Cooking

Happy Living, A Drawing Class, Painting and Cooking

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happy living

According to the World Happiness Report 2022, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the fifth year in a row. Other northern European countries follow with Denmark ranking second, followed by Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. New Zealand comes in at number ten and Australia is number 12 on the list. Then Canada was 14th on the list, UK came in at number 17 and USA came in at 19.

Finland’s Flag Pexels

WHR considers lifestyle and peoples’ sense of well being to rate various countries. The report noted that volunteering, helping others and making donations had all increased in many parts of the world during the past two years. This increase in social benevolence due to COVID 19 has benefits for the givers, receivers and observers. Also evident was that countries with a higher trust in public institutions and more equality recorded much lower rates of death.

The six factors considered were gross domestic product per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom of choice, generosity of population and perceptions of internal and external corruption.

Information is collected from a number 0f sources for this survey. If you are interested this is the site https://worldhappiness.report

drawing in nature

I enrolled in a four week “Drawing in Nature” course with a well known local artist, Jane, because I know I get a lot done when I focus for two hours. She introduced our theme for the session, ( last week it was feathers, this week was shells) and showed us examples of her work. Next we chose a feather/shell to examine and then draw. Jane talked about the different depth of line using 2B, 4B and HB pencils. We experimented, working on drawn circles, going from dark to light, exploring blending, pointillism, feathering and cross hatching.

Guinea Fowl feathers

Jane also introduced us to blending stumps used to blend our pencil marks. I had never used one before and I really like the way they allowed us to smudge and blend.

(A blending stump or paper stump is a stick of tightly rolled soft paper with two pointed ends. It can be used to blend, smear or smudge graphite, charcoal or similar mediums. Also known as a smudging stick or a tortillon. There’s online instructions for making your own! )

Inspired by Annie Herron’s art projects in the book, Around The Kitchen Table, Good things to cook, create and do-the whole year through, a mother and daughter project, I did some quick small paintings. Herron uses seasonal prompts to suggest quick works and talks about capturing simple scenes.

Around the Kitchen Table

Her daughter, Sophie Hansen, adds seasonal recipes and ideas for family fun, making this an interesting and motivating read. I chose one of Hansen’s slice recipes, Triple Ginger Crunch to make and take to my drawing class this week.

If you’re a fan of ginger, you’ll find this slice delicious!

Triple Ginger Crunch with glace ginger chunks.

decorating trends: GRANDMA COASTAL

Companies producing everything from paint, wall paper, furniture, lampshades depend on you purchasing new pieces regularly to support their businesses. I’m tragically a huge fan of decorator and garden magazines. I don’t follow decorating trends although they are an intriguing window into fashion and how easily we are influenced. I occasionally add or take something away, but not often. I am endlessly curious about people, how they build or renovate their homes, select colours, styles and finishes and how they allocate their budgets. I’m interested in how frequently they change their living environment and what provokes change. I’m a fully blown sticky beak!

Image PEXELS

As we all become more concerned about landfill and our use of limited resources so decorating trends change. When the mid century style replaced the white minimalist fashion we saw the focus move to re-using existing pieces. The latest decorating trend is partly based on recycling or upcycling everything from furniture to curtains and decorator items. Let’s look at Coastal Grandma and what it means.

Image Unsplash

Google has reported an increase of 334% searches last week into Coastal Grandma style. The style features nothing obvious like shells and faux life bouys on the wall, but neutral colours, loose linen covers and other natural, sustainable fabrics. White, cream, beige, grey and caramel along with cosy lighting, cushions and always, fresh flowers. The house should look lived in, comfortable and a bit worn and faded. Recover, restore, reuse. The aim is timeless, pared back but still luxurious.

Image PEXELS

Interestingly, the style is discussed widely in clothing sites, too. The same neutral colours reign. Button down collars, trousers, straw hats and straw market baskets plus knotted jumpers around the shoulders are all mentioned. Styles are classic in cut and design and feature natural fabrics. Again, faded, lived in colours and styles with a preference for vintage and recycled items. Sustainability is a constant theme.

international mens health week

The theme this year of International Mens’ Health Week, 13 -19th June, is Building Healthy Environments for Men and Boys. It’s about focusing on creating physically, mentally and emotionally healthy males. Lots of information online.

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Goodbye Plastics, Cold Weather and Reading

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Decluttering

I boldly revealed the terrible jumble in the drawer under the hotplate in our kitchen two weeks ago. Now I’m pleased to be able to show the decluttered and sorted drawer! The new silicone utensils have arrived and the plastic ones have gone.

Duplicated utensils are boxed up to donate and everything I’ve kept serves a purpose. Of course, the newly sorted slots are more efficient and attractive. We did seem to accumulate so much stuff over the years!

Sorted and easy to find what I need.

This is the best bread knife we have ever used. We’ve tried several types over the years and they’ve all needed replacing fairly frequently. Then our son introduced us to this knife, intended for cutting watermelons. It is the best bread knife ever!

