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? 

Balsamic Onion Soda Bread aka your next cheese platter staple.

I've been really enjoying making bread lately and I've been trying my hand at sourdough which you might have seen over on instagram. My sourdough baking is VERY hit and miss but I might be my harshest critic as Tris is very complimentary of my bread and often tells me to shut-up when I start criticising my latest loaf. Which I'm sorry to say, this post is not about sourdough as I am in no way ready to share a sourdough recipe (yet) as I don't think I've found one that gives me consistent results or (which is most likely the answer) I'm not ready to even start to tell you what to do. I am newbie at it so feels a little cocky to start preaching to you what to do. But what I have made lately is a different kind of bread which I am comfortable to tell you about. Soda Bread. Balsamic Onion Soda Bread to be precise.

Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

An unnamed somebody told me the other day I don't use my kitchen-aid much... well humpf... I made these cookies and you (the accuser) ate them. Ha. Chew on them Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies why don't you!? - I say this in jest and lots of love :)

To be honest with you readers, I've missed baking. To say it hasn't been on the top of my list this year is an understatement and among other things I've been 'attempting' to plan a wedding (Oh gawd! less than 2 months!!). Planning is very hard when you're a non-planner. I am a non-planner.

But cookies.. I can make cookies.

Fress - to eat copious and without restraint.

Fress - to eat copious and without restraint.

What a great word! and a pretty cool name for a cookbook if you ask me.

Fress by Emma Spitzer, the cookbook with the very cool name arrived in my letter box a good few weeks ago and I've been meaning to write this up for a little while now. It's is a cookbook that's full of traditions and family recipes. I have always felt a pull to find out my family tree and where everyone came from but to be honest, I just want to know what they ate. I want to know what traditions were kept, if something was made on a weekly basis? or for Easter or every birthday? I want to know what they kept on cooking and eating even when life got...well life. I'm nosey. And well because, everyone has to eat no matter whats going on in their life or how shitty their day was. We still have to eat.

autumn doings.

I can't believe we're over half way through Autumn already.

Here's what I've been up to...

reading

Adventures of a Terribly Greedy Girl by Kay Plunkett-Hogge | What a different life. No wonder she ended up working in food after growing up in Bangkok and being open to such a variety of flavours growing up. I'd love to step in her shoes for a day and see what it was like at the wonderful parties she attended or lunches she caters. What an adventure!

Acquacotto by Emiko Davies | I have made the strazzopretti with 'fake' sauce which is a wonderful bowl of thick hand rolled noodles with a simple tomato sauce. I definitely didn't make the hand rolled pasta right but it still tasted amazing with freshly grated parmesan and cracked black pepper on top. I'm going to master the pasta and get back to you on this one.

Zuppa Di Funghi - Wild Mushroom Soup from Emiko Davies' Acquacotta

Sometimes it's the small things that make you feel better, more yourself again. Sometimes it's as simple as a bowl of soup on a chilly night, curled up on the couch.

A furry friend keeping your toes warm doesn't hurt either.

The past few weeks have been so up and down I don't really know where I am half the time but more on that another day. I've been cooking here and there but mostly not for myself, I've been in a different kitchen that has a dishwasher and oh how much more enjoyable cooking is when you can load the dishwasher and not have a giant sink full of dishes to tackle at the end. I've also learnt a snippet of my family's history that has me so curious about what my grosi and great grosi (swiss grandma) might have cooked for the ones they loved. I suppose I could ask my Uncle or cousins but I have so many questions I think I'll overwhelm them or they'll think I'm crazy! It's easy for my mind to go off on little tangents now and then. Thinking a lot family lately and what it'd be like to have everyone in the one room for a day. The thought makes me smile, we'd talk and talk and talk until the lot of us had no voices left. It would be wonderful.

