Plastics and Autism, Lemons and Printing

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plastics and autism

Plastics have made so many aspects of our lives easy and disposable. But there is a dark side to plastics, too. The Florey Institute has just released the results from a decade long study clearly connecting a biological pathway between autism spectrum disorder and BPA (the plastic chemical bisphenol A). Boys are particularly affected by BPA. It can disrupt male fetal development.

Autism is defined as a neurodevelopment disorder with a wide spectrum of cognitive and behavioural changes. The research has shown that high BPA exposure suppresses aromatase, a key brain development enzyme. This has been noted particularly in males and has been linked to an increased likelihood of autism.

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BPA is found in packaging, food and drink containers, cosmetics, even some foods, such as chewing gum. Common items with this plastic are food packaging, water dispensers, reusable plastic drink bottles, plastic wrap, takeaway cups, waterproof clothing, kitchenware and even sunscreen. Plastic makes these products stronger and more durable. There are many reusable alternatives.

lemons

No risk of scurvy in this house! The lemons are plentiful this year and we’ve been enjoying them in both sweet and savoury dishes. We had leftover lemon juice after I’d prepared dinner but my husband had a solution. It went into a glass with a generous splash of gin. Very nice, apparently.

The Lemon Chicken I normally make is a Greek recipe. This recipe has an Asian flavoured sauce, which was a lovely change. I served it with the pieces of lemon from the roasting dish but my husband found them too strong. I really enjoyed the intense flavour. Also, I used maple syrup rather than honey. I served it on mashed potatoes but rice would be good, too, except I don’t eat rice.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/recipes/easy-lemon-chicken

One lemon provides about 31mg vitamin C which is 51% of the recommended daily intake. Vitamin C reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, as does their fibre and plant compounds. Vitamin C plus citric acid, both in lemons, may help prevent anemia by  aiding the absorption of iron. And they smell wonderful!

Also made these Lemon Crackle Biscuits. I omitted the desiccated coconut from the mix, so the biscuits were softer and spread out. They were delicious!

https://author-p35852-e148706.adobeaemcloud.com/shop/recipes/lemon-crackle-biscuits

We had leftover Lemon Chicken for lunch. Added mashed potato, carrots with mint and butter and baby beans. I also had leftover apples I wanted to use before we shopped again. Made an Apple Slice recipe which was easy and tasted great. The recipe actually states ‘green apples’ but I took a risk  and used red apples. The slice was very good. Ran out of raw brown sugar so also used some brown sugar.

Visitors so I made a Lemon Cake which also had lemon flavoured icing and Brownies, no lemon at all!

printing

Our local library closes this afternoon and will be relocated to another building in the future. I have played mahjong there for years and also was part of an art group. We don’t know if we will be accommodated in the new venue. So we were just finishing off some printing projects this afternoon.

I had been very disappointed with the crispness of my previous prints. I cut a new plate, using the inside lining of a long life milk carton. I spent a lot of time pressing the image into the foil to ensure a crisp edge. Then I printed it in blue a few times and finally, in black. Quite pleased with the final monoprint. I have a piece of lino ready for my next project so will be drawing, carving and printing with lino.

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Making Felt and Seasonal Vegetables

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making felt

I enrolled in a FELT MAKING course. I’ve made felt before but it was a long time ago. We were given 30g of wool. We set up our work places and began teasing  our skeins of wool into small pieces. We created a square of five layers of the wool, each layer place in opposite directions, teased out and overlapping each other. We were shown how thick the finished piece should be and how to tidy the edges. Then we rolled the square onto a sushi mat and covered it in a sheet of plastic to create a sausage. Then we rolled this back and forward.

Teasing the wool into thin sections, each overlapping to create a square. We created five layers.

We all worked on the same project.

The wool was rolled many, many times to make the felt.

In the second session we unrolled our fabric, covered it in a piece of tulle, drizzled some liquid soap onto it, sprayed it with water and began rubbing it with a scrunched up soft plastic bag. After rubbing it repeatedly, we rolled it up and secured it, then rolled it backwards and forwards on a hard surface about one hundred times. Uncovered the felt, washed it repeatedly in warm water, then ‘bashed’ it on the draining board. Rinsed it after multiple ‘smashings’ on the draining board.

By now the piece of felt had shrunk and was quite compressed. Later I washed the rest of the soap out then ironed it with a steam iron. Finished!

seasonal vegetables

Our green grocer only sells seasonal vegetables. This suits us as it generally means the produce was grown nearby. I’d decided to stir fry some vegetables to go with some salmon and wanted Chinese cabbage. The Chinese cabbages were really fresh and attractive, but were being sold in lots of four. I only needed two for dinner but ended up with four.