I’ve sorted several more cupboards, too, and what is immediately obvious is my passion for red! So much red, from Dutch ovens, to storage containers, sieves and utensils. It has been a long love affair; many of these items have been in my various kitchens for nearly forty years. So, yes, I like a bit of red. Interestingly, although I dabbled with red lipstick and nail polish for a few months last year, I don’t wear much red. I only have one red cardigan and one red top. Everything else hanging in the robe is black, navy, olive green, a few mustard coloured things and some white. And leopard print but that’s a neutral, too, isn’t it?

Decluttering continues to feature on the TO DO list. I have an open wicker box on a chair pushed under the table (cleverly hidden so I don’t have to see it) which was in constant use when I was working. There’s pencil cases with felt pens, coloured pens, coloured pencils, stickers plus scissors and glue. I used to sit at the table preparing school work and marking, so these things were in constant use, but not for the past four years. Is it that long? Time to tackle the no longer used work stuff. No idea what I’ll do with all those stickers!

cold weather

Autumn days are so lovely! Clear blue skies and temperatures in the 20°C ( 68°F ) during the day and chilly at night. Such a contrast to our very hot, long summers. Autumn feels like a time for reflection, being still and noticing things all around. Time for planning the spring garden, for fixing the reticulation and sorting out the verge garden, currently planted with ivy. It needs a lot of water in summer, so time to go.

Autumn has turned to winter with some showers but we’re still experiencing warm sunny days and crisp cold nights. Each season changes what we eat and what we wear. We put a big rug over our laps in the evenings unless it is very cold, then we turn on heating. We shop at a green grocer who only stocks seasonal produce so everything is fresh and sourced locally. I still walk my 13 000+ steps, sometimes in a puffer jacket, often with a thick scarf when we take the dog to the dog park. What’s flowering in the garden changes (only camellias at the moment) and I’ve planted flowers for spring.

Australians don’t really celebrate autumn/fall or the other seasonal changes the way some countries do, with wreaths featuring yellow, orange and brown leaves, a different set of cushion covers and other decorating touches. I’ve seen blogs featuring seasonal artwork, which is very attractive but I don’t want to store seasonal decoration. Christmas and Easter decor items take up a lot of room already!

Image Upslash

Colder weather dictates warmer food. In our house this always means roasted vegetables and lots of soup.

Thick luscious cauliflower soup from our dear neighbour, chives from the garden.

reading

Recovering from post election media exhaustion but still not watching much television. I read a lot, fiction, non fiction, decorator and garden magazines and some blogs, too. This year I planned to make my life more balanced, to have time to enjoy completing the Code Cracker in the paper in one sitting, to enjoy the company of friends over long lunches, to just slow down and consider the things around me. That didn’t happen!

Needing to help other people sort out life changes, poor health and ongoing therapies, the opened border between WA and the other states and the resulting Covid surge, all hindered my carefully considered plans. One thing I have achieved, by default, is more time to read!

Really enjoyed Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, a gripping story about a wedding on a remote Irish Island. Several guests have a motive for killing the groom but of course, we don’t find out who did it until the very end! Great story. It’s being made into a film, too.

The other book I couldn’t put down is Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club. Set in an aged care home which was once convent, this rollicking yarn is told from the point of view of the main characters. Funny, clever and whip smart, this is a great first book. The author says it’s his first, and so far, best novel!

I’ve just read that this is being adapted for a film, too. Also found he has published another book, too, so checking to see if it is available at the library.

did you know

Australia has over 60 separate wine regions? Western Australia has nine distinct regions, mostly in the south of the state. The history of wine making in W.A. dates back to 1840 when the Sandalford Winery was established in the Swan Valley.

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Sunscreen, Winter Food and Flowers

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sunscreen

Several family members have had melanomas removed over the years. My Mother has had multiple surgeries to remove melanomas despite regular checkups and wearing a hat outdoors most of her adult years. The damage was done when she was a child. Last year she had several melanomas removed from her right hand and her face and associated grafts. Sadly she lost an eye to melanoma later in the year and then needed more surgery on her face in January. Other family members, including myself, have had melanomas removed. I have a checkup every year.

ocean waves crashing on shore during daytime

Unsplash Image

I still use sunscreen during winter. For years the day cream I preferred included a reasonable SPF but since I changed brands to an evidence based product, I’ve had to find a really good sunscreen. Not just for my face, either, but for my hands, too. I know I should wear gloves in the garden but I just go out the back for a wander and thirty minutes later I’ve pulled weeds and started another bucket of weed tea, picked some roses and snipped some herbs for dinner. My hands had been in the sun all that time.

Vitamin D is essential to our well being and one source is UVB rays from the sun. Other sources of Vit D are eggs, beef, fatty fish and liver. We need to be in sunlight all year round for our well being but does sunscreen prevent us from benefiting from UVB rays? Dr Ginni, in her newsletter Evidence Skincare (here) refers to an article in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment which breaks down common myths about sunscreen.

Pixabay Image

The first myth is that sunscreen prevents us absorbing beneficial rays from the sun. Actually, people who use sunscreen have higher levels of Vit D. The second myth is any suncreen will do, but not all sunscreens are equal. If you have sensitive skin look for less irritating products with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. The third myth is that you have to start young to get the benefit. Actually, it’s never too late. The study showed that starting to use SPF5 at 40 can reduce the damage from the sun by 40%.

