Daily grind

As we leave to go to the bakery across the lake the sun has finally begun to break through the fog and the frost to melt. Cosy in our car, seat heaters on (yes you read correctly - seat heaters) the dog and I make our way around and across Lake Burley Griffin. The fog closes in again, the sun disappears and the car beeps at me telling me the temp has dropped to 4 degrees celsius, and continues to drop. As we arrive at Silo Bakery the thermometer is hovering at around 1.5 degrees celsius. No worries of my barking dog disturbing patrons enjoying coffee and cake whilst he is tied up to an outside bench - not a person to be seen. Bread bought, oops, in slipped a large luscious pain au raisin and home again to begin the sewing of some school musical dresses in luminous pink stretch fabric.

Oh, the people you meet and the food that you eat

One of the reasons travelling is fun - the people you meet. 2 fun conversations over a cafe breakfast yesterday. Firstly with 2 Canadian women researching chocolate, secondly with a madly eccentric German woman from Mexico with a very posh private school accent. She was wearing an oversized floppy straw hat and enormous ring. Bumped into her again in the Musee D'Orsay. The day before we chatted with 2 American women travelling to eat, sounds familiar. They caught cabs everywhere, no sore feet for them then.

Musee D'Orsay was great, got caught in a huge down pour after lunch whilst shopping (!) in the posh area - took shelter under the verandah of Chanel. Glad of the respite in the Musee Arts Decoratif, a wing in the Louvre with a fantastic display of furnishing from the mediaeval times to now. Afterwards enjoyed a slow sunny walk towards the hotel via a very large dept store - much more upmarket than any in Australia - lovely things - just looking.

 Out to dinner with Mark in another very nice restaurant - could have been in Sydney. Hobbled back to the hotel in lingering twilight at 10pm. People out on the streets everywhere, in cafes, just walking. Such a lovely atmosphere. Poor feet.

And then a couple of days later thinking about our wonderful meal I wrote to a friend with whom I have shared many a gorgeous restaurant meal in the past........... I want to tell you what we had for dinner two nights ago - you would have just loved it. It was 5 courses chosen by the chef - everyone in the restaurant had the same. We began with a trio of inidvidually plated spring veg - artichoke, asparagus and broad beans to dip in a little sauce flavoured with anchovies. Next was 2 perfectly cooked, room temp chunks, small, of turbot topped with spanner crab and then either jamon or a crisp biscuit of buckwheat bread and accompanied by a delicate jelly of cucumber. The level of quality and flavour continued to rise with the next course of 2 delicate ravioli filled with pigeon and foie gras over which was poured a pigeon broth. A very tasty side dish was given consisting of chopped cherries, apricots and chanterelles. it complemented the ravioli and broth so well. Main course - veal. A small veal steak/chunk cooked sous vide (?) and wrapped in chard and a pan fried veal sweetbread with a beautiful sauce. The flavours were rich, but delicate, the textures so soft, but supple. Moist too. Dessert was 4 little dishes - very delicate and light honey flavoured icecream topped with pitachios, a tiny lemon curd filled cream puff and a little bowl of perfect macerated strawbs. There was another dessert but my mind has blanked as we have had 3 meals of perfect desserts. Tina, this meal was so perfect. It had perfect presentation, perfection in cooking style and so seasonal. It was just lovely and we commented we thought you would love it too, but all I can share of it is with words.

http://www.springparis.fr/p/reservations_09.html

Arrivee - Paris

Two weeks on and here are some of my recollections of a wonderful few days as a flaneur in Paris.........

And zonk - slept another 9 hours straight after walking way too much yesterday afternoon upon arriving in Paris. Long haul flights - 24 hours - definitely not a joy. But so keen to orient myself, so out we head.

