Day 19 - Everyday luxuries

Today I am grateful for everyday luxuries. Stuff that doesn't seem like a luxury. But when you think about it, that's a totally first world attitude. That's fine, that's where we are at, but it is good to acknowledge now and then I believe and be aware that the things we consider essentials are essentially luxuries to a large percentage of the world. Rice cooker, for instance. Coffee machine. Microwave. Vacuum cleaner. One I love, and don't consider essential but revel in it's luxuriousness, is my electric blanket!

For instance, today I went and bought a toaster. In between taking Sienna and some classmates to her school soccer game about 15 minutes away, and later returning to watch some games and take them back to school, I drove to Chadstone. On a side note, bad idea if you only want to buy one thing. Full of evil attractive temptations for our little consumerist hearts. Peter Alexander, for instance, warm and foresty window display. Love.

Oh, um, back to the story. We did have a toaster, which was all well and good and fine, but on Sunday morning it sparked and fizzed and shorted out the electrical circuit it is on. Ahem. So, a new toaster.

I got a pretty funky one, I think ;) I had a Myer gift card to use, which I'm glad I hadn't spent on a whim now on some random thing, as I applied it to buying the toaster. A shiny red toaster. Which toasts bread. How exciting! And funny, too, that toasting bread can be done in all sorts of other ways, yet we consider a toaster to be an essential appliance. Rather than, say, a fire and a stick. Or a frypan or whatever. It's essential to our daily routine. An essential everyday luxury. But it's a nice toaster, it looks vibrant on my boring kitchen bench, and I'm grateful for that too. If something is "necessary" it is nice if it is also aesthetically pleasing in some way. Ooh, pretty!

Also, pumpkin scones are really nice. I made some this afternoon, which I haven't done in a long time, and they were tasty. Everyone enjoyed them, the kids, the friends they had over playing, Ben, me, my friend. It reminded me to bake more with pumpkin, which also happily suits my no-sugar challenge :)

I am blogging grateful posts for the 21 challenge, raising awareness and funds for Australia's homeless youth. With a couple of days to go, I am at 83% of my goal - thank you! Only $50 to go until I meet my target of raising $300 for Open Family Australia :)
 

If you would like to sponsor me or donate to the challenge, please click here.

Day 12 - Pumpkin

This evening it was almost 5 before I decided what to make for dinner... wondering what vegetarian meal I can come up with that didn't involve pasta. Sienna had requested Italian Meatballs (like she had in a cafe in Belgrave, so I'm setting myself up for failure there, lol) but that will have to wait until I can get to the butcher to buy some mince...

So, we mostly had zucchini, onions, pumpkin. Um, in the garden we have thyme, native thyme, sage, rosemary. I did a bit of searching and found a tasty recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on the BBC website and ended up making Pumpkin risotto with crispy sage. Yum!

I love pumpkin. I usually buy butternut pumpkin, and roast it or use it in pasta sometimes. It always feels like it suits Autumn - pumpkin, chestnuts, warm tones. I think I might grow a pumpkin patch. Today I am grateful for the ability to choose and buy vegetables. I'm grateful for the tasty pumpkin that was in our dinner :) I'm also grateful to have naturally sweet vegies for the 'giving up sugar' part of this challenge I'm doing!

I am blogging grateful posts for the 21 challenge, raising awareness and funds for Australia's homeless youth.

If you would like to sponsor me or donate to the challenge, please click here.

Day 7 - Making Food

Yesterday I made up a new recipe for Season with Saltbush, which I will upload soon. And I thought, I am grateful for these fresh vegetables to cook with. Herbs and spices to season and flavour with. A reckless disregard for recipes that leads to interesting discoveries ;) My naturopath's advice to avoid certain vegetables while embracing others. At the end of the day, these are beautiful luxuries. I didn't grow these plants, though I could have (and vegie gardens are part of my lovely plans for the yard).
I didn't need to. Which is pretty great.