Australia and New Zealand have the highest rate of melanomas in the World. It is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer. It can be prevented by using sunscreen, dressing appropriately and wearing good sunglasses. Sunscreens in Australia are approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and are rigorously tested. Look for TGA approval, mostly a number, on the tube or bottle before buying sunscreen.

flowers

I walk almost every day of the year with my 89 year old neighbour. I only accrue about 1500 steps during this amble up and down the block but we have wide ranging chats and lots of laughs and even a few rants. She regularly visits her dear friend who is disappearing into dementia and sometimes she tells me funny stories about these visits and sometimes not so funny stories and more often, nowdays, stories of frustration and sadness.

Yesterday as we wandered between showers of rain, she told me how her husband used to bring her gifts after work on Fridays. He worked in the city and would usually bring her flowers but sometimes other sweet gifts. He’s been gone over 30 years but she still misses him.

Flowers for my dear neighbour.

I’m given flowers irregularly but I like surprises. I grow flowers to ensure we nearly always have fresh, cut flowers in the house, but a random bunch, not because it’s Valentine’s Day or our wedding anniversary, feels luxurious and such a treat. I got a bunch for my neighbour, too, after I heard how much she enjoyed flowers from her late husband.

Flowers for our house. There’s nothing left in the garden except the occasional rose.

eating

There’s a change in the weather and this is reflected in what we are eating. Salads have given way to roasted vegetables and citrus features in many meals. A trip to the German butcher meant venison sausages, venison prosciutto and Thueringer bratwurst. It’s not easy to get venison in WA but we enjoy some variety. All delicious.

And I make soup, lots of vegetable soups with chicken or vegetable stock. Do you plan meals, batch cook or sort of muddle along like I do, making sure everything is used? Most lingering vegetables become frittatas and egg based pies, which can be eaten hot or cold, or soup. (Many recipes online for frittatas)

did you know?

Eighty percent of Australian animals are unique to Australia?

koala bear on brown tree

Koala bear. Image Unsplash

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Politics, Planting, Painting and Eating

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politics

Australians will be voting in a Federal election shortly. Both major parties are promising all sorts of unachievable changes, such as more doctors and nurses and aged care staff. These are going to be created out of nowhere! Political magic. One party is promising more workers for rural areas. More magic. We have the lowest unemployment rate since 2014 and anyone still unemployed, especially in Western Australia, has probably made a choice not to work.

Of course, I’d like to hear about importers, manufacturers and consumers held responsible for their use of plastics! This is not a hot topic with either major party, but it should be up there with national security, food security, education, health and housing costs. Instead, both parties promote green washing, fake change to make people feel better.

Tiny changes, such as refusing plastic cutlery and using your own bamboo implements which can be washed and reused, taking your own reusable straws and your own reusable cup are easy and would make a difference. Single use plastic bags are now banned in Western Australia. Look for products in glass containers as glass is infinitely recyclable. Use the paper bags intended for mushrooms if you don’t have fabric vegetable and fruit bags when you’re shopping. Little changes.

eating

It is so much cooler now in Western Australia and we have had very welcome rain, too. My thoughts turned to warming foods. I’ve made vegetable soup and also fritters. These are corn fritters. For a pop of colour and flavour I added finely chopped spring onion. Served with chili dipping sauce.

When I’m making cupcakes, muffins and fritters I use an old fashioned icecream scoop. This is an easy way to regulate the amount of batter used and the contents fall smoothly into the hot pan or paper cup. Easy to wash too and no spillage to clean up afterwards.

planting

The cooler weather means it’s time to plant tulips. In the past I have ordered tulips for my Mother and myself from a famous tulip grower in the east but we were both disappointed with how poorly they performed recently. This year we’ve bought the bulbs from a local shop. This was far more economical as we have to pay a quarantine fee to bring bulbs from the east to Western Australia to prevent the spread of disease.

red tulips in close up photography

I’ve planted Ed Rem Darwin tulips. The flowers are described as being intense orange – red with a yellow edge to the petal. A Darwin tulip is a cross between a single, late tulip and an early emperor tulip. I didn’t know that!

I have also planted out the cuttings I took from a pink pelargonia. I struck them in water until threadlike roots appeared on the stems then planted them in soil. They look healthy. The creeping fig and lucky bamboo I propagated are doing well, too. I enjoy creating new plants from cuttings.

COMPOST WEEK is from the 1st -7th May. I don’t make compost having created a few evil smelling piles of horrible mess in the past but I do make weed tea. I have plenty of weeds and like the idea of them adding nutrients to the garden. I use a plastic pot which has inbuilt drainage holes and a little metal bucket. I put the pot in the bucket (it goes about half way down) fill it with weeds then add water to the bucket until it is full. For a few days after I push the now dying weeds down until all the foliage is in the water and leave it for about 10 days. Then I throw the mushy weeds into a big pot which holds my exhausted potting mix and pour the ( slightly stinky) weed tea concentrate into a bucket. I dilute this about 1:3 so I can see the bottom of the bucket. Today I poured it on food plants such as the passion fruit, blueberries and all my pots of herbs and spring onions.

Put weeds into a pot with drainage holes.

Insert the weeds into a bucket filled with water.

