been disappointed with the harvest from mushroom farms or blocks in the past. I bought a sample pack of mushrooms at a market before WA closed down and really liked the King Oyster Mushrooms. I began looking for a supplier of the grow blocks and found a commercial grower selling fresh mushrooms and grow blocks from a nearby suburb. Perfect!

Ordered a King Oyster Mushroom block and it was delivered that afternoon. It was a square plastic pack containing hardwood sawdust, wheat bran and soy bean husks inoculated with the spores. I put it in the fridge overnight to “cold shock” it to begin fruiting. I had already prepared a faux greenhouse by drilling many holes in a plastic storage box. I put the opened block slightly elevated on blocks in the greenhouse and misted it regularly using a water spray.

About seventeen days later I began harvesting really big, great tasting King Oyster Mushrooms. I cut the thick, firm, tasty stems to scallop sized pieces and chopped the tops into four. Then I simply cooked them in frothy butter until they are slightly coloured. I served them on just out of the oven buttered rye sourdough with Himalayan salt sprinkled on top and chopped parsley, too. Very, very good.

This mushroom kit has been a great success. I have harvested around 750gm of King Oyster Mushrooms and there’s probably about the same amount developing in the block for future picking….and eating.

Fresh citrus everywhere, so made little shortbread biscuits flavoured with lemon zest.

And made some jars of grapefruit, lemon and kumquat marmalade in the microwave. The shortbread biscuits are shared with the lady who gave me lemons and there’s a jar of marmalade for the lady who gave me the grapefruit. The neighbour who lets me pick her kumquats doesn’t eat then at all! We live in an old suburb with well established citrus trees. We have a lime tree and luckily, the neighbours share their bounty of lemons, kumquats and grapefruit.

For some years now I have been making our sourdough loaf in a Pyrex rectangular baking dish as it results in predictable sized slices, but made yesterday’s loaf in a dutch oven. Love the rustic, irregular loaf, ate some with the mushrooms.

GROWING

Have you joined the kitchen scrap growing movement? A few weeks ago I planted a celery end which is growing well, and then I planted five bok choy ends, too, and they are growing impressively. Have five more bok choy ends in a bowl of water waiting for roots to appear to ensure fresh veg over a few weeks. Very exciting.

This healthy tomato plant self seeded and I am hoping it will grow tomatoes but it may be too cold now. Love a self seeding edible plant as opposed to the many, many self seeding weeds I have to deal with all the time.

Also planted more silverbeet, more lavender and a yellow nasturtium. The yellow is my husband’s favourite but seem to have stopped self seeding, as did the red one, my favourite. We’ll have masses of orange ones, though. My mother grew the yellow one for us. Also planted hollyhock seeds collected by her and a canna tuber, too.

The bromeliad is blooming. The pink, mauve and purple colours really pop against the mostly green winter garden.

and LOOKING

Monet’s garden in Giverny opens soon but we wont be there! The spring garden is gorgeous. If you’d like information and a virtual tour, copy and paste http://www.fondation-monet.com

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 5th JUNE

“The food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable all come from nature.” This is the opening statement defining World Environment Day.

Biodiversity is the theme for 2020. This involves 8 million plants and animal species, their ecosystems and the genetic diversity within them.

As always, the aim is to highlight how we are damaging the environment and to celebrate the achievements each year. For more information, inspiring stories and plans for action visit https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/

https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/how-to/g1035/easy-paper-craft-projects/?slide=5

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What Is Your New Normal?

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Some internal border restrictions within Western Australia were eased last week, creating four regions replacing the previous seven. This weekend almost all borders will be relaxed within WA except the state border. The closed state border between Western Australia and the rest of Australia will still be in place. Cafes and restaurants have mainly re-opened with limits on the number of customers and the time they can stay. Some libraries and swimming pools have re-opened and some gyms. Many people have gone back to work in their offices. Social distancing is still prescriptive but we can move more around our own part of the state.