Home again last week and in my own (dishwasher-less) kitchen, I craved comfort and feeling unsettled with my un-stocked pantry and fridge I assumed dinner was going to arrive in plastic boxes with wooden chopsticks. Not so comforting about that. This was until I picked up a copy of Emiko Davies new cookbook, Acquacotta that had been sent to me (thankyou thankyou thankyou). My menulog order was out on hold as I came across a recipe for a tomato based wild mushroom soup, Zuppa Di Funghi. Hmmm mushrooms - a little bit sad but yes, onion - yes, garlic - yes, canned tomatoes - yes, dried porcini - YES. DONE. The soup was so robust, comforting and full of flavour ti's going to be a regular dinner on those nights that you need something to warm you through to your toes. Emiko tells us the dried porcini mushrooms are optional but I highly recommend adding them even if it means a little online shop to get them (I get mine from here). It gives it a beautiful flavour that you can't get from other mushrooms. I used fresh button mushrooms and swiss brown mushrooms along side the dried porcini but if I had them I'd have also added other mixed mushrooms like fresh porcini and chanterelles.

sumac roast chicken with carrots and chickpeas from Gatherings by Flora Sheddan

When I first started this blog I went through a faze of making lots of chicken tray bakes and I think two of them were great, some were ok and a few were inedible and never got a mention. They were quick to throw together when I got in late from work and it meant I could jump in the shower, potter around and dinner was done. Very time efficient midweek cooking. But I haven't made a try bake in months (maybe even a year) and to be honest, I have no idea why not. I get home earlier from work but for some reason I post less than I used to and I have more time now than I did before.

a lemon cordial recipe - strewth!

After a not so *enjoyable (*read crappy) day at work last week I came home feeling overwhelmed and done. I didn't want to cook, I didn't care what was for dinner, I didn't know what I wanted. I considered a glass of wine but the previous weekend I decided to drink myself under the table (literally) which meant wine was definitely off the cards. Instead I frumped on the couch and picked up a book I was recently sent; The Little Book of Slow by Sally Wise and Paul McIntyre - Live mindfully and enjoy the simple things.

Sounds good to me, right?!

The book is split into two parts, the first which is Sally's contribution it all about the food, getting back to basics in the kitchen and enjoying slower more simple tasks rather than the quick 15 minute dinner you throw together midweek. There is bottling fruit, baking bread and making jam and chutneys. To be fair, it wouldn't be a book by Sally if it didn't include some sort of preserving. It also has tips and recipes for making your own cheese, baking a pie or a simple butter cake. All of which sounds delicious and simple in their own way.

The second part by Paul is all about Slow Pastimes like the perfect pot of tea, hosting a dinner party, keeping a diary or my favourite chapter - using Australian lingo, mate! To describe the week I've just had I should have started the post with I've been flat out like a lizard drinking / been busy. Maybe it's true that we've lost some of our Aussie Slang, I never hear anyone yell 'strewth!' and can count on one hand how many times I've been called a 'shelia'. That being said I never knew good old cordial was an Aussie thing either until I did a bit of googling.

So instead of baking a butter cake and enjoying it with a pot of hot tea I went with making homemade lemon cordial as it fits with both slow food and slow pastimes. It's refreshing, tart but still sweet and also simple to make. I do prefer my cordial on the bitter and weak side so I added a little extra citric acid and a little less sugar as there seemed to be an extraordinary amount in the recipe. The hardest thing about the recipe was juicing and zesting the lemons, after that everything is added to a pot and all you need to do is make sure the sugar (over 1kg ahhh!) is properly dissolved. I let it sit in the fridge for a night, strained it and put it in sterilised bottles/jars. I now have a good 1.5 litres of refreshing lemon cordial on hand that needs only a handful of ice and water for a quick taste of summer. Delish!

I think it's sometimes hard to remember the simple things when you get stuck in the 9-5 grind of Monday to Friday with busy weekends that disappear and suddenly its Monday again before you know it. So now with every glass I have a small reminder of the simple things and to make a little time for them and crikey its a cracker of a drop!

