The Recipe
I feel so much for those who have lost homes, but also, I feel powerless. I’ve had enough years in the Rural Fire Service to know: there are fires you can fight successfully on the ground, and there are fires that you can only fight politically, and it seems we are going backwards in fighting them politically. There are the heroic people who are out there with fire hoses, and…
I make soap every year around this time so it is cured in time for Christmas. It makes a gorgeous present – just enough luxury to be special, just enough everyday usefulness to be used, and no tacky consumerism. And getting it all done this early in a lovely social morning is shopping heaven.
I so love the way the whole gaggle take on responsibility for the goslings. The adults stand guard, watching in every direction while the babies graze. Trevor (the big white male on the right) goes mental if you pick up a baby. He has no real weaponry – no fangs or claws – but he knows his role is to protect them. Jackie, in the middle, sat on the eggs,…
In the scale of foods that are Popeye worthy, kale is about as dense a source of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants as you can get, including Vitamin K which is important for bone density and for brain health, and Vitamin A which is important for skin and eyes. But more uniquely, it’s also a source of some important anti-cancer phytochemicals.
My glut crop this week is peas, and they are only a glut crop because my kids are grown up. For years, all through pea season, a whole gang of kids would arrive after school and feast on peas straight from the vine. I still can’t think of any better way of dealing with a glut of peas than a gang of kids.
There’s actually only a small window of the year when rice paper rolls are the perfect thing. Avocados need to be in season, and coriander. You need macadamias and limes for the dipping sauce. Pickled radishes and turnips and ginger are wonderful in them. And it needs to be warm enough for that cool, clean, crispness to be just what you feel like.
There’s lots of leafies to harvest at the moment. I’ve got a bit of an addiction going for Rocket and Macadamia Pesto, (without chili this time of year). The rocket you can see on the left of the photo, just next to the spring onions, is just the right stage for pesto. I have another patch of younger rocket that I like better in salads – it’s that bit milder.…
This is a real Spring recipe. You need 24 very young and fresh and tender vine leaves.
There’s a little mind shift I’ve found helps in feeling at home cooking eastern Asian style. Most of the time with western dishes, I amble along, starting with what I have, multitasking, substituting, tasting and adjusting as I go, ducking out to the garden for some herbs or garnishes as I think of them, and getting plates out and ready while it cooks.