That said, I do really want to add the vegie garden to my plan of action this year! I've had fencing quotes coming in to enclose our yard properly, and to add an enclosure for chooks too. Won't that be fun, and a shade more self-sufficient :)


I am blogging grateful posts for the 21 challenge, raising awareness and funds for Australia's homeless youth.

If you would like to sponsor me or donate to the challenge, please click here.

Apple pie, baby

When you would like to make some sweet treats but would like to justify them at the same time, using up fruit that is getting old is the perfect excuse. And I'm not afraid to use it. I reduced my fruit bowl load by a couple of apples (um, wow! yay!) and made up these scrummy cupcakes after searching for 'apple cupcakes' on pinterest. I thought a bowl of apples was a fun way to photograph the cake - hmmm, which one would you pick? A healthy apple? Or a pretending-to-be-slightly-healthy-but-actually-full-of-sugar-and-butter cupcake?

The cupcakes are particularly awesome fresh. Really light and scrummy. They get a little heavier over time but still yum yum yum. I do have a bit of an obsession with cinnamon at the moment, so the icing is a win. Despite the 15 minutes of beating, which I would never normally bother with. But it is good.

Apparently the original recipe is from a Donna Hay magazine, but I like the personal notes the blogger added. I also halved the recipe and made 10 big cupcakes. I only halved the icing recipe, not 2/5th like the blogger noted, but that did make too much. So 2/5 is about right for the 10 cupcakes - or make the cupcakes a bit smaller and make 12!

Click over here to read the recipe and comments :)

Linking up with Kell's 'Pin It? Make It?' challenge this fortnight.

Drawing, eating and a Curious Bazaar giveaway

To begin with, I have a fabulous Curious Bazaar giveaway for you!

The prize: A $30 Curious Bazaar voucher and some secret surprise-y treats added to your parcel when you use the voucher. Yay!

The deal: We'd love to increase our audience for Curious Bazaar, celebrate the end of Summer (I love Autumn) and share the love! I have a nice big update happening later today and would love to get the word out. So, there are three ways of entering...

1. Share Curious Bazaar on Facebook, simply click 'share' under the giveaway post on Curious Bazaar's page.

2. Tweet the link to this post, and then comment here to let me know you've tweeted.

3. Share this giveaway on your own blog, and then comment here to let me know you've blogged!

Giveaway closes 14th March 2012! International entries are welcome, I'll be adding international shipping to all of the shop items over the coming week :)

Note: These photos are from Tickle the Imagination issue 03 and was photographed by Curiouser, featuring Curious Bazaar brands Sew Chirpy and Polkadot Lane as well as the gorgeous creations of Little Tree Kids and Monet Paisley!

In home news, Sienna has been drawing and crafting up a storm lately, with a decidedly lalaloopsy focus! She's made clothes, constructed a boat, various beds and houses, mini blocks and toys, paper baskets and lots of little drawings. Here is one recent sketch, a little picture of 'Lady Stillwaiting'...

I've been cooking and baking lately, and yesterday afternoon made some yummy cupcakes from Lauren's blog, some 'pirate cookies' from a book Ash had borrowed from school, and a favourite casserole (Chicken, Mushroom and Leek) for dinner. This is a native herb-y pasta bake I made last week - the recipe will be added to Season with Saltbush soon!

Conflict and Pancakes

To anyone who has known me / read my blog for a long time, internal conflict is not really news. I regularly have these outbursts of conflict, or maybe they should be called inbursts really? All angst and uncertainty, you would think I would have left it behind in my teenage years. Well, as an angst-y teenager I did have some sort of vague idea that it would be different as a grown up. Alas, it is not quite so. Or at least it is sometimes relatively angst-less, but now and then becomes completely angst-ridden once again. I think it's quite normal actually.

OK enough gobbledy-gook :) As a mature adult, I could just say I am reevaluating my business and personal plans. Which is true. It has been my plan to reevaluate my plans after this market season, and I've just jumped in a bit early. A few things might go, but a few other things might have a stronger presence. Such as wedding photography. I don't advertise it, so I only do a handful of weddings a year, but I do love it. There may be some more online-ish things that will be added too. Positive, flexible changes. It's all a work in progress, but then, aren't we all?

