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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buds and biscuits

Observations from the first weekend of Spring:

~ It was surprisingly cool, as if nature was saying 'don't get too hasty throwing off that Winter garb'.

~ From our back yard I spotted birds flying in arrow formation for what felt like the first time and marvelled at how that was possible.

~ A smiley face appeared in the sky with a word after it - I thought it was going to be decide but it ended up being decorug (whatever that is?).

~ A friend dropped round on Saturday with pear tart, which was surprisingly good.

~ We had lunch at my parent's house for Father's Day and talked lots about our upcoming trip to London - did I mention that we were going to London in two weeks? I don't think I have... 

~ I sat in the garden with Kristian and my mum, soaking up the sun and checking out the new buds and shoots coming up.

~ I made some protein-rich gingerbread biscuits to fatten up my Dad (and ate a few of the misshapen ones myself).  

Gingerbread Biscuits

Adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, by Rose Carrarini

125g unsalted butter, softened

90g brown sugar

3 Tbsps molasses (or golden syrup works just as well)

1 egg, beaten

370g plain flour, sifted (I substituted 100g of flour for quinoa flakes, to up the protein)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

Beat the butter, sugar and molasses/ golden syrup until pale and well combined. 

Add in the egg, then fold through the flour and other dry ingredients until the mixture forms a good dough. You might need to add a little extra flour or another egg if your dough is too wet or dry. 

Roll the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Butter a baking tray.

Roll out your dough until it is about 5mm thick. I heartily recommend well flouring the rolling pin and surface you are rolling on, lest you have to shout expletives at the dough when it won't lift off your chopping board. 

Cut the dough into the shapes you want and put them on the baking tray.

Bake the biscuits for 10-15 minutes, or until firm and browned on top. 

Cool them on a rack and try not to eat too many before lunch.

I hope you had a wonderful Spring weekend! Here's to more clear skies and warmer weather ahead.

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the other side

Learning to live with a little chaos is a skill I struggle with a fair bit of the time. I'm often caught up in looking down the road in an attempt to try to prepare myself for what (I think) is coming. But life has a way of reminding you that no matter how hard you try you can't control everything - sometimes it helps just seeing things in a different way.

I came across a wonderful story recently that captured this idea:

There is a young Buddhist man who whilst journeying home comes to the banks of a very wide river. He stares hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him and ponders for hours how to cross such a wide barrier. Just when he is about to give up and continue on his journey away from the river, he sees a great teacher on the other side of the river. He yells out to the teacher, 'Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river?"

The teacher thinks for a moment, looks up and down the river and yells back, "My son, you are on the other side."

Life can surprise you by showing you something beautiful or unexpected and changing your perspective on things even when you least expect it.

On the weekend, in the midst of some truly chaotic weather outside and swirling emotions inside, we went for a walk down to a dog park nearby and simply sat and watched a bunch of dogs frollicking around in the grass. It was joyous to watch and I felt rejuvenated by seeing those dogs scampering around enjoying their day. It made me realise that finding beauty and joy in the world is always possible, even when it seems unlikely, and that it can be a choice to see it. That in itself is a reassuring realisation I think and one that can be grasped during difficult times.  A good coffee, a call from a friend, blooming magnolias, apple crumble for dinner - these can all help light the way.

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gingerly

I've long been a fan of ginger. I enjoy it in just about any form - pickled, crystallised, in its beer or ale variety or ground up and baked in cakes. Up until recently I had a pretty cast iron stomach when it came to motion sickness but apparently it's good for that too and for nausea, something patients undergoing chemotherapy can benefit from. That's why I take it to my Dad. Coated in dark chocolate or crystallized, its a small something I can do to help in the face of big uncertainty.

