Cabbage and Visitors.

Helllooo my lovely trusted readers, I am currently sitting in the dark. It's early. My little one still snoozes, Tris has left for work and Arthur is snoring next to me on the couch. I am sorry for the radio silence. I wish I could tell you I have lots of delicious recipes from beautiful cookbooks to share with you but unfortunately it feels like I've been playing a bit of catch up, catch up of what? I am not sure. In truth, I do have beautiful cookbooks to share with you that were kindly gifted to me but, time. I will get there though, they may be a bit late, but the books reviews and delicious recipes will come. Slow and steady wins the race right? 

What have we been up to since last past? well, my mum came to visit for a month and oh my, our washing basket has never been so empty and draws so full of clean clothes. You'd be ashamed of us at the moment mum with our pile of clean clothes we are living out of on top of the spare bed. My sister also visited for a week and we tried to jam everything there is to do in Weipa (except fishing and camping) into her stay. We got the token picture in front of the Weipa sign, swam in a waterhole, went to the local pool, drove to Mapoon and had their famous burgers on the beach, went to the splash park, had dinner at the pub, went for a walk around our little area and saw a croc. Which was also the first croc I have seen since we arrived as it's been mating season and they've all been up river so that was pretty cool. 

Oh and I almost forgot. We got chickens. I think we have two hen's and one rooster. Kenny is our rooster, we are going to pimp him out to others who have chickens and want more but currently don't have a rooster. Out two hens are Marylands who is super feisty for food and pecks your toes and our quiet achiever, and hair footed, Bilbo. Rory LOVES them. Even if we don't get any eggs from our hen's, just seeing him chase them around the garden has been worth it. I am sure, with time, and as the chickens get older and bigger that will change and it'll be the chickens chasing him around the garden.

We all have to eat so what have I been cooking lately? Cabbage. The woolies here isn't renowned for their great produce of full shelves but considering we are in a remote community, they do pretty well. Also, now that it's the dry season up here, trucks can make it over the rivers so we aren't solely reliant on the barge for everything. But cabbage seems to travel well and doesn't cost an arm and leg so each week we end up with a cabbage in our shopping basket. We aren't cabbists, the red or the green are equally good. 

A simple coleslaw of shredded cabbage, grated carrot and red onion or spring onions with a yoghurt based dressing (this Jamie one is great and simple!) is delicious with fish, on tacos, with steak or on cold prawn buttered rolls. Cabbage is also a great one to throw in a quick stir-fry which we had last night for dinner (using this really delicious marinade for the sauce - super yum) or wrapped up in some rice paper rolls which is my latest lunch time fix. I know, most of you at home are going. These foods doesn't even sound remotely comforting. There is no winter up here dear readers, only the wet and dry. If you do find a cabbage in your grocery haul, and you are in the colder states, this recipe for cabbage soup is fantastic and very comforting. And I know you may not want to hear this, but I envy your cold weather right now. Oh to be wrapped up in winter warmers, it sounds glorious!

I hope you are all staying safe and well. Until next post x.

Why.

Whatever happened to blogging as a hobby? Where have all the 'I do this for nada' bloggers gone in the abyss of the internet?

My theory - they've either turned their blog into a money-making website and no longer call it a blog or the internet is so full of content where people get paid that the free blogging voices have become lost. Where have all the voices of people's favorite recipes gone? The ones where they share what for Tuesday dinner or their favorite recipe from a book that 10 years old and not a pre-al/new release?

I say this and I am guilty too - I have received a handful of free cookbooks and even (most of the time) asked for them in return for posting about them. However, there are some books I've received that did not make the cut because I felt like I would be lying. They were books I'd never buy with my own money, never cook from or worse... a diet book.

When I started this blog, all I had was the many cookbooks I already owned and loved, my growing wishlist on booktopia.com.au, a really really ugly kitchen with an oven older than me and a love for cooking and writing. Which, apart from the ugly kitchen, I think most food bloggers start with the same base. So how do they end up with these zooped up sites that no longer resemble a blog? Is the time and space for blogs gone? Am I loving in the '00s still? Is that what Instagram is now? Or is it the side hustle movement? everyone needs a side hustle these days. Or so social media tells me.

There are a fair few blogs I go to still in hopes they have written a post since the last time - which in most cases is once a year now. And I cannot talk since this is the first post I've written in 2020.

It's been quiet on this space because I feel like a little lost sheep in the huge world of online recipes, fancy food websites, self-made photographers, filters and big online personalities. I've lost the reason I started this. A place where I get to record my favorite recipes and share them with my fifteen loyal readers and closest friends. So when they go camping they've got that one-pot pasta recipe fingertips away, or when they want that comforting buttery tomato sauce for dinner they know where to look, or when plums come into season, the plum torte recipe which is plastered over the internet isn't so overwhelming and is easy to find while putting the plums in the shopping basket.