We live in Perth, the smallest but most densely populated region. My mother also lives in this region, towards Bunbury, also on the coast.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

So how will things be when all restrictions are lifted? Dr Tim Sharp *, founder of the Happiness Institute believes less time commuting and more time at home has resulted in many people re-assessing their lives. Slowing down and more family contact means a clearer idea about what is important. Lots families are living calmer lives without the daily commute, the frantic school drop off and masses of after-school obligations. They enjoying more time together. Many parents have developed a greater appreciation for the job done by teachers after a few weeks of home schooling. People are discovering they not only save time but money, too, not commuting, buying lunch and coffee and being tempted by shops.

Australians work an average of 4.6 hour of unpaid overtime every week.¹ They have 146 million days of annual leave unused at the end of 2019.² Enforced downtime might be the perfect opportunity to assess how you and your family live, to decide what is really important and to consider changes.

Many families, strained by the pressures of work and home life have probably realised that spending more time with their families has brought their household routines into focus. Good relationships with family and friends result in good health, happiness and life satisfaction. Are you happy with how you live?

Life after CV-19 will be different. Many people I know want to continue working from home most of the time, some want to reduce their work hours and several are reconsidering their children’s after school activities. I remember the frantic rush of after school activities when we were both working but the responsibility for arranging and transporting to and from these activities was entirely mine.

We are both retired now and went into self isolation early. I have watched with interest as families go bike riding together, go for long walks with their dogs, just like we do, and also enjoy verge and driveway gatherings with neighbours. A neighbour talks about the new routines she and her family are developing and I can see how that makes them feel connected as a family. I think some good will come out of this terrible pandemic. What do you think?

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF U.N. PEACEKEEPERS 29/05/2020

The focus of the International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers this year is Women in Peacekeeping: A Key To Peace, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Security Council resolution on Women, Peace and Security.

This is an opportunity to recognise and pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian women who make an invaluable contribution to the ongoing work of the United Nations.

* Dr Tim Sharp https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=dr+tim+sharp%2C+the+happiness+institute The Happiness Institute De Tim Sharp writes about being happy, making choices and living the life that really resonates with you.

(¹) https://www.tai.org.au/content/go-home-time-day-2019-australian-employers-pocketing-81-billion-worth-unpaid-overtime-report

(²) http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8221-annual-leave-holidays-december-2019-201912092209

Images and graphic content courtesy Dept Premier and Cabinet, WA and Pixabay

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Do You Have An Iso Job List?

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Reading some blogs I am impressed by the long list of TO DO jobs people are planning from re-arranging all the cupboards to washing the windows to mini-renovations. Yesterday I read a blog listing 64 jobs the blogger was working through. I wish all list makers well and admire their ambitions. My own list is far more modest, leaving plenty of time for reading, walking, painting and pottering.

My Iso Jobs this week were mostly outdoors. After a few days of storms last week, this week we have beautiful crisp mornings and warm, blue sky days. Really chilly by 5pm!

Displaying Model Chairs

The design of chairs has always interested me. In my early 20’s I made a set of four chairs and became really interested in the construction and decisions involved in designing, manufacturing and using chairs. It is rare to find a home without some chairs.

Chairs can be made from wood, steel, iron, plastic, even glass and ceramics or a combination of these materials plus fabrics.

I am intrigued by the artisan who designed and carefully made this little wire chair. So much careful planning and work. I love it!

I am particularly intrigued by model chairs. You can download models, you can get your own designs made and you can mix and match materials and styles.

This collection of model chairs is on a shelf in the kitchen. Some are from China and some from Singapore. I have some other model chairs on display or stored for now.

I have five metal chairs displayed outdoors. They were just sitting on a ledge and not really visible. They were rusted on the joins so I bought a combined rust treating and rust retarding spray paint and painted them.

I decided where to hung these little chairs and set to work. To display the re-painted chairs I hammered rawl plugs into holes drilled in the wall then screws after I’d painted the visible end to blend with the chair frames. Then I hung the chairs on the wall.

HINT Using spray paint still means you can get some paint on your fingers. This will wipe off easily with a high alcohol hand gel. Rub it on, leave it a minute, wipe off with a tissue. Paint all gone!

Washing Cashmere

This cashmere single bed sized rug has been in constant use for over 20 years. I bought it in Hong Kong when we were living in China. We’d take the fast ferry from Panyu Lianhuashan to HK and the air conditioning was always freezing. I bought this cashmere rug to spread across the three of us. Then I discovered it was perfect for long flights, cold nights and as a shawl to read in bed. Now I throw it over our bed every night. Cashmere is extremely comfortable.