Fantastic meal in St Germain area on Tuesday night after we arrive - very seasonal, modern, light and inexpensive - lucky to get in. Breakfast in a lovely cafe next door to well known Poilane yesterday - best croissant had in a long long time. The cafe au lait - enormous. Then I walk and walk and walk. Stick my nose very close to some Cezanne paintings in the Orangerie, enjoy a fantastic lunch in the Marais with Mark - Septime (he has done so well sourcing restaurants) again a break from the traditional heavy bistro meals we experienced two years ago. Literally bump into a Chanel handbag toting Melissa George (The Slap) at the crossing by BHV. Icecream on Isle St Louis - chocolate nougat and carmel with salt - mm. Finally climbing the narrow windy streets to our hotel at 5.30 - aagh blisters. Picnic dinner in the Luxembourg Gardens scrounged from local shops - ooo yum. Sleep. Good? Yep.

http://www.poilane.com/pages/en/company_boutiques.php

PS. Good tip for travelling to Paris and wanting hot gossip on the latest foodie things - go to this website - it has been spot on - http://parisbymouth.com/





Why do I like Canberra in winter?

Why do I like Canberra in winter? This morning very damp heavy fog - the night had been cold - minus three degrees actually. The air still, sharp. The plan for a coffee and croissant at morning tea perhaps scuppered?

I head out anyway, across the lake, as still as can be with lovely wintery reflections. By the time I arrive at Silo Bakery in Kingston the fog was naught but a distant smudge on the horizon and the sun in full blaze. The car thermometer says the outside temperature is on the up hovering at around 6 degrees - positively balmy. Once inside the bakery I succumb to a buttery, crumbly croissant and milky coffee. Outside on the bench under the leafless tree I enjoy the planned indulgent snack contemplating the upcoming week of such snack under leafy trees in Paris. The cheeky young inky black magpie hops up and nicks all the crumbs I have brushed from my coat.

Later in the day after my morning sojourn I head out up the street with the dog. I plan a walk up to the nearby Pinnacle lookout which has stunning views west across to the Brindabellas. The sky is an endless clear blue, there is finally some warmth in the sun, the air remains dead still. We march up the hill only to find the signs also adorning the nearby Mt Painter perimeter adorning the fences surrounding this bush reserve forbidding entry over the next 3 weeks whilst the annual kangaroo cull is underway. Disappointed we march along the fence line a little way and then head back into the suburb of Weetangera to finish our walk.

Why do I like Canberra in winter? A gloomy morning can open up to the most stunningly beautiful blue day, with just enough hint of warmth minus sharp winds to allow me to be outside. I can walk the streets of Canberra to enjoy a perfect croissant and fantastic coffee. I can do this wearing a stylish outfit of boots and smart orange satin lined vintage coat and groovy new sunglasses which will carry me over to a bush walk within 5 minutes of my house. A bush walk with some of the most stunning outlooks imaginable.

Perfect.

Continuing chaos

Our poor kitchen, lucky it is so big. On and on went the cooking through the weekend. Delicious smells and tastes to be had. Saturday morning after returning from the farmers' markets with laden baskets and bags I whipped up some carrot and ginger muffins for friends with a new baby. Too much butter in the recipe, should have trusted my judgement and used half the amount. The orange and mint brioche loaf, of which I made four on Friday, was scrummy had with some homemade apricot and fig jams. The jams have been a real hit so far this winter. Making them in small batches to create a wide selection was a good idea I think. I will certainly continue on with those as soon as the first strawberries of spring re-appear. The cumquat, orange and cardamon marmalade I made last week was worth the 3 day long process.

Sunday morning was weisswurst sausages with a sticky poached egg atop a homemade baguette with freshly pressed juice and coffee - oh so nice. Then I decided we need more bread so got another batch on to prove whilst cleaning the kitchen. Tag team kitchen then began for the day as my husband got on with the multi staged coq au vin from an Anne Willan recipe. Late in the afternoon after all the bread was done and the coq au vin just about complete I began to poach some mandarins in honey, mandarin skin and cardamon syrup. These were to be served with homemade mascarpone mixed with the syrup and some icing sugar. Desert a la Matthew Evans - thankyou.

Finally to eat before my husband dashed out the door to an emergency briefing call at work. Coq au vin served on creamy mashed potato - nearly perfect, but certainly absolutely delicious. Poached mandarins, so simple and delightfully light and flavoursome after the robust chicken. Sigh - to bed.

