Vodka & things.

I picked up a big bottle of vodka yesterday to start making another batch of this limoncello for Christmas presents after the success of last year.... my Dad has put in a special request.
I'm also liking the idea of making some of these as stocking fillers.
Saw this gorgeous film, The Intouchables, on the weekend. Such a beautiful feel good French movie.
Just finished reading this, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, and was inspired by Cheryl's tenacity to finish what she started.  Hiking, alone for months on end on a rigorous track.... not sure I could do it?
Have started adding 1 heaped tblsp of coconut oil to my morning smoothies and  the texture and creaminess is sublime....if you add a little organic raw cocoa powder too it tastes like a Nestle Golden Rough!
Enjoying Modern Hepburn.
Adding this is to my reading list. I'm a big fan of Brene Brown. 

Enjoy your weekend (a short week for us Melburnians, yippee.) x

The 366 Project

Here's a link to some great smoothie inspiration, for those who have asked for ideas. I am still drinking one or two daily and loving them. The novelty has worn off for Z unfortunately and he now turns his lip up at the thought. Oh well, it was great while it lasted.
My gorgeous yoga teacher, Renee, has written an e-book on Awakening to Raw with over 50 raw plant based recipes which I'm looking forward to exploring next. I remember reading this book by Leslie Kenton when I was around 15 and trying to convince my mother we should eat raw......mmmm, needless to say she didn't embrace the concept and I wasn't keen on preparing my own meals. So it was swept under the carpet. Here's to a raw re-awakening. Do you have any Raw food favorites?

xx

Get pickled.

This makes it looks so easy. I'm going to give it a go. xx

A few of my favourite things

Loving these two online magazines today.

The first by Norwegian lass Jeannette Lunde (coincidentally with a name so similar to my favorite Norwegian friend!) of Fryd, 3 BY FRYD

and the second by

What Liberty Ate, with some incredible recipes and an interview with one of my favorite food stylists.

What joy! x

Baking and loud music.

Loud music, aprons and baking.
Such a great way to spend Sunday morning.
Listening to this album and this one (cute clip, don't be put off by the intro)
... the old and the new.

I'm completely smitten by A Daily Art Journal, 366 Sketchbook by Trisha Thompson Adams today.

Happy Monday xx

Homemade Blackerry Jam

Z and I went to visit my cousin and their new little baby, the darling Ethan, on Wednesday. He is such a sweetheart. We snuck a glance while he was all tucked up in bed sleeping soundly. I can't wait to head back for a cuddle shortly. Those teeny tiny babies are so precious, especially when they're sleeping so soundly, bundled up and all dreamy. At an 11.6lb birth weight dear Ethan was not so teeny tiny but ever so precious.

While we were chatting my cousins husband went out and picked around 1.5kgs of fresh Blackberries for us. So yesterday, following a recipe given to me by my friend A, we made our first batch of Blackberry Jam. We used lemon juice instead of pectin and this morning upon turning the jars upside down I can say we have perfectly set jam! Hooray.

This recipe here follows a similar process to the one we used. I sterilised our jars & lids in the oven, 120 degress celcius, while cooking the jam.... so the hot jars and hot jam were ready to go once the perfect consistency was reached. So simple a Z loved the volcanic like eruption of crimson lava from the gently rolling fruit as much as I did.

Now for a taste test. I hope your weekend is sweet & fruity. xox

Flourless chocolate cake

This flourless chocolate cake is baking as I type. It's a birthday cake for our dear friend Bretty. The recipe is courtesy of The Cake Mistress, an incredible resource for all things sweet.

Between Z and me sloshing things about, our kitchen looks like a war zone....but the house sure smells great.
Have a wonderful weekend. xox

PS. Last chance to enter the giveaway! Entries close tonight. I'll draw the winner in the morning and post details here over the weekend.

Ginger ale & a glimpse at gratitude

Here's a look at the last week of my Gratitude project. How did your week shape up?