I had already made some of Nagi’s (recipetineats.com) Asian Cooking Sauce which she calls Charlie-My All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce, so prepared the salmon and a pile of vegetables. This included zucchini as I’d used some in a ratatouille I was making and there was some left. Regular readers know my ratatouille mix never includes eggplant but often includes all sorts of other  things. This time its Chinese cabbage! I try to avoid food waste.

All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce.

I cooked rice for this salmon stir fry. I don’t really eat rice, which often caused comment when we were in Asia, especially when we lived there, but my husband likes it. Rice is almost sacred in Asia but I become very skilled at avoiding it. I would cover it with sauce or food and leave it on the plate. It was considered polite to leave food on your plate! There’s no photo of the stir fry because the minute it was done, we ate it.

The other seasonal food on display at the green grocer was apples. So many types of apples! We bought Pink Ladies and Gala, a big, flavoursome, crunchy apple. We eat them raw, stewed or baked. Plus an end of season pineapple which was very sweet and delicious. Also eaten before I thought to photograph it!

Enjoying the apple season. The Gala apples are crisp and very sweet.

The next day I grated a zucchini to make a Zucchini Slice. I followed an online recipe. There were interesting comments about Zucchini Slice recipes. One site said it was their most often hit on recipe, another asked if it was a typical Australian recipe as it was very popular. One of my neighbours makes it every week for breakfast, lunch or dinner, whatever she fancies. It is delicious and versatile. You can eat it hot or cold, take it in a lunchbox and even freeze it.

Traditionally, Zucchini Slice has grated zucchini (courgettes), grated cheese, beaten eggs, S.R. flour, an onion, some bacon and some mildly flavoured oil. Of course, mine was a bit different as I had a Chinese cabbage to use up ( they don’t keep for very long after picking) so that was finely chopped and added. Also, I had some cheeses left from a grazing board and some other knobby bits,  too, so grated them and used them up. There was a wedge of camembert, too, but that didn’t make it into the slice. I ate it.

The Zucchini Slice was very good. It made three generous  meals for two. It was easy to make and we enjoyed the mix of flavours. So many recipes online if you’re interested!

Half Way Through 2024

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CHRISTMAS IN JULY

We have great neighbours. We meet several times during the year at one another’s houses and catch up. We meet one another in the street in the street, or drop in for coffee or sometimes meet at the shops, but these planned catchups are a chance to eat and chat together. Everyone brings a plate of food to share and usually their dogs.

We’d invited everyone to a Christmas In July get together. I’d had plans to decorate and really get in the swing of things, but other events intervened. My husband made a slow cooker of glühwein and the gorgeous scent was still in the air the next morning. We had a delicious quiche, a poppy seed cake and a bowl of strawberries and raspberries, plus a grazing platter and sausage rolls. I heated and lit a plum pudding. Such a lovely evening.

The glüwhein smelt and tasted very good, especially on a cold night.

Many Christmas traditions followed in Australia originated in Europe. Winter in the Northern hemisphere is cold and there might be snow. Christmas in the Southern hemisphere in in the middle of summer and temperatures in the mid 30ºC and higher are common. Despite the heat  many people continue to have a leg of ham but serve it with salads and seafood. The food served at Christmas time is changing. Summer fruits, such as watermelon, rock melon, pineapple, strawberries and stone fruit are in season and popular Christmas foods. We always have cherries!

planning

A report on the TV news the other night was urging us to get our Christmas gift shopping done. It’s still six months away! Supplies are slow to arrive. Due to the unrest in Yemen shipping routes have changed. Ships cannot use the Suez Canal and are going around the Cape of Good Hope, a much longer journey . Shipping costs have increased by at least 50%. Someone actually told me last week that she’d already bought all the gifts for her grandchildren and was giving gift cards to the adults on her list. I was very impressed! I’ll think about it soon. Maybe.

This is one wall of two walls of built in bookshelves in our upstairs sitting room. I keep suggesting an audit ( reducing the number of books) but the idea is not well received. Many of the shelves have books two layers deep. I try not to think about the dust.