Cooking chaos

After an exchange with a friend on facebook yesterday I find the recipe she referred to in my Belinda Jeffery baking cook book we both have - Blackbottomed Cupcakes.  After a morning at oil painting class I returned home to a late lunch and a 2 hour multi-tasked cooking session - what a whirlwind. Got my lovely haricot bean soup flavoured with onion stuck with cloves, carrots, garlic and a chunk of smokey bacon on to cook, Moira's slow cooked tomato ragu on and then I began those blackbottomed cakes. Mercy me - there I was reading away thinking great no eggs, no butter so, low fat - uh oh - had to rush out to buy the 250g cream cheese and dark chocolate to make the cheesecake top! Finally I got cumquats on to soak ready to make a few jars of marmalade tomorrow.

The soup is now ready to blend, the bacon removed, chopped and fried, later added as a garnish. The blended soup is passed through a sieve creating a silken texture mixed with some cream. A garlicky parsely butter adds a great kick swirled through the re-heated soup just before serving along with a generous sprinkle of the fried bacon crumbs. Lovely.

Looking forward to those cupcakes for dessert.

Wildlife!

Kangaroo on our street corner at 7am looking slightly puzzled as to whether to take the left turn and bound up the hill or continue straight ahead!

Nice day

Nice day - starting at the Canberra Farmers' markets all crispy with frost and wispy mist  in the air and upon the hills, home for fresh bagels and homemade jam, coffee. Off out to Farrer Ridge with Violet and friend to walk around one of the many urban bushland reserves found across Canberra whilst they battle with an orienteering challenge. Kangaroos exploding through the bush like wasps from a bottle as they are disturbed by a 100 or so orienteerers charging around. Lunch outside in the wintry sun at Silo - Mark: tripa andulusian, me; ocean trout with crispy skin on cabbage followed by coffee and tart. Book shop and cook shop stop home again to read the papers and contemplate the next attack in the kitchen. Perhaps it might be prep for cumquat marmalade. Nice day.

Crispy frost

It might have been -4 again this morning, but to wake to the pale streams of sunshine wafting through the white mist as we draw the blind is lovely. Then outside to get some rainwater from the tank and the air is all sharp and clean, the lawns all crispy white. I love it - witnessed from the warmth of my house and ugg boots!

Tree dahlia - the mighty giant of the garden

Well winter arrived in Canberra this week. It does not seem to creep in but arrive with a whammy. I got my tree dahlias to full seasonal mature height of 10 feet this year, and 40% flowers opened. They will tolerate some frost, my reckoning is to about -3 degrees celsius. The first below zero night we had was -5 degrees celsius - too cold. The bright green leaves are now a murky black and they will have to be chopped down. Marginal here, but so worth a try. The photo above was taken in my Adelaide garden in May 2005 where they thrive and look stunning against the autumnal blue sky.

Keeping Well

Canberra is one of the handful of places in Australia where a well insulated and heated house is not just desirable but necessary. It was one of the few conditions to our family coming here to live from not quite so chilly Adelaide. After the lightning strike of December 2010 the heater has been ever so temperamental and clicks off requiring resetting, if you are lucky it will re-ignite, constantly. And it is made worse by cold weather! So, back to the insurer I go and now will re-submit a continuance on our claim of 18 months ago to see if this can be rectified.

Yesterday was the continuation of a very frustrating and messy day - but all's well that ends well as per my below post to facebook.

And after a frustrating 40 minutes trying to coax our temperamental heater to ignite on this very chilly overcast day we have warmth in the house in readiness for the -1 forecast for tonight. After much kneading and coaxing my pasta dough finally came together and made the best pasta I have made in a long time - topped with a new 'sauce' of blanched and pureed spinach and garlic mixed with broken up fried pork and fennel sausage with onion and parmesan. Finally back on the sofa with homemade icecream and warm feet. Sigh.