After about 10 days remove the weeds and pour the tea into a bigger bucket.

Dilute the tea about 1:3 with water and pour around plants.

The soggy dead weeds I put in the exhausted potting mix will become part of the soil improvement plan.

painting

We celebrate Mother’s Day in Australia on Sunday 8th of May. My Mother really likes and grows many carnations. She takes a slip off any existing plant and grows her own from it. So I have painted a carnation on the front of her Mother’s Day card. Every year we renew her subscription for her favourite gardening magazine as her Mother’s day gift. She is such an avid gardener!

Painted a few other flowers, too. I read blogs where the writers commit to doing a painting a day. I once followed a group doing a painting every day for one hundred days and made the time to complete that task but have never been able to consistently paint every day since. I paint in fits and starts. I mostly flowers.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, is the largest ecosystem in the world. Made up of nearly 3000 individual reefs, it can been seen from space.

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Luscious Tomato Tarte Tatin, Nigella’s Chocolate Cake and ‘The Labyrinth’

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tomato tarte tatin

We are heading towards the end of the tomato season in Western Australia so I decided to make a Tomato Tarte Tatin before it’s too late. I reread the recipe in Belinda Jeffery’s A Lunch of Sundays and used it as a guide for making one, too. I made my favourite short, crumbly pastry, although I’m sure Jeffery’s is lovely. I don’t know where I originally got this recipe for Pate Brisée but it is the best, easiest, quickest ever. For a quiche size dish, you need 250gm plain flour, 125 gm butter, 1/3 cp cold water and a pinch of salt. Tip all the ingredients into the processor, pulse until clumped together, smooth into a ball in your hands then leave it in the fridge for an hour. ( I chop the butter and if it is very cold, microwave it for 10 seconds on high before adding to the processor. If the pastry is for a sweet dish I use unsalted butter).

Olive oil, butter and balsamic vinegar, caster sugar and a pinch of salt for caramelising the tomatoes, plus the pastry. Grated pepper towards the end of cooking.

Jeffery’s recipe involves scraping the seeds and pulp out of the cherry or grape tomatoes using a teaspoon. I never do and the tart is still delicious. Find a recipe that suits your style of cooking .

I like this tart as it’s popular with vegetarians and everyone else at the table. It’s delicious hot or cold. There’s lots of versions in recipe books and online with added ingredients but I make the original.

I don’t like wasting food, even if it is a small ball of leftover pastry. I rolled it out, made a mini flan and filled it with sun dried tomatoes and snipped spring onion and baked it in the oven with the tart. It was delicious, too!

When I think of Italian cuisine I think of tomatoes. Recently, my husband read me a paragraph from the book he was reading which mentioned the introduction of the tomato to Italy in the 16th century. What! Tomatoes are to Italy what kangaroos are to Australia, surely?

Apparently tomatoes were introduced to Italy from the Americas. These early tomatoes were about the size of a cherry tomato and were yellow. They were called Pomo d’oro, or golden apple. These involved into the red pomodoro we know and love today.

nigella’s chocolate cake

Searching through my remaining recipe books recently to find my handwritten pastry recipe I found a a Nigella Lawson book I used quite often then forgot about. It survived the great ‘sort and discard’ which reduced my recipe book library by about half two years ago. Due for another purge as I tend to look up recipes online now or make old favourites.

Needing a part birthday cake, part Easter cake I settled on Nigella’s Chocolate Cake With Coffee Buttercream (p244) recipe from her book, At My Table. This is an odd cake mixture. The wet ingredients are added to the dry ingredients and the mix is very, very sloppy. Her recipe was baked as two cakes with a butter cream filling and icing. I don’t have two same sized cake tins so settled on a large bundt tin.

A most surprising cake! It cooked in about 30 minutes and was still moist and luscious days later. It was a very big cake! It looks good and tastes good. If I’d been thinking I would have cut it in half, one half for eating over the weekend and one half for freezing.

the labyrinth

This very engaging book by Amanda Lohrey is about love, loss and finding peace. This sparsely told story is about a mother, Erica, dealing with her revengeful son being imprisoned, but it’s also about her own developing creativity. She researches, designs and eventually builds a labyrinth along side the old, rustic house she buys to be near her son, who is in prison.

The descriptions of the landscape and the people Erica meets are richly described as this story evolves. Erica is scarred by her own mother leaving the family when she was small and then discovering as an adult that she’d died two years after leaving, so no chance of reconciliation. The father of her son had also disappeared when the boy was two resulting in anger and confusion. So, no happy endings, really, but a well written story.

ANZAC DAY

Australia and New Zealand commemorate ANZAC Day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on the 25th of April. Traditionally services were held at local war memorials and in capital cities, but Covid has changed that recently. Now, people stand at the end of their driveways holding candles and listen to the buglers playing the Last Post ( lights out) and Reveille (get up!).

red flower in macro shot

Image: Unsplash

We then sat on the verge enjoying coffee and a chat with our wonderful neighbours. This year we were better organised with chairs, a table and coffee machine and everyone brought food to share. Dawn broke with a pink and purple striped sky and a memorable, lovely picnic followed.

did you know?

Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world?