Luckily we are a family of keen readers. It is wonderful to have a pile of new books to read as soon as Christmas Day is over. Usually we select our own books. I wrap them all. A few years ago I bought some pretty, printed fabric draw string bags to use instead of wrapping paper, then forgot all about them. Found them recently and have put them with other Christmas paraphernalia.

cooking

Our neighbour will be coming home from hospital tonight or tomorrow and will need to rest. Her family will be in and out, so I’ve made a lemon slice to take in when it’s cool. I actually made two because we have so many lemons this year and we really, really like this slice! Recipe (here)

Also made some Asian Fish Cakes. I tore the recipe out of the Sunday paper and assumed it would be online on their site. It’s not! I was attracted to the recipe because it used smoked salmon and we had quite a lot in the freezer. Apart from coriander (mine has gone to seed) I had everything else on hand. Strangely, the recipe stated one of the ingredients as ‘store bought mashed potato’. I’ve never actually seen mashed potato for sale, but I haven’t looked, either. I peeled and boiled some potatoes and used that instead. I hope the bought potato didn’t have some extra ingredient or flavouring, but the fishcakes I made still tasted very good.

Last week a friend expressed surprise that I used bought salad dressing on a salad I make regularly and had just written about in my blog. It set me thinking and I decided experiment with my favourite (currently) salad dressing. I grow shallots just to make this dressing! So, here it is….

DAVID LEBOVITZ VINAIGRETTE

Whisk* one tablespoon of Dijon Mustard and 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Then gradually add 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until emulsified. Add one tablespoon of finely minced shallot, a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. It doesn’t separate or split.

*After I made this for the first time, I couldn’t be faffed whisking. Now I put the mustard and vinegar in a jar, shake, add the oil a tablespoon at a time, shake, add the shallots, salt and pepper, shake. Use immediately or store in the fridge in the jar. If it becomes too thick dilute with more EVOO.

Very good dressing.

 

 

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Versatile Salad and Hidden Plastic

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versatile salad and lunch

Another salad recipe in winter? I began making the original version of this salad when I was working.  The vegetables are cut into smallish pieces, so I could eat my lunch walking around the playground, on duty, or sitting at my desk marking. Sometimes I even had a few minutes to sit in the staffroom and eat. Unlike carrot sticks, pieces of celery or lettuce leaves, all a bit awkward eating in a rush, this combination of finely chopped vegetables is easy to eat using only a fork.

No longer eating on the run I still make this salad as we both like it, it lasts well for three days in the fridge, it can be made with a variety of vegetables and it is healthy! Originally I chopped tomatoes, red onion, boiled potatoes and celery. Local celery  has been dark green and bitter for some time so I began finely chopping cucumber and adding that instead. Tastes good.

So, wash and chop your vegetables into small pieces. I used two tomatoes, half a cucumber, three small boiled potatoes and a third of a red onion. When everything was chopped and stirred in the glass storage dish, I drizzled bought, 99% fat free Italian dressing. The bought dressing doesn’t separate like home made dressing and it takes us a few days to eat this so it needs to stay emulsified.

I add protein and maybe some bread and lunch is done. I often have fish balls, bought at an Asian supermarket. My husband prefers anything but fish balls.

It is school holidays here in Australia at the moment. I really enjoy school holidays, despite being retired for seven years. Why? Because I catch up with three lots of staff from the three different schools I taught at from the mid nineties until I retired. Almost everyone else is retired, too. I really enjoy these catch up lunches. The other lovely school holiday thing is spending time with my cousin, also a teacher. She arrives mid-morning, we have coffee and chat, then we go out for lunch and chat then much later she drops me home! This year we had lunch here and my niece joined us. Best way to catch up on everyones’ news.

hidden plastic

Some of the products containing plastic on this list from the blog Moral Fibres (wendy@moralfibres.co.uk) surprised me. Based on the above blog I’ve made a list of many things containing plastics you might not have considered. I certainly got a few surprises.

1. Chewing gum is based on polyethylene. Polyethylene is used to make plastic bottles and bags.

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2. Clothing made from  microfibre fleece, polyester, acrylic and nylon is made from plastic. Every time you wash these items, microplastics are released into the waterways.

3. Disposable Coffee Cups are lined with a fine layer of plastic so they don’t collapse when filled. Take your own keep cup.

4. Aluminium cans are lined with a thin layer of plastic resin, usually epoxy, which is linked to a number of health issues.

5. Glass jars don’t contain any plastic and are infinitely recyclable, but the lids are lined with PVC. Yes, I’d never thought about that, either.

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6. Alternative/vegan plant based leather. All of these products are coated, or sandwiched, with PU plastic or bioplastic to make them durable and water resistant. This includes the very expensive brands which claim to be ethically aware and produce vegan based leather. It’s plastic, then biological leather then another layer of plastic. And very expensive with a short life span.

