mulberry

A friend left these on my desk at work a little while back.

I didn't know it but there was a mulberry tree just across the road. I ran outside to get more. There was something totally magical about plucking those ripe berries from the tree, having the vivid, juice run down my arms. I was back in childhood land, to red-stained faces and keeping silkworms.

I've been trying to feel more connected to nature in recent months. There is something about bare feet on grass, touching the leaves on my little rescued crab-apple tree, watering a gifted money plant.

Not many berries on the tree now, they've all fallen off, but the memories remain.

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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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homemade marmalade

There's something almost magical about some things that you make yourself. Especially when they're items that you usually buy from the supermarket. This is me and marmalade - I love it, as you can probably tell from here, but I've never made it myself.

So when a lovely blogger friend recently invited me to take part in a cooking club, with this month's challenge being to make something from scratch that you would normally buy in a jar/carton/bottle/packet, I leapt at the chance. The universe was giving me a little nudge to get over my weird fear about preserving and canning and just do it.

There is a wealth of information out there about preserving, canning, bottling, pickling and it can be a little overwhelming to say the least. I think part of the secret of not talking yourself out of doing it is to start small. Remember when I made pickles a while back? - well I made so much of the stuff and was worried that I hadn't properly sterilised the jars so I ended up having to throw some of it out - something I hate doing.  Since then I've found a few good tips, such as here and here on sterilising jars.

So now onto the fun part, making the marmalade.

Orange Marmalade
Adapted from A Year in a Bottle by Sally Wise

Makes 750g, approximately (enough for three jars)

4-5 large oranges
1/2 a lemon
3 1/2 cups water
500g sugar

Start by chopping the oranges finely.  Place them in a large pot, add the water and bring to the boil. Cook for about 25 minutes or until the fruit is soft. 

Now add the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to boil on high for 25 minutes. Don't do as I did and try to make an omelette for dinner at the same time and forget to stir your marmalade - burning will ensue.

Allow the marmalade to stand for 10 minutes before pouring into warm sterilised jars.  Seal immediately.

This recipe produced a fairly chunky, thick marmalade, which is exactly how I like it but if you prefer yours more runny, I'd suggest adding more water at the start and reducing the heat a little in your second boil, towards the end of the 25 minutes. 

I opened up one jar this morning to go on my toast, one jar went into the cupboard and the other was gifted to a friend at work. I have a feeling I'm going to be finding ever more inventive ways to feature marmalade in my cooking over the coming months. I'd like to think my marmalade loving Gran would be proud of my efforts.

You can find out what the other wonderful members of the cooking club came up with for the challenge below:

Lucent Imagery http://www.lucentimagery.com/

Quiet Paws http://quietpaws.com/

From River’s Edge http://fromriversedge.net/

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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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