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Tortilla Española, Reading, Lucky Bamboo and Rosemary.

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tortilla española

A blogger I follow likes to go through her extensive collection of recipe books every month. She selects one book. Then she makes one or two things from the chosen book. I decided to do the same. I’ve been reading Belinda Jeffery’s new book A Year Of Sundays. She describes this book as a “cookbook, a conversation and reflections on the world around me.” She writes about her cooking school, growing fruit and vegetables, trialing recipes and sharing food.

I chose to make Tortilla Española (p195). I remember we enjoyed this in Barcelona and I had all the ingredients in the fridge or cupboard. You need eggs, onions, potatoes and some oil. It’s a tasty alternative if you’ve given up meat for Lent. I used to make tortillas for picnics as they travel well and taste even better when they’re cold. I thought we’d enjoy this for lunch with a small salad. I was right!

Making the tortilla took quite a while as the potatoes need to cook for about 20 minutes with the onions, in hot oil. Then the potatoes and onions sit in the lightly beaten egg for about half an hour to absorb the egg flavour. I used this time to make the Homemade Mayonnaise (p175). I’d already separated the eggs, keeping the yolks for the mayonnaise and adding the whites to the tortilla mix. You know I hate to waste food!

My version and Jeffery’s version in the book.

While the potato and onion mix was absorbing the lightly beaten egg flavour, I started on the mayonnaise. None of Jeffery’s romantic balloon whisking for me! No lovely French ceramic bowl for mixing in, either. For years I have made mayonnaise in the food processor but today I made it using a Barmix and a jug. I used a blend of extra virgin olive oil and olive oil, as Jeffery suggested and I like the flavour. Dripping the oil slowly into the mix meant the whole process took about 25 minutes. The resulting mayonnaise is thick and creamy. This recipe makes a lot of mayonnaise!

Belinda Jeffery’s A Year of Sundays has recipes arranged to reflect the seasonal fruit and vegetables available. The recipes are accompanied by beautiful, inspiring photographs and generally rely on ingredients which are commonplace. I found lots of recipes I’d like to make, including her version of Tomato Tarte Tatin, a new favourite.

reading

I’ve really enjoyed reading Daniel Klein Travels with Epicurus. After the author is advised to have the teeth on his lower jaw removed and replaced with implants he begins contemplating the battle to fight off signs of ageing. Is it better to be forever young? Looking for answers, the author travels to the Greek Island of Hydra where he spent a gap year as a teenager. Here he observes and talks to the old men who gather daily to reminiscence about lives well lived.

It is not the young man who should be considered fortunate but the old man who has lived well, because the young man in his prime wanders much by chance, vacillating in his beliefs, while the old man has docked in the harbour, having safeguarded his true happiness.

EPICURUS

Klein intersperses his observations with Epicurus’s quotes about the way to live a good life. We often relate Epicurus to epicurean style dining, which the great man himself eschewed for a bowl of lentils, eaten in the company of friends. He did not promote excesses in any area of life. Friendship was important and discussing the meaning of life was more important. Klein compares this relaxed way of living to his retiring American friends who have bucket lists, lengthy lists of goals and are driven to be frantically busy, but most of all, to look young. I think these are common goals in many societies.

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our happiness.

EPICURUS

His insights are based on the beliefs of Epicurus and other philosophers. This is philosophy ‘lite’ but thought provoking and interesting. An easy, good read.

lucky bamboo and rosemary

A few weeks ago I wrote about propagating new lucky bamboo stems, pruned from an old, dying (over fertilised) very large parent plant. They have done very well. Only one stem didn’t ‘take’ but the rest have healthy roots and are growing new leaves. I have planted them all in a pot in soil as they last longer than those growing in water. In a few weeks I will divide them into two pots.

Last Anzac Day, the 25th of April, I made Anzac Biscuits for the neighbours and added a piece of rosemary ( for remembrance) under the ribbon tied to each box. I also put a leftover piece in water. When it had good strong roots I planted it out in a pot. As it grew I began removing the growth on the lower part of the stem to create a topiary rosemary tree. It is going very well!

Have you begun Easter preparations? No controlled borders for us this year so we are really looking forward to our son coming to spend the Easter break with us!

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Reusing Scented Candle Holders and Other Occupations

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Cleaning and reusing candle holders

An empty candle holder with a replacement pillar candle in it.

Do you burn candles for their scent? So many of them are packaged in the most attractive holders and I don’t want to throw them out! Some are glass and some are porcelain. They are quite easy to clean and reuse. My favourite scented candle is packaged in a tin. I’m still thinking of ways to use the pretty tins. The labels will peel off and the lids seal snugly.

Still deciding what I can do with these tins. Any ideas?

When the candle has burnt to the base of the holder you can light the remaining wick to melt as much wax as possible. Pour the liquid wax into something where it can set then be thrown in the bin. Don’t pour liquid wax down the drain! Then place the candle holder in the freezer. The wax shrinks a little and about five hours later you can use a knife blade to pop out the residual wax. There’s probably a metal disk in the base which can be eased out with the knife, too. Leave the holder to warm up before you wash it in hot, soapy water.

Then I reused this pretty holder to hold cotton pads. I’ve actually been reusing it for years in different ways.