Homemade Lemon Cordial

recipe adapted from The Little Book of Slow by Sally Wise and Paul McIntyre

6 large lemons, washed (or 9 smaller lemons)
1.2kg white sugar *
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon citric acid
1 litre boiling water

- Finely zest and juice the lemons into a large pot.

-  Add remaining ingredient to pot stirring well.

- Keep stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved - you may need to stir it over low heat to help it along but do not bring it to a boil.

- Allow to cool to room temp, cover and store in the fridge overnight.

- Strain using a fine seive and store in steriliser bottles/jars.

To Serve: Mix 1 part cordial and 5 parts water (or soda water), stir, add ice and enjoy!

*The original amount of sugar in this recipe is 1.5kg. By reducing the sugar like I did will reduce the shelf life of the coridal. I am storing my (reduced sugar version) cordial in the fridge but if you use the original amount of sugar (1.5kg) you can store it in a cool dark place.

Find original recipe here.

Homemade Chocolate Paddle Pops

So I'm thinking I should re-name the blog 'the weather and i' as I seem so damn obsessed with it lately. With two fans and a small portable air con working their little butts off, it's still too hot to even think about turning the oven, my motivation to cook is crashing and I think I'm loosing my marbles.

In this mad heat wave, the only things I want to eat are ice based - ice coffees, lemon cordial full of clanking ice cubes, freezer cold watermelon, frozen fruit sticks and paddle pops. So on Sunday, when it was stinker of a day my options were: one, leave the somewhat cooler than outside apartment and drive in my steamy car to the servo or two, spend 15 minutes in the kitchen, watch Netflix for 4 hours with icepacks and eat homemade chocolate paddle pops. I chose option two, just like any sane person would... right?

Ok I'll admit it, my first thought while stirring the mixture over the stovetop for three minutes while feeling beads of sweat were - you are a mad women! I could've been on my way back from the servo, paddle pop in hand by now but noooooo here I was using heat for goodness sakes! But then the yoga-ess of making food to eat kicked in and maybe some of you will still think I'm mad to make my own paddle pops but it was kind of fun making my favourite childhood icey pole from scratch.

They were easy to make and well worth the freezer wait. Just whisk everything together, cook it until it starts to thicken, then pour it into your moulds and freeze. I used moulds that I bought years ago that were still in the box and original packaging until last weekend but if you don't have ice block moulds in the back of your cupboard gathering dust, tip the bearded hipster at your local coffee shop and ask for some extra takeaway cups and stirring sticks (or buy paper cups from the supermarket) and use them instead. Different shape but still just as tasty!

So next time its bearable enough to stand by the stove for a few minutes whisking and you're patient enough to wait for them to freeze, give these a go! Seriously, I think you'll impress the fanciest of foodies with these, they'll bring back memories of Aussie Summers - saggy rashies, sticky fingers, chocolate drips and salty skin. Take me back!

Chocolate Paddle Pops

makes about 10

3 cups milk
3 tablespoons dutch cocoa, sifted
6 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornflour
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

- In a medium sauce pan, combine your sifted cocoa, sugar, cornflour and salt. Whisk just enough milk into the the dry ingredients to form a smooth paste, then whisk in the remaining milk.  It should look like a chocolate milkshake with everything blended evenly.

- Place the pan on medium heat, stir gently with a whisk - constantly scraping the sides and bottom of the pan. Once small bubbles start to appear around the edges of the pan, continue whisking for 2 minutes. The mixture should thicken up at this stage to a light custard.

- Pour the mixture into a bowl and whisk in vanilla essence off the heat.

- Fill your moulds (or cups) making sure you leave a little space for expansion and place into the freezer. These will take about 4-6 hours to set.

- To de-mould pops, let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes and use the heat of your hand* to release each one. Wrap them individually in baking paper and storing in a zip-lock bag back in the freezer.

*I found when de-moulding the pops and sitting them in warm water bath, they melted too quickly and lost their shape, although in say that I did make these on a 40C day.