7. Produce stickers. It’s hard to avoid them, especially on bananas and citrus fruit.

8. Teabags are still being heat sealed with polyethylene. Check online to see if your preferred tea uses plastic.

9. Tetra paks, used for plant based milks, juice and long life milk look like they’re made from waxed cardboard. Actually, tetra packs are generally 75% paper, 2o% polyethylene and 5% aluminium.

Free Can Kitchen photo and picture

10. Tin and aluminium cans are lined with a thin plastic coating containing bisphenal A, or BPA which may leak into the contents.

11. Sunscreen contains microplastics! They bind the ingredients and are very cheap. I’m a bit shocked as I use sunscreen 365 days a year.

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12. Bandaids and other sticking plasters, even the fabric sort, contain plastic.

Lots to think about in this list. For more information, read the blog listed above.

 

 

 

About Bali and Back to Australia

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about bali

Sometimes the skies in Bali are a mass of kites! Apparently June to September are the best times for flying kites. The Balinese fly kites to symbolise the spiritual connection between the Earth and the Heavens. These kites are not childrens’ toys, they are part of the Island’s Hindu customs, thanking the Gods for taking care of the Island and to request good harvests.

Free Kite Wind photo and picture

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When we first visited Bali (as a family, I first visited Bali in 1982) the kites were generally made of paper, bamboo and string. Now these family projects are often illuminated and huge, incorporating new technologies. They are very attractive.

street dogs in bali

Free Bali Balinese photo and picture

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Wandering around laneways near our villa we are often confronted by fiercely barking dogs. Dogs within or around a family compound will bark to scare off intruders. I was surprised to find about 90% of dogs wandering around in Bali actually have homes. Often the dog will have a collar but there’s no real way of knowing if the dog is a stray or a pet. Best to leave them alone!

The dogs seen everywhere are Kintamani dogs with a recorded history as far back as 1400. They have thick fur, strong muscular bodies and a curved tail. They can be any colour, but yellow or tan fur is common. They are many charities in Bali caring for homeless dogs.

offerings

In the centre of every entrance to compounds, cafes, restaurants and every other business, the Balinese place offerings.They adorn household temples and even cars and motor bikes. The small basket shapes are made of woven palm leaves. Typically these offerings contain flowers, food, incense, rice and other symbolic offerings. Daily offerings are an important part of Balinese Hinduism.

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The offerings are part of the balance that exists between Balinese people and the spiritual and mortal realm of people. These beautiful offerings are made by women. It is important that you don’t step on them nor photograph them.

michelin restaurants

There are no Michelin starred restaurants in Indonesia. This doesn’t mean the food in Bali isn’t wonderful! The idea for rating cafes and restaurants originated in France. Brothers Èdouard and André Michelin came up with the idea in 1899. Producers of tyres, they wanted to encourage people to travel. At the time of conception there were only about 3000 cars in France and most people only traveled short distances.

Their plan included free travel guides with useful information such as maps, directions for changing a tyre, where to buy fuel and information on accommodation and dining. The dining information resonated with the French public as the best restaurants and cafes were awarded a rosette, or two, or three.

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The popularity of the guides meant the guides were redesigned the focus on food and the rosettes became stars. The Michelin star became the gold standard for culinary excellence. Interestingly, the gold star system is not about opulence, but rather the quality of the food coming from the kitchen. Currently, the guide features over 30 000 establishments in over 30 countries.

growing

When we left Australia it hadn’t rained for months. While we were away the weather changed and we returned to cool days and rain. The garden has really perked up! So have the weeds. The shallots, chives, sweetpeas and perpetual spinach I planted have all germinated. I’ve just planted tulips, too. The roses I pruned before we left have all started to green up. Happy garden.

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I cut the stems of three moth ( Phalaenopsis ) orchids back to the second node on each stem after they bloomed last year and fed them. I am so pleased to see they are sending out new stems with flower buds. The blooms last for ages.

Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. Enjoy!

Beautiful Bali

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Bali

Regular readers know our favourite holiday destination is Bali. Bali holds a special place in the hearts of many Australians. We like to spend a few weeks here every year. This means we can do day trips to learn more about the Balinese and how they live plus spend time enjoying the countryside. We have always stayed at the same villa in Seminyak. Delightful staff, comfortable villa and a great pool in a pretty garden. Close to cafes and restaurants, spas offering reflexology and pedicures and lots of opportunities to admire decorator items I don’t need but really like.

Greeted by beautiful flowers. So lovely!

Arrangements of flowers are everywhere. Frangipani blossoms decorate hairstyles, tables, uniforms and our pool, until the cleaners come and remove them. I gather them and place then in a line to record how many laps of the pool I’ve done. Works well until there is a gust of wind and they blow away!