Boil a kettle, squirt some detergent into the holder then add the boiling hot water. Leave for five minutes, swish it around then pour out the water and wipe with a paper towel. All the residual wax should be gone, but you might have to repeat the process. If I’m using the holder for food stuffs I put it through the dishwasher.

Stationery holders for pencils and paper clips.

Now the fun bit, reusing the candle holder! Some have lids and some don’t, so that dictates what they can be used for, but they’re pretty versatile.

Once a candle holder now a salt container.

Some ideas for recycling candle holder include using them as vases for small bouquets, holders for pencils and other stationery such as paper clips, cotton face wipe holders, pretty pots for serving treats like wrapped nougat and other food things. I keep salt in one. I’ve reused them by putting short pillar candles inside them, too. Some people make their own candles to put into used candle holders.

Now a pretty bowl for treats and sometimes a vase, too.

Sweet vases for single blooms.

These two have well sealed lids and will end up in the pantry with food in them. To get rid of any lingering scent after you cleaned out and washed the container leave it and the lid out in the sun in a safe place. Should be scent free in a few days.

ITALIAN NOUGAT

In case my paintings suggest we only eat healthy, fresh food I’ve included this photo of what we were eating one afternoon when it really, really hot. We were experiencing an historic heatwave. It was too hot to do anything at all active. Very delicious sweet, Italian nougat coated in dark, bitter chocolate whilst watching TV.

watching the parisian agency

So glad there’s a second series of Le Parisian Agency. (L’Agence) This series on Netflix follows the super successful but down to earth Kretz family and their real estate agency. The mother, father and three of their four sons all work together. The fourth son finishes high school during the second series and assumes one day he will join the agency, too. The family deals in the multi million euro market and the properties they sell are so interesting. Old, new and everything in between, originally in Paris but now throughout the country, too. We get a good look around properties few would ever get to visit. Fascinating, especially seeing how much of the original architecture from the Haussmann buildings has been retained.

Pixabay

Chateaus and palaces, once unpopular except with foreigners, are now becoming more sought after by the French. Foreigners buy deserted chateaus in need of restoration, the French like them already restored.

annual macaron day 20th march

Unsplash Heather Barnes

Unfortunately, this delicious day passed me by but I am willing to celebrate later than the actual day. Macaron Day began in Paris in 2005. Parisian macaron makers initiated the day to raise money for charities.

There’s some excellent recipes and demonstrations for making macarons on Youtube, but, for me, it’s far safer to buy a few from the patisserie rather than bake a tray of about 20 exquisite little treats. Way too tempting.

and finally, the last food painting

This is the last food painting! Moved onto other things now. Well, actually I’m back painting botanicals again.

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International Women’s Day, Plastic Pollution Treaty, Painting and Eating

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international women’s day

Last week, on Tuesday 8th March, we celebrated International Women’s Day. The campaign theme this year is #BreakTheBias. Officially recognised by the United Nations in 1975 I wonder what has changed. A recent study, quoted in the Sunday Times Body and Soul liftout (March 5th, 2022) refers to a study which found that young females exhibiting headstrong behaviours grow up to earn about $4000 less a year compared with men in a similar position. Interestingly, young males who demonstrated headstrong behaviours end up earning more than men who were considered dependent in childhood. So girls are still expected to be compliant. Boys are seen as leaders, girls are seen as bossy.

woman signing on white printer paper beside woman about to touch the documents

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While it seems obvious that women need to get into the top positions in management and boardrooms and generate change, there’s that tricky little problem of maternity leave. Men feel women lose momentum after having children. Childcare is disproportionately the mother’s problem. Not many fathers prefer to stay at home and mind the baby. It’s often not a choice for many parents as (of course) the father has a greater earning capacity.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a woman working full time earns $1575 a week compared to a man, who earns an average of $1837. The Australian Federal Government has introduced guaranteed superannuation contributions during maternity leave plus a baby bonus of $5000 for women giving birth or adopting a baby. Unfortunately, women are still retiring with an average of 23% less super than men due to lower pay and time out of the workforce.

Golden Retriever lying on bed

Photo Credit Upsplash

The same issues women were campaigning against in the seventies are still being discussed today. Women want equality of opportunity, greater flexibility in their paid work (working from home, for instance) and equal pay for equal work, resulting in financial security. They are tired of sexual innuendo and harassment. The situation is changing, but too slowly. Time for positive and meaningful change at all levels.

historic plastic deal signed in nairobi by 175 nations

On the topic of change, in another long overdue response to social pressure, 175 nations belonging to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) met in Nairobi to sign a legally binding commitment to end plastic pollution by 2024. While the details now have to worked out, the meeting acknowledges that plastic pollution is a worldwide problem. It spans international borders and all nations must work together to solve the problem.

The treaty encompasses all stages of the life of plastic: it’s production, consumption and disposal. The treaty is legally binding, includes financing mechanisms and acknowledges that some countries can do more than others.

white and brown boats on blue sea water during daytime

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“In the space of one human lifetime, we have caused unimaginable damage to the global environment, choking every part of the global ocean with plastic pollution”, said Lord Zac Goldsmith, a UK Minister for the International Environment.

painting and eating

Whenever I go near the fridge at the moment I seem to open it and have a look. Obviously, nothing has changed since I last looked, no amazing treat has magically appeared, but I do get inspired to paint what I see. Then I usually eat it! Not a good plan.