It is always in use. In the past I have had it dry cleaned regularly. That is not possible now, so I decided to washed it myself. Read some online hints and then washed and dried it. This is what I did:

Placed the rug in a clean bucket in the trough and soaked it in tepid water.
When it was totally wet I dissolved some mild soap flakes (Lux) into the water and swished it around.
Left it to soak for 20 minutes. then squeezed out as much water as I could without being too aggressive.
Rinsed it in the bucket with clean tepid water, gently agitating. (a bit like kneading bread) Repeated four times until the water was quite clear.
Put it into the washing machine on a slow, gentle spin, then draped it across a drying frame outside in the sunlight There was a light breeze and it dried in two hours. Now fresh and clean.

Some sites recommend using your washing machine but I preferred hand washing.

Gardening

A few weeks ago I planted date expired coriander seeds in little pots. If they germinated I planned to use them as micro greens, little power houses of nutrients and flavour. They did germinate and we have eaten them and they were delicious.

If you want to use leftover seeds, have limited space or just want great flavour sprinkled on your food, try micro greens.

Why: super boost of flavour and nutrition.

How: use little pots or recycled plastic punnets with lids from the supermarket. Keep the planted seeds really moist by shutting the lid until your plants touch it then open the lid and begin harvesting, using scissors. Sprinkle on everything or mix into salads. Enjoy!

Sadly huge grey and brown grasshoppers have attacked the camellia leaves. The bush looks very tatty but is still blooming.

Following the success planting the cut-off end of celery and a little plant with tiny celery stalks growing, I decided to plant the ends I saved off the bok choy when I cooked it. Two days later, little leaves are growing.

Other Things

The regional borders in Western Australia have changed from seven to four. Excitingly this means we can visit my mother next week. She’s in her late 80s and fit and well but I decided to have the CV-19 test before visiting her. All clear! Just as exciting, our son who lives within another region was able to come down for a few days for work purposes and we had a lovely weekend.

Although things are relaxing here, we are still being very careful. I think Australians will live differently even when a vaccine is available. Crowded office spaces, bars, beaches, public transport, gyms and restaurants might be less attractive. Being better prepared in our homes might be more important. Preparing your own food regularly and even growing some of it might become more common. I think lots of us will still be watching Netflix but that might be because so much of our free-to-air TV is dire.

Photo WA State Museum

Did you know May 18th was INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS DAY?

A museum, according to ICOM ( International Council of Museums) is a permanent, not-for-profit institution which is open to the public. Museums acquire, research, communicate and exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage of its environment.

Museums are fascinating resources. Unfortunately, in Australia we can’t access them currently due to CV-19 restrictions. Western Australia’s new State Museum will open in November 2020. It is three times the size of the previous building. The unique collection will be displayed across eight galleries, showcasing our plants, animals, people and places.

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How To Make Baguettes, Microwave Marmalade, Painting and Using Up Food

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No Waste Cooking

I began to focus on food waste when I read that 25% of the food we buy is thrown away. Usually any leftover vegetables become soup or go into a fritatta. We are having soup regularly because I use chicken carcasses to make stock and we seem to have a chicken every week. The stock becomes the basis for immunity boosting soup. The vegetables are whatever is available and sometimes I add pasta or lentils. I always add ginger and turmeric, sometimes garlic, all good for supporting immunity.

Cauliflower Puree

An assessment of the fridge and pantry revealed some things I needed to use to continue my “no wasted food” plan. I decided to steam the cauliflower to make some vegetable stock for a change. Usually our immunity boosting soup has a chicken stock base but I hadn’t thawed any today. It’s wet and windy, so definitely a soup day.

I’d normally make cauliflower cheese, a favourite of mine, but it seemed a bit heavy, so I made pureed cauliflower instead. It is quick and so easy and tastes great.