A favourite lunch restaurant has divine green crockery, vases and even wash basins. The floral arrangements in Bali are so beautiful!

Bali is all about relaxing. Our other holidays involve long lists of things we must do, places we must visit and things we must see. Bali is very beautiful and has a fascinating history and unique culture which can be learnt about slowly and bit by bit. It also has beautiful accommodation often in lush green tropical gardens and fabulous cafes and restaurants.

Time to read.

Before Covid, Bali was a bit frenetic once you stepped out of your accommodation but those levels of crowding and rushing haven’t returned. We like the more relaxed pace of life here. There’s time to read and swim and wander about. I find the architecture really interesting, from traditional Balinese styles to very modern buildings. I’m always peeping at lush gardens when we’re walking around.

I spend a lot of time in the pool. The weather is warm to hot and the pool is lovely day and night. I start the day in the pool and often end the day in there, too, with a few swims in between. I burn easily as a fully paid up member of the melanoma family so I wear a rashie ( a long sleeve shirt designed to limit sun exposure) and unless I’m doing laps, I wear a large, floppy hat. Lots of frequently applied sun screen, too.

We have breakfast delivered in the morning and enjoy sitting at the table planning where we’re going for lunch. Sometimes our son is here, too, so we collect ideas before we even come to Bali and then refine our plans once we are here. The food scene is Bali remarkable. There are so many choices from simple, fresh cafe meals to sophisticated and wonderful restaurants. We like to check out the new restaurants and also go to a few we’ve been going to for years. Food delivery services seem to arrive with your order very quickly, too, if you don’t want to go out. There’s also many supermarkets where you can buy the basics and some things you might not recognize!

Post pool peckish? The hardest part is deciding what to eat! Delivered quickly.

Delicious treats after we’d decided not to have dinner because we’d had a big lunch! It was a good plan until we were feeling hungry later in the evening.

There’s a lot of places providing good massages. A habit developed when we lived in China is regular reflexology. Not just a nice foot and leg rub, but a really good session of reflexology. Our favourite practitioner has gone! Her shop is now a hair dresser and no one knows where she’s gone. Shame. But there are plenty of other options and we quickly found a great place.

There are many personal services, too, such as pedicures and manicures, facials and a whole array of age defying treatments. I’ve heard people come here on holiday and have dental work done very economically and today I saw a sign outside a clinic offering teeth whitening and treatments. We often come to Bali when it is cold at home and I’ve been wearing boots, so a pedicure is something I seek soon after arriving. The other booming business is tattoos.

I enjoy looking in the decorator shops, the jewellery shops and less often, the clothing shops. I’ve had boots made and know people who have clothes made, too. I like the woven, lined rattan baskets with drawstring tops and a zippered pocket, too, but shouldn’t buy any more.

Strong, light and so useful, but I don’t need any more!

I’ve spent a lovely morning at a perfume making workshop and my son and I did a Balinese cooking class. Wonderful morning, learnt so much about preparing Balinese produce and flavours and also about Balinese celebrations and village life.

Went with our dear Balinese friends to their favourite restaurant, Mr Bob’s in Nusa Dua. Lovely dinner of seafood curry, brownies and icecream. Then Mr Bob arrived and wanted us to have a traditional Balinese dessert in his Balinese restaurant. So pretty, so good.

Each little treat could be dipped into the palm sugar syrup. Looked lovely, tasted lovely.

So Bali is our idea of a restful holiday with no pressure to do anything but relax and enjoy!

 

 

Olive Oil, Mother’s Day and Recycling Beads

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extra virgin olive oil

Having trouble sourcing your favourite extra virgin olive oil?            Australian olive oil is in short supply due to the poor fruit harvest in 2023. Outside the Mediterranean, Australia is the greatest consumer of olive oil in the World. Each Australian consumes 2.1 litres of olive oil every year.

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This doesn’t surprise me as I slosh, drip and drizzle EVOO on things I cook every day. I buy 3 litre ( 101.4 oz) tins and decant them into a one litre dark glass bottle kept within easy reach of the hotplates and food preparation area. The bottle has a pop up pourer, so no mess. Buying in bulk and decanting is more economical than buying small bottles. Storing in a dark glass bottle protects its purity.