Why was I surprised places were closed on Anzac Day? Perhaps because we were in the largest city in Australia where neither Easter nor Christmas is held as sacred as in times gone by. So I was somewhat amazed that many top restaurants took the public holiday to heart and were closed. We were going to go to Billy Kwong, but closed it was. Four in Hand was booked out. With such a saturation of good restaraunts within cooee of our apartment there must be somewhere we could go to on foot. Buzo's was the one. Dark little terrace house just off Oxford Street. Tiny front room downstairs, slightly bigger dining room up the narrow windy stairs. We had a terrific meal - I was a bit doubtful about Italian - the menu always seems to fall to so-called traditional choices. We had traditional ingredients elegantly interpreted into an Italian inspired menu. By the time we had finished our 3 courses the restaurant was in full swing and buzzy. Good choice.

Taronga to Balmoral Beach coastal walk

The path is bound, for a way, by the beautiful Eucalyptus costata

Little bay enroute. We could not get down to the sand, but wandered down these sandstone steps to the water

Manly ferry crossing between the north and south heads of Sydney harbour

Balmoral Beach

Anzac day dawned, as it so traditionally does, with a brisk seasonal change. Gone was the warm air of the past summer months, we were instead greeted with a very stiff, very cold wind as we stepped outside our holiday apartment. Leaves were  whisked off the trees in a frenzy and gathering in the streets at our feet.  Autumn had arrived.

Our walk from Taronga Zoo around to Balmoral Beach gave stunning views across the harbour to north and south heads. We became somewhat lost at Chowder Bay, but meandered through the steep streets until we came over the hill to a picture most perfect - Balmoral Beach. After cruising the very mediocre collection of cafes and trying our luck at one of the 2 recommended restaurants we settled upon the view above on a park bench with a box of fish and chips.

Eating our way around Sydney

Sitting here in our white holiday apartment in Woolhara after a 'Bill's' style breakfast of sauteed asian mushrooms, fresh orange juice and yoghurt with rhubarb and raspberries topped with crunchy granola. Great start to our few days here in Sydney yesterday. Our arrival at the apartment was greeted with a tremendous thunderstorm and cloudburst. After unpacking we strolled down the gorgeous treelined Ocean Street kicking leaves and admiring the colonial architecture. Lunch destination - Chiswick. To our surprise it is situated in a very pictuesque, gardenesque style local park. The building - a light and airy conservatory. Very lovely. Even at the late lunch hour we arrive the room is full and noisy. Noisy became a prominent feature of the visit unfortunately.  We had a very nice light lunch - absolutely Sydney prices, prettily presented, but lacking in cohesive flavours. Somewhat unsure of the success of the trying very hard to be eclectic collection of china, glassware and cutlery. The staff were very friendly, but struggled to hear what we were saying. We struggled to hear what we were saying. The romantic placement of the records they were playing that day was futile - could not hear any music. We did enjoy our fisrt meal out in Sydney this holiday - it was perhaps just not quite up to the hype. Lucky the location was so stunning and the staff friendly because we could then forgive the lack of finesse in the food.

http://www.chiswickrestaurant.com.au/about/chiswick

White Stemmed Gum Moth's triumphant hatching

Hatched! After 3 months as a chrysallis in a lunch box on our back deck our White stemmed gum moth emerged from the leaf litter we gave her as a beautiful furry soft very large moth. The caterpillar was spectacular - around 13cm long and as thick as a finger. Apparently they reside amongst the tops of gum trees and come down to the leaf litter below when ready for transformation to moth.She has been identified as female, only lives for a few days, does not eat in that time, apparently has insignificant unworkable mouth parts. So we are keeping her inside covered with a net food cover until she is ready to fly away. She doesnt move much and her wings have not opened fully yet. Spectacular.

And a big thanks to the chicky babe at the cash register at the local health food store - no I did not have me seniors' card with me!!!!

I merrily head out to the shops yesterday, feeling mighty fine in my glorious 'patio outfit' circa 1950-something. It is gorgeous. A royal blue skirt, cotton - full - with tiers - and decorated in pale cream ricrac. It has a lovely elegance and swing to it, and a matching fitted top. I teamed it with a little tight fitting cream cardigan decorated in blue lovehearts, dotted occasionally red, and snappy red sling backs. Nice, I thought. It's my 20 wedding anniversary today. Nice to look nice.