Yesterday I told the kids I would make them pancakes if they cleaned up. You know, a bit. It was supposed to be an afternoon snack idea, but by the time they had actually achieved a small amount of cleaning, it was 5:30pm. So I declared it to be a dessert treat instead. We all enjoyed them :) This week I posted our favourite pancakes recipe along with serving ideas on the Season with Saltbush blog. They are otherwise known as 'Dad's pancakes' (as in, my dad).

Turkey Sausage-y Rolls

Today I'm sharing a recipe from my other blog Season with Saltbush. This is an easy, tasty and family-friendly version of an old fave. They also have a lot of healthy goodness that the kids don't notice ;) You can customise them for yourself depending on what flavours you'd like to try out!



Ingredients



500gm turkey mince

1 can lentils

1 zucchini, grated

1 medium onion, grated

2 eggs (1 for glazing)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup Quandong and Chilli Sauce

2 tsp Native Pepper Seasoning

5 sheets low fat puff pastry, thawed

1 tsp salt



Step One



Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Combine the turkey, lentils, zucchini, onion, 1 egg, Quandong & Chilli Sauce, Native Pepper Seasoning and salt in a bowl. Mix well.



Step Two



Cut each puff pastry sheet in half, making two long pieces. Spoon the turkey mixture along the pastry in the centre, and then fold the pastry over from either side and moisten to seal.



Step Three



Now you should have five sausage roll logs. Cut each log into 3 pieces. Glaze with beaten egg and place on a tray (I usually put baking paper down first). Cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Serve with extra sauce.

Feast fit for a... person. Or something.

I bought the new SBS magazine Feast the other day and have already gorged myself full of inspiration and daydream delusions of regularly visiting the Queen Vic Markets and coming home with all sort of exotic ingredients. We all know that isn't going to happen, but a girl can dream. However, I am still very inspired, and in far more practical ways as well :)

For one thing, I am totally going to try making my own roti chanai. I've intended to before, but this article (p.144) settles it. It will happen. And possibly save my buying triple lots of the roti from our local Thai restaurant.

I am also going to be newly addicted to the Gourmet Farmer's blog and will have to watch the tv show sometime. Their property is called Puggle Farm. How awesome is that? I want to live there. With some ducks.

I suspect this magazine will also fan my armchair travelling desires. I now want to go everywhere and eat the food there. That is all.

Besides that, do you really need a reason to sit and sip coffee as you enjoy a beautiful magazine? I love magazines. I try to resist. I frequently justify. But I luff them with a great luff that cannot be denied.

Design and food and stuff

Something I was working on last week was a revamp of my other blog Season with Saltbush. I've added recipe lists and ingredient labels. In my cute little recipe - journal that Ben gave me for our anniversary in April - I have a handful of recipes ready to type up and add to the blog over the next little while. Let me know what you think? Is there anything that would be great on a food blog that is currently missing? Love to hear any thoughts :)

Outback Pride on The Circle

As well as being just generally awesome, and run by Ben's folks, Outback Pride is one of Curiouser's clients (website, commercial photography) and the subject of my other blog Season With Saltbush....

Speaking of which, I will totally be revamping that blog soon, I am aiming to be super inspired after attending Nuffnang Blogopolis on Saturday! If you will be there too, please say hi :)

Mmmm Macarons

A lovely gift from my man. Yum :)

Time out in Daylesford

This weekend I had a gorgeous weekend away with these two lovely ladies in Daylesford...

Lots of yummy (and indulgent!) food - this is the mushrooms and hash browns at Breakfast & Beer - a few girly movies, some scrapbooking on my part, some stitching on Kell's...

Shopping the Lark warehouse sale, the Lark shop (one of my favourite shops ever) and a bunch of vintage shops, Daylesford Bazaar, Mill Markets, Koukla for dinner, the farmer's market, the maker's market...