Apparently, in Europe, the price of olive oil in January 2024 was 50% higher than January 2023. This jump in price is due to olive oil producing nations experiencing longer and hotter summers resulting in poor harvests. Some sources also mention the increased interest in the Mediterranean diet which promotes olive oil, adding greater demand in an already diminished supply chain.

mother’s day

I hope all the Mother’s had a lovely day with their families celebrating Mother’s Day. Or doing something else if that’s what they wanted! We didn’t celebrate Mother’s Day this year because I’m too sad. My Mother died in March. In memory of her I bought bunches of flowers in her favourite colours, so lilac, purple, cream, white with a dash of red. I also put a little arrangement of lilac and white lissianthus next to her photo. I miss her!

Mother’s Day Sunday was also the day we celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary. Forty years! On the Friday before we went to a restaurant on the beach and ate fish tacos, a crayfish taco and Fremantle octopus tentacles, plus roasted butternut and chips. Beautifully presented and delicious. Rain and stormy conditions were forecast but in reality there was a clear blue sky and a bright blue ocean and we were hot. A lovely way to celebrate.

Dessert of burnt honey cream brûlée with pear sorbet plus an extra scoop of pear sorbet because my husband knew I’d want to taste the sorbet even though I declined dessert.  Soon it’s pear season so I’ll try making pear sorbet. It was very good.

jewellery

Last week I did a jewellery recycling workshop. Our instructor had bundles of old bits and pieces to be remade into something we’d use. I made a necklace with a ring in it to hang my reading glasses from so I knew where they were. Great idea but it was so long and so heavy it knocked things over or off the bench. Put it away to consider at a later date as the beads are very pretty.

Meanwhile, I gathered all my necklaces secured not by jewellery catches, but with safety pins. When the catches broke, as they always did, I’d secure both ends together with a small pin. As a junior primary teacher, I always had safety pins, bandaids and tissues in my bag. Today I mended every broken necklace catch. Really pleased with my fully fixed collection. Plus I’ve used some very bright beads from old necklaces to made new, less bold necklaces, more suited to my current lifestyle.

Sorting and fixing my necklaces made me realise I have a lot of jewellery I don’t use anymore. I don’t have pierced ears but had a lot of clip on earrings but I don’t wear them now. I have some pretty bracelets, too, along with a pile of necklaces. Some of the sweetest bracelets were made by children I’ve taught. I’m keeping them! Happy memories. The rest are in a bag, ready to go to the Salvation Army along with three other bags of things I’ve sorted. I quite like going into the city to drop things at their depot as I then go across the road to an Asian supermarket, buy the best fish balls and speak appalling Mandarin/Putonghua to the checkout girl. She is so polite about my accent!

Cooking, Author Talk and Reworking Jewellery

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 cooking

Are you trying not to throw away fresh food? Me too. Recently when I opened a packet of chicken breasts I wondered if they were actually turkey breasts or maybe emu! I eyed off the enormous chicken breasts for a while then decided that rather than cut them in half as the recipe directed, I needed to cut each into about six pieces. I’d chosen the recipe because I needed to use some baby romano tomatoes, baby spinach and the chicken. Plus I had everything else listed. I got to use up lots of ingredients already in the fridge.

I had to adjust the quantities of the ingredients to accommodate all the chicken! So I had to make it in two frying pans. Luckily we like chicken. We will be eating  Tomato, Spinach, White Wine Chicken for quite a while.  I’ve served this chicken dish with mashed potato  and will also serve it with spicy rice, then couscous. The author also suggests thick noodles. Recipe (here)

At the same time I baked a loaf of sourdough. Due the heat in Western Australia, the starter was very energetic! I thought the loaf was going to bubble over the edges of the baking tin, but it didn’t and it tasted great!

Sourdough with caraway seeds. Delicious.

When rain was forecast for Sunday I decided to cook a traditional roast lunch. Our son was here for the weekend and we like to sit at the table and talk. I had to sort out so much stuff on the table, it had become a sort of dumping ground.

Sunday morning arrived bright and sunny and 21ºC. No rain in sight. Put the meat to roast, prepared the vegetables and opened the French doors so we could hear the fountain. Faux rain. Lunch was long and lovely, plus there was leftovers for a light dinner and cold roast beef and pickle sandwiches the next day.

Apple crumble and icecream with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

author talk

A while ago I wrote a review about a book I’d read by Rachel Johns called, ‘The Other Bridget’  a joke on Helen Fielding’s book ‘Bridget Jones Diary.’ Although written to appeal to a younger reader, I suspect, I really enjoyed it. The plot was clever with lots of twists and turns and it was written about an area I know well. I read a lot and it’s not often novels are set in Fremantle, Western Australia.

We were going away for a break so I borrowed two more books by the same author. Again I enjoyed the local settings and the clever story line. So when the Fremantle Library advertised an author talk with the author, Rachel Johns, I responded immediately and got a ticket. I am so glad I did, too.

