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a new cookbook

I really like reading about bloggers who use randomly or carefully selected cooking books from their collection to inspire them and then write about the recipe they made. I find myself using online recipes more often than books except for a few favourites I’ve printed off which are tucked into a folder. I usually look online for inspiration and directions. Often I found myself going back to Nagi  Maehashi’s site recipetineats.com. ( Just like 335 million other people as it turns out!)

Two of the weekend papers we read now feature her recipes in their magazines. So when I saw a review of her recipe book, RECIPE TIN EATS DINNER I knew I’d use it. She writes the recipes and tests them and takes the photos, ably assisted by Dozer, her golden retriever. He features in some of the photos.

Last night I made ONE POT BAKED GREEK CHICKEN AND LEMON RICE. Like so many of her recipes, all the ingredients were ‘at hand’ either in the fridge or the pantry. And like all her other recipes I’ve made, this one was very, very good. She says it serves five, it actually made enough for six serves for us. It wasn’t a one pot dinner, either, as we added roasted carrots, roasted mushrooms and peas and beans as we’re trying to increase the number and variety of fruit and vegetables we eat each week.

DINNER also has a very useful comprehensive glossary at the back, information about her philanthropic endeavor serving food to vulnerable people in Sydney five days a week and a little bit about how Nagi went from corporate city girl to recipe tin eats. Inspiring.

desiccants and plastic

A desiccant is a substance used to keep or sustain a state of dryness in its vicinity. The most commonly used desiccant is manufactured from sodium silicate and sulfuric acid. This mix has a particular affinity for absorbing water. Desiccants protect the integrity of the product they are stored with, often in a bottle. They should remain with the product until it is finished.

My problem with desiccants is not their effectiveness, but the fact they used to be packed in paper or other cellulose sachets which are compostable and now they come in small plastic pellets. This creates more plastic rubbish.

Recycling is not a satisfactory long term solution for the disposal of soft plastic waste. It simply delays the production and distribution of plastic microparticles into the environment.  Whether recycling soft plastic replaces aggregate in concrete or in roads and paths, or steel and wood in posts and furniture, we are just postponing the time when the product inevitably degrades, breaks down and releases extremely dangerous micro particles. These micro particles then enter the environment, the food chain and the bodies of fish, cattle, sheep, pigs, birds and ourselves.  Finding alternative uses for plastic waste may make companies which use plastic look good and make us feel virtuous but the only effective solution is to stop using it. Neither is biodegradable plastic a solution. It degrades by breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces until it becomes micro particles too.

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The best way to limit plastic entering the environment is to simply not use it. This would lead to less plastic overall. Recycling plastic is expensive and it degrades each time it is reused. So, brands claiming their clothing are manufactured from recycled plastic bottles create two bigger problems. This process takes the plastic out of the multiple recycling process and apparently most of the clothes end up in landfill within 12 months as discarded clothing. Plus every time an item of clothing made from plastic is washed it releases micro particles of plastic into the water ways. Green washing at its worst.

We must decide if we want to ingest plastic and risk the identified and as yet, unidentified hazards or use other materials where possible.

roses

The garden and the house are full of roses which is just how I like it! For the past two years the roses were decimated by chili thrip. Treating chili thrip involves using the sprays recommended by your local gardening centre. I also read about digging out the first layer of soil if the roses are in pots and replacing it with fresh soil as the thrip lay eggs close to the surface in the soil. I did this in the rose bed, too, but it was a big job. The other issue is that your close neighbours need to treat their roses at the same time.

Treating and eradicating chili thrip takes close observation, regular treatments and cooperative neighbours. Checking every day for signs on rose buds and reacting with the recommended spray is essential. Keeping the bush as healthy as possible helps, too. With regular treatment it seems to eventually move to another area. Unfortunately  I know some people in this area who removed their roses after two years of infestation rather than keep using the recommended sprays. I’m glad I persisted.