Cafe breakfast in Hepburn Springs this morning just before Kell and Kate headed off to the Craft Experience for the day, and I spent a day pottering about, including a visit to the amazing 'A Day On Earth' - David Bromley's warehouse gallery workshop space. It is SO amazing. It deserves a separate post :)

Plus a bit of photography as I meandered the day away... I picked these yarrow wildflowers off the side of the road and they are now on my kitchen table to remind me of my travels and of nostalgia. The Yarrow Fairy was one of my favourite fairies I pretended to be when I was little (the other favourite was the Snowdrop Fairy). I also spent a lovely hour in Paradise Books. A nice break, now it's back to regular programming - i.e. washing, school, cleaning up after the kids and working ;)

Creamy Chicken and Native Thyme Casserole

One thing about visiting the family at Reedy Creek, is that I always come back stocked up with Outback Pride products and inspired to share the things I make. I'm making it easier on myself now by skipping the step by step photography and just remembering to take a single image if possible!

This one I actually made on Monday night, after our drive home (and a quick grocery shop by Ben).

600gm free range chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped
1 leek, white part quartered and sliced
125gm button or swiss mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini, quartered lengthways and sliced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup light cream
2 tsp of fresh native thyme, finely chopped (if unavailable, replace with dried native thyme)
1 tsp Native Pepper Seasoning

Heat half of olive oil in a wide frypan or a saucepan. Brown chicken in batches and set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil. Saute garlic for 1 minute until fragrant, add leek. Cook, stirring for 1 minute and then add mushrooms and zucchini. Cook until all vegetables are soft and leek slightly translucent. Return chicken to the pan. Add chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, add cream, native thyme and native pepper seasoning. Simmer for half an hour or so. Serve with rice. It can also be baked as a casserole in a lidded dish for 1 hour. Serves 4.

Final Fifteen

I've posted about visiting Fifteen before, it was kind of a tradition my cousin Bec has whenever visiting Melbourne and I've been a couple of times with her. For one reason or another, Ben never came with me. So when I read that Fifteen (the restaurant) is being redecorated, relaunched and rebranded, I wanted to show Ben what it was like before the changes happened. We also hadn't had a date night in forever (well, since our anniversary in April I think...) On the 24th December, we had a 6:30 seating and enjoyed...

Arancini (a complimentary appetizer)

Ben had: Crumbed sardines with pine nuts, currants and sherry vinegar dressed baby leaves (sorry no picture of that one), and...

I had: Giorgio’s burrata with zucchini flower fritte and olive oil poached vine tomatoes

I loved: Rotolo of baked ricotta, button mushrooms, baby spinach and marjoram with crispy sage, brown butter and parmesan,

while Ben enjoyed: Vialone Nano risotto with steamed Spring Bay mussels, chilli, garlic, cherry tomatoes and parsley

After hearing about the South Gippsland free-range origin, Ben and I both selected: Black Angus beef sirloin with a tasting plate of mustards and condiments.

After a lemon and rosewater sorbet to cleanse the palate... Ben chose for dessert: Chocolate Icecream with grappa cherries

and I found the Mixed berry crostata with clotted cream particularly yum!

Chicken and Native Thyme Lasagna

500gm free range chicken mince
600 ml passatta
1 onion, or a handle of eschalots
3 cloves garlic
1 zucchini
1 tablespoon chopped native thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
extra virgin olive oil
6 lasagne sheets
1/2 cup grated cheese (tasty, colby or mozzarella)
1/4 cup shaved or freshly grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 190 degrees.
Heat olive oil in heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. Saute onions / eschalots and garlic for 5 minutes. Add diced zucchini, saute until soft and onion clear. Remove from pan and set aside.
Gently brown chicken mince. When cooked, return onion mixture to pan with passatta and native thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Layer lasagna sheets with meat mixture, finishing with a layer of meat sauce. Top with grated cheeses and bake in centre of oven for approximately 30 minutes.