Glancing around the room it became apparent those women attending were aged from their twenties through to about 70. Johns’ presentation and following open discussion with the audience was just like the books, that is, fast, funny and full of current affairs. So entertaining.

 

Some of the bright, chunky beads I wanted to reuse.

I  had also enrolled in a course run earlier that day called UNIQUE JEWELLERY. When I was working as a junior primary teacher I always wore bright, chunky  necklaces as the children liked them so much. Not really suitable for the life I live now, so I wanted to convert some of them to be more toned down. I also needed to mend some of the clasps and just work out what I could retrieve from my colourful collection.

I made a necklace with a ring for my glasses as I lose them all the time! I was inspired by the necklace the tutor was wearing with her glasses hooked on it. I think I could just wear it as a necklace, too.  I also had time to repair the clasps on some necklaces. Later, I took apart some pieces to make new, less colourful necklace. I have bought a kit to renew more clasps and to make new necklaces.

Reusing beads to make a new necklace. Satisfying project.

P.S. There’s a problem with the necklace I made to hold my glasses; it is too long and heavy and crashes into the bench top and whatever I’m working on and is annoying. I’ll probably take it apart and make a new necklace. So, still misplacing my glasses, so I’ve bought a few extra pairs to limit the time spent hunting for reading glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

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Autumn Occupations

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autumn occupations

It’s mid April and our daily temperatures are still around 30ºC (86º F). Often Easter time here is wet and windy but not this year. Despite no rain for us, last week some of the northern suburbs had a storm resulting in flooding and partially submerged cars. Quite unusual for Perth.

It was a bit cooler in the evening and this inspired me to make pasties. I set up a production line of meat sauce, pastry and prepared oven trays. While the filling cooked I cut out rounds of pastry. Made the pasties  then cooked lots of them at once. Now they’re stored in the freezer. My husband eats them steadily until they’re all gone. Then I might make more. Depends on the weather!

Now days I buy the pastry and use a saucer to cut to size.

Pasties originate from Cornwall. They traditionally had a savoury half and a sweet half, marked with a S. They were easy for miners to take for their lunch. The crimped edge was a handle which could be discarded when the rest of the pastie was eaten.

I make them with a mix of mince flavoured with onions and Worcestershire Sauce, plus diced mixed vegetables and then a little thickening with flour. So, not really traditional but well received, anyway! And we eat the crimped ‘handle’, too.

reading

I’ve just finished Rachel Johns’ book The Other Bridget Jones. An easy and fun read, this is the story of a librarian who has a special skill for matching readers to books. Not only did I know many of the books featured but I knew the library, the pubs, the beaches and the streets, the markets. The book is set in Fremantle. I go to Fremantle every week to my yoga class. It’s not often I know the environment featured in fiction but I really enjoyed knowing the places described in this romantic comedy.

A smart, funny book, probably intended for a younger audience but I identified with the author’s respect for the power of books and the clever, if slightly predictable way the plot revealed itself. Johns, originally an English Teacher, is considered Australia’s leading author writing about modern womens’ issues. A good read, even though I’ve been married forty years and don’t share most of the issues!

The other book I’ve read this week is Dr Kate Luckins’ Live More With Less.  Again, I think this book was intended for a younger audience. Although she believes she is presenting ‘a practical and optimistic guide to balancing planet friendly habits’ I found many of the beliefs this book is based on just didn’t resonate.

I kept reading because there are sustainable changes I want to make to create less landfill and avoid plastics where ever possible. I’m just not sure about the whole climate change belief this book is based on. The book does have some good ideas about how we can buy less of everything and still live well.

The most interesting chapter for me was about buying fewer clothes, swapping  them, sharing and renting them and building a capsule wardrobe. I’d been talking to a friend earlier that day about building a capsule wardrobe. I realised so many of the examples of capsule wardrobes I’d seen involved way too many formal or work  clothes and too few casual clothes for my retired lifestyle. So, as much as I love the French samples I was following, I actually don’t need ‘smart’ work separates. I need casual and gardening clothes and a couple of more dressy things.

Free Clothing Fashion photo and picture

Image Pixabay

The next problem was one I face every morning at the moment. I have been wearing summer clothes since last September. The maximum temperatures  have been in the 30ºCs and 40ºCs for the past eight months. No matter how cleverly I arrange the tops and trousers I have, plus a couple of dresses, I am wearing the same things frequently and I’m sick of them! Ditto my sandals.