WORLD REMEMBRANCE FOR TRAFFIC VICTIMS

This Saturday, 29th November, is the day to remember that more than a million people die from traffic accidents every year.More information:

www.worlddayofremembrance.org/

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aprons

Do you wear an apron when you’re cooking or involved in other domestic occupations? When I was a child it seemed that all mothers wore an apron over their clothes. If they weren’t wearing an apron, one was hung on the hook behind the door.

Although I remember wearing aprons when I was first married at some time I stopped. I don’t remember the reason or even when this occurred.* Now I often wear one! If I’m cooking or even working in the garden I’ll probably wear an apron. I think rediscovering aprons was motivated by bread making. No matter how careful I am, during the process of measuring, weighing, mixing, resting and kneading the loaves, I will get flour, or worse, dough on my clothes. Now I always put an apron on. I have quite a few.

The word apron comes from a Medieval French word for small tablecloth, ‘naperon’ which eventually was shortened to ‘aprons’. Aprons aren’t just for domestic activities. They are worn as parts of uniforms, in  trades and for rituals. Aprons are made from a variety of materials, including cotton, linen, PVC, rubber, canvas and leather. They can have a bib top covering the front of the wearer, or a half apron, or a wrap-around with crossed back straps. I prefer aprons to cover the front of what I am wearing.

Neither cooking or gardening but actually removing paint from a metal screen.

If I’m going out into the garden I will probably wear an apron. I snip and trim, so keep secateurs in the apron pocket, I re-pot, I add fertilizer to pots and beds. I wipe my hands on the apron and drop it in the laundry when I come back inside. Recently I was doing a project involving paint stripper, rust retardant, primer and paint. I wore a wrap around apron which successfully covered me from top to bottom! A big pocket is good, too.

* My husband says I stopped wearing aprons when we moved overseas. Sounds right.

flower arranging

Many roses grow with a central bloom and three, four or five buds around it. The central flower blooms first, sometimes days before the others. I cut these out of the cluster, resulting in a short stem, then bring them inside. Due to their short stems they’re hard to arrange in a vase.

The central rose on each cluster blooms days before the surrounding flowers. I snip them out of the cluster but they have short stems. My solution is rubber bands! I make a grid using bands slipped around the vase. If I’m using a bigger vase I make a grid to create small squares. This means putting bands across then from front to back. The flowers are held in place and look lovely for days. By then the buds originally surrounding the middle bloom are ready to pick on a much longer stem, so they don’t need support.

The rubber bands don’t really show up on the vase.

tiny eggs

Our dear neighbour delivered a dozen sweet little eggs. She has  Dutch Bantams and Japanese Bantams, which are quite petite so the eggs are tiny, too. After I’d admired them for a while, I decided to make a tortilla. Also known as a Spanish Omelette, Spanish Tortilla and Tortilla de Patatas this wasn’t just the usual egg, onion and potato tortilla but an easy way to use up a carrot, red cabbage and green cabbage salad mix I had in the fridge. I was thoroughly sick of chewing and chewing . I’m keen to increase the number of fruit and vegetables we eat each week but this mix required way too much chewing and a lot of dressing to make it appealing. Decided to cook it.

I fried the onion then put it in a bowl, fried the carrot and two cabbages and added them to the onion and then fried three very finely sliced, peeled potatoes and added them, along with the other fried vegetables, to the twelve beaten little eggs.

Scraped the whole lot back into the pan and cooked it until it was nearly set then put it under the grill to brown the top. The red cabbage looks rather unattractive in the photo but actually tasted really good in the tortilla. Meanwhile, I’d peeled and deseeded a butternut pumpkin and roasted it in a tray.

Served the tortilla with roasted pumpkin  and peas. Seven serves of vegetables. Good.

making cards

For the past three weeks I have been going to a class where we learnt about Japanese and Chinese brush painting. Firstly we explored bamboo and leaves, the second week was flowers using ink and then paint and this week we focused on painting flowers which we then made into cards. I actually did lessons with the paining master in China but whatever I learnt there has long gone. I really enjoyed working with the tutor and have been to other classes she’s run in the past. I enjoyed focusing on a new technique and learning new methods. The class was often about ten people so it was comfortable and a bit chatty, too. I also liked the cards I made!

remembrance day

Today, the 11th of November, is REMEMBRANCE DAY. We stand for a minutes silence at 11am to remember those service men and service women who have served in all wars and peace keeping missions.