INGREDIENTS

2 cps steamed cauliflower
1/2 cp grated hard cheese. I used Parmigiano Reggiano as it was in my collection of things to use now.
1/3 cp of pepitas/pumpkin seeds. Optional but I like a little crunch. Pinenuts are good, too, but I wanted to use the pumpkin seeds as the packet was already open.
3 cloves of garlic. I used some from a jar
40ml of olive oil to make your puree creamy
salt and grated black pepper to taste

METHOD

Puree the cauliflower using a stick blender or whatever you have available. Slightly break up the pumpkin seeds with the blender, add the garlic and grated cheese then the cauliflower, blend until mixed. Then drizzle the oil into the mixture and amalgamate. It should look smooth but not runny. Serve with grated black pepper. Serves 4 as a side dish.

Making Baguettes

This recipe takes more than 24 hours from beginning to end but the resulting loaves taste almost like traditional baguettes. Most of the time is actually taken letting the dough rise for 12 hours in a warm place and then 12 hours in the fridge.

Rolling out the dough after fermentation.

Divided the risen dough into three loaves and left to rise again.

This is a great recipe and although it takes longer than usual I am used to bread taking two days from start to finish as I have been making sourdough regularly for a few years. My loaves are more dense and smaller than a classic baguette but the flavour was certainly worth the time and effort. Find the recipe and instructions at

https://www.bakingsteel.com/blog/24-hr-baguettehttp:

Also baked a loaf of rye sourdough, a dense well flavoured bread.

Microwave Marmalade

Regular readers know how much I enjoy the citrus season. Lemons and limes add zing and zest to so many things we like to eat and my husband really likes marmalade. So, as soon as I had oranges, limes and lemons I made a few jars of marmalade for him. I am also eyeing off the kumquats, so they will be next!

The fruit I’d chosen weighted just over a kilo. There’s oranges, lemons and limes. I added just under 2 cups of sugar. Usually marmalade has an equal weight of fruit and sugar but I like tart marmalade so use less sugar.

I put some of the skins and the pips in this little muslin bag and then put it in the bowl while the marmalade was cooking. This usually infuses enough natural pectin for the marmalade to set but this time I had to add 10gm of powdered pectin. Later I realised I was just impatient. It has set to a very firm consistency and wouldn’t have needed the added pectin..

Thinly chopped some peel from the oranges, lemons and limes and added the peel to the cut up fruit. Also mixed some cut up peel which had been sitting in a jar of brandy since Christmas time.

Thick, slightly tart marmalade.

www.makecookgrow.com/2018/08/how-to-make-grapefruit-marmalade-in-the-microwave/

Painting

The art supply shop is open again so I set off for some new green paints. Some of my existing collection are so old I had to replace them. So lovely to wander around the art shop. Bought three new shades of green then did two paintings. The first is the lily when the flowers are still buds, the second is when they opened. These are fragrance free Asiatic lilies. Really enjoyed using my three new shades of green.

Reading

Hamnet by Maggie Farrell is set in the 16th and century. Laden with the emotions experienced by all people throughout time, love, loss, desire, greed and grief, it is a gripping story. Supposedly based on the tragic tale of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamlet, it is also the story of a woman and her life with her three children.

The story is based on these facts. A couple lived in Stratford in the 1580s with their three children, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, a twin, died when he was eleven. About four years later his father, a playwright, wrote a play called “Hamlet”.

Detailed descriptions and terrible grief contribute to a sense of gloom throughout and yet, it is strangely uplifting. Described by Marion Keyes as “O’Farrell’s best book yet” it was long listed for the Women’s Prize. A very good read.

Tuesday 12th May was INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY.

International Nurses’ Day is celebrated around the world on the 12th of May, the birth date of Florence Nightingale, to acknowledge and thank nurses worldwide for the contributions they make to society. This is the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingales birth date and significant for all nurses.

This year, along with all frontline service providers, we are in awe of their hard work, compassion and bravery in the face of C-V 19. We appreciate their ongoing care. People in many countries are expressing their gratitude by clapping outside their houses one night a week. Thankyou to all nurses!

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How Are You Keeping Busy?

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I know so many of you are juggling working from home, supervising homeschooling, trying to share technology and keeping fit and well and the house reasonably neat and organized. It is hard.

Keeping fit is probably difficult for so many of us as access to our usual routines or classes has been cancelled. Thank goodness for YouTube! I regularly do a yoga class online and have begun some resistance training, too, adding to some exercises I do at home anyway. And I walk a lot everyday. I hope you are finding some ways to remain fit and strong during this difficult period.