Tomorrow I have some exciting news....an interview for you with one very lovely lady, along with an giveaway.......... but in the meantime I highly recommend a glass of this homemade ginger ale. We are totally in love with it around here. xox

Homemade lemonade recipe

German Vintage Lemonade Bottle available over at luvredford's Etsy shop.

We've been making our own lemonade since Christmas day. It was a special treat for the kiddies. It sure beats the sickly sweet commercial lemonade which tends to send my little man a touch manic!
The mint in this recipe makes it.
Since Christmas I've whipped it up on a number of occasions as it a brilliant thirst quencher on a hot, sticky day. With today's temperatures heading towards 34 degrees I figure another batch is definitely in order.

Homemade Lemonade
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
6 sprigs of mint
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sparkling mineral water to serve.

Place sugar, water & mint in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Once dissolved remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Once the syrup is at room temperature add the lemon juice. Then strain the liquid through a fine sieve.
Decant using a funnel into a bottle with a tight fitting lid.

To serve, pour 1-2 tbsp of syrup into a glass and add mineral water.
*It can be stored in the fridge for up to a month.

As I don't have a gorgeous vintage bottle I found these cute free printable labels. Whalla, totally professional.
If giving the lemonade as a gift these kitchen printable gift tags from The Homemade Home are super sweet too.
Enjoy, especially my lovely cousins, Simone & Bec. It was great to share a glass with you on the weekend x

oh how I love this time

La Tartine Gourmande from Unusually Fine on Vimeo.

Time seems to remain suspended during the Christmas & New Year period. There's a certain peacefulness about life I'm always so eager to devour at this time of year. The long days lend themselves to a few of my favorite things. Things I often struggle to fit into the everydayness of life...reading (I just finished this & have started on this), lazy catch ups with friends, meditation and some totally inspired cooking.

Looking for a recipe using black quinoa I stumbled across the delights of La Tartine Gourmande and this lovely clip promoting her new cookbook above.

Whatever you're doing I hope it's peaceful and totally restorative....... before the hum of another year kicks in.

Here's to a v. joyful NY.
xox

Our morning so far

-:I caught the early morning sunshine bathing these flowers while waiting for my jogging companions to arrive this morning. The light is amazingly beautiful at 6.30am this time of year. It has a way of speaking to you, coaxing you to see things. Little things. Things you ordinarily walk on by, at any other time of the day. I love the crisp clarity of early mornings and I'm so grateful to my friends for helping me establish this routine because it was originally met (and if I'm honest, still is, on occasion) with such resistance.
-:Our Christmas cakes all wrapped and ready for Z's teachers today. The fruit has been soaking for the last 2 months. I baked them last night....we sampled one this morning and I must say it was pretty darn good.
-: The necklaces Z & I made for his teachers....this one here rotates between me and Z's dress up box!
-: Batman appeared for dress up day today. It's Z's last day for 2011. Don't you just love the under pant line on this suit! Hilarious.

Here's an old Native American saying I love and am holding near to me as Christmas approaches. 'You should never judge another man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.'
As the frantic pace of Christmas accelerates and our frenetic selves tend to emerge it can be a handy thing to bare in mind....especially on Christmas Day.

xox

Baking in the summer sun

Z & I spent the morning cooking in his makeshift kitchen. Z's all time favourite movie at the moment is Ratatouille. Every chance he gets he likes to improvise by making soups, baking desserts and and adding herbs from our garden to every dish in an attempt to recreate 'delicious treats for the diners'....spoken with a rather gruff French accent. If you look closely you'll notice Z's hat is made out of a brown paper shopping bag which we cut the bottom out of and taped to fit his head.

We cooked up this little play dough message for the L.F.

Homemade Playdough
2 cups plain flour
4 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup salt
food clouring
2 cups water

Mix the above ingredients in a saucepan and stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the mixture congeals.
Easy peasy.
Store in an airtight container to prevent drying out.

