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.