LEST WE FORGET

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concussion

What is concussion? Concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury. It is the result of a blow, thump or jolt to the head or to the body, causing the head to jolt back and forward such as a whiplash injury. The head moving rapidly shakes the brain which can result in chemical changes. Sometimes brain cells are stretched and damaged. Usually described as a ‘mild’ brain injury, evidence now shows the long term effects of concussion can be serious.

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Symptoms of concussion can include headache, confusion, poor co-ordination, memory loss, sleepiness, nausea and vomiting, dizziness and fatigue. In the past concussion has been treated as something that will pass with time. If severe doctors recommended “cocooning” remaining in a dark room and resting, plus treating headaches with over the counter medication.  (Avoid ibuprofen as this can cause bleeding) All that has changed recently due to the research showing that concussion  can result in long term neurological disease.

Diagnosing concussion involves observation of neurological responses such as vision, hearing , balance, reflexes) and cognitive aspects, such as memory and concentration. Imaging tests may also be recommended. This will rule out other head injuries. Research now suggest the best way to recover from concussion is to begin cardio exercise as soon as possible such as using an exercise bike or elliptical machine, but not running which can hurt the brain. Get the blood pumping! Follow this with something cognitively stimulating such as reading, games or puzzles but avoid screens if possible. Return to school or work gradually.

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Concussion can result in long term problems. Research on older professional sportsmen indicates that repeated concussion can result in permanent brain damage. Neurodegenerative diseases related to repeated concussion include  Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, slurred speech and significant memory problems, parkinsonism or the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (tremors, muscle stiffness and slow movement), sleep disturbance, smell and taste dysfunction are also common long term symptoms.

New research indicates concussion is a serious injury which needs professional diagnosis and treatment.

Bottle brush

During late winter and early spring our arum lilies bloom. I really like the sculptural appearance of the lilies and glossy, generously sized leaves. I bought the vase I put the lilies and leaves in just for this purpose. The only problem was the water gets murky towards the base after a few days and I couldn’t get anything long enough and slim enough to reach the inner base to give it a good scrub.

I invented a long vase scrubber! I don’t see a commercial application for it but it was just the thing to clean the vase. I used a rubber band to secure the bottle brush in a pair of long handled tongs and scrubbed the vase clean. Very satisfying.

This is a bottle brush of another kind. It is very attractive. The development from nobbly little boxes, actually called budding capsules, splitting open down the length of the bloom is wonderful to watch. These amazing flowers come in red, yellow, orange and pink. Endemic mostly to the coastal regions of Australia, although some grow in the centre, too, they are also available at any native plant nursery.

The name bottle brush is derived from the appearance of the flower. Bottle brushes (Callistemon genus) looks like a bottle brush! The entire genus is endemic to Australia but have been keenly been adopted by the rest of the world. They are drought tolerant and require little water once established.

other things

Continuing with Japanese/Chinese Brush Painting. First lesson was bamboo painted with ink, this week was flowers in water colour. I enjoy focusing on developing new techniques and working with other people trying to also master this way of painting.

PIERRE de RONSARD ROSES

The garden is amazing. The Pierre de Ronsard roses on an arch are covered in blooms. I was considering removing them earlier this year and am so glad I just cut them back.

SNAP PEAS

All winter I have been picking enough snap peas from one plant to serve two people every few days. I am drying two pea pods from the snap pea plant to plant some more peas for the next few months. To grow peas from the pods it is best to leave a few pods on the plant to dry and then leave them outside until really dry. Then split the pod open and harvest the dry peas. I like to soak them overnight before planting, but not everyone agrees with soaking. Make holes about 2.5 cm (1 “) deep. Plant two peas in every hole . Add liquid seaweed. Water regularly. They’ll germinate in about nine days.

A blogger I have followed for years always weighs her produce when she picks it and keeps a record of how much she has harvested. I think she likes to work out how much money she has saved growing rather than buying produce! Do you do this?

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