if you could time travel

I recently listened to a remarkable interview with the writer Ray Bradbury. When asked which moment of his life he would revisit if he could time travel, he answered: 'Every single moment.' Have a listen to the whole interview here. It's amazing.

With that in mind, here are a few moments above of late that I would be happy to revisit:
~ afternoon tea at a friend's new sun drenched flat (where she made fresh ground coffee, polenta cake and bruschetta);
~ a chat with my elderly Italian neighbour which concluded with her giving me some flowers from her garden;
~ a cheese-plate eaten with friends, as we shared hilarious flirtation and relationship anecdotes.

Not long now till our London trip. I'm really looking forward to it but trying to stretch out the delicious sense of anticipation too. Being in the moment is key.

If you are in London during 19-22 September, come along to 100% Design, Stand L318, in Earl's Court, where you will find Kristian showing his wonderful new range of products - very exciting!

Pub lunches, ciders and steaming mugs of tea ahoy!

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listing towards inspiration

When I was a kid I used to love going over to friends' houses for dinner because I would get to eat from a whole new playbook of meals. As much as I loved my Mum's cooking, I was pretty familiar with the usual range of meal options and there was something exciting about seeing and tasting someone else's take on things.

Lately, I've become a bit tired of my own meal playbook. There's been plenty of fine soups and stews and salads but nothing that's got me really excited. Nothing that has prompted Kristian to say, 'You should add this one to the regular rotation.' Part of this may be to do with my general fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants take on cooking, especially for dinner. Often, I just take a bunch of ingredients out of the fridge or cupboard and they get assembled into something or other, based on what's at hand. This, incidentally was also my mother's most common (and best) cooking strategy when I was little. The other one was usually to ask me for inspiration as the car pulled into the local grocery store and I'd list off: sausages, meatballs, peanut chicken - you know, the classics.

Since we've moved house, I've temporarily (I hope) lost some of my food bearings.  Perhaps it's that I'm wanting to establish some new routines in the new place, to welcome in this new home with more honest and simple fare.  Bizarrely, despite living with Kristian for four years, I've also felt a strange domesticated urge since we got engaged to amp it up in the kitchen, to establish some new classic meals, which we can call our own.

So, with all this in mind, I've been compiling a list of things to cook in the new place.  I am trying to be honest about it, not putting down fancy stuff because it looks good or seems like something I should make but rather reminding myself of the food that gets my taste buds whirring. The good stuff. At the moment it reads:

chickpea and tomato salad
kumara and black bean soup with guacamole
something with pickles (roast beef?)
smashed baked potato with peas and bacon
tuna patties with yogurt dressing
ricotta pancakes
salsa
grilled cheese and avocado sandwiches
garlicky green beans
meatballs in sauce
spinach soup
curried squash
frittata with caramelised onions
roast chicken and coleslaw
lamb tagine

And, having written it, I'm already feeling a hint of excitement, mixed with lashings of hunger.  The list is going up on the fridge quick sticks, next to the wine vouchers for Camperdown Cellars and I have a feeling it's going to be a bit of a saviour over the next few uncertain weeks ahead. 

I've recently discovered some folk with inspiring thoughts around this idea:-
~ Astrid's dinner project
~ This book
~ The Yellow House post on information overload versus home cooking. Very well worth a read.

Do you have any particular favourite meals you like to make at home or reliable classics you fall back on? I'd love to know.

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the island pt 1

It's my first week back at work so naturally I'm thinking about our holiday to Lord Howe Island and wishing myself back there.

I used to visit Lord Howe with my family a lot when I was younger but I haven't been back in a few years and the best thing about it is that it's hardly changed. It's like a small country town from the 70s but surrounded by water and with the most beautiful forests, walks, beaches and wildlife you can imagine.

Lord Howe Island also has the most fantastic place names - Hell's Gates, Kim's Lookout, Valley of the Shadows, The End of the World, to name a few. We didn't make it to many of those spots, some are virtually inaccessible without a boat, but we did hit up Blinky Beach every day that we could and the weather permitted. A few months after my 18th birthday I got caught in a rip and nearly drowned at this beach and it still inspires my fearful respect but when the weather is right, hands down it's my favourite place to swim on Earth. Kristian became a massive fan too and over the week we caught enough waves there to ever so partially digest the amazing amounts of food and wine we consumed on the trip.

And the fish, oh the fish. From the moment we landed, I was licking my chops over that first hotly anticipated plate of Kingfish - grilled with lemon and potatoes on the side, accompanied by sparkling white wine. Our family friend Ron works as a chef at one of the restaurants and one night we headed up the hill at dusk to be treated to Kingfish and Oahu, fresh caught that day.

Walking home in the pitch dark to the sounds of Muttonbirds calling to each other in plaintive tones and seeing a million stars sparkling overhead was a pretty spectacular end to the year.

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inspiration

Spring has finally sprung and in the spirit of the season I've been on a tidying and clearing out blitz around the house.  It's been wonderfully cathartic. I've thrown away stuff I've been holding onto for years (old Christmas cards, cassette tapes from the 80s - the bad, embarrassing ones, school assignments and... even some cookbooks!

I was inspired by my friend Gianna, who told me all about her pre-three-month-world-tour packup.  When sorting through her belongings she asked herself the question, "Does this have a role in my future life?" If it did, it stayed, if not then it was turfed. I found it to be a wonderfully effective way of dealing with the reflective, sentimental items that we (I) tend to keep.