Into the health food shop I go, find my glace cherries for the little choc cherry cakes I plan to make and - there she blows - did I have my senior's card with me. Like a kick in the solar plexus I deflate and stare at her incredulously - I am 45, not 65! But hey, she says, lots of people look really good for their age. Or some, incredibly bad I retort and flounce out of the shop.

New definition of sublime - strawberry, picked and eaten straight from the bush, just one, big enough to fill my mouth, shiny and brilliant red, but the best part, as it explodes in my mouth the juices are all warm from the sunshine.

So, we have a very large front verge for which we are responsible, according to the ACT government. It is the bane of my life - mowing takes forever. We dont use it, can't see it, but if you don't care for it, it spoils the look of the house streetside. Who cares? I am not sure. Anyway, this week I decided it had to be edged. I began cursorily - bloody hard work with a spade. A friend walking past dropped by a rotary edger, manual, still too hard, weeds too big and thick, back to the spade. She then drops over a whipper snipper - cannot get it to work. Back to the spade. As I work my way down the path raking the gravel, psyching myself up to head back to the spade I speak to nearly every neighbour in the vicinity of our house as they walk by, or else they wave as they cruise on past around the corner. I begin again with the spade. At least 20-30 metres along the front, 4-5 along each side and another 20-30 metres on the way back. I am making good progress when a little white van whizzes around the corner, does a U-ey and parks up along side me. Hi, he says, I'm Alex, I have just the gadget you need. Here I'll lend it to you. He shows me how to start it and heads of with a wave promising to return for it later and to mow the front for me from now on with hiswith his ride on mower. We agree on the price being a cake in exchange. How nice is that? How amazing is that. Some people are just nice.

Waking this morning lying cosily in bed contemplating whether to open my eyes or return to slumber. Eyes open, glints of light around the blinds drawn against the first of the new season's cool nights. Along the corridor the living room is lit in gold light. I pull the bedroom blinds up and am immediately drenched in sparkling golden dawn light. Back in bed after the dog has greeted me enthusiastically I lie  in the early morning sun reading a book - luxuriating. I deliberate the activities possible for today and decide to begin inside with preparing the batter for some honey madelines and cooking rhubarb ready for breakfast during the week. Later outside I have the last of my garlic to sow, some spinach and leek seedlings to transplant. I really wish to fit in a session at my easel. Time to get up and start the day.

Arrive at the Folk Festival at 10am with pencil notated guide in hand. 7 acts later driving home in the moonlight balmy evening around 10 - astonished that only 1 dud in the selection. Top acts - Simpson 3 - siblings with traditional celtic strings and rhythm; SA greats - The Yearlings had us yearning for a slouchy chair on the porch in the heat of the afternoon; the magnificent Con Artists teamed with the London Klezmer quartet - what a blast - think Cat Empire mulitplied; 2 northern coast chicks with cruisy guitar playing and contemplative lyrics; finally - Elixir - had me wanting to move the whole gig outside under the trees.

http://www.conartists.com.au/

http://www.theyearlings.net/fr_news.cfm

http://www.katienoonan.com/

http://www.londonklezmerquartet.com/

Hmm - breakfast juice - 1 orange, 2 apples, half a pink grapefruit and 1 plum - Y U M!

Little garden of delights

Rainy old morning - lucky I got out into the front garden yesterday for a little while with dog, wheelbarrow and radio, flat battery! Have'nt been out there for a while to review colours and progress. Had been looking a bit ratty. So, so pleased the developing colour combinations and the softening of what was a very masculine space. How to soften the blaring reds of the photinias and nandinas? Usually the sunflowers, Californian poppies and nasturtiums can shout just as loudly, but with the introduction of soft creamy yellows of these easy care self spreading - potentially dominating - cottage plants the harsh reds are tempered. Delighted to see the white foxgloves have self seeded quite happily too. The pink brown of the echinaceas look spectacular with the bronzey brown reds of the flax and phormiums. All colours complementing very nicely our steely grey rendered house. Pleasing. Whilst at Lanyon on Sunday I bought 3 creamy lilies, purported to have maroony claret casings, and to grow 2m tall, from the lovely Lambley Gardens Nursery. I underplanted the Forest Pansy with some extra alliums and these lilies to further add to this pleasing scheme.