In 2020 this space is going back in time to 2014, to when I started this little online space. It's for my friends who I don't see or talk to nearly enough and for me, who has forgotten how much I enjoy sharing these brain fart posts with you all.

To catch you up on what's been happening since my last post, here's a bunch of terrible iPhone pics.

So long 2018 | Bring on 30

Dear 2018 - you flew by.... so long sucker!

You weren't a huge one for cooking as you probably realise my posts were far and few between. It's been a year though. A big year for change. A little bruised in areas but stronger in the end, I think. There have been some moments which have taken my breath away (crossed things off my bucket list) and moments that knocked me for six and made me realise how short life really is and how important it is to cherish the time we have together.

For a little round up of my 2018 and what might be useful for 2019.

• One pot pasta's are fabulous, delicious and easy to clean up.
• Time away from technology and internet is a much needed detox in our world. Go off grid, you'll feel better after.
• Disease doesn't discriminate.
• I am terrible at keeping secrets.
• Just put your exercise gear on - it's too late to change your mind and cancel the class then and you'll feel better for it mentally after.
• Air Con is god.
• Snorkelling is terrifying but is easier with pool noodles and gets less terrifying when you just breathe.
• I miss long physically exhausting days on my feet.
• You are never too old to learn something new.
• You can never have too much patience.
• There is a lovely bush walk down the road from our apartment which I NEVER knew about and I should make this a regular walk.
• Water dragons can loose their tails and they will grow back.
• Nursing homes are interesting places. Laugh along with them or you'll cry.
• Families are mad
• Families are love.
• Friends are family too.
• Learn to cook a roast this year with all the trimmings. I will be doing this.
• Take more photos. I will also be doing this.
• Print photos. Very 00's but nothing beats a stack of printed photos to flip through.
• Christmas is much more fun when you are not a grinch.
• New Year Eve is best spent at home on the couch with prawns and bubbles.
• I got the best birthday present (see below).

January, perspective + Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter.

Blogs are a funny one. You share a part of your life but not all of your life because who wants to read about the crappy stuff. It’s the same with social media, who wants to see a filtered photo of a too cold, sad sandwich (yes sandwiches can be sad) balancing on your knee in a hospital room? The answer is no one. But life does have it’s crappy moments and January, boy oh boy did you have yours. Everything’s different now, for not so great reasons and also, for the best.

We knew it was coming, it just snuck up on us all a little quicker than expected. About two weeks ago we moved my dad into a nursing home to live. He has alzheimer's. He was diagnosed 5 years ago, just before his 63rd birthday. He was too young then and still is. It’s shit. It’s not fair. But it is life I guess. 

I know how lucky I am for everything and everyone I have and I could have kept this to myself and there are things I have kept to myself over the years. It is just part of life now and if I didn’t share it I’d feel weird going on and on about, what sometimes feels like nonsense here, when really some days are just plain shitty. I do also feel weird sharing it but I think it’s good to see both the good and crappy. It’s real. It’s life. And I don't think it's talked about enough.

But in saying that, I scrolled through the photos on my phone last night and it made me realise you’d never have known the year didn’t have the most joyest of beginnings. We just don't take photos of the ok days, it’s the good ones which you find yourself blurting ‘SMILE!’ out at someone and also grinning like an idiot in hopes the other person smiles too. Yes, some days were sadder than others but not every day was bad. January also included a mini-break to Cottesloe in WA for a cousin-in-laws (is that a thing?) wedding where we met up with family who we don’t see nearly enough and I rode a bicycle. Now this may not sound like a big thing for the average joe but I’m so so bad on a bike and it was my idea to hire them. As soon as I said it and everyone agreed I instantly thought, oh crap what have I done!? But I’m getting better and it was so worth the sore bum and all the weird squarks I made trying not to ride into people and parked cars. The views and beaches along the costal bike track are beautiful but pretty sure the cold beer and chicken parama at the end helped too. Oh and there are so many dogs along the way!! I couldn’t appreciate them as much as the others or I’d have fallen off and face planted the path but why doesn’t Sydney have more dog beaches? They should.

Our Honeymoon.

We didn't jet off straight away after our wedding or should I say drive off. We spent the next day, the Saturday recovering and then Sunday seeing family and friends who had come interstate for our special day. I don't know how they did it but some of them hit the red wine again - crazy!

On the Monday we packed the car and started our drive to Victoria for a night then jumped on the Spirit of Tasmania to explore the island state of Australia.

Tasmania is beautiful.