The Dog Park

Luckily we have been able continue going to the dog park. Not only does Louis get a good run but the park is large and we can all spread out. It is right next to the river and it’s restful and lovely just being there. We see people we know and can have conversations maintaining social distancing. But most of all, Louis gets to really run. He also needs to monitor all the trees around the perimeter of the park. He checks all the peemails and sends immediate replies!

Louis has had his end of summer grooming session and is ready for winter.

Sometimes it is just good to run and run.

This old peppermint tree has a Moreton Bay fig growing from one of it’s hollows.

Taking Louis to the dog park is a great opportunity for us to walk, too.

Growing Celery From Kitchen Scraps

I’ve seen instructions for growing vegetables from kitchen scraps in childrens’ gardening books and online, but only thought to try it recently. We actually find it hard to use a whole bunch of celery before I think it is too old. When I was washing and trimming the celery last week I kept the base, thinking I’d try it. It would be quite handy to have a crisp stalk or two regularly.

Put the cut off base in water and place it somewhere sunny outside. I put fresh water every second day. Day 5 and there appears to be some growth in the centre. When some roots appear I will plant it in a pot.

By day 8 it’s growing well. Time will tell.

If you are interested in knowing more about growing vegetables from scraps, you might like to watch this brief video on YouTube “Growing Vegetables From Kitchen Scraps” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uROpaU5mknw There are many informative videos on this topic so scroll through until you find one that suits you.

Garden News

The chilies are going wild so I think I’ll make some chili jam.

Our neighbour has had her magnolia and pomegranate trees heavily pruned. Our courtyard is awash with sunlight again in the afternoon. The roses and lime tree are particularly thriving. The light comes into our sitting room too which will be lovely during winter. I suspect some of the foliage will grow back before the piercing summer light returns.

Also re-potted a lucky bamboo which was not thriving. It used to be in my classroom and obviously missed the constant attention of little hands and enthusiastic over watering. It is no longer healthy. At the same time I added some fertiliser and fresh potting mix to this bonsai. It has thrived on our dining room table for about seven years with little attention, so today it got the works!

The bamboo is sending out a new leaf,so that’s promising!

If you enjoy looking at gardens the National Garden Scheme (UK) has gorgeous virtual garden visits. https://ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits/

Ratatouille

Yesterday was so hot and sunny the back of my neck got burnt while I was gardening, despite a big hat. Today it is raining and cold. So suddenly the salad vegetables didn’t look so attractive. Time to turn them into a pot of hot, delicious, filling ratatouille. The weather really dictates what we eat and I find myself watching the citrus ripen or the melons appearing at the grocer and I start looking forward to changing what we eat.

This recipe could accompany any protein for four people. I served it with some flash fried prawns. We have well priced prawns (what you call shrimps in the USA) as export markets for local seafood have shrunk enormously. We have also eaten it as a light lunch with a thick piece of toasted bread.

RATATOUIILE

INGREDIENTS

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 large zucchini/courgettes, sliced
6 tomatoes sliced ( I used Roma, any sort will do
1 x 400gm tin of tomatoes. I used diced because that’s what I had, but if you use tinned whole tomatoes, mashed them up with the back of a spoon while they’re cooking
1 tbspn Balsamic vinegar plus salt and pepper

METHOD

Peel and chop the onions and slice the zucchinis Heat 2 tbspns olive oil or butter is a heavy based pan and gently fry the zucchini. After about 5 minutes remove the zucchini and transfer to a bowl.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook about 10 minutes until the onion is looking clear and slightly browned.

Put everything back in the pan, plus the tomatoes and the tin of tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar and let it simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with torn basil leaves and enjoy!

It is autumn (fall) in the Southern Hemisphere so this will be the last of the rockmelons (cantaloupe). The bananas and tomatoes are grown in our tropical north and are available all year round. The other things are all winter fruit and veggies.

This weekend many countries will celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. Usually this is an opportunity to spend time with your mother and acknowledge the warmth and gratitude you feel. This year will be very different for me. Internal border restrictions mean I can’t visit my Mother and our son can’t visit us, either. We will Skype and have exchanged cards and gifts via mail, but it is very different this year. I hope you are able to celebrate this very special day in a safe way.

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