Sometimes when the ground shifts underneath with the disorientation that illness can bring the best path to tread is a familiar one. It requires less cautious navigation and a sense of firmer footing. I think this is why despite owning so many cook books I tend to turn to the same few again and again:
Homecooked: Favourite recipes from Australian kitchens
The Australian Women's Weekly Classic Cakes
A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
Leftover Makeovers by Sally Wise

Reading and cooking from these books is like meeting up with old friends. They might not be the most gourmet or fancy of tomes but there's something in each of them that speaks to me when I wander into the kitchen and think about turning on the oven and creating something comforting or nourishing.

Writing this now I just realised, they were all given to me as gifts (by a former boss, a childhood friend, Kristian and his sister respectively) which makes them even more special.

In search of the reassurance that familiar things can bring, I thought for this month's cooking club challenge - a dish from your current favourite recipe book - what better than ginger cake from a well loved cake book.

Ginger Cake with Caramel Icing
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Classic Cakes

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 cups self-raising wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 Tbs ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
250g butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or half a cup yogurt, half a cup milk)
1/2 cup golden syrup

Caramel icing
60g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs milk
3/4 cup icing sugar

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C or 160 degrees C fan-forced and grease a square cake tin.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add in all your remaining ingredients and beat with an electric mixer or wooden spoon until well combined. If using a mixer, crank up the speed and beat the mixture for an additional few minutes or until it is smooth and pale.

Pour the mixture into your pan and bake for approximately 1 1/4 hours. Stand the cake in your pan for about ten minutes and then cool on a rack.

Meanwhile make your caramel icing by stirring butter, brown sugar and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and simmer stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in sifted icing sugar. Spread over the cooled cake and cut into slices or squares. Share with loved ones.

To see what wonderful things the other cooking club members cooked up this month, check out the links below:
Lucent Imagery (cooking club host)
Down by the Sea
Anything Squirrel Squirrel
Chi Garden
Under Lock and Key  

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dancing with cake

A few weeks ago I put on a leotard, tights and shoes and fronted up to the first ballet class I've been to since I was a teenager. I was nervous as hell but to my surprise and delight I actually enjoyed myself. I was not the most uncoordinated person there nor the tallest, oldest or curviest (all worries I had entertained beforehand) and I was surprised to find that I still remembered some of the moves and dance step names, including the tasty sounding fondu which, rather aptly, describes a lowering of the body by bending the knee of the supporting leg and sliding the other leg along the floor.

There is something to be said for seeing your body in figure hugging gear in a massive mirror a few times a week and I have been a bit more conscious of eating my greens and standing up straight since starting the classes... but I have to admit that I crumbled last week and ate a rather large amount of carrot cake. Lydia, my whippet thin ballet teacher, would not be thrilled.

I haven't eaten or made carrot cake in a really long time, not as long as I haven't done ballet, but still quite a while. Carrot cake seems like one of those overlooked classic cakes, not as popular as chocolate, not as straightforward as lemon or banana, and much like with ballet I can't remember why I personally left it so long in between takes.

So last Saturday afternoon, tired after doing hilariously bad pirouettes all morning and feeling like baking something, I realised I had a few carrots in the fridge and the idea was born. The marvellous thing was that I even had a good reason to bake as we were having Kristian's sister, brother-in-law and niece over for lunch the following day.

Unlike say a plié or a rond de jambe, you can bend the rules a bit when it comes to making carrot cake - there is no right way to do it. By which I mean that if you want to add sultanas or walnuts or leave nuts out entirely go right on ahead. It's your cake after all. I went with the sultanas no nuts option for mine to make it niece friendly.

Carrot Cake
Adapted from Women's Weekly Classic Cakes

For the cake
olive oil, to grease
3 medium carrots, grated
1/2 cup sultanas
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable or safflower oil
1/2 cup golden syrup
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing
175g cream cheese, softened
100g butter, softened
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease well a 20cm round cake.
Peel and grate the carrots and set aside.

In a large bowl sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. In a separate bowl combine the brown sugar, oil, golden syrup, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk until combined.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Stir through the grated carrot and sultanas.

Pour the mixture into your pan and bake for 1 hour. It should be looking nice and brown on top and a skewer should come out relatively clean. Set aside for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, place the softened cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix until well combined. Spread the icing over the cool cake. Cut into generous wedges and serve to your guests with a hearty cup of tea.