I made an Egg, Creamed Corn and Potato Pie, by mistake. Had some lovely free range eggs to use so added some grated Edam, which was getting a bit elderly, 4 medium potatoes thinly sliced longways, a tomato and then went looking for something else preferably something to add some colour. Found a tin of corn in the pantry. I’d sliced the potatoes, beaten the eggs and grated cheese and just needed to add the corn. Surprise! It was a can of creamed corn, origin unknown! Pondered briefly, then added the creamed corn to the egg mixture, mixed well then constructed the pie. Layer of thinly sliced raw potato, egg mixture another layer of potato then a cut up tomato on top a grind of pepper. About 40 minutes in 170°C oven. Quick. Easy.

This ended up as a very tasty experiment. We really enjoyed it. I’m not sure I’ll make it again as I never think to buy creamed corn but it blended well with the egg and tasted very good. Add salad for lunch or cooked vegetables for dinner.

I don’t buy a lot of books despite being a keen reader. My husband buys a few books every month. The problem is storage. We have a large room upstairs with bookshelves built floor to ceiling on two walls and every shelf is full. Some are packed two books deep.

I borrow books from the library. If I really enjoy a book I buy it, but not very often. A fortnight ago I borrowed, read and reviewed Jaclyn Crupti’s Garden Like A Nonno. I read every page. This book is packed with practical advice. I didn’t want to return it to the library, so I bought a copy! It wont be going upstairs either, there’s so many things I want to start doing now, particularly improving our scorched, grey beach sand soil. I’m collecting the things I need to make weed fertilizer right now. (Page 68, I know because I’ve already marked it.)

My final painting of food from the fridge; I’m back to painting flowers.

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Watching, Eating and Gardening

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the tinder swindler

Image credit: Netflix

Three women meet Simon Leview (above) through the dating app, Tinder. He befriends them, claiming to be the son of the super rich diamond dealer, Lev Leview. He dazzles them with his wealth, then steals from them. He claims to be under threat from unidentified people and asks them to help by sending money for him to escape. Each woman goes into debt having borrowed money to give to him. Eventually, they doubt his story and can borrow no more money. They then connect online and realise they have each been seriously duped. One swipe right changed their lives and not in a good way. This is their story. Leview claims to be misunderstood, the women are trying to pay off massive debts.

Interestingly, while the women involved struggle to repay their debts and get on with their lives, Leview (real name Shimon Hayut) has been released from prison, has a Hollywood agent and is dating a model.

inventing anna

undefined Image credit:Netflix

Anna Sorokin, a Russian who claims to be German, arrives in New York in 2013 and works hard to become accepted by the rich and famous as a wealthy socialite. Inventing Anna is a dramatized version of how the real Anna conned an enormous amount of money from friends and the wealthy associates she sought out. She was ruthless, scamming banks, hotels and high society.

Sorokin got away with her audacious scams by claiming to be a German heiress waiting to inherit a multi- million dollar trust fund when she turned 25. Finally found guilty on a number of charges, she is sentenced to 4 years in jail. Many of her victims are too embarrassed to report their loses. She was released in 2021 but is then taken into custody by Customs and Immigration for overstaying her visa and is awaiting deportation. Meanwhile, she’s written a book and done lucrative deals, including working with Netflix on the program.

So what do we learn from Inventing Anna? Social media is a clever platform not necessarily based on fact. Proceed with caution if you’re relying on what you see on your device!

Eating

GRAPES

Chilled grapes from my mother’s garden. Despite breaking a record held for 110 years by having 13 days over 40ºC the grapes are lovely! My own garden is not doing so well.

RED CABBAGE

I cook for two people and find so many fruit and vegetables last two people more than a few days. They do not stay fresh and crisp! So, after I bought a medium sized rockmelon and realised we’d have to have a quarter each for lunch and then a quarter each for dinner, as it wouldn’t keep, I started looking for smaller pieces, especially vegetables. This is a petite red cabbage.

We enjoyed half one night braised in a pan over high heat in cider vinegar then a knob of butter and a good grind of black pepper. We had the other half the next night simply boiled. No waste. This is really a hot weather problem as leftover vegetables go into the soup pot in winter!

TOMATO, BOCCONCINI and BASIL SALAD

Gathered the ingredients for a light summer salad at lunchtime. They looked so luscious I sat down and painted them!

First I painted them, then we ate them!

This is a traditional Italian salad and features the colours of the Italian flag. So, red tomatoes, green basil and white bocconcini!

So quick and easy. Slice the tomatoes and cheese thinly and arrange on a plate. I put a sliced avocado in the middle, drizzled with a peppery olive oil then sprinkled basil over the top. Served with toasted ciabatta. Lunch done.

When I set my plate of salad, I added finely diced raw red onion for a contrasting crispness. Delicious.