So, although I found Luckins’ wardrobe advice well thought out, it doesn’t work in my part of Western Australia at the moment. And I bought a new summer shirt because I am so tired of the ones I’ve been wearing for months and months. I’ll be wearing for a while, yet, according to the weather forecasts.

 

Reading, Chopping and Pickles

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reading

Have you read Trent Dalton’s Lola In The Mirror? This follows his chart busting book Boy Swallows Universe and is equally disturbing and intriguing. It is the story of a girl with no name, because when you’re homeless it’s best not to have a history. This book has it all; it’s funny, it’s sad, it’s violent and at the same time, quite beautiful. It focuses on homelessness,friendship, optimism and lucky breaks.  It highlights the important role  drop-in centres play in the lives of the dispossessed, the kindness of strangers and the cruelty of friends. Not really an easy read but certainly a good read. The story is based in Brisbane like Dalton’s other books.

The second book I’ve been reading is John Boyne’s The Heart’s Invisible Furies. He also wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. When I finished reading Claire Keegen’s book, Small Things Like These, a story based on Irish Catholic nuns, I was determined not to read another book about the church and it’s impact on people. The cruelty was too much for me. The church doesn’t shine in this book, either.

The The Heart’s Invisible Furies begins ‘ Long before we discovered he had fathered two children by two different women,….Father James Monroe stood at the altar of the Church of Our Lady, ……and denounced my mother as a whore.’ I kept reading. This book was also hard to read at times. It covers 70 odd years of the main protagonist’s life and the many changes within the Catholic Church and the Irish people. There’s a happy ending 727 pages later but the Church would not agree!

While we’re thinking about books, I found these interesting comments about reading and the connection to better mental health and physical health in the March edition of The Australian Women’s Weekly. The author of the article, Eva-Maria Bobbert lists five advantages of reading.

MENTAL HEALTH Research shows a good book can lower stress faster than any other relaxation methods.

EMOTIONAL HEALTH Apparently reading can help with everything from grief, heartbreak, loneliness and poor self confidence. Stories about overcoming adversity can be inspirational.

HEART HEALTH and LONGEVITY Want to lower your blood pressure, psychological distress and lower heart rate? Read a good book. A twelve year study of more than 3000 adults found regular readers live about two years longer than non readers. Apparently, reading for more than 3.5 hours a week results in a 25% reduction in mortality.

SLEEP HYGIENE Reading a good book before you go to sleep can distract distressing thoughts making unwinding, slowing down and falling asleep easier.

COGNITIVE BENEFITS Do you remember Dr Seuss saying, ‘The more you read, the more things you will know?’ MRI scans indicate reading resulted in increased brain connectivity for several days afterwards. The more engaged you are with a book, the more areas of the brain that are stimulated and may result in greater intelligence.

So there’s five good reasons to enjoy a good book!

food preparation

Until I had eye surgery on my eyes last year I always wore contact lenses. So nothing prepared me for the pain of dicing onions without the protection of contact lenses! Ouch. I tried sunglasses, safety glasses even goggles but nothing was really working. Research recommended putting onions in the fridge 60 minutes before preparation, which actually works, but I kept forgetting. Needed another solution or we’d have to give up using onions.

Found a solution. It’s a multi cutting device called a 4 IN 1 Chopper Plus. It has two dicing blades of different sizes and 2 spiralizing blades, too. All the chopping happens under the lid, so no onion juice in my eyes. It’s really fast to totally dice an onion. Then I just empty the base into the frying pan. No tears. Such a relief. Spiralizing carrots is fun, too, and the springy curls look so pretty in a salad. It’s easy to almost instantly turn four really big potatoes into chips. So I’m really pleased with this new device! Bought online.

 Fast, tear free diced onions and an easy cleanup, too.

Chipped potatoes in about a minute, added rosemary and sea salt,  into the oven. Result = great, evenly cooked chips. A bit of a treat for us!

No dicing required, but I needed more freezer room over Easter, so out came the two ham bones from the Christmas hams. After my son sawed them to fit in the slow cooker, I added half a packet of split yellow peas, covered the bones with water and let it cook for 8 hours. Smelt good, tasted great. We ate Pea and Ham soup for four days. It was very good.

 

What to do with a surplus of red onions? I find they don’t keep well in this never ending hot weather, so used this Martha Stewart recipe to pickle them (here). Four ingredients, only a few minutes to pickle and delicious on just about everything. Apart for the sensible suggestions on the recipe site I really like these pickles on a thin slither of percorino romano cheese.

Four ingredients, red onions, salt, sugar and vinegar.

Let the pickles cool. Bottle and keep in the fridge. Try not to eat them all at once.

 

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