So with this in mind, the other night I finally got up the courage and stamina to tackle my pile of Gourmet Travellers and Delicious Magazines. I cued up some bad TV and got ripping. The result was primarily a lot less bulk on my cookbook shelf but secondly, and more interestingly, a distillation of the food I'm  drawn to make and eat at the moment, namely: coleslaw, salads featuring apples or figs or nuts, anything with lemon and lemon on everything, halloumi with watermelon, tacos tacos tacos,  skewered things, ceviche and juicy tomato salads with basil and balsamic.

The last picture is a little experiment of mine with lemon curd (very loosely adapted from this recipe) and inspired by a visit to Newtown's Black Star Pastry. 

Hope you have a lovely weekend ahead!

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light

 

The light has been amazing in the evenings of late. I'm enjoying getting home and still having time to savour it for a few hours - bless you daylight savings (for the moment at least). It's nice to have time to catch up on reading, to linger over dinner preparation. There's something about having a glass of wine whilst the sun's streaming in the back window that makes summer holidays feel that much closer. I know it's only October still but roll on the festive season!

Some things helping me get into that holiday spirit:
This upbeat song;
Vicarious travelling adventures from my desk;
Compiling summer reading wishlists - I'm especially looking forward to reading Tales from High Mountain by Tara Austen Weaver (who writes the wonderful blog Tea and Cookies) about her time spent in Japan - more vicarious travelling - can you tell I'm ready for a holiday?

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food for friday

I've discovered the picturesque wonderfulness of pinterest food boards and so has my stomach.

I think I'm not alone in eating with my eyes but heavens it's becoming a bakelust expedition every time I go on there now. I've started a little file there called eat and have been enjoying adding some of my favourite things. Pinterest is also a strange and fascinating world to browse when it comes to food.  You might find something beautiful and inspiring or something truly bizarre. There are some scarily over the top sugary creations on there let me tell you.

It's also interesting to see patterns in what you pin and from where. At the moment for me it's vegetables and green things of the pesto type variety, lemon and bagels. I'm finding lots of good things on some of my frequent go-to sites for inspiration - roost, green kitchen stories, sprouted kitchen, simply breakfast and whole larder love.

Happy pinning and happy friday!

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ham, cheese, chairs and lights

Some photos from the weekend, a few days of being surrounded by design, people, food and drink.

Last Friday and Saturday, Kristian was involved in an exhibition, Artisan, which featured several product and furniture designers, as part of Saturday in Design.  It was a massively hectic but enjoyable experience - there were more than 1000 people through the showroom on Saturday - and a great opportunity to be a part of an inspiring collaboration by young, Australian designers.

It was also quite a day for indulging in food and wine.  In my role as door wench, I got to meet some weird and wonderful people during the day and to see them demolish a 10kg ham, several massive wheels of brie and gruyere and countless bottles of wine.  I may have also enjoyed a cheeky wine or several but after 9 hours on my feet they were very necessary.

After the show, we kicked on at the after-party at the Piano Room, where we enjoyed some incredible canapes and by 10.30pm I was happy/tipsy crying into a burrito at Guzman y Gomez. Quite a weekend indeed!  

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This weekend I:

got up close and personal with a favourite saucepan to make moroccan stew and couscous

enjoyed coffee and toast in the park with Kristian near where I used to live

had dinner with my parents, who just got back from a month in Italy. My mum made an amazing apricot danish for dessert.

had fun with our kitchen reflections

made scones with sultanas and orange zest


toasted to a new job, starting tomorrow

had an very cute lunch made for me.

finally got around to watching Somewhere and then walked around the neighbourhood in a dreamy mood.

Gosh it went quick. See you next week!

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on the third day of june we drank coffee

Just when I thought it was going to get all wintery, Sydney pulls out a stunner like today. I forget sometimes just how nice June can be. There was nothing for it but to get outside. Since I had the day off, I happily joined Kristian in a trip to the Workshopped Shop in Surry Hills and then we walked around, checking out design stores, bookshops and cafes until we found a tremendously cute little place on Albion Street for lunch, Bruschetteria. I recommend it if you're in that part of town. They serve lots of great paninis and bruschettas and a nutella coffee that was unexpectedly good. All in all a pretty fine day!

Hopefully this weather keeps up for the weekend. There was an ambitious Ikea trip planned but I suspect it'll be a low key weekend with a focus on brunching, friends and sunshine. Hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever your plans!

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cool as a cucumber sandwich on a rainy day

Usually when it's pouring with rain, like it's been these past few days in Sydney, I dream about hot, nourishing stews and cup after cup of coffee. Perhaps it was all the kale flowers and vegetables I saw on my travels today but all I could think about was cucumber sandwiches. Something simple and reassuring to be eaten quietly at the table, whilst enjoying a good book and a hot cup of something. It's a strange day that I don't still love a good coffee or several.

This is the sort of thing you don't really need a recipe for - in the manner of toast or eggs or many other of those intuitive, sort of obvious things - it is more of an exercise in assembly. I have found though, after many a cucumber sandwich, that a good level of buttering, salt and pepper and a zingy mayonnaise add very much to the enjoyment of the essential ingredients: bread and cucumber. Crusts on or off is really up to you. I cut them off but ate them anyway because white bread is such a rare childhood-esque indulgence that I didn't want to waste any crumbs.

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