Just as an aside. Gorgeous dinner last night - vegan again. Bill Granger recipe - always reliable. Asian inspired stir fry, eggs replaced with soft tofu. Pumpkin cut into wedges stir fried with garlic and chili and tofu, topped with some garden greens and basil at the end and served with seasonings of soy sauce (or fish sauce), sugar and lime and steamed plain rice. All vegies were from the garden. Quite pleased with myself.

Preparing vegan snacks for my daughter to take on camp produced some very light egg free chocolate and banana muffins and almonds roasted in maple syrup and paprika. Nice.

Bit of a late whirlwind in the kitchen yesterday afternoon as I, too late really, decided to make a rosemary and salt encrusted foccacia to accompany the lovely light, but spicy zucchini and basil soup Mark made and we finally ate at 8.30. The girls followed that with vegan mini plum crumbles. And I packed away in the fridge some vanilla poached plums for this morning's breakfast. BTW a plum thrown into the apple and orange juice mix with a thin slice of ginger - mmmm. (Still going on the stonker of a chocolate and beetroot cake - oh my!)

Lanyon Homestead might be encroached by the brick veneer boxes of Canberra's far flung outer suburbs, but boy, with your back to turned the setting is a magical one. Set amongst pasture, but surrounded by the distant magnificent mountains of the Brindabella range and Namadgi National Park the old homestead and surrounding remant outbuildings has a very picturesque outlook. Today it was swarming with people, mostly much older than me, as it was open with a plant fair. Loved seeing and hearing about the vegie patch - now re-instated as a working garden supplying the cafe. It was a vegie patch after my own heart. Old fashioned, decorative, magical.

Home again later to plant out my garlic for this year. Lovely sitting in the sun warming my legs as I split open the large bulbs I had purchased from the Diggers' Club. Put in some carrot seeds for good measure and re-planted some baby beets.

Back inside post sunset as the sky fades to a pale blue pink gold on the horizon. The air still, cooling quickly. The end of a very nice day.

Oh my - YUMMY!

Well, after a baking free week I have certainly made up for it today - good on you Nigel Slater. The girls are on a vegan diet for a month so have scuppered baking for all and sundry. Although I did have success with egg free rhubarb and apple muffins earlier this week - oh yeah, that is baking isnt it? Anyway, I have wanted to make a beetroot and choc cake since the success of the muffins mentioned previously. And so with 200g butter, 200g chocolate, dash of espresso and 5 eggs it is in the oven. Fingers crossed - will let you know.

So, finally my one of my two zucchini (courgettes) plants is regularly producing fruit. 3 zucchini meals had of the last 4. Do I hear groans? Oh, but yum. Yesterday lunch I diced a small portion of cacciotore (sp?) sausage and fried it gently, added diced 1 baby zucchini and a sprinkle of salt and crumbled thyme - served with thin toasted rounds of baguette. Dinner - appetiser - 2 tiny tiny zucch...inis sliced very thinly from head to toe, their voluptuous yellow flowers sliced thus, sprinkling of baby basil leaves and walnut oil topped with fine shards of parmesan - oh my - oh yum. Lunch today - a chopped spring onion 1 egg omelette stuffed with gently sliced zucchini flowers, dressed with a soy and fish sauce dressing, drizzled with lime, sliced and rolled in freshly picked lettuce leaves oh my, oh my!

Picture this

There are many times throughout the day when I stop and take a breath to delight in something lovely. I relish the mornings I can spring out of bed and enjoy a larger view of the spectacular natural setting I live in. Here is a reminiscence of some such morning.