Something slightly more sinister we have brewing in our kitchen is this. The colour is incredible after only 4 days. I opened the lid this morning to smell the contents and it took me straight back here, where I spent my 28th birthday, consuming way too much lemoncello!

x

Dont' forget if you want to enter the draw to win one of these tea towels you need to leave a comment here or go over & 'Like' my Facebook page. Entries open until 16th December. Share the love, the more the merrier! xox

What's cooking?

It's been a week of organising and getting back into the swing of things.

A little ho hum for some.......but I've prepared my Christmas cake mix & it's soaking in Grand Marnier ready for baking in December. I used the trusty old Womens Weekly Christmas Cookbook recipe (I see Peter's of Kensington have a lovely hard cover edition) but would love to hear about any of your prized Christmas cake/pudding details....Do you have a favourite recipe?

I've made a batch of Chewy Coconut Biscuits, from cityhippyfarmgirl and also one of the Cashew Chia Date rolls....although, mine didn't turn out looking quite so well but it tastes delicious.

I made another Flourless Orange Cake last night for the L.F. to take into work today. I really do love this recipe. If you have a couple of hours to spare it's super easy and so delicious. I hope there's a slither left over for me!!

We've de-slugged our veggie patch with some more of this & enjoyed cooking up the bounty of Swiss Chard we came home to after our break.

All in all a lot of time has been spent in the kitchen but after eating out almost every day on our holiday I've totally enjoyed it.

Here's a peep at our kitchen. The giraffe grow chart I painted to keep track of Z's height. 'Growth spurt' really is an appropriate term for little people. It's incredible to see how quickly he shoots up.

Adios, I'm off to make moussaka. xox

Baking Success

Yippee! It worked. After a quick consultation with Bruise Mouse this morning, before I popped the loaves into the oven, they baked perfectly. I'm so pleased.
We've already downed a loaf & the L.F. has gone to work this morning with a lovely packed lunch....freshly baked bread & lettuce from the garden...were among the goodness.
I followed the recipe from yesterday's post although I used rye and spelt flour for these little babies. All the flour used was organic, even for the starter. So, I'm happy to say they're completely organic loaves. They taste great too. It was well worth the time & patience required to produce them.

Here's to a happy future of bread making in our home. x

Bread making 101

I'm trying my hand at making sourdough bread. Encouraged by Bruise Mouse at Living a Little Greener and CHFG I've spent the last 8 mornings weighing flour and water out to add to a fermenting gloop....more precisely know as a sourdough starter. After 8 days my starter seemed prime for baking.....

I'm not sure why.... because I was making a starter so that I could make my own bread but this 'readiness' caused a bit of panic....Heck, what was I to do with the gloop now?

After a mad scramble to find a recipe that would suit a newbie like me I discovered this recipe over at Wild Yeast. My head is now swimming with thoughts of creating a steam oven, folding, baking stones and proving. They're all totally new concepts to me.
I'm up to the 2.5 hours of fermenting with a fold at 1hr. The fold was successful and I have roughly half an hour before any further action is required. I'm just hoping the faint outline of a sad face I can see in the dough above can be turned into a smile. The smile of successful bread making.

PS. Don't ask about the dress....I did start. There was a lot of puckering and after tearing my hair in frustration I've put it aside..... until later tonight.

distractions & pretty things

Source: thehousethata-mbuilt.blogspot.com via Stupendous Joy on Pinterest

I have this dream about bunk beds and a country house.
I've tried to convince my dad to build an extra room onto his house (he lives on the coast) and make it into a bunk room ..... but for some reason he's not buying my dream, so I continue to dream.
I came across this image last night, while procrastinating, over at The House that AM Built. I spent so much time looking at pretty images that I haven't made a start on the dress.
Damn you pretty things, you lured me form my plans yet again.

Thankfully A-M had also posted this....

Source: thehousethata-mbuilt.blogspot.com via Stupendous Joy on Pinterest

You've gotta love a second chance. So, tomorrow I sew!