Kristian's little niece burnt off her cake running up and down our stairs all afternoon having a wonderful time. As for me, I think I'll be doing some more penance at the barre.

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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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a childhood favourite

So long Maurice Sendak.

I remember fondly his books from when I was little and loved rediscovering them again as an adult. His philosophies on living and writing are humbling and enduring. A true master-storyteller and human.

"I've convinced myself — I hope I'm right — that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth."

These interviews with him are a wonderful way of preserving his ideas. Have a listen and be reminded how precious this thing called life is.


[The picture was taken on our 2010 trip to Japan, where we saw Where the Wild Things Are]

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shopping the neighbourhood

A few years back I had a longish stint working part-time for a doctor so that I could spend my days off working on a (as yet still unfinished) novel.  It was a really interesting and occasionally very difficult period and it taught me a lot about people and even more about myself. Apart from learning how to deal with hysterical patients over the phone - a useful skill to have in any profession - and a lot more about dermatology than I'd ever want to know, this period of self-imposed financial restriction fundamentally changed the way I think about spending money and the value of things.

I no longer enjoy spending lots of money on clothes or things for our home but instead get a kick out of finding wonderful second hand items; things that have a bit of history and story about them.

So you can imagine the almost unbridled joy with which I sprang out of bed on Saturday morning to head out on my bike and explore Second Hand Saturday, a event organised by our Council where households in our neighbourhood put on a bunch of garage sales on one day.  I got to meet some really nice people and came home with a bunch of fantastic old tupperware, kitchenware and even a great, grey couch, which I scored for $20!

And then I had to have a lie down.

On Sunday, Kristian and I ventured over to the Addison Road Markets, excitement levels still high, to explore the Bower and Reverse Garbage - all very much recommended! We had egg, mushroom and halloumi rolls from the Mr Bacon and Egg stall, surveyed all the wonderful fresh produce and watched dogs playing and kids taking shetland pony rides.

I resisted a few deliciously luring bargains and in the end was satisfied with a triangular loaf of zucchini bread and some $2 measuring cups from the Bower.  A good weekend all round.


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tuesday/friday

With the Anzac day holiday tomorrow there's definitely a bit of a weekend feeling in the air. We are thinking of having a little barbeque at home and making some Anzac biscuits and settling in to watch an old/new favourite TV show Work of Art. What are your plans? Anyone going to the dawn service or heading out to the pub to play two up?

In the meantime, on this slightly dreary Tuesday afternoon, here are a few peppy songs to get you in the mood for mid-week barbeques and baking...





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a day off

Friday was the first day in ages when I didn't do housey stuff or work or anything remotely work-like. It was heaven. My mum and I had a day trip out, a surprisingly Ferris Bueller-y day when I think about it. We headed out to the Art Gallery to see the Picasso exhibition, compared notes on whether a 3/4 full flat white was stronger than a piccolo latte (they were about the same) ate lunch in the botanic gardens, chatted up a storm and watched the passers-by, something I feel like I only really make time to do when I'm overseas.

It was so refreshing to act like a tourist for a day in my home town. And besides some of the most enjoyable things to do in Sydney don't cost a lot - grabbing a coffee, finding a park bench with a view, discovering interesting architecture in hidden courtyards or lying on the grass. I don't think I've done nearly enough lying on the grass this last Summer, so hopefully I can get some more in before the weather gets too much cooler.

I hope you had a lovely weekend folks. Here's to the sunny days continuing this week.

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there are no rules...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about authenticity and struggling a little with how to best be myself and represent myself in this space.  Sometimes I impose a lot of rules on myself about what I should be writing about rather than what I want to be writing about. 

The thing is when I post less frequently here it's often not that there isn't much going on but rather a lot is happening and I don't know how to translate it in a way that feels authentic to me. That's been the case lately.  Between moving house, visiting my Dad in hospital in the lead up to him having a transplant, helping K’s family paint our old flat and working, I’ve hardly taken pause for breath, let alone be bothered to prepare good meals, or eat properly or take pictures of things.  