I wake, and lie in the luxury of sheets cool from the night air listening to the early morning bird cacophony. The plaintive call of the partnerless Koel rings through our suburb along with the throaty warble of magpies and the mad screech of galahs and cockatoos. As I open my eyes the grey dim light of pre-dawn is presented to me. I draw the heavy blind to witness the sun arising over Black Mountain through the gum trees like a giant fluffy sunflower casting hits of gold on all it touches. Mt Ainslie is all purple orange with a halo of gold like the gilded gates over the entry to Versailles. Quick. Quick. Let’s get out before we miss the spectacle of the early sun streaming across sleeping Canberra.

To the top of the road the dog and I stroll, the footpath still cast in shadow, the air motionless and cool. I pull my cardigan tighter across my chest and marvel at the beauty of the morning light and then, behold - the Brindabellas - stretching purple grey before me, wrapping the wide horizon for a 180 degree panorama with the summer gold paddocks at their feet. Barely a dent they make into the view with the endless blue sky at their peaks. The mist in the valley is a mere whisper of the coolness of the night. At times the rays of the sun streak down through the mist across the paddocks creating ripples like waves in sand on the beach. The drops of dew lie heavily upon the seed laden green gold grasses overhung on the path we are yet to walk. The dew drips onto my feet and soaks the dog’s paws as we push on past. As we walk up the face of the hill a family of kangaroos and their young watch us motionless on the track ahead. Only their ears move at our approach. Finally, as we come almost close enough to touch, they bound without effort over the fence and into the paddock beyond. We continue our climb, the sun yet to reach this steep western face of the mountain.

We rise to the ridge of Mount Painter. The 360 degree view of Canberra stretches before us and showcases the colours and shapes of nature that give such delight and a true sense of place. Horizontal strands of the dwindling mist lie in the Murrumbidgee valley and across Lake Burley Griffin. A stiff breeze springs up – refreshing after the steep climb. The meccano set flag pole of Parliament House queerly peeps out from the mist which obscures the lake and surrounds from view; its stiff geometric form always a dominant sight in the Canberra sky. Four hot air balloons float across the lake - mere pinpricks in the vast pale blue space that surrounds them. I pause and take in the vista before me – I take a deep breath and relish this place, time and sense of peace I feel. The weekend may now begin.



A surprise crop of self sown sunflower, much diminshed now as the local parrots enjoy a feast several times a day

'Why don't you put some of them away?'  asks my husband, as we begin the morning ritual of noisily preparing coffee and juice to go with the day's breakfast selection. I was jamming a third open cookbook into my waiting holder preparing for the session in the kitchen today.

Much delight this week with the continuing supplementary dribble from the vegie garden to our diet. The Potimarron, golden globe Cinderella, pumpkin was destined for the pot. Half of it made a nearly, but not quite correctly spiced, pumpkin curry, courtesy Nigel Slater. Absolute delight to add garlic from my well produced crop harvested in December, an onion, from my small trial crop, and lemongrass, very borderline viable in Canberra.

Yesterday saw a flurry of activity in the kitchen after retiring inside due to inclement weather that crept into Canberra so gently, and by this morning had added to the very low level of my rainwater tank.

Blueberry, hazelnut and lemon zest muffins baked away happily whilst I prepared the mix for the cake containing the remains of the Potimarron pumpkin. The cake eventually came out of the oven, in for 20 minutes longer than expected; very wet mix. Mmmm. The smell was divine. Spicy, rich. I resisted temptation and wait an hour to slice into the dark coloured body of the cake. It is filled with the grated pumpkin, roasted pecans, raisins and fragrant spices. Yum.

The 2 punnets of fresh blueberries bought on special at Coles yesterday were bolstered with another 2 punnets enroute home from collecting my husband from work. These are destined for the pot for another small batch of jam.

Another inclement morning in Canberra will see a busy kitchen. Hope I remember to pick some corn for lunch today.



Setting the scene

How to start - where to begin - what to say? There is always so much to say, but does anyone want to know or hear?

This collection of postings will begin as a record what is eaten in this house. Where it goes from there - we shall see.

Our family spends more time than most others we know preparing and contemplating what is to be eaten. We have always eaten well and taken time in our preparation and planning. Recently I believe this has scaled even greater heights.