While speaking of second chances.....I am onto Day 3 of making a sourdough starter. After my failed attempt last time around (I completely forgot about it for 2 days)I've been re-inspired by City Hippy Farm Girl, who makes it look so easy. Here's hoping, if I'm not somehow distracted, I'll be ready to make my own bread by the end of the week.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Source: penguin.com.au via Stupendous Joy on Pinterest

We have a hungry little caterpillar living in our vegie patch. He's chewed threw our spinach, chard, celeric & kale.....& it's only Wednesday!

Z & I have just made up some all purpose insect repellant using the recipe below, which we found over here. We had all the ingredients stashed in the panrty already. Don't you just love that! No last minute dash to the shops. I wish dinner was that easy.
It's steeping now, while Z takes a nap. I'll let you know later in the week how it goes. Hopefully we save our hungry little caterpillar from one huge belly ache....and save our plants too.

All purpose insect repellant:
1 head of garlic
1 small onion
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 liter water
1 tbsp liquid soap (biodegradable)

Chop garlic & onion. Add, with cayenne pepper, to the water & mix.
Let steep for 1 hour.
Strain & then add liquid soap.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Use as a spray, as needed.

ps. check out The Very Hungry Caterpillar screen savers over here. Cute. x

Cooking makes us more human

Had Something to Say - Cooking from michael ruhlman on Vimeo.

I came across this great website White On Rice Couple yesterday while searching for a Salmon Corn Cakes recipe (it's a goodie, although I did substitute the parsley for celery top leaves,the breadcrumbs for almond meal and my salmon... was tinned).
The website is a collection of stories on food, life and travel told through photography. It offers up a visual smorgasbord....recipes, ideas, inspiring people, stunning photography. Todd Porter & Diane Cu have discovered the art of recording their passion for life & food and making it accessible.
They produced a couple of clips which came under the title of 'The Courage of Ideas' and this one above my Michael Ruhlman got me thinking...and made me smile. The idea of having at least one person in your tribe who likes to cook is a simple and beautiful way of looking at food and nourishing our place as humans in society. I hope you enjoy it too.
Food tastes so much better when made with love. xox

Organics vs Biodynamic

The photos above were taken on our recent field trip to Crieghtons Creek.

I've started on the Joshi Holistic Detox. Dr Joshi.... holistic guru to the rich and famous, with devotees such as Gweneth Paltrow, Madonna, Ralph Fiennes...to 'name drop' a few, all advocating his brilliance. This not being the reason why I chose the Joshi Detox but it does add to the fun.
Day 2 and all is going reasonably well, aside from a slight headache. Nothing a cup of detox tea and a lie down didn't fix.

The words 'organic' and 'biodynamic' are bandied around frequently. However, I must admit, I've been a little unclear on the differences between the two until reading Dr Joshi's book. For those of you who may have the same haziness over these two words.... this is what I discovered. Although they are both similar, in that neither use chemicals or GMO's (genetically modified organisms), biodynamic farming is the 'holistic' approach. The farming practices enrich the plant and soil quality rather than deplete them.

I also wasn't aware that Rudolph Steiner, famous these days for his alternative schooling system, was the founder of Biodynamics.
Saffron Rouge have a page dedicated to 'Organics vs Biodynamic' on their site if you're interested in reading more.

Here's to healthy eating and kicking my winter sluggishness.... you cows are safe with me. Happy hump day everyone. xx

For the love of old.

I found this gorgeous Hungarian cookbook at Doo's Garage Sale on the weekend and couldn't resist bringing it home. It was printed in Great Britain by The Garden City Press Ltd., at Letchworth, Hertfordshire, MCMXXXVIII. So it was printed in 1938! It's 73 years old and has that damp and musty beautiful old book smell to boot. The illustrations, by I. Farkas & Zoltan Poharnok, are just sublime. They look like they have been hand coloured?

The Garage Sale was a huge success. It was great to see Doo's things going to lovely new homes where they'll be cherished.