workaday meals

I realised recently, after reading this wonderful post, that I don't often write about the food I actually prepare for us during the week, especially those regular workaday meals or snacks that come together almost by themselves because I've made them many times before.

I don't know why I have this hesitation because I get just as much inspiration from seeing what people make to nourish themselves when they're busy as from perfectly styled meals that require fancy ingredients and dedicated preparation time.

So here goes, a simple meal that I often make for breakfast or whenever the need for something quick and sustaining arises, or just when I feel like it.

Avocado Toast

1 avocado (makes plenty for two)
some thick crusty bread or toasted bagels
salt and cracked pepper
squeeze of lemon

Spoon out your avocado into a small bowl and mash it up well with a squeeze of the lemon. Toast your bread or bagel (I didn't make the bagels this time around but I have before and if you have a bit of time up your sleeve one weekend I recommend making some - it feels a little bit like a magic trick).  Then lather the avocado onto your bread, season with salt and cracked pepper and eat with gusto. An optional very Australian extra: spread your bread with a little bit of Vegemite before putting on your avocado and then omit further salt.

In NSW the Hass (purple pebbly skin) and Sharwil (greenskin) varieties of avocado are in season for the next few months, so I daresay I'll be having a few more avocado based meals before then. My childhood self is cracking up laughing at this because she knows I used to hate avocados with a passion and now look how far I've come.

For more seasonal produce inspiration make sure you check out the other members of the cooking club below:

Lucent Imagery http://www.lucentimagery.com/
From River’s Edge http://fromriversedge.net/
Down by the Sea http://downbytheseadorset.blogspot.co.uk/
Anything Squirrel Squirrel http://anythingsquirrelsquirrel.com/

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collections/ restlessness

"Change is the only thing worth living for. Never sit your life out at a desk. Ulcers and heart condition follow." ~ Bruce Chatwin

Recently I've been feeling restless and wrestling with an inner conflict - the desire for both stability on one hand and change, adventure and excitement on the other. I want to cultivate a simple life but I also frequently get caught up with the desire for things and places.

I think we are all collectors in one way or another and perhaps the tension I'm describing lies in whether one chooses to focus on collecting things or collecting experiences.

I've gone through various periods of consciously collecting things. I've had a thing for bottles and jars for as long as I can remember. Back in my uni days I collected different editions of Keats' poetry, weird handbags and glass rings.  Lately, though the objects of my desire have been more homely in nature; retro cups, spoons, tableware and tea caddies with the odd plant and bowl thrown in for good measure.

I think it is important to surround yourself with beautiful things but I also battle with a desire for minimalism and a sense of freedom from possession. I probably need to re-read Chatwin's Anatomy of Restlessness, a wonderful book on this subject, which I wholeheartedly recommend if you haven't encountered it.

I think one solution to this often frustrating impasse betwixt stability and change might be to seek out fresh vistas where-ever you happen to be. Instead of collecting more things, collect some unique moments. Eat in a different room of the house. Take another path to work. Try new foods or new restaurants. Rearrange the living room. Wear something unexpected. Or, if you can, plan a trip - something we are in the midst of doing! Or watch Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. That show makes me desperately want to visit and eat in just about every city on the planet, a collection of delicious moments if ever there was one.


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