It actually gets a winter unlike here in Sydney. It was freezing! We packed prepared but I don't think I was ready for how cold it actually would be, I don't remember having a proper winter in a few years. Our first stop after we docked was Cradle Mountain, I loved the wildlife and the snow. It could have snowed a little more and rained a little less but it was still so lovely to get away to somewhere so different than what home is. We then worked our way west to Strahan and camped at Macquarie Heads. We bought a slab of raw Huon Pine that I want to turn into a chopping board as a keep sake - the smell is so powerful in the woodwork shops. Next was Lake St Claire where we were also meant to camp but ended up chickening out (there was torrential rain & we weren't allowed a fire in the camp site) so we bailed and called the local pub who thankfully had a room for us. We woke up to a snow topped car and white flecked gumtrees. It was magical.

A reflection on our special day.

Ok so I've started this post about four times now and scraped it each time.

I feel like a lot has happened since my last post but then also, not so much. Firstly, I got married. Secondly, we went on a super lovely cold honeymoon to Tasmania. Yes, cold but cold is good snuggle weather remember.

It's an odd feeling once it's all over. A whole years worth of planning and savings all done, dusted, drunk and eaten in a matter of hours. Once the day was done I had a sort of internal lull... I couldn't help thinking of all the small things that didn't go to plan or what I forgot on the day... did I thank everyone, oh dear who did I miss, did I talk to everyone, I should have planned that better... blah blah blah and also worrying if everyone else had a good time rather than if we enjoyed ourselves.

The food on the day was seriously good and I think everyone also enjoyed the booze. The venue told us we were up there in some of there top weddings for the most drinks consumed... oh dear. I think Tris's red wine stained shirt and my splashed dress are evidence of that. Oh and the cake! It was the best wedding cake I've ever eaten and this is not even being bias considering the cake-baker is a good friend of mine (putacakeinit - check her insta!). We had a two tier, white chocolate mud cake, filled with layers of chocolate ganache, iced in vanilla buttercream topped with fresh flowers. It was both beautiful and delicious.

LOVE.

This space is mostly about food and I guess, a little about me. Today, it's all about me. Because... I'M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW! And I'm filled with butterflies of excitement mixed with a couple of nerves but mostly just crazy excitement! I'm going to have a husband (still sounds weird) and I'm going to be a wife (even weirder). I can't wait to marry him. It was 10 years ago, this February that he asked me to be his girlfriend back when he was 17. Mad how time fly's when your with the one you love!!

I remember when my sister, who is nine and a half years older than me got married (11 years ago) I felt like she was so grown up and adult-y. I do not feel grown up or adult-y. But then I never asked if she actually felt grown up or adult-y when she got married or if it was just me being a little sister looking up (as always) to my big sister. Do you ever actually feel adult-y? 

I'm still here...

This is just a short post to let you know I am still here. I have been a little naughty over the past week or two and I've been spoilt and had other people cooking me dinner :)

Last Monday we went out for dinner at the local Thai restaurant and had some amazing food. Coconut duck curry, soft shell crab salad, steamed dumplings, street food pork belly and of course pad see ew.

Tuesday we had 'Pete's Pasta' which I did make but I can't claim the recipe. It's a combination of bacon, chilli, crushed tomatoes, olives, cream, feta, parmesan and a healthy serving of pasta. It's so freakin' good!! (I might have to ask him for the proper recipe and put it in this space...)

Wednesday was dinner at my mums and we got roast lamb, potato bake and CAKE. Yes we got cake on a Wednesday... I told you we got spoilt this week.

Thursday we went to a friends place and we were meant to have 'Jools favourite Beef Stew' from Jamie Oliver for dinner but there was a pressure cooker issue so we ended up ordering pizza. Just as the boys went to pick the pizza up the cooker started to pressurise!! Which meant we got lunch for the next day... did I mention we got spoilt this week? (the stew was delicious! Thanks Kate and Pete x)

Friday I went to the movies to see Pitch Perfect 2 with my sister and got sushi train and a cheeky glass of bubbles as we always do.

Saturday I had a 'Bake Day' date with my girls Patty and Aleisha from TAFE. I love these bake days... we try and get together every month or two and all we do all day is potter around the kitchen, making sweet things we would never normally make by our selves and chat. We do a lot of chatting and laughing. This date we made 'Homemade Snickers Bars' from the blog Notwithoutsalt, Crack pie, Apple rose tarts, milk powder cake :) ... don't ask and about 5 different butter creams to test for wedding cakes. Aleisha makes beautiful cakes... you should check out her website and facebook page. She really is amazing!

I finished Saturday night with a naughty home delivery of pizza and Sunday consisted of selfies...

This week I will try and be better and actually cook and write :) but in the mean time here are a few links from my week and some photo's of the amazing Homemade Snickers we made.

Jool's favourite Beef Stew from Jamie Oliver.com

Pitch Perfect 2 Trailer - Very funny but think I still like the first one better.

Homemade Snickers from Notwithoutsalt blog - A-FREAKIN-MAZING!

Apple Rose Tarts - These look beautiful and will impress.

Put a Cake In It! - Aleisha's stunning cakes!

Sunday Selfies...