A few weeks back I was so tired that I'd go to say something and unintentional words or sentences would pop out instead. I told a cabbie I wanted to go to the Cross instead of the Rocks, which was confusing for all involved. The hypochondriac in me was beginning to envisage a tumour-like scenario but I think it was just lack of sleep and stress.

I tend to avoid writing about this sort of stuff, but in a way it's almost like I haven't really been honest with myself so perhaps being a bit more honest with you is a small step in the right direction. I have to admit that life is often a lot messier that it comes across here and that sometimes I fervently want to cultivate the kind of life I see on other blogs, a life that often feels illusive in the normal scheme of things.  

But... and it's an important but, I have gradually come to realise that there really are no rules about how to do things - whether it's baking or blogging or decorating or designing or taking pictures - you have to do what you like and what works for you, even if sometimes it seems a little odd. 

A few others who have been touching on the topic of authenticity lately: 
- Paul Graham on how to do what you love, especially this bit: 'Prestige … causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like.' 
- Brian's post about honesty and food really got me thinking about how much we style our lives for the camera, when the truth of it is often just as, if not more, compelling.
- Edits quarterly  is a new online publication of “short narratives in film and photography” which is  inspiring and beautiful.
- This lady knows how to express things beautifully too.

These and many other good things have been keeping me going during this strange period of time and I know things will get better. I'm looking forward to sharing more pictures of our place - moving has been like a spring clean to the head, let me tell you. Highly recommended.

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greetings from the land of coffee and cannoli

Some pictures from our new place, that we moved into last weekend. We've been so enjoying exploring a new suburb, finding the best new local coffee spots and patisseries - Locantro and Bar Sport in Leichhardt are pretty wonderful first thing in the morning - especially when men in suits don their AC Milan jerseys to watch the football. 

I have a LOT more exploring and unpacking to do but for now it's nice to be in this new space - I'm feeling inspired to cook and garden and tackle some fun projects.  

Wishing a lovely weekend to you.

an abode to abide in

We're moving house!

After a few weekends of walking around the inner west checking out places for rent, getting stressed and excited in equal measure and mentally moving into every second place we saw, we've found a house to live in!

Now I’m trying to avoid thinking about packing by fantasizing about all the great furniture I'm going to find to fill it with. I'll put up some pics of the place soon, once it's looking pretty.


1. Illustration by Chun Eun Sil
2. Kristian's Hut Lights


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a blurry month

Hard to believe January is almost over. It's been a bit of a blur all told.

We've been house hunting for a new place to rent these past few weeks and, much as I love a sticky beak into different, interesting places, I'll be glad when we are settled in our new digs. I'm excited for a change, to try out a new suburb, a new space and especially to cook in a new kitchen!

In amongst all the property inspections and general business we have managed to grab some down time to:
catch up with our friend Sophie for afternoon tea
dance up a storm at The Whitest Boy Alive,
scoff down lamingtons on our national day off and
eat red grapes like they're going out of style.

The seedless red grapes have been a saviour this month and I can highly recommend them, whether mixed through plain yogurt, chopped up in a salad with nuts or just a handful grabbed and eaten in between paint coats on the way passed the fridge.

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the island pt 2: wildlife

One of the most wonderful things about our trip for me was becoming so much more aware of my natural surroundings. I was like a child excitedly pointing out interesting plants and spotting baby terns sitting on tree branches as we cycled past each day on our way to the beach.

A few wildlife highlights:
- making friends with our Woodhen neighbours in the back garden of our apartment
- encountering a chilled out herd of cows on a forest walk to the other side of the island
- baby bird spotting
- dodging the intricate webs of the Golden Orb spiders
- encountering a reef shark on our second day as we swam in the shallows (I far too calmly insisted it was a Kingfish until Kristian spotted fins).
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