SOURDOUGH RYE BREAD

Every fortnight I make two loaves of rye sourdough. Some goes in the fridge, some goes in the freezer. I’m the only one who eats it, my husband has two favourite local bakeries where he buys his white artisan loaves. No rye bread for him!

growing vegetables

Affirm press

Are you growing your own food? Whether you’re new to gardening or an old hand I think you’ll find something interesting in Jaclyn Crupi’s Gardening Like Nonno. I certainly found loads of advice and recipes for improving soil quality. This is little book packed with practical bite sized bits of information.

Crupi grew up with two Nonnos ( Italian grandfathers) who she describes as “…no-nonsense, hard working and cheeky. They know how to fix things, how to make things, how to grow things and how to care for things”. This little book is full of useful information about improving the quality of soil organically, choosing and saving seeds, seasonal plants, the tools you’ll need and how to care for them, chickens and even some recipes for preserving your crops.

Whatever size your garden I think you’ll find inspiration in this practical book. I couldn’t put it down and have gone back to find particular advice, especially on soil improvement. La dolce vita in a book!

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Painting, Cooking, Reading and Huge Lotto Prizes

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painting botanicals

A friend arrived with two picture frames. He asked me to paint pictures for the frames. I asked what he wanted me to paint. Fruit, vegetables or flowers? He pointed to my Moleskin painting book and said anything like those in there. So, flowers. Did he have favourite flowers, preferred colours. No, just do some like those ( in the book) So I did!

I began with the dark red geranium as I have several pots of them and I know he likes them. Then I painted a gladioli, which I didn’t like at all, so started again and painted some carnations. Painting for someone else is actually very different from trying to capture the colour and shape for myself.

Took my friend’s frames apart, cut some mounting boards then put them back together again.

The unloved gladioli.

This recipe for Feta and Leek slice was doing the rounds at yoga. I had a leek and a packet of feta so knew I was going to make it for lunch. Had everything ready to go when I discovered I didn’t have enough plain flour, so I used self raising flour and left out the baking powder. Worked well!

To make a LEEK and FETA slice mix 200gm yoghurt, 200ml vegetable oil (I used a mild olive oil), 200gm crumbled feta, 200 gm chopped leek, 2 cps sifted plain flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder plus 4 eggs.

Spray or oil a baking dish and spoon in the mixture. I used a spatula. Top with 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds if desired. Bake is a pre- heated oven 220°C for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Can be eaten hot or cold

Conversions weight 200gm =7oz, temperature 220ºC-=430°F

This made quite a big pie. Next time I make it I’ll freeze half as eating the same thing for lunch and dinner and then again for lunch the next day is a bit too much. I drizzled sweet chili sauce over it the second day as it seemed a little bit dry.

NOTE I used self raising flour as I discovered I’d run out of plain flour. This made a ‘puffier’ slice than the original one. Tasted just as good.

Also I find leeks need a lot of washing to remove all the sand embedded with in the leaves!

Served at lunch time with salad, at dinner time with steamed vegetables and the next day with sweet chili sauce.

apple crumble

What do you do with leftover apples losing their crunch? I try not to waste food so peeled them, removed their cores and cooked them in water, a little sugar and cinnamon. Cold stewed apple with icecream would have been appropriate during this never ending, record breaking heatwave, but I decided on apple crumble.

While the apples were stewing I thought I’d look up a ‘proper’ recipe for the crumble instead of just mixing the oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter the casual way I usually do until it feels just right. I immediately discovered a problem. Apparently I should have weighed the prepared apples before I stewed them to determine the ‘right’ amount of crumble! Too late, proceeded in my usual casual ‘throw it all together’ way.

There are many recipes for making a crumble online. This is a great way to use up any fruit which can be stewed. Serve crumble with custard, cream or icecream. Delicious even on a hot day.

reading

Adrian Hyland’s Canticle Creek is a fast moving story about Leading Senior Constable Jess Redpath briefly leaving her police job in the outback to accompany her artist father to an awards evening in rural Victoria. This gripping murder mystery, taking the reader from one drama to another, left me not sure who the killer was until the very end. Full of twists and turns with some great descriptions of the various landscapes, the story has well developed characters and is a good read.

Kit Kemp, regular readers of this blog will know, is one of my favourite interior decorators. Her new book Design Secrets is full of her colourful and clever combinations of fabric, colour and shape. She talks about the design processes she uses with her staff to come up with new projects and ways to put things together. Kemp doesn’t dictate strict guidelines and encourages the use of everyday objects to create pleasing arrangements. The results are often exuberant! It did occur to me that this style of decorating with layers of fabric, paper and objects plus furnishings was probably more suitable for cooler climates!

huge lotto winnings

Last week one of Australia’s lotto prizes was $120 million dollars which sounds like an enormous amount of money for one person to win. Actually, there were two first division prize winners, winning $63 million dollars each. One of the winning tickets belonged to a Kalgoorlie syndicate of 250 people. They each won $261,986. Millions and millions of dollars can be life changing, but not in a good way, whereas $261,986 must be wonderful! This is a great deposit on a house, a way to pay off loans, a chance to travel, educate children or buy the family treats. I’ve just read in the paper, some syndicate members plan to pay off mortgages, buy caravans and travel, plan for their retirement and help their children get settled. Makes so much